Six
Adelasia
He tells me to run.
So I do.
I fuel myself with desperation instead of fear as I sprint through the halls. I don’t even know where I’m going. I don’t know if there are other vampires lurking here. I reach a dead-end wall, and when I turn to run back the other way, my blood runs cold with pure, unfiltered terror.
Kaius is standing at the opposite end of the hall. The front of his dark tunic is wet from where his blood seeps through the fabric.
And his eyes–his eyes are pure black, with black and red veins pouring out from the sockets. His fangs are longer, his body is poised like a predator.
This is the demon we humans fear. The face of nightmares.
He walks towards me. Each step is slow but purposeful. As he passes the braziers lining the walls, they come alight with blue fire to match the cold fury in his eyes.
Those depthless, unholy eyes.
When he reaches me, I’ve forgotten how to breathe. He stands tall, beautiful, and deadly, mere inches from me.
“I warned you not to be foolish,”
he says, before leaning into me, trapping me between the wall and his body. He inhales deeply at the curve of my neck. “What should be your punishment for such…disobedience?”
I shiver as I feel his fangs drag along my throat, though not enough to break the skin. He’s testing me. Intimidating me. Daring me to move.
“Please…”
He purrs into my neck. “Answer the question, Adelasia, before I rip out your throat.”
“Please. I’m sorry. I’ll do anything, just please don’t hurt me,”
I beg, putting my hands against his chest to try and push him away. My chest heaves faster and faster with the anxiety and panic growing within me.
“Anything, hm?”
he exhales a snort. “What could a human possibly offer me?”
“I’ll–I’ll–I’ll dance for you.”
Instantly, the braziers in the hall return to a normal, orange glow and his eyes return to their normal red hue as he reels back to look at me.
“Explain.”
“I…um…”
I struggle to form words, somehow even more uneasy now than I was when he was poised at my neck. “I can dance for you. It’s my life. I don’t have any skills or experiences outside of ballet. I…I could entertain you and your court?”
I give him a defeated sigh when his face shows no emotion at my proposal. “That's all I have.”
He contemplates in silence for a moment, and I watch as his eyes trace down my face to my neck then back up again.
“I shall allow you a suite of your own and protection from the other vampires here in exchange for three things. One, you may not leave this palace without an escort–meaning me. Two, you will keep yourself modest and covered at all times.”
I look down, ashamed. I understand what he means. He finds my scar grotesque just as everyone else does, and does not wish to see it again.
“Three, you shall dance for me, and only me, during your time here.”
I swallow. “And…how long will that be?”
In response, he simply gives me a sneer and an upturn of his chin before walking away, taking the light of the braziers with him.
Our deal sits heavy in my gut like a rock as I dress. It’s been two days since I’ve seen Kaius. True to his word, not one vampire has bothered me. I’ve seen not one soul. My meals are delivered to my room, and the one who delivers them is always gone before I open the door, even if I open it as soon as I hear a knock.
I’ve had no courage to leave my suite yet.
Yesterday when I woke, the wardrobe was filled with clothing: ornate and beautiful dresses, nightgowns and robes, leotards and tights, trousers and tunics and corsets. Shoes and underthings. Anything I could possibly wish to dress in is freely available to me, including a deep red ballet costume with a tutu decorated in delicately sewn lace and magnificent crystals.
I supposed that costume was meant to be worn as I danced for him tonight as part of our arrangement. I have no intention of humoring this man with dazzling costumes. He stole me from my home. If I have to dance to survive, then I will, but I won’t embellish it with costumes and smiles to make him feel better about himself for what he’s done to me.
Instead, I’ve chosen to wear a simple black leotard with a turtleneck and long sleeves, with a long romantic skirt in a shade of deep purple tulle.
When I arrive in the main hall, where Kaius requested I meet him, he’s sitting on his throne atop a raised platform. A staircase of four narrow black marble steps is all that separates us when I come to a stop. His white hair glows a soft shade of yellow from the braziers that line the room. In his hand is a silver goblet. When he takes a sip, his lips are tinted deep red, and that tells me all I need to know about what’s in that goblet before he licks it away with his tongue.
He silently lets his gaze travel down my body, though the gesture doesn’t make me uncomfortable. I’m used to others looking at me with critical eyes, always looking for a hair out of place, a sliver of weight gain, or a run in my tights.
Everyone has always been so determined to find a flaw in me when all I’ve ever wanted to do is dance.
“Your hair,”
he says, causing me to subconsciously touch the bun at the base of my skull.
“What about my hair?”
“Take it down.”
“Why?”
I ask, utterly confused.
“I’d like you to let your hair free.”
I give him a look of irritation. He sighs and rolls his eyes. “I’d like to see you unbound. Not so rigid and perfect.”
“It’s not about rigidity,”
I spit. “It’s precision. If you wished to see something more sensual and wild, then perhaps you should have kidnapped a different dancer.”
He chuckles. “I am not the one who kidnapped you.”
“And yet you’re now my captor.”
“Captors don’t let their captives roam freely,”
he replies curtly. “Though if you don’t appreciate that freedom, perhaps you’d prefer I treat you as a bitch on a leash?”
He conjures exactly that around my throat, tugging it hard enough to force me to fall to my knees. He gives me a sardonic laugh before he makes it disappear.
“I’m not an animal!”
I say through gritted teeth as I stand again. I will not allow this man the pleasure of seeing me on my knees in front of him.
“You’re a human.”
“So?”
“I see no difference,”
he quips, his chin raised in challenge. My mouth falls open in shock. “Do you know what we call the silly humans that wander into our stronghold? The ones we keep for ourselves to feed on?”
He pauses, but I say nothing, and his mouth twists upward into a wicked sneer, showing off his fangs. “Cattle.”
Furious, I stomp up the narrow staircase. My dance shoes make loud clacks against the marble as I do. When I reach him atop the platform, I raise a hand and smack him as hard as I can. So hard that my wrist and palm hurt after the impact. “You’re a monster,”
I mutter in disgust.
He smiles again before sipping his wine. “Little girls should be scared of monsters.”
I slap the goblet downward, spilling its contents over the front of his gray tunic. “I’m not a little girl, and I’m certainly worth more than livestock.”
Once again, he flashes his dangerous teeth. “Prove it and dance, or I shall throw you in with the other cattle and let my coven rip you to shreds.”
Calling his bluff, I ask, “If I’m so expendable, why didn’t you do that in the first place? Why waste your time filling my belly and my wardrobe if you’d rather exsanguinate me?”
This time, instead of smiling, he grinds his teeth as he stares up at me. He stands so quickly that I nearly lose my footing and tumble down the steps. He roughly grabs me by the elbow and drags me out of the throne room, to an adjacent smaller room where a few vampires sit huddled around a table, drinking and laughing. Their merriment ceases when Kaius and I enter the room.
Without so much as a glance in my direction, he addresses the men.
“Gentlemen…”
He raises his eyebrows in amusement before shoving me further into the room. “Enjoy your dinner.”
The second the door slams shut and I hear it lock from the outside, I go into pure survival mode. Screaming, crying, running, cowering. Once they corner me, they take turns playfully lunging at me–toying with me–snickering at my fear and my feeble attempts to scratch and hit them.
One grabs me, and that’s when I stop fighting and start begging. As the vampire inhales the scent of my neck deeply, I scream, “Please!”
As soon as the word leaves my mouth, the door opens, and Kaius steps back into the room. At his reappearance, the vampire lets me go, and the others clear a path for him to approach me. As he does, he holds out a hand, tenderly, as a lover would do.
With my pride and stubborn defiance gone, I take it. His fingers wrap around my palm with the softest care, and he walks with me in silence until we reach my room. My eyes are still leaking tears, my body still trembling in fear. He lets go of my hand and then reaches up to let my hair out of its bun. He gently runs his fingers through the locks until they’re draped around my shoulders, and then he lifts my chin with his thumb and forefinger.
“I told you, Adelasia. I don’t ask twice,”
he whispers, before using whatever magic he possesses to put out the fires keeping my room lit and warm, and gently closes the door behind him.
Once again locking me in like the animal he believes I am.