The Vampire's Fated

Chapter 14

LENA

A slight knock on the door brought me out of my sleeping slumber.

I shot up from bed and stared at the door as I heard something in the lock. I watched as the door handle went down and the door slowly opened.

My heart beat hard as a head appeared around the corner. A woman smiled. “Hey, you’re awake,” she said as she opened the door and entered the room.

My eyes stayed on her and watched her every movement as she carried a plate into the room and placed it on the dresser.

She looked at me as she moved her head to the side. “I was going to ask if you wanted some clothes to change into it, as I can lend you some of mine if you like, but it seems you found some.”

I didn’t move or say anything.

My body was frozen. But my eyes stayed on her, taking her in.

The woman looked familiar, and then an image of what happened. She was behind one man with smeared lipstick on her face.

The woman looked at the door and sighed. “I’m going to close the door, and we can talk,” she said as she moved towards the door. She stood for a few moments but sighed as she closed it.

Clearly, someone was there, but I didn’t want to see anyone.

The woman closed the door and walked back over to me. My eyes never left her as she came to the side of the bed and sat on the edge.

I move back until my back is against the headboard. “I know you have many questions, and you’re scared,” she murmured. “But I thought I could be a friendly face and explain what you saw if you let me.”

I stared at her, but I couldn’t help the bluntness of what came out of my mouth. “Are you like them? I mean, a monster.”

The woman c****d her eyebrow up at me. “A monster,” she said, sounding amused. “You think we are monsters?”

I gave her a nod, which only made her giggle as a smile played on her lips. “We are what you may call monsters, but vampires are the correct term.”

My eyes widened as I grasped over what she said.

Vampires. They are real.

“You seem shocked,” the woman said, making me look at her.

“Well,” I rasped. “We were always told that vampires were horror stories to scare children and people. I never thought—”

“You never thought we were real,” she said, finishing my sentence. I nodded as she smiled.

“That’s fair,” she said. “Some older vampires keep everything under wrap when it comes to stories about us. We hide what we are so there will be no panic with the humans. As you know, we feed on blood.”

I gulped.

“Blood,” I whispered with wide eyes. “Do you want to drink mine?”

The woman stared at me and burst out laughing. “No, Lena,” she said. “I don’t want to drink your blood. I have had some blood this morning—a blood bag. I usually have them.”

I stare at her, confused. Didn’t vampires want to drink from the vein?

“So, you don’t drink from the vein?” I asked.

The woman nodded her head.

“Not under Emmett’s ruling, we don’t,” she said, making my heart clench when she spoke his name.

“What do you mean, Emmett’s ruling?” I whispered.

The woman looked at me for a moment and sighed. “Are you hungry?” she asked as she avoided the question.

My stomach growled loudly at the word hungry, making her smile. “I take that as a yes,” she said as she moved off the bed and walked toward the dresser. I watched as the woman picked up the plate and returned to me. She held out the plate, and I took it.

My eyes went to the sandwich but went back to hers as she sat back down on the edge of the bed. “Eat,” she motioned. “You must be starving.”

I said nothing and took a bite of the sandwich, which only made me close my eyes and let out a low moan as I chewed.

My eyes opened and went back to the woman, who smiled. “I will tell Emmett you love peanut butter and jelly,” she said, which made me choke on some sandwich.

I coughed slightly, and once I calmed down, my eyes went to her. “What do you mean you will tell Emmett?” I asked.

The woman looked at me but stayed quiet.

I hated this. Why was she ignoring my question regarding Emmett?

“Why won’t you tell me about Emmett?” I asked.

The woman said nothing, which only angered me more. “What about Sasha and Whitney? Can you tell me about them? Are they vampires?”

The woman looked at me for a moment before she sighed. “Eat,” she said and moved up. “I will make you another one, and we can talk more about them. But you need to eat more.”

I stared at her as she moved off the bed and headed toward the door. Part of me wanted to run and get out of here. But the curiosity about this whole thing had me wondering what else was out there, and I knew I would not get them out there in the real world.

The woman walked toward the door.

“What’s your name?” I blurt out, which made her stop. Her eyes landed on me, and smiled. “Claudia,” she murmured. “Now, finish that sandwich. I will get someone to make you more and a drink, and then we can finish our conversation. Sounds good to you?”

I stared at her but gave her a nod.

My eyes went to the plate, and I ate more of the sandwich.

I saw Claudia mumbling something to someone near the door, but her eyes came to mine, and smiled. “Knock, and I will get them from you,” she said to whoever it was. She moved back and had a glass of water in her hand.

Claudia closed the door and placed the glass down on the bedside table. Her eyes met mine as she smiled again. Her eyes went to my plate as I placed the last bit of the sandwich into my mouth. “You loved those, didn’t you?” she said as she moved away and sat back down in the spot she sat earlier. “More are on their way. I asked to make you some more. You can eat them when you are ready.”

I nodded as I swallowed the last bit. I moved toward the glass on the side of the bedside table and drank some.

After I drank it, I placed it back and leaned back into the headboard. My stomach wasn’t full, but the sandwich tied me over for now.

I looked at Claudia. “Now, can you tell me about Sasha, Whitney, and Emmett?” I asked.

Claudia smiled and gave me a nod.

“Well, Sasha and Whitney are vampires,” she said. “But I don’t know what their stories are. Ask them when you talk to them next time.”

I felt my stomach churn at the thought of seeing them both again. The way Sasha acted made me question more, but that was for another day.

“What about Emmett?” I asked. “Can you tell me something about him?”

Claudia nodded.

“Emmett is an old vampire,” she said, making my eyes widen, but I didn’t stop her from talking. I wanted to know more about the guy. Maybe find out why he feels familiar?

“He’s an old vampire in his hundreds,” she said as she leaned back slightly and sighed. “I know he runs this place and vampires who need shelter. I was one of them.”

“You were,” I blurt out, making her nod. She gave me a small smile as she continued. “Yeah, I was,” she said. "Werewolves hunted me down.”

My eyes nearly fell out of my head. “Werewolves,” I whispered. “They are real too.”

Claudia giggled. “Yeah,” she said. “You can’t have one without the other. I mean, they are one of our enemies. I can tell you more about them later, but as I was saying. Werewolves were chasing me, and I came across this guy who will take a chance.”

Claudia grinned. “This place is Emmett’s,” she said. “One of nine, I should say.”

I stared as I tried to take it all in. What the hell?

“He uses his homes to make sure vampires have a place to stay, even if it is more than one night,” she said. “Emmett wouldn’t let anyone suffer, not even if they didn’t want to admit it.”

I wandered over to the man who entered my room last night.

“What about the other guy last night?” I asked. “Does he stay here?”

Claudia nodded.

“He did,” she said. “Marshall wasn’t too fond of the rules that Emmett made us follow. The rules are in place to keep us and humans safe, but Marshall wanted to cause chaos, and when he came after you, that was the last straw.”

I frowned.

“Why?” I asked.

Claudia stared at me briefly before she continued. “Well, Marshall came after you,” she said, looking toward the door and stood up. “He shouldn’t have, but Emmett is one private vampire in his personal life, even with a woman. I haven’t seen him with anyone in the last few years.”

My heart tightened when she said that.

What the hell was wrong with me?

Claudia moved to the door and opened it.

I didn’t even hear anyone knock.

Claudia stepped inside with a tray and walked over to the bed. She placed the tray on the bed. My eyes skimmed over the tray, which made my mouth water.

On the tray was another plate full of sandwiches, but there was also a bowl of soup and some chocolate.

I looked back at Claudia, who grinned. “I made them bring up a few other things you may like,” she said.

A smile formed on my lips. “Thanks,” I said.

I looked back and noticed someone behind her, which made me move back slightly.

Claudia looked over her shoulder and sighed. “Gage,” she said as she moved toward him. “Out now. I will speak to you later.”

The man stared at me, but there was no hatred on his face. More like curiosity.

The man nodded and walked back out the door. Claudia closed it behind him and looked back at me. “Sorry about him,” she said. “He wanted to tell Emmett you were fine, but I guess he wanted to see for himself.”

I stared at her but couldn’t think of what to say.

Why would he need to tell Emmett about me?

There were more questions than answers.

“Eat,” Claudia said as she stepped toward the dresser. She pressed something, and a TV popped up out of nowhere.

My eyes widened.

“What the—” I whispered.

Claudia looked over her shoulder at me and laughed. “Emmett might be an old vampire, but he does like his technology,” she said. “But he likes to hide them.”

I stared at her dumbfounded as she put the TV on. She put on Netflix and found a film, one of my favourites—Monte Carlo.

Claudia moved back and moved a chair from the dresser. She moved it back and placed it near me. She sat down and smiled. “Eat the soup before it gets cold,” she said. “We can talk more after the film.”

I looked at her. “Why?” I asked, as her eyes met mine again as she sighed. “I don’t want to give you too much information, or there will be a brain overload.”

That’s a point. I don’t think I could take much more after last night, and now I would have asked the same thing again.

“Okay,” I whispered, leaning over and placing the bowl in my lap.

“Also, I will bring some clothes and stuff for you,” she said.

I said nothing as I took a mouthful of soup and glanced at her. She smiled. “Okay,” she said. “Now watch the film.”

I ate.

After two hours, I ate some sandwiches, but when I was full, Claudia moved the tray to the ground, and I lay back down when she placed another film on—First Daughter.

But as soon as the music started to the film, I felt my eyes get heavy, and I was out into the darkness.