It’s been one month since I’ve been locked up in this damn dungeon and all my energy has run out. I’m hungry because I haven’t eaten anything in one month. Neither did I get even a single drop of water. It’s not normal for werewolves to live that long without food and water. Must be because I am a royal blood. That’s why I’m alive.

I don’t know what Blood Devil is planning to do. He didn’t come to visit me again. I’ve been locked up in this dungeon with nothing more than two guards who are always outside. They change places sometimes. All they find is a girl sitting inside the dungeon who has lost all hope.

Rubbing my hands on my face, I tried to compose myself. All I’ve done is sitting and sleeping and pacing back and forth in this dungeon. My life is over. That most humiliating thing, I even smell because I haven’t taken a shower in one month. Surely I don’t sweat but that doesn’t make it any better. Besides, my skin has turned cold like vampires and I am craving blood.

This has never happen before. I don’t crave blood. But ever since I’ve bitten that boy, I want it. Thinking about that boy, I still feel the guilt. I killed him because I wanted to escape. I’ve sunk that low. But he was a human and I’m a vampire or whatever I am. It’s normal for one species to kill the other for survival. Humans even do it for fun. Killing the other species for their necessities or their pleasure. I don’t see what wrong did I do?

And there I go again. Trying to justify my actions. I had looked into the eyes of that boy. He wanted to live and I killed him. I killed someone who wanted to live. And that’s what I hate the most. That’s why I feel the guilt. Why am I feeling like this?

Maybe because it makes me forget about Vladimir. That deceiving mate of mine. Now I look how much my life has changed. First my parents were gone. Then my mate rejected me. The person who saved my life used me for his own advantage. What am I? What is the purpose of my life?

Am I having identity crisis in a situation like this? But what else is there to do except for waiting. All I can do I self reflection without a mirror. A dungeon is the best place for that.

I wonder what Blood Devil is doing. I’m sure he won’t be sitting idle for one month. God knows what’s going on outside.

** **

I was leaning against the wall, sitting on the dirty floor. And then I heard footsteps I knew too well. So he has finally decided to grace me with presence.

“Hello my little Devil,” I didn’t even look at Blood Devil when he addressed me with the nickname he had invented. “You are really skulking, aren’t you?”

He was only greeted by my silence. I didn’t want to show him my anger. I wanted to show him my sadness. “You don’t look happy. Is it because you are locked up here?” He taunted. “Or is it because your mate betrayed you?”

I gave him a sideways look when he mentioned that and clenched my fists. I know where this talk is going. Using a broken heart to his advantage. So typical of Blood Devil, I mean the previous Vladimir. I know him, not very well, but enough to infer his next taunt. He is going to dig up my whole family history now.

And that’s what he did. “Your mother was such a smart woman. She only wanted to bring a royal blood to this world. That’s why she was with that wolf. After you were born, she abandoned you. After all you had no more purpose for her. She had to give you birth, she did it and then disappeared from your life.”

He continued to babble about what had happened in my whole life. I kept my face straight and listened to all this information. He had clearly researched me or something. That’s why he knew almost everything.

“Your mother left you. Your father was killed. Your brother used you for his own safety. Your mate rejected you. Don’t you think you are always treated as nothing more than a pawn in their games?”

I finally decided to look at him with blank his. His green eyes twinkled in satisfaction. He got some reaction from me.

“But you can stop all of this. You can stop being used as a pawn by everyone.” I cocked my head to the side, watching him curiously. “I can make you the queen. And then you can rule over all of them. You will be the one to use them as your pawns.”

My mouth parted at his words. I knew what he was implying.

“You can make all of them pay for treating you like trash.” He leaned forward. “Come with me Sera. I will give you power. And then you can take your revenge on all of them.”

He is so stupid. Previously, I had thought that Blood Devil was really smart. That’s because I was at a very low level. I always wasted my emotions on unnecessary things. That’s why I always failed to see the reality. When I was little, I was always saddened by the loss of my parents, feeling pity at myself. Then I was waiting for my mate. A hope that had always helped me kept going on. A hope that always told me that everything was alright. That there will be someone to protect me.

And then I was struck by the reality. My mate rejected me. I held onto that grudge against him for a long time. Even though I had told myself I was over it but that was not true. I kept on trying to hurt Daniel because my feelings of hatred and frustration always remained under the surface. After that the discovery of me being the heir. My reluctance to tell the truth. My fear of truth leaking out.

All my life, I have wasted my emotions on unwanted things when I should have used them to do something right. I should have used them for myself. I always ignored what was needed to be done. I always denied my actual role.

I have taken many wrong decisions in my life even though they don’t seem very apparent. Even when I took the right decisions, I always lacked at the action. But not now.

Previously, when I first became a vampire, I always thought there was no defeating Blood Devil. That’s because I was being sheltered by him. I thought of him as the one with absolute strength and brains. And maybe it was a feeling that had evolved for my mate. And Vladimir, I always knew something was fishy with him but ignored that feeling because I believed Blood Devil was there if anything goes wrong.

In the end, Blood Devil was not even Blood Devil and Vladimir was not even Vladimir. It was all Blood Devil’s game. He used me as his pawn. He used Vladimir as his pawn.

But I am not a pawn.

This time, the game is mine.

“I’ll come with you.” I told Blood Devil. “I’ll take my revenge.”