Vampire's Hostage

Vampire's Hostage ~ Chapter 4

            “I'm going to have to carry you.” he said. “And you’ll have to close your eyes.”

I let him pick me up by the waist as if I was weightless; I wrapped my arms around his neck, my legs around his torso and closed my eyes.

     He walked to the door and swiftly unlocked it, keeping one arm around me.

Once we were out he began to run. When I say run, I really mean fly, because that's what he was doing. We were going so fast. I wanted so badly to open my eyes and look, but I obediently kept them closed tightly. The wind whipped my arms and legs so to the point that they hurt.

“Open your eyes,” Jace whispered. I did, and then I took a sharp intake of breath. 

       In front of me was a huge castle. It was beautiful; the whole thing was pitch black. You know when your five, and you’re totally convinced you’re going to become a princess and live in enormous castle with towers and a draw bridge and the whole thing would be made out of pink? This was that castle. But made out of black.

      We were flying again, but this time I could see. Trees whipped by at unnatural speed. I was afraid we were going to hit one, but as soon as one came into our path Jace just neatly swerved around it.

As we drew nearer to the castle I saw that the walls were not actually made of all black, but grey brick inlayed with millions of shiny reflective black stone and a few dark red ones. I guessed onyx and ruby.

“How do humans not discover this?” I asked in awe.

“It's glamoured,” he said. “You can't even see it unless you’re with a Vampire, never mind get past the barriers. If a human were to stumble upon this spot randomly, which is nearly impossible considering how far from civilisation we are, they would just come out on the other side.”

“So, if I was hiking through here, and I came to a certain spot close enough, I wouldn’t see this, I would just pop out on the other side?” that was freaky.

“Basically.”  He said.

He set me down and we walked through the open gates to the front entrance. Once inside, I was awestruck . Everything was so open; with high arc ceiling and grand hallways that spanned a hundred feet across, the entire thing was black with touches of scarlet, but it wasn't dark. And on every wall was a large mirror bordered with black grained wood.

“What do you think?” he asked.

“I think it's beautiful.” And dark and seductive and amazing and mind blowing. I smiled.

“Would you like to see my room?” he asked. Hopeful, I decided the look on his face meant hopeful.

“Sure.” I said. And then, I want to use your restroom.

He picked me up again and ran me through the maze of stair cases and hallways and trap doors.  Soon enough we were up high in a tower on the west side of the palace. We walked up the final spiral staircase that lead directly into his room.

I had expected black and red like the rest of the palace, but Jace’s room was sapphire blue with silver pieces. It was completely round and as I looked around I found myself surprised I saw no coffin, only a large four poster bed. The ceiling had a sky light and for windows parts of the walls had been removed that were large enough to each have a terrace leading off of them. There were two doors exactly across from each other, one I guessed was a closet and the other, was the bathroom.

“Like it?” he asked as I took it all in.

“Yea, I like the colour.” I said.

“The bathroom’s in there.” he said pointing to one of the doors.

I didn't say anything, just walked in and shut the door. Once inside I looked in the mirror, my makeup from the party was crazily smudged and I had large bags under my eyes. My hair was stringy from not showering and I knew I stank.  I pulled a hand towel from the rack and wet it, I then wiped all the makeup and grime off my face. I wet another towel and wiped down my hair.

After I was done my business I left the bathroom. I realized how bizarre it was that Jace had taken me all the way to his castle just to use the rest room, especially when I was his prisoner. But gosh was I thankful. I felt much better.

“Thanks.” I said as I emerged.

“If you wanted a shower you could have just asked, you didn't need to deprive yourself of your hygiene.”  He said.

I wanted to snap back, ‘the only reason I am here is because you’ve kept me trapped in a cage with no bathroom like an animal.’ But I knew he didn't have to take me out at all, so I was grateful.

“It's fine.” I said.

“I have a question.” He said.

“Shoot.” I said.

“Do you want to stay here? Instead of that cell I could keep you here and you could have free run of the castle.” He offered.

“Do you show all your blood slaves this much hospitality?” I asked. Seriously, the cereal, the hot juice, shared dreams, lullabies, trips to the royal throne.

“No.” He replied. “There’s something special with you, you’re different. I’ve never shared dreams with anyone else either.  And I know things about you, your past, like the song or the juice, that make me feel more connected with you. And if you’re going to be a part of me, if you’re going to share my brain then I figure I better be nice to you.”

As much as Jace’s kindness was appreciated I still noted that I was his captive, that if it wasn't for him I would be at home, not missing my parents, and not fighting a war with myself over how I even felt about this strange Vampiric boy. I would have a life; I would continue to strive to keep up my grades for university. I would continue bullying my brother and he would keep annoying me. If it wasn't for Jace I would be continuing on in peaceful human oblivion, and that's all I've ever wanted, asked for. Needed.

I would not stay here. And I would no longer accept gifts from Jace, I was going to quit him. Cold turkey. I wasn't going to dream about him, even if that meant I never slept again. I wasn't even going to think about him. I had a job to do. I promised Joyce I’d break us out, and I was going to, but I wouldn’t be able to if I couldn’t break away from Jace.

“Take me back to the cells. Now.” I said, emotionlessly. “Actually never mind, I’ll walk.”

I took the stairs out of his room two at a time. Once I was at the bottom I was met with something I did expect, the door that lead to the hallway branching off Jace’s tower was nowhere in sight. I was blocked in all directions accept for up, with bricks.

Though I hadn’t heard him fallow me down the stairs, he materialized beside me.

“How that working out for you?” he asked, eye brow raised. “Even though you can try to quit me, you can't escape me.” a sadistic smile crept up on his face.