A Shade of Vampire(15)

I gritted my teeth. No way am I going to stay here forever. I had every intention of escaping and I figured the morning would be the best time to do it. As we both found our way to the other rooms and discovered where our bedrooms were, I had one thought circling my mind: I had to escape by daybreak.

I guess I underestimated the Blood Shade when it came to its penchant for surprises. I drifted off to sleep in a round comfortable bed covered with furs, expecting to see sunlight breaking through the bedroom windows the next morning. To my horror, I woke up to a deep, dark night.





Chapter 10: Derek


The moment I laid my back down on the furry covers of the four-post bed in the middle of the lavish bedroom I’d chosen for myself, the first thought that came to mind was: What on earth are you doing? I’d just woken up from four centuries of sleep. There really was no more sleeping to be done. Thus, I spent the night in the library, reading books – hoping to catch up with what I’d missed over the past years. I found a wealth of information there, but I knew that I’d only scratched the surface. I then realized what a great value Sofia would be to me in becoming acquainted with the world as it was now.

I picked up the fourth glass of blood that was brought to me by one of the harem girls. A gift from Vivienne.

When the girl, Gwen, tentatively came in with the first glass in hand, I didn’t even care to ask where the blood came from or whose blood it was. I just drank it all up. My hunger had to be satisfied if I were to keep myself from murdering the girls who were living inside my home. I thanked her for the blood and asked if she could fetch me more. The brunette nodded, her lips trembling even as she moved away from me. I looked at her and wondered why I wasn’t as drawn to her as I was to Sofia. It could be said that she was similarly pleasant to look at as the redhead sleeping in the chambers next to mine, and yet that simple gesture Sofia did back at the Sanctuary – grabbing Gwen’s hand to comfort her – somehow solidified Sofia, in my eyes, as more valuable than the other four girls combined.

As I finished my fourth glass, I found myself longing to check on how my beautiful captive was doing. I stood up and made my way through the glass-covered walkways, displaying the starlit sky above it. I smiled. It was a nice touch by Cora – always keeping the sun out of the Blood Shade – the one place on earth where it was always night. I eventually ended up in her bedroom. I heaved a sigh. I couldn’t understand why I was so nervous. She was just a girl. I’ve had my fill of blood. There was really no reason to be so anxious. I knocked on the door and waited. Nothing. I knocked again. “Sofia?”

I creased my brows. Something was wrong. I opened the door. It wasn’t locked. For some reason, that bothered me. Is she so foolish to trust a stranger like me – a vampire at that – that she wouldn’t even lock her door? I pushed the door open and surveyed the room. She was nowhere in sight.

“Sofia?” I stepped in, the truth beginning to dawn on me.

I was the fool to trust her. I didn’t even bother to station guards outside her bedroom. Of course she would attempt to escape. She’d be a fool if she didn’t.





Chapter 11: Sofia


Run, Sofia. I kept telling myself to go on, to flee. I figured that at some point, I’d reach something – anything to give me a clue on how I could escape the Blood Shade. And so I continued, stumbling through the darkness of the forest.

I knew I had no escape plan and the likelihood of actually leaving the island was practically non-existent. But I had to take my chance the moment I saw it. I couldn’t afford to hang around while Derek decided exactly what he wanted to keep me for.

I thought of Ben and what he would do given my situation. Knowing how impulsive my best friend was, I figured to escape while he could was probably what he would’ve done. That really was all the encouragement that I needed. So when I woke up that morning – and found the sky to be as dark as it was the night before – I realized that waiting for daylight to escape was pointless.

I got off the bed as quietly as I could – I had no idea where Derek was, but if he was in the chambers closest to mine, I figured he’d hear every single noise that I made, so I took care in making none. I slipped out of the slippers I found in the large wardrobe inside the bedroom. I figured I’d make less noise with bare feet.

I rummaged through the closet, which I discovered mostly contained women’s clothes. It made my stomach turn as I wondered why. The idea that the room next to Derek’s was specifically meant for a woman – and what that woman could possibly be intended for – made me sick. Whatever reasons these vampires had for taking us, what they were doing was terrible. I wasn’t just going to sit there and be the victim.