"Are you feeling any better?" Mr Morgan said as I sat on the edge of a huge bed with beautiful soft purple sheets and a mink blanket.

"A little, thank you. Sir, who were those vampires?" I said drying my hair after a long hot shower. He had given me a T-Shirt and a pair of sweats to wear as my suitcase was still on the plane. I was sitting in a bedroom of a huge old castle. He had told me this was his father's home many years ago. His family has castle money, that's crazy.

"Ok, I guess I owe you an explanation." He sat next to me on the bed "They work for my brother; his name is Leon. My brother and I have never seen eye to eye and unfortunately, it has turned into a war." He sighed and rubbed his head "I don't want to bore you with the details, but he is a very dangerous vampire and will stop at nothing to hurt me or kill me. He found out that we had captured one of his men and he decided to attack us."

"But why were they ripping apart the car like a corpse? What were they looking for?"

"Something very important to our family. After my father died, I was given a family artefact that has great power. If in the wrong hands it would be very dangerous. He will try anything to get it." Mr Morgan cleared his throat before continuing. "Miss Summers, can you tell me exactly what you saw?" He turned to me, and I noticed that his blue eyes were sparkling like glitter in a water bottle.

"Umm, I saw a really big, huge vampire who was covered in tattoos ..."

"Bernard, damn it I thought he was dead. Continue please,"

"Ok, I saw a smaller one who had a bald head and one arm I think?"

"Cecil, son of a bitch" he yelled loudly "How did he bring these guys back? What else did you see?"

"Umm, there were like ten of them maybe. To be honest they were kind of busy ripping apart the car."

"Did they see you?"

"I don't think so. Wait, they said they smelt me and then the tattooed one ordered them to find me and that's when I ran."

"It's ok, you're safe. Did you see anyone else?" He touched my hand on the bed and I felt butterflies in my stomach. His hand was freezing like a block of ice wrapped in a cloth.

"No after that I just ran until ... until that stranger found me in the street"

"Tell me about him." Mr Morgan said slowly.

"You think he wanted to hurt me?"

"I don't trust anyone or anything, tell me about this stranger," his voice was slightly softer at this point.

"He was slim, tall and had dark hair, he had an accent, he said he was Australian."

"Australian?" he paused for a moment before continuing" Tell me Ebony did he by any chance have a rose tattoo on his neck?" I just nodded and watched Mr Morgan's face turn to one that I had never seen before. He looked furious but really concerned all at the same time.

"He said his name was Phil. Is that bad?"

Mr Morgan sighed loudly as he rubbed his temples with his fingertips. "Phillip works for my brother, he is human, but a convicted criminal known for his love of torture and blood. He lures in the victims with an act of kindness and then slaughters them in cold blood. If he found you that means he knows what you look like and now he knows you work for me. It is only a matter of time before my brother finds out this information and your life becomes in danger." he stood up suddenly and began to pace the floor while rubbing his chin.

"Danger?"

"I have to tell you something Ebony, something about my family. I don't usually share this with my employees, but I feel you are going to have to know now as my brother will be after you."

"After me? I didn't do anything?" I said feeling sick to my stomach. "Why is he after me?"

"Because you are mine," he said sternly as he stopped pacing. "He wants everything that is mine and that now that includes you. This is why I ship my staff all around the world. I need you to know where he is and be ready to kill him should he ever decide to attack."

"Kill him? I'm not going anywhere near him," I yelled standing up. "I want to go home now. I don't want to do this anymore; this is all too much for me."

"Listen to me, it's too late for all of that. Phillip knows who you are, and he will tell my brother. They will find you and they will kill you. I'm sorry but it's too late for any of that now." he walked towards me. "I can keep you safe, but I need to tell you this in case something happens."

"Please just let me go home, I'll move to another country if I have to. I just don't want to do this anymore." I begged him.

"Enough," he ordered with a growl pointing to the bed. "You have two choices here. You can stay with me and let me protect you or you can leave and let them kill you. If you want to go then go but those are your choices," he yelled clearly annoyed. "Let me know when you have made your decision," he said turning away from me and walking towards the door. My heart was pounding, and my body was starting to ache again. I hated this situation more than anything, but I hated the thought of being alone right now even more.

"Wait," I cried out "I'll listen, just please don't leave me alone." I felt the tears in my eyes and the lump in my throat. I realised I wanted the company of a stone-cold vampire right now rather than be alone with my own thoughts. "I'm terrified right now and confused and angry and I just don't want to be alone right now as I think my thoughts will haunt me. I don't know what to do. I'm sorry but I'm not as strong as you and Jake. I'm scared Mr Morgan and I don't know what to do right now?" I wiped the tears falling from my eyes. "I have worked for you for three days and now I found out that some serial killer and an angry vampire are after me? I don't know what to do in this situation, sir." I was holding back my tears now.

He stopped at the door and turned around to look at me. His face had no expression on it, just his blue eyes staring at me.

"What do I do?" I shrugged.

"Why do you cry?" He said still not moving.

"Because I'm scared," I said looking away.

"I don't understand what scared feels like. I've heard humans use this term, but I still don't know what it means to feel it?"

"You've never been scared?"

He shook his head "Vampires feel two things, rage and contempt. That is it. We are either angry or waiting to be angry, but fear is something I don't understand." he shrugged.

"Fear is what drives humans to do most things. It's probably our most powerful emotion. It is something that is driven by threat, danger, pain or harm and makes us do or say things that we wouldn't normally do. It can also push us to do great things like ...."

"Like work for a wealthy vampire even though you fear him?" He said slowly.

I nodded "Exactly."

He nodded slowly walking towards me. "Are you still scared of me?"

"Well, I don't really know you. The first time I meet you, you were kind of a ...."

"Monster?" He said stopping just in front of me.

"Your words not mine," I said.

He smiled slightly "I was not myself that night. I had not eaten for nearly three days." he took a moment before continuing. "Here sit, I must tell you the truth as this is the only thing that will be able to protect you." he sat on the edge of the bed and patted the space next to him. I did as I was told. "My father was a great vampire elder who helped to rule over all of our kind for hundreds of years. He had two sons me and my younger brother, Leon. Our mother, however, was not a vampire, she was a cross of werewolf and human." his eyes started to twinkle again like a star in the dark sky.

"Your mother was human?"

He nodded "My father loved my mother deeply and protected her from the world that wanted to hurt her. He kept her locked in this very castle for protection from others and even more so, himself. We grew up here learning from our father about the world and its creatures and its dangers. As we become older our instincts become stronger and we realised that under all these vampire genes, there was a strong pull from the darkness inside us. It was angry and hungry even more than my vampire side. It made me do things, horrible things that I still think about to this day. My parents helped me to control this side of me, my brother, however, embraced it. He wanted more power and let his urges control him. That is why he is so dangerous; he has no self-control over himself or his actions ..."

"What happened to your parents?"

"They were both killed many years ago now. My mother became very weak due to her human side. My father took her to some witches in the vampire world to help heal her but unfortunately, it was too late, and she died due to sickness. We never got to say goodbye to her. My father was hunted and killed in a great war many years ago now by..." he sighed "It is what started the war between my brother and me."

"Wait, did your brother kill your father?" I gasped.

"Yes, he thought killing him would give him more power, but it just made me want to kill him even more. I left our world for that reason as my desire for revenge took over me, it consumed my every thought, and I knew that if this kept going the wolf would eventually take control of me. I couldn't let that happen, so I left my world and came here to your world. I used everything I had to build my empire and make something out of myself. Unfortunately, my brother found me here and has decided to make this world his new home."

"Is that why you were so different when I meet you? Was that the wolf?"

"When I don't eat or I get very stressed or tired, that's when it appears as I don't have the strength to fight it. I'm sorry for that, I truly am but it does help when I must deal with an enemy. That night I was dealing with someone that had crossed me and betrayed my men. He was working both sides and didn't think I would find out. I told you I'm very good to you if you are loyal to me," I said nothing and just kept staring at him. "I can see by the look in your eyes that you fear me more now"

"A little," I said.

"I tell you this for one reason. There is only one way to kill something like us. If my brother attacks, there is only one way to kill him. A stake dipped in pure silver. That is the only weapon that will work. Anything else might slow us down a bit but it will not stop us. Remember this Ebony, it might just save your life," he said touching my hand. His touch was like ice, but my body responded instantly with heat. He smiled at my reaction, and I blushed.

"I have so many questions but honestly, I don't know where to start. Thank you for trusting me with that. I know that information doesn't get shared with many others."

"Nobody," he said raising his eyebrows. "I told you that because you trusted me with your life and now, I'm trusting you with mine but if you betray me in any way, I will deal with you." he smiled slightly.

"I understand, can I ask you something else?" I said pulling at my T-Shirt.

"Yes,"

"Can you stay here until I fall asleep? I know that's childish but after tonight I don't want to be alone."

He smiled "I have always been partial to the movie The Hangover. I don't understand it, but I do find it quite humorous. The little crazy one is quite amusing. Would you care to watch it with me?" He smiled.

"I love that movie. That's sound amazing, thank you,"

"You are most welcome." he stood up and walked to the door as I followed him. "I do have one question though. Why if they saw a mattress on the roof of their building at the start of the movie, why would they not check there first? It does not make sense to me and what is the point of a bachelor party anyway? It just looks very complicated."