Xander blinked above me while Aveline sat with her mouth half-parted in surprise. I squirmed under them, feeling the heat of their full attention and my mortification.

“Master Jacobi? You’re sure?” Xander asked, frowning. I didn’t respond. I felt like any moment I would melt through the bed mattress and into the purgatory meant for those who died of complete embarrassment. Aveline was only quiet for a moment before she began to bounce steadily up and down on her knees. Then she abruptly squeaked and started to slap at Xander’s arms. I couldn’t be sure if it was madness, anger, or insane excitement that caused her to attack Xander.

“We have to…,” Aveline paused, glancing at me with crazy eyes before grabbing Xander and pulling him off of me. They shifted away from the bed to mutter quiet things which I couldn’t hear. It made things more awkward than usual. I decided the best thing was to hide myself under the covers until I suffocated to death or enough time passed that everyone forgot everything. Apparently, this plan wasn’t to work long because an abrupt knock on the door presented a strange man I didn’t recognize.

Aveline scowled at the intruder, moving aside to allow them inside the room. For modesty, I bunched the sheets around me to cover my dainty slip and therefore my form from this stranger. Where I thought the man was here for Xander and Aveline, I was proven wrong when he moved straight for me. I immediately scooted onto the far side of the bed in distrust.

“Who is this?” I asked Xander, who was nearest to me.

“I see you’re feeling better,” The stranger stated with clear distaste, “Audrina won’t be pleased.”

“She isn’t completely healed. The claim must have sped it along,” Xander defended me sharply.

“A claim doesn’t typically heal wounds like that within a few days,” The stranger replied with mild disbelief.

“With two vampires bonded to her, it obviously did,” Aveline snapped in irritation.

“That or a certain Master of the coterie decided to speed up the process himself.” The man stared at them, waiting for their faces to give away any secret they were hiding. Neither of them shifted or looked at each other, so they played very good at not giving away Jacobi. Then again, they didn’t exactly know what all Jacobi had done when he had ‘touched’ me. The man looked back at me. “Very well, turn around. Let me see how you look.”

I looked up at Aveline behind the man. “Go ahead, Elysia, he’s not going to hurt you,” She told me, her irritation still clear on her features. It was enough to convince me, though. I turned and bared my back to the stranger, hugging the sheets over my chest as though they’d protect me.

“Hmm,” The man said, touching one still raw wound that made me hiss in sharp pain. “It won’t scar as bad as the Royals hoped, but it still looks nasty enough. As for the accelerated healing… I don’t have enough evidence to suggest it was something other than the claim, so for now I’ll accept your excuses.” After this, the man backed away, casting a look at all of us before disappearing out the door.

“That was the Royal’s witness?” I asked the minute he was gone.

“Yes. He’s been coming here every night to see you’re healing normally,” Xander responded. He looked from Aveline to me carefully. “We’ve got to go to a meeting. You’ll be okay here? We can have the kitchens send up food while we’re gone if you don’t feel up to going to the dining area.”

I shrugged. “You don’t have to worry about me.” They didn’t seem convinced, but I was left alone regardless. I figured, once alone, that it was probably best to try putting on real clothes. I really wanted to wear something like shorts or jeans, but the shirts provided would no doubt itch at my back, which was irritating enough without the fabrics. I ended up picking a casual backless black dress.

I was then standing in front of the bathroom mirror, trying to convince myself to turn and look at my back. Come on, I told myself, it’s only some welts. I was afraid though. I was afraid that my back was deformed; taking away what I used to think was a unique and beautiful part of me and covering it with pain and hideous, tortured artwork.

How had my life come to this? I wasn’t looking for adventure. I wasn’t being a wild child, partying with strangers. I never walked alone at night through insidious alleyways. My life was mundane; boring and simple. The only pain that comes with a typical life like mine was in the form of time.

I hated being so afraid of everything. A coward never amounts to anything. A coward has no power. Nobody can respect a coward because a coward isn’t dependable or trustworthy. A coward doesn’t live, they merely survived.

I turned my back to the mirror, finally facing what frightened me so. A small whimper escaped my mouth at the sight. Some would have said my birth mark was ugly from the beginning. The pale pink scars weren’t natural, stretching across my back like electricity. It didn’t matter much to me because I thought it was beautiful. It was a part of me I’d always had.

Now it was tainted with dark brown and purple bruises which surrounded healing whip lashes. They weren’t discolored except for the red irritation which was simmering over time. The lines slashed through the roots of my birth mark, some overlapping others. Only twenty lashes, but it looked like a lot more to my eyes. Whereas before it was like I had been struck by lightning, now it appeared I’d also been struck by vicious claws. I couldn’t see how they wouldn’t turn to hideous scars as the Royal’s witness had said.

With tears burning my eyes, I started to turn away when I noticed a separate mark that tore a small gasp from me. I immediately began to blush, recognizing light pink mark of crescent moons just over a lonely lined gash. I felt frustrated with myself. I couldn’t believe I let him do that to me. But at the same time the sight sent a flurry of heated emotions throughout my body. I could no longer see the disgusting tears through my flesh. I could only see a claim of lust that for some reason rang out to me like an apology for all the other marks on my back.

I tore my fascinated eyes away from my back, trying to push away those unwanted feelings trying to dominate me. I wouldn’t let myself be… seduced by a man like Jacobi. He was a demon. Not like Aveline or Xander. They were vampires as well, but as far as I knew they didn’t kidnap innocent women and plan to torture and kill them. Sure, he hadn’t done either yet- though the beating was close to… I didn’t blame him for it. But he sure had made a lot of statements that weren’t going to help warm me up to him anytime soon.

I could take your body as mine to drain and pick apart to pieces. Or perhaps as mine to fuck until you’re broken leftovers.

What kind of monster says things like that to innocent people? Not the kind which could draw me willingly to his bed. Not the kind I opened my legs to out of lust. I couldn’t believe I nearly consented to his spirit, whatever that meant. Nearly consented… you did consent.

I sighed. Regardless of my previous actions, I had to face the now. And as of now, I found I was getting hungry. Glad to have something to take my mind off of my predicament, I decided to make my way to the familiar dining area. I wondered what food the angry kitchen lady would bring me today. Perhaps it would be laced with a form of poison.

When I arrived, I astonishingly didn’t have to wait long before the usually angry woman appeared with the tray of food. Only this time, she didn’t huff at me, growl, or in any way throw angry glares in my direction. I blinked, confused by this new attitude. Did she get laid or…

“My lady, we heard you might be coming so I had the kitchen whip up some bean and beef chili. I wasn’t sure if you preferred toppings, but I brought sour cream, cheese, and avocados,” She gushed, revealing the steamy pot of chili waiting for me to devour it. I was stunned. I had stated plenty of times before that I was craving some chili, just on passing, but it seemed the woman was determined never to allow me to have any just because she knew I wanted some. Now here she was, presenting it to me with great pride as if I were someone she actually… liked.

“I… well…” I was at a loss for words. The woman immediately poured me a glass of cold water without asking that incessant question as to what type of wine I wanted. She had known I didn’t like wine, so I knew that was why she kept asking. Sometimes she’d pour me wine anyway just to harass me. But this time was different.

“Cheese?” She asked brightly. I nodded numbly before denying any sour cream or avocados. When she was about to leave, she paused. “My name is Glenda. I vow the same.” I had just about put a spoon full of chili in my mouth when those words passed her lips, sending a shock of memory through me. When I quickly turned to look at her, she was already gone.

I vow the same.

So many voices had said the same thing to me that night… I had been delirious from pain, so I had forgotten it thinking it was just some hallucination. But now this woman says the same thing to me. What exactly did it mean? What were these voices vowing? Most importantly, was it something I needed to be concerned about?

After feasting on my chili, I was making my way back to the room with the thoughts drowning my mind when something else came creeping to me. That power which calls to me was steadily rising to meet me, causing me to freeze in my steps. I normally would have hunted down that call, trying to see what it wanted and why it was calling to me. But now I knew who it would lead to.

“No,” I whispered to it, trying to steel myself away from that intoxicating feeling that rushed over me by addressing it. I continued to walk towards the room, trying to ignore that pull. I wondered if Jacobi knew what his spirit was doing. I wondered if he was doing it on purpose at this point. Surely as a vampire he could control his spiritual life force enough to summon it as a way to torture me.

The further I walked away from it, the stronger it seemed to call to me. I groaned with frustration, wanting to go to the source but not wanting a repeat of what happened the night before. My hand hovered on the doorknob to the room. I closed my eyes, trying to wait for the feeling to pass. Finally, I gave up and decided I would go hunt Jacobi down and make him stop it himself.

My body bolted down the hall as though it knew where the call was before I was even aware of where I was going. I was racing past doors and then down stairs which led to the second floor instead of up towards where I knew Jacobi’s room to be. I didn’t even pause to consider why the call would be coming from one of the rooms on the second floor. I stopped in front of double doors which were large and obviously led to an important room.

I grasped the door and opened it, immediately freezing at the sight before me. It was a large auditorium type of room with layers of pews and what appeared to be a majority if not all of the Bryant Coterie gathered all together. Even though I was now with an audience, the power still called to me as strong as before, dragging my eyes from the forms of the coterie to one particularly person.

Jacobi stood in front of the coterie without glancing in my direction. A man stood in front of him. Jacobi was grasping the man’s upper arms, his eyes black and focused. I was entranced by him and by the power that pulsed from him. Normally, I would be terrified to see what one would think was a man about to be murdered in front of the entire coterie. But instead I was enthralled, aloof from my own body which wanted to crawl to him and respond to his spirit.

A sharp pulse struck the entire room. Every one of the coterie felt it, causing a mixed reaction of gasps and grunts throughout them. Even I had felt it, though I wasn’t part of the coterie. I knew this wasn’t normal. The man in front of Jacobi had clutched at his chest as though his heart had been plucked away. He was breathing hard, but after a moment he smiled gratefully.

“Welcome to the Coterie,” Jacobi’s deep voice rumbled powerfully.

“Thank you, Master Jacobi Bryant,” The man said humbly, bowing his head respectfully.

 ----------------------------------------------------

Gonna press shuffle on this playlist here and it'ssssss: Royals by Lorde. WELL OKAY THEN. :3

Happy Halloween and shit. <3