In Love With a Vampire

Chapter Forty-Six

Maria had liked a boy once.

He had ashy blonde hair and when he laughed, the skin around his eyes crinkled. Maria had bumped into the boy one night in the sketchy part of the realm where taverns were loud and vampires were rowdy. She had wound up there on orders of her Mistress. Her Mistress had never tasted ale in her entire life and had heard rumors of how Busty served the best ale in the realm. Like the dutiful Hand she was, Maria had worn a dark cloak to hide her features and go to what the nobles called the “other side of town”. It had taken Maria almost all night to get what she had come from. Between her crippling fear of the gigantic, rowdy vampires and the loud music that forced her to scream her order, Maria had spent hours on the “other side of town.” So when she left the tavern, she was obviously in a hurry. She half-ran, half-walked, and considered using her vampire speed but then she had squashed the thought. What if she ran into some trouble that needed her energy? The last time she had fed was the previous night; she had squealed in delight when she had spotted a stray rabbit.

Maria believed in good karma. Do good, and the universe would extend the same favor unto you.

When she was rounding a corner, Maria had bumped into the boy with the ashy blonde hair. After the disorientation had worn off, the two had chuckled breathlessly while avoiding eye contact. When Maria had mustered enough courage to look at the boy, to really look at him. The boy had lowered his head and brought his face towards Maria. She should have been stunned perhaps even repulsed but how could she? Had she not laid in bed during the day fantasizing about the gorgeous boy before her? Had she not played out this particular scenario in her head over and over again? Maria had stood on her toes and allowed the beautiful boy to plant a kiss on her lips. She had almost combusted at the contact.

Elated and suddenly terribly nervous, Maria had separated herself from the boy, turned on her heel, and used the little energy she had to speed back into the palace. When she arrived, she made a beeline to her Mistress’ chambers, knocked lightly on her door, and waited to be let in. Her Mistress had not taken time to let her in; her face had been etched with unbridled excitement. Maria had proceeded to hand her Mistress the package with a small, satisfied smile on her lips. Not only had she served her Mistress well, but she had also been kissed by a boy she liked.

“Maria, this is empty…”

Maria had blinked rapidly in confusion. How could the package be empty? She had squeezed herself through a fleet of rowdy, gigantic vampires in Busty’s tavern. When she had finally reached the counter, she had shouted and screamed her order repeatedly. So how in the name of all that is good, was that package empty? Slowly, Maria had approached her Mistress, taken the bag from her hands, and stared at its contents. Her Mistress had been right, the package was empty.

As she left her Mistress’ chambers that night, flustered and disheartened that she had failed to complete such a simple task, it dawned on Maria that she had been played for a fool. The boy she liked, the beautiful boy with ashy blonde hair, had distracted her with a kiss and stolen her ale.

Maria had sworn off distractions. Besides, she was the Hand to the next leader of the tribe. She could not afford distractions.

* * *

Maria had allowed herself to be distracted. Oh, how could she have been so stupid! Had she really thought that a boy, a human no less, had been genuinely interested in her? A shadow? A plain, red-headed shadow!

Maria dug her nails into the flesh of her skin to calm herself. Once again, she had let her Mistress down because of a mere distraction. Only this time, the distraction was sneakier, more dangerous. Maria stole a glance at her Mistress. She was quivering and squirming, clearly, she was in a lot of pain. As her Hand, Maria should be able to help her get rid of the pain or at least she should be able to avenge her but she could do neither at the moment.

“M-maria…what’s going-"

“Shshshsh…rest Mistress, everything will be alright.”

Maria tried to sound hopeful. She even smiled in reassurance. But nothing about this situation was hopeful. Seth, the human boy she liked, was holding a gun threatening to shoot Jim.

Maria briefly wondered whether she was faster than a bullet.

“If I free you-"

“The boy and I will leave, with my son of course.”

“No. Not after you threatened to kill him.”

“He is my son sister dearest.”

“Ha! A son you are threatening to kill!”

“And what do you expect me to do? Sit by and await my death? You saw how she attacked me, how much are you willing to bet that redhead over here will reach into my chest and rip out my beating heart the moment my goon puts that gun down?”

“Jim stays, end of discussion.”

Maria angled her head slightly and watched as the siblings held each other’s fiery gazes. During her time here, Maria had come to admire and care for Lory. Especially after her run-in with those cruel humans. Maria averted her attention to her screaming Mistress. This scream was more anguishing than the first.

“Oh God free me already, I have heard enough from the drama queen. Remember, if you try and threaten my life, you know hold a knife to my throat, get redhead to break my neck and what not, the boy is under strict instructions to kill James. Kill me and James drops dead.”

Maria placed a gentle hand on her Mistress as she began to whisper “no” repeatedly. Maria’s eyes welled, she knew what her Mistress was afraid of. She knew that freeing that horrible human might lead to the annihilation of the vampire race. There was a pressure in Maria’s chest. She had played a part in all of this. She had allowed herself to be distracted by Seth and now, now they could lose everything.

“Also, if you try anything, you won’t be able to help her. I mean, has she not suffered enough dear sister?”

A growl escaped Pete’s mouth. From the corner of her eye, Maria watched as Lory placed her hand on Pete’s arm. Maria felt a pang of jealousy tear through her chest.

It all happened so fast.

Lory freed the leader of the VA who signaled Seth to follow him. Both humans moved towards the front door facing us, afraid that if they turned their backs, Maria and the rest would attack.

They were right to be afraid.

“Wait! How do we make it stop? How do we help my Mistress?”

A low chuckle escaped the leader of the VA’s throat. He then shouted from the door:

“Starve her. My blood has to leave her system, so you’ll have to starve her.”

An image of her Mistress being whisked to the nurse’s office by Jim came to Maria’s mind. Her Mistress was not used to starving, she did not know how to survive starvation. Her body could go into shock. Best case scenario, she would be terribly weak, worst case scenario, she could die.

That horrible human had played them.

Maria had avoided looking at Seth this entire time. She had been afraid of looking up and seeing venom in his eyes, had he always been evil? Had everything been an act? As the front door swung open, Maria finally looked up and her gaze interlocked with Seth’s.

There were tears in his eyes.