Love Bites (Book one)

Chapter eleven

*Yasmin*

The dorm was now rather full, only two beds left unoccupied and a queue forming to use the showers. We had gotten four new vampires last night and they had all chosen to come with me, Nicole, Isla and Lilbeth for our nightly workout. The four of us had become quite close and I really hoped that they managed to stay here with me. Frankie was not as close to them as she was to me, but that may have been through the bad first impression that she had gotten from the Physvey who still refused to join us in training and instead spent her time with the obnoxious Telvey seeming more interested in attracting men than getting ready for the tryouts.

The door to the dorm opened, and instead of Frankie coming for a chat, it was Charles and his brother, Phillippe, who Frankie warned was the most set in his ways of the two, with their hands behind their backs and stern looks on their faces. I instantly bolted out of bed, standing like you would do in the military, some of the others following suit which seemed to be what they were expecting.

Phillippe stared at the Physvey and Telvey who were still chatting away instead of paying attention to him and his brother. He stormed over, getting right into the Physvey’s face before yelling. “This is a guards barracks, not a salon! You want to sit around and chat with your little friend then you can both just pack your bags and leave right now!”

The Physvey looked ready to argue back, but looking around and seeing the rest of us already stood to attention and decided to begrudgingly follow suit. Phillippe sent her another displeased look before walking back and standing at Charles’ side. “Tomorrow night, we will find out which of you are going to stay and which of you will be forced to either find other work in the kingdom or return to your makers in disgrace.”

There was a murmur around the room before Nicole spoke up. “Do you mean that we are not all going to be part of the guard, sir?” She asked, remembering what I had told her about stroking his ego.

Charles nodded. “Precisely. You were brought here because you each showed potential, but it takes more than potential to make it in the guard. You will go through a series of trials tomorrow and only the best of you will remain.”

He and Phillippe looked around the room once more, giving me a slight nod before they turned and walked out. “You knew, didn’t you?” The Physvey yelled, her voice higher than usual.

“Did you really think they would just let you protect the Master and his creations without putting you through some form of test?” I sighed.

“You should have told us!” The Telvey gritted out, getting to her feet.

“Would it have mattered? You said that you didn’t need to train and so you should not be at a disadvantage.” I quipped back.

“You may think that you are some sort of leader, but I would never follow you.” The Physvey gritted out.

“No one is asking you to follow me.” I pointed out.

“No, but I would.” Isla shocked me by saying Nicole, Isbeth and the four newcomers nodding their agreement.

The Telvey and Physvey sneered at everyone in the room. “Fine, so be it, but when you are all becoming blood slaves and whores, don’t come crying to us.” The Physvey spat.

There were a few heated glares around the room, Nicole looking like she was ready for blood. I caught her eye, shaking my head to tell her that it was not worth it. The last thing we needed was to be fighting each other when we needed to save our strength for tomorrow night. She let out a long sigh, but got back into bed, the others following suit.

I found that that day, my sleep was restless. The fear of failing the trial, of like the Physvey said, I had to choose between whoring my blood or my body or returning to Antonio grabbed hold of me, threatening to choke the life out of me. The words that I was worthless, that I would never be worth anything echoed around my head in my father's voice. I winced, believing that a fist was hurtling towards me as I shot up in bed, sweat clinging to my skin and soaking through the sheets.

I looked around, realising that I was not at home, and was no longer human and away from my father’s wrath. I could not sleep after that, instead deciding to get up and take a shower before getting ready for the trials. I headed through to the mess, consuming two bags of blood to ensure I had the energy I needed, before heading back to the dorm where the others were just waking up.

“Couldn’t sleep?” Isla asked as she stretched out.

“Yeah. Hey, good luck tonight, to all of you.” I said, looking around the room, knowing that we would all not be here when the sun came up.

“Huh, I don’t need luck.” The Telvey huffed as she started to get ready. I ignored her comment, instead starting to stretch out my limbs waiting from Charles and Phillippe to come and take us to the trials.

It was about half an hour until they did, giving the others a chance to feed and get ready. We followed them out, heading straight to the forest where a line of guards were waiting. “This is a trial that we often do with the groups. Each of you will be given two minutes to enter the forest and hide, then the other guards will enter and try to find you. The first two to be found will be eliminated. Do you understand?”

“Yes sir!” We all barked.

“Go!” He called out and with that, I used my vampire speed to make it as far away from the starting point as I could. I froze as I was about to climb a tree, thinking that it would be obvious to hide here, moving instead to a little deeper into trees and climbing one there, making sure I was high enough in the tree so that I was fully hidden by the canopy.

I slowed my breathing, trying to use the wind that wrapped around me to hide it. It was hard to keep my body still, my limbs shaking slightly with the cold and strain of keeping myself from moving. I could hear footsteps and I fought the need to find out how close they were. I didn’t know how long I had been hidden or if anyone had been found yet, meaning that if I was discovered now, it could all be over for me. The footsteps passed me by and I let out an internal sigh of relief.

Then there was screaming. “No, no! This isn’t fair.” It was the Telvey that had been here the longest. She had obviously been found and was now trying to put up a fight with the guard.

I stayed perfectly still as more footsteps headed in our direction. “All you had to do was hide, now you have been found, that is it.” The annoyed voice of Phillippe rose up from below.

“But he used his ability to find me, surely I can use mine to fight him off.” She hissed.

“That is not the rules, besides, four others have already been found so you are safe, for now.” Phillippe gritted out, not happy with the Telvey’s attitude. My heart sank at his words, knowing that at least one of the women I had trained with the night before had been caught and would be going home.

The footsteps passed me again but I still remained still, not wanting to give up just because I knew I was safe. The forest grew silent again and I held my position, the blood flow to my limbs feeling like it had almost stopped completely.

“She has to be here somewhere.” I heard an exasperated voice grit out, along with the trudge of many footsteps.

Then, I felt an arm wrap around my waist, pulling me from my hiding spot as my body slammed against his chest. “Got you!” A voice whispered in my ear, his hands gripping me painfully. There was a small cheer as I noticed that all ten guards had come to find me, meaning that I must have been the last.

“Fine, you can put me down now.” I gritted out, not liking how the Physvey was holding me, sensing that his ability was to make his limbs grow and shrink, which was how he had grabbed me from the tree without climbing it.

“I don’t think so. Think of this as like my victory lap.” He laughed, using his vampire speed along with the other’s out of the forest. When we came out, I noticed that the new Sedvey and one of the new Telvey’s were missing, meaning that they must have been found first. “Look what I found.” The Physvey drawled, my head turning to see that it was Nelson who had spoken to me crudely on my second night here.

I resisted the urge to use his own power against him, extending my legs to trip him up or wrap my arms around his throat until he passed out. But that would be displaying my gift and I knew that we would not get through this without having to fight and I needed to keep my ability secret as long as I could. “That is enough Nelson!” Charles sneered, Nelson giving my body one last painful squeeze before he let me go, making me send him a deathly glare that he seemed to find amusing.

I walked over, standing beside the others who gave me a celebratory smile, except the Telvey and Physvey who looked at me with the same disgust as always. “Next, we will have a little race.” Phillippe announced. “You will run from here, around the training ring and field back to the starting point three times. Again, the last one to cross the finish line will be eliminated.”

I felt confidence fill me as we lined up, knowing that I would not be last, but hoping that Nicole, Isla and Lilbeth had trained enough to not come in last before we set off. We all used our vampire speed, completing three laps of the field and training ground before coming back to the start point. I panted as I came to a stop, finding that the obnoxious Telvey had finished before me, sending me a smug look. I ignored her, instead turning around, wishing with all my might that the others made it through.

The other Telvey remaining was next to cross the finish line, giving me a grateful smile as she doubled over and tried to catch her breath. Next was Nicole, followed by Isla and Isbeth, the four of us having a group hug in celebration as we waited for the others to cross the finish line. Two blurs came out from behind the training ring, unable to see which was which as they each seemed neck and neck as they hurtled towards us.

When they came to a stop, I let out a sigh of relief and smiled internally when I realised that the new Physvey had beaten the b***h who looked like she was ready to explode with anger. “This isn’t fair! They have been practicing running since they got here.” She spat, crossing her arms.

“And you could have as well, but your over confidence meant that you didn’t.” Phillippe announced, seeming like he was on the verge of laughing at the Physvey.

“Well I demand a rematch!” She pouted.

“There are no rematches when it comes to battle. Now, get out of here before you are forcibly removed.” Charles spat. With that, all the guards that had been standing by observing, took one step forward, each ready to do as ordered if necessary. The Physvey muttered under her breath about not being given a chance and how her maker would have something to say about this as she stormed off the field.

“Now, there are seven of you remaining. The next trial will get rid of the weak and then we will go on to the battle portion of the trial.” Phillippe announced before turning on his heels and heading towards the training ring, the rest of us trailing along behind.

I worried about what we could have to do, and although I had increased the amount that I could lift in the gym, I knew that I was nowhere near as strong as the Physvey’s in the group. We entered the circular type arena which reminded me of Dimitri’s fighting pit, the stands filled with the vampires I realised from the mess as part of the groups. I looked around, finding Frankie who was waving at me wildly.

I gave her a small smile and waved back before my eyes moved to the man at her side. He was a hulk of a man, his muscles pulling at the seams of the black shirt and suit jacket that he wore, his piercing blue eyes that matched his tie seeming like they were looking right through me to my very soul. His chiseled chin was set in a hard expression and his body seemed to tense the longer that I looked at him.

I turned my head away, realising who that must have been, Sven, the Master vampire. Frankie’s words of warning emanated in my mind, and I understood why she had warned me. He was intimidating, gorgeous and ripped to f**k, but I could tell in his eyes that the humanity he had once had, left him long ago. I faced forward, clenching my fist at my side, whether I made it through to the guard or not, there was no way that I would go near that man, not when he was the epitome of all that I hated in my life and afterlife. Not for anything.