Love Bites (Book one)

Chapter seven

*Yasmin*

It had been over an hour since I was left alone in the small sitting room, and given that I had not yet fed today, other than a few sips of blood laced champaign, my hunger was starting to creep up on me. I opened up the door to the corridor, looking up and down, finding the place deserted. I was about to head out, when I heard footsteps coming towards me and so I ducked back into the room, listening intently as the sound passed by the room I was sitting in and disappeared out of earshot.

I peered back outside, seeing the coast was clear and stepped out, walking to the nearest painting and admiring its beauty. I don’t know why I was trying to hide, when the Master vampire had sent for my sire personally, but the sight of the female being led on a leash like an animal made me afraid for anyone else to see me. I looked at the work of art, seeing the thickness of the paint that showed that the work was original. I admired the brush stroked, the attention to detail, thinking of the hours that must have gone into this one single painting.

When I was human, I had always loved art. I enjoyed the chance to express myself without being judged, the escape it gave me for even a little while from the horror that was my life. My fingers tingled, wanting to reach out and feel the bumps and grooves of the art when I heard footsteps approaching me again. My mind went into panic, not able to think which room I had come out of when a small brunette Sedvey rounded the corner, her face breaking out into a wide smile as she ran to my side.

“You must be Yasmin.” She quickly greeted me, making me look at her with suspicion as to how she knew my name. I nodded my head slowly, her hand shooting out to shake mine. I looked at it curiously, obviously she did not know of my gift, because anyone who did never voluntarily offered to touch me, except my maker and those he wished for me to experiment with their gifts. As I reached out and shook the Sedvey’s hand, I could sense that she had the ability to summon shields, an ability I had not come across before and I wondered if the shield could only repel attacks or absorb them as well. “My name is Frankie.” She introduced herself, her face split into a genuine smile.

“Where is Antonio?” I asked curiously, not sure what was going on here.

“Erm, I am not sure.” She answered. “But I have been asked to show you around.”

I found my head nodding, maybe a bit too eagerly at her offer, wanting to see more of this place before I had to return with Antonio. Frankie let out an infectious laugh, and I felt instantly safe as long as she was around. We walked through a door on the left, which happened to lead to the room I had been in previously, walking over to the window and gesturing outside.

“Over there is the field and training ring where the guards and groups are selected and trained. Charles and Phillippe usually run things over there and they sometimes use the forest to practice tracking and hunting exercises.” Frankie explained before grabbing my hand and pulling me out of the room and across the corridor to an almost mirror image of the room we had just left.

She pointed to the window and this time I approached it, finding a small section which I could see through. As I peered out, I could see what looked like a large lake with four natural smaller springs to the north, south, east and west, the steam coming off of them showing that the water within them seemed to be naturally heated.

“That is the lake and hot springs, only my sire, me and my brothers are allowed to use them.” I looked back to Frankie, wondering if it was offensive for me to ask the question on the tip of my tongue. Frankie let out another laugh. “Yes, my sire is the Master vampire.”

I nodded my head, not sure what to say after she answered my unspoken question. Frankie did not seem to mind as she grasped my hand again, leading me up the stairs, pointing out various rooms which were studies belonging to people I did not know, before stating that I was not allowed to enter any of the towers as they belonged to her, her brothers and the master vampire, without their express permission.

She then led me back downstairs, showing me a large hall which was again off limits. We descended further to see, a substantial kitchen, and a mess like room before pulling me to a corridor which smelt of sweat and damp, stating that the male soldiers and groups slept down here and that she was unsure where the female soldiers would reside. I looked at her, slightly confused why she was giving me all this information and why, if they were making a female guard, that women still seemed to be treated like property. That is women, except for Frankie. Something told me that she would belong to no one, and that was something that I admired about her.

Frankie then led me outside, my arms wrapping around myself as she showed me the beautiful garden that again defied all logic as to how it could exist in this climate, that split the training ring from the springs, the high wall that surrounded the entire kingdom just about visible in the distance.

“There you are.” The deep voice of Drex sighed, making me and Frankie turn around. “I am sorry that I did not return sooner, I had other places I needed to be.”

I nodded my head, noticing that Antonio was not with him. “Where is my maker?” I asked.

Drex looked to Frankie, who seemed confused why I was asking the question before he sighed again. “Your sire has gone.” I did not know if those few words made me so happy I could jump for joy, or so sad that I could break down and cry. My arms tightened around myself protectively, cursing the bond that I had to my sire and how deeply he could wound me even though I hated him so much.

“What am I doing here?” I asked, feeling slightly vulnerable that he had just left me there. That small part of my brain that had grown with all the times my father said I wasn’t good enough started to speak up again. After everything I had endured over the past ten years, Antonio had just left me here without a word of goodbye, proving to me that I was nothing to him, and it angered me how much that hurt.

“She doesn’t know?” Frankie gasped.

I looked up to see Drex giving her a pointed glare as he shook his head. “Yasmin, you are here to become the first member of the female guard. It will be your job to protect the Master vampire and his creations, especially Frankie.” I looked over to Frankie, shocked that she would need anyone to protect her, and by the way her eyes rolled in their sockets, I could tell she wondered the same.

Frankie looked at me sympathetically, taking my hand in hers once more which I could see Drex wince at slightly. “You will live in the castle. Martyn, my brother, is getting the room ready now.”

“I will bring others here once I have found them and then you will go through the trials to see if you have what it takes to be a guard.” Drex told me.

“And if I don’t have what it takes?” I asked, suddenly feeling the dread of having to return to Antonio, and his anger that I had embarrassed him.

“It would be up to you.” He sighed. “But I do fear that you would not be happy with the other choices available to you here.” I nodded my head, shuddering slightly at the thought of belonging to someone else or worse, being fed on for money. “Anyway, you must be hungry after all you have been through. We have a selection of humans that you can feed from in the mess.”

I stiffened slightly. “Erm…” I started, rubbing the back of my neck, expecting the same mockery that I received from the others in my nest at my choice of food. “Are there any blood bags available?” I asked.

Drex nodded his head. “Yes, but given you must be starving you are free to feed from some of the humans we keep…”

“I don’t drink from humans.” I interrupted, not wanting him to go on.

I saw a nerve in Drex’s jaw twitch slightly. “Let me guess, your maker only lets you drink from him?”

I shook my head. “I only drink from blood bags.” I explained.

“Why?” Frankie asked, her jaw hanging open as she stared at me.

I let out a long sigh. “It is my choice. I don’t want to hurt humans and if I can survive by drinking from blood bags, then why shouldn’t I?”

“Because blood from the vein is as good as sex.” Frankie explained. I could tell from the way her face fell slightly that my expression must have said how much I did not enjoy that either. Well, I had done in my human life, but not since I had been turned, not since I became Antonio’s.

“We have blood bags, I will show you.” Drex signalled for Frankie to stay as he led me back to the canteen style room I had been in before, opening up a refrigerator and passing me a blood bag that I eagerly bit into. I felt Drex’s eyes burn into the side of my head, making me look over at him. “I admire your restraint, not many vampires can say that they have willingly sworn off blood straight from humans.”

I finished off my blood bag and disposed of it in the bin, just as the door opened again and a Sedvey male walked in, his eyes landing on me, showing me that he was not as happy that I was here as Drex and Frankie. He marched over, sneering at me before turning to Drex.

“A Sedvey? Really?” He spat, making my blood boil and my hand to clench into a fist at my side. I hated how people looked down at me, not only for my gender, but what type of vampire I was as well. The small voice that justified what they were saying made me let out a long sigh though, my hand unfurling as my shoulders slumped.

“Is the dorm ready Martyn?” Drex asked, not seeming phased by the other vampire's words.

Martyn nodded, turning on his heels and storming out of the room, Drex giving me an encouraging nod to follow him. I ran out of the room, having to keep up my hurried pace to match his strides as he walked down the opposite end of the corridor to where Frankie had taken me before. He stopped outside a door, turning on his heels, sending me one last dirty look before he took off back towards the stairs and out of sight.

I let out a long sigh, pushing open the door to see three lines of four beds, each with a small chest at the end, with a partitioned wall at one side separating the beds from the showerblock and bathroom. No wonder it smelt so damp down here, given that the room was poorly ventilated and the showers were next to the beds. I flopped onto the bed in the corner by the door, wondering why the hell Drex had brought me here.

I sat there, lost in my own thoughts for a while before I decided to take a shower and get some rest. As I pushed to my feet the door to the dorm opened and Frankie quickly jumped in, closing the door behind her.

“I am sorry about earlier, I have never met a vampire who does not drink blood from the vein before.”

I gave her a small smile and shrugged. “It’s okay, I’m used to it.” What I wasn’t used to, was anyone apologizing to me, even if they thought that their actions or words had upset me.

She stepped closer, looking around her as if to check that we were alone. “Anyway, I needed to tell you something that I couldn’t say before.” She took a deep breath, seeming to battle with whether she should say what was on her mind before she finally let it out again. “Sven, my maker, the Master vampire. He has a nasty temper and he has a habit of using women, especially Sedveys.” I stared at Fankie, not sure if she was speaking from personal experience or if she was trying to just warn me. “Please, be careful.” She whispered, sending me one last half smile before she disappeared out of the room.

I was left, not sure what to think. So, the Master vampire was no better than Antonio, no better than my father. I looked at the door, thankful that Frankie had warned me, given that I was sure I would have been star struck meeting the oldest vampire in existence, but now, now I knew that I needed to keep my distance. Frankie was such a nice vampire, probably the nicest vampire I had ever met and a determination that was almost foreigne to me set in, to pass whatever trial they decided to put me through to be able to make sure that she was safe.