by Santos, Anna
But, let’s face it. What was the worst that could come from people knowing about our existence? There was already a cult around us. There were a lot of boys and girls who thought of us as gods and dreamed of being loved and fed on by our kind. We would most probably rule the world in fair and democratic elections if we came out of the shadows. After all, who doesn’t dream of being immortal?
I tried hard to keep that girl away from my thoughts. I tried to ignore her presence and pretend her scent wasn’t making me go insane. Everywhere I went, I could smell her and know perfectly well where she was standing. The wind seemed to be playing a twisted game with me. I flirted with gorgeous women, much prettier than her. I even took one to my private quarters, so I could drink from her. I thought that I was probably hungry, and her smell was taunting me because of that. I had no such luck. Kissing the woman was all but satisfying. Drinking from her was tasteless, and her moans of lust were repulsive to my ears. I had no idea what the hell was going on, but the arrival of that girl had just ruined my night!
I sent the woman away, compelling her so she would stop complaining and wouldn’t remember the feeding. Then, I called my maker. She was the only one I could trust. Josephine would know what to do.
I was right. Something was wrong with the way I was feeling. Apparently, my symptoms meant that I had found my soul-mate. Of course, I didn’t tell Jo that I was the one experiencing all those side effects. The last thing I needed was a weakness like that. My men and enemies couldn’t know anything about the girl. They could use her to undermine my power and have leverage against me.
After half an hour on the phone, I had the solution to my problem. It was quite simple, actually. Vampires had been doing it for ages. My maker had done it to her mate. All I had to do was take the girl to a private place and reject her. That would cut the bond and would set me free. It would also stop my fixation on her and solve my thirst. Everything would go back to normal. No more cravings for her or weird fascination. I just had to reject her and try not to taste a single drop of her blood. It seemed that a mate’s blood was the most incredible thing to a vampire. I would be permanently caught under her spell. Therefore, no drinking. After the rejection, I would have to get rid of the girl, send her far away, so I wouldn’t fall into temptation in the future.
I had a brilliant plan ahead of me. I had to charm the silly and gullible girl and take her somewhere private to rip my soul from hers. You can only imagine my surprise when she was reluctant to follow me, and I had to enthrall her to get what I wanted! I have gorgeous, important, and famous women at my disposal.
Who the hell does that joke of a girl think she is to deny me anything?
Chapter SIX
ARIA
It made no sense at all. It was utterly unbelievable and illogical. But, there I was, walking behind that unknown French man, feeling his hands send unwanted tingles to my whole body, and making me feel flustered and powerless. How is he doing this? I tried to fight back against the pull—the submission state he had put me in—but it was useless. My body was a puppet to his will, and my mind was trapped inside. I was unable to use my voice to scream and call the attention of the people, who kept dancing and laughing, completely oblivious to what was going on with me.
We went to the back of the boat, where the servants were coming out with the drinks and the food for the guests. Then, we went downstairs to a dark and smelly place. Creepy shadows crawled on the walls and mumbling and breathless voices whimpered in the background. The light was dim, and I was feeling the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. I was sure that something awful was going to happen to me, but I had no idea why he had chosen me. Why me? I was a nobody. No one ever noticed me. Why did he notice? What did he want from me?
A nauseating smell hit me, and I saw them out of the corner of my eye—other men with women having some sort of orgy. Lustful and guttural moans came out of the men’s throats.
Bile came to my mouth. It was promiscuous and perverted. Those people were having sex without any kind of shame. Until I realized that the women were in some sort of a trance. Their eyes were blank, and their necks had blood and puncture marks. The men had black eyes and fangs—they looked scary and evil. They were abusing those women. The women were like me, they couldn’t move or speak. I wanted to close my eyes, cry and scream, but I wasn’t able to.
Next thing I know, I was dragged into a room and the door shut behind me. The vampire pushed me against the wall, and I fell onto a stack of cushions that absorbed my fall.
He kneeled in front of me, as he shouted, “Look at me!”
I obeyed, my eyes moving up to meet his. I mentally screamed and fought to make my limbs move, to push him back and run away from there. But nothing happened. I just stood there, staring at his black, lifeless eyes. He was a monster, and he was going to hurt me.
His hands hurt my face, squeezing it between his fingers. “You are pathetic. You are nothing! Nothing but a stupid, spoiled girl who never had to fight for anything in her pitiful life. Who do the gods think they are to match me with you? Is this a joke? You wouldn’t last a day in my world! I can’t afford to worry about you and attend to all your human needs. I don’t need this crap. I don’t need love. I’m perfectly happy being alone. I’ve been alone for the past two hundred years. Where the fuck were you for all that time?”
He was infuriated with me. I had no clue why. He wasn’t making any sense. All I wanted to do was cry and beg him to let me go. I was terrified.
He breathed deep and leaned back. His eyes were still black when he got up and stepped back as he combed his hair. Growling like a wild animal, he grabbed a chair and smashed it against the wall opposite to me.
I was unable to sob, but my body trembled with fear. I wasn’t going to survive. Something deep inside of me knew that.
He leaned his forehead against the wall and stood there quietly with his back to me.
His mumbled words arrived at my ears. “You wouldn’t last a day in my world. I’m doing you a favor. It’s not like we could have a family…a life. Let’s face it,” he stated, turning around to face me and resting his back against the wall. “Vampires can’t breed. They can’t walk in the sun and… We are only good at killing. We are predators. Do you know how many lives I have taken, Aria?” he asked with a deceiving, sweet voice as he stared at me with gloomy, brown eyes.
I didn’t know if I was able to speak or not, so I continued to remain silent. Yet, my eyes were glued to him. He was a rather pleasant psychopath to look at when he wasn’t morphed into a vampire. Sorrow was replacing fear I was actually feeling sorry for the crazy guy who had taken me against my will to a private room to be raped, sucked dry, or worse, killed. Not even in my worst nightmares could I have foreseen this end. But feeling sorry wasn’t what I should feel for him.
He shortened the distance between us and fell on his knees in front of me. “Of course, you have no idea. You are…innocent. I was once innocent like you,” he mumbled, caressing a strand of my hair. “Until my mother, the whore, turned me into an escort for men and women who liked young boys. So, I wasn’t innocent for long.”
He laughed like a mad person. I had no clue why he was telling me all those things, but having a vague idea of all the horrors he had lived through, made me feel even sorrier for him. I wanted to reach out and hug him. It also made me cry, and my tears made him stop laughing and stare at me.
He didn’t seem pleased as he muttered, “Stupid child. I don’t want your pity. Save your tears for someone who gives a fuck. I’ve survived. I’ve built an empire. It isn’t going to be you who destroys everything I’ve fought for! Fuck love! Fuck you! I reject you. I, Philippe Benoît Duchamp, reject you Aria. I unbind my soul from yours in this life and for the next ones. I don’t want anything to do with you. I don’t want you as my soul-mate.”
Every single word he said hurt as if a knife was carving ornaments into my skin. I gasped, leaning forward to grab my chest. Why is it hurting? What did those word
s mean? Was he crazy besides being a monster? Why would he think that we were soul-mates? It was a completely absurd concept made up by romantic people. I wasn’t a spiritual person. I was a science person. I believed in what I could see and prove. But I never thought I could see vampires, that they were real, even if their existence could have a logical explanation. But the existence of a soul-mate could be refuted by a lot of theories that explained love and the reasons why certain people fell in love with others. It was all hormonal and physical. It had nothing to do with the soul. There was no proof of the existence of a soul. That man, or vampire, or monster was simply crazy. He probably had some deep mental disease.
Despite all my logical thoughts, nothing explained why my body was shaking. My heart had an excruciating ache, and I was feeling as if a piece of me was torn apart, leaving behind a vast emptiness inside my chest. I’ve never felt so lonely in my life. When I was scared and had nightmares, I would scream for my Mom and Dad. At that moment, it seemed that no matter how hard I cried and who came to hold me and save me from that nightmare, nothing and no one could chase that pain away.
Suddenly, I’m being dragged outside the room, following the vampire while stumbling on my feet. Once he stopped, I crumbled to the floor. Two men were in front of us. The vampire seemed to be asking them something in French, and they were complaining. He used a more menacing tone as he threw me against one of the vampires. His eyes were black as he stepped back and let me fall.
I had no idea what was going to happen to me. Philippe leaned down. “Follow them,” he ordered me as he helped me stand up. “Obey them.”
I stared at him, feeling a profound and unfamiliar emptiness in my chest. I wanted to cry and hold on to him.
“Hurry up, the boat is arriving at its next stop,” he snarled at his men. Then he turned his back and left.
I stood there, seeing him leave and fisting my hands with fear and mixed emotions. I didn’t want him to leave me. Somehow, I felt safer next to him. It made no sense at all. Then, I realized I could move. I was no longer under the spell. I could move my hands and clench them harder with rage and hurt. I could swallow hard and listen to my heart pounding fast. But all was useless because one of the vampires grabbed me and forced me to follow him.
PHILIPPE
Aria’s distressed scream reached me, alerting me and waking up my anger. Despite rejecting her, I still worried about her well-being. The beast inside of me took control. I pushed away from the woman I was feeding off as Aria screamed again. When I noticed what I was doing, I was running to her. Arriving at the deck, I saw her terrified face. Before I understood what was happening, I heard the splashing sound of a body falling into the water. Aria threw herself overboard as two of my men tried to reach her.
In a boat next to ours, the tourists were taking pictures and pointing at my men. The vampires pushed at each other, blaming one another for what happened. I rushed to the railing and stared at the water, but I couldn’t find Aria anywhere. My heart seemed like it was going to come out of my mouth. Why am I feeling like this? Why am I worried about her? Did she really fall or were my eyes deceiving me? The thought of her dying made me hold my chest in pain.
I rejected her! My master said it would stop the yearning and the lust. It stopped. I couldn’t care less about her until she screamed, and I realized she was scared.
“Where is she?” I asked, enraged as I marched to one of the men and grabbed him by his shirt.
“It was his fault,” he babbled, looking at his companion.
“What was his fault?”
“He wan-ted to abu-se her,” he stuttered, panic in his face.
“You also agreed to that. I didn’t know she was no longer compelled,” the bigger one protested as I glared at him.
Anger made me blind. “Where is she?”
“She fell,” the guy answered with widened eyes as he pointed at the river. “She jumped…”
I clenched my jaw, listening to the whispers from the boat where the tourists were talking about the girl who fell into the river. Some were calling the police while others were asking to stop the boat.
“I’ll deal with you two later,” I muttered, pushing him aside and turning around to look at the river for her.
Despite my keen vision, I couldn’t find her. My vision blurred as pain clenched at my heart. My body reacted, and I was about to jump in when someone stopped me.
“Sir, what are you doing?”
It was Gerard. He pushed me back.
I released myself from his hold. “Let me go. I need to save her.”
“She’s gone.” He put himself in front of me. “Probably dead. It’s useless. We need to calm our guests and take precautions about what happened.”
“I want them dead,” I declared as I pushed him aside and locked my eyes on the surface of the river.
Aria couldn’t be that far. It wasn’t cold. She could still swim to the shore unless she was caught under the boat and got shredded to pieces.
“It’s better if she’s dead,” Gerard spoke next to my ear as he pulled me back, again. “She was a liability.”
I released myself from him. “I told you to send her home and erase her memory. Why did you let these idiots touch her?”
Gerard bowed his head. “I’ll take care of them. They’ll be punished for disobeying.”
Narrowing my eyes, I stared at the men. Despite being quiet, they didn’t appear to regret what they had done. I stepped forward and slapped the one who had tried to harm Aria. I sent him to his knees, slashing his face with my claws.
“We don’t harm innocent girls!” I growled at him. “You aren’t worth the blood you drink!”
“I’m sorry, master!” He shook out of fear as he lowered his eyes to the ground.
I was mad at him and at life. I didn’t want to hear his excuses. The harm was done, and she…fell and was probably dead. Gone. And it was my fault.
“You need to leave. I’ll take care of the tourists,” Gerard said as he put his hand on my shoulder.
“Gargoyle!” one of the vampires shouted, pointing at the sky.
I turned around, alarmed.
Gargoyles looked almost the same, but I knew that that one was Cedric. He was bigger and paler than the rest. His warriors were following far behind him as he flew fast in our direction. Is he coming to attack us because they saw my men assaulting an innocent girl?
“Evacuate!” I ordered Gerard. “Go inside and warn the others. Enthrall the girls not to remember anything. Take two men and take care of the guests who heard the girl scream. I want everybody out of the boat in two minutes.”
“And me?” the big one asked. I didn’t even know his name nor who turned him. I really didn’t care. I smiled at him, pretending I was calmer, but I was not. “Go inside and warn the others.”
I stared at the sky, waiting for Cedric. The fool wasn’t waiting for his men. Suddenly, I couldn’t see him anymore. He was gone. I ran upstairs and glimpsed him flying away with something in his arms. He must have found Aria. Is she alive? Did he save her? I hadn’t compelled her to forget what happened. All was ruined!
I growled and sped my way downstairs. I was focused on a particular individual who ruined my night and put the peace treaty at stake. I found him, sucking some girl’s neck instead of making sure every one of his brothers was out. I didn’t need this type of ignorant and selfish bastard in my ranks.
I pulled him from the girl, enjoying the look of terror in his eyes. Ignoring the lames excuses he was babbling, I bit him, ripping his jugular and tearing the soft muscles of his neck apart. The blood flowed freely as he gasped for air. I laughed as he choked in his own blood. Then I pulled his head off, decapitating him. The useless bastard rolled his eyes before taking his final breath. They say the brain remains alive for a few seconds after the head is taken off. Who knows? All I knew was that vampires die without their heads as much as humans do, and I wanted that jerk dead!
I stared at the body as it made rhyth
mic contractions and smirked at the sight of it. I would have inflicted more pain if I had more time, but I didn’t. I would take care of the other one as soon as we left the boat. I had to diminish the damages with the police and the media. It wasn’t good for my image to have a suicidal jumper from my boat, but it would be worse to have an attempted rape.
“Master, we need to go!” one of my men arrived behind me.
I cleaned my hands on my jacket and wiped my mouth on my sleeve. Another perfect suit ruined! I breathed deeply before I voiced, “Leave his body behind. Everybody else, let’s leave before the gargoyles find the boat. The giant rats will arrive soon, and I don’t want anyone here for them to blame.”
I couldn’t shake the sensation of emptiness inside my heart. It had always been there, but now it stung even more. Aria was alive. I had hoped she was. But what would happen if she was saved? Would she tell what happened here? Do I want to see her? I wanted her gone. Safe from the supernatural creatures. I should have taken her home myself. But…I couldn’t. Her tears… Her eyes. I needed to stay away from her. She was making me feel vulnerable. Human. Pity was for the weak.
I needed to be rational. Even if Cedric saved her and the police found her, they wouldn’t believe her story of being attacked by vampires. I had contacts in the police. I could always find out where she was and what she had reported. For now, I had to make sure that the girls didn’t remember what happened and that there were no vampires on my boat for the gargoyles to behead.