A week passed after that day. I knocked on the door of my parent's house.
"Mother, Father," I greeted when they opened the door.
"Sapphira," Mother said when I entered their home.
"You have some humans waiting for you," Father informed me as he closed the door. I looked at him with confusion.
"Who?" I inquired, thoroughly confused. I had yet to put an ad in the paper for a new butler.
" Melinda, Beatrice, Michael and Adrian," Father replied as Adrian bounded down the stairs. He saw me, smiled and ran back up the stairs. I was astonished. I had come preparing to warn Mother and Father of the Ancient Vampire. Instead I was shocked by the humans they had kept.
"Adrian?" I called after him, forgetting to warn Father about this Ancient Vampire. I followed Adrian up the stairs. He was waiting for me along with Melinda, Beatrice and Michael.
"Flowers!" Michael exclaimed when he saw me. I couldn't help but smile slightly.
"They said they knew you," Mother told me in a cold voice.
"I met them," I said in an equally cold voice. Mother and I had never really gotten along too well.
"Where?" Mother asked, sounding curious despite herself.
"That is no concern of yours," I replied with sudden suspicion. Mother regarded me coldly and I resisted the urge to cringe.
"True, but what does concern me is that these...individuals were seeking you out," she said in an icy voice.
"I must admit this is a surprise," I told her, being truthful. She was silent as she continued to give me her cold glare. I returned it with one of my own.
"No matter; we do not mix with individuals like these," Mother stated. I was silent. I could feel Melinda's heated gaze in my Mother's direction. Mother returned it with an icy one of her own before leaving.
"Is that your mother?" Melinda asked as she glared at the empty space where Mother had been standing.
"Flowers!" Michael exclaimed with a large smile.
"Why is he calling me flowers?" I asked, changing the subject with ease.
"Because he thinks you're beautiful," Beatrice replied in a soft voice.
Oh, I thought. I returned Michael's smile.
"That's nice of you Michael. Thank you," I said slowly. His smile grew larger and he clapped his hands with child like glee.
"I hope you don't mind us seeking you out," Beatrice said with a small, nervous smile.
"How did you get out?" I asked, curious despite myself.
"We snuck out," Adrian answered with a smile. "Like cats," he added with a chuckle.
"Kitty cats!" Michael exclaimed with a large smile.
"How?" I repeated, still curious. There was silence.
"We snuck out," Adrian repeated with another smile. "Like cats," he finished with another chuckle.
"We waited until staff was about to change and then snuck out," Melinda told me.
Clever plan, I thought with a small smile.
"Who thought of that?" I inquired now even more curious than I had been before.
"I did," Adrian replied with a proud smile.
"Clever plan, but aren't they looking for you?" I pointed out.
"They won't find us," Adrian stated.
"No? How so?" I questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Because you're going to help us," Adrian said as his smile faltered slightly. "Right?" He asked with a hopeful smile. I was silent as I debated my options.
I could return them or I could help them. I glanced at Adrian. His smile faltered and then vanished.
"I'll help," I finally responded, breaking the silence and silencing Melinda before she could speak. "I'm sure you don't want to be here anymore," I said with a smile.
"Your mother has made it unbearable," Melinda told me.
"Mother has a way of doing that," I agreed. I then remembered why I was here in the first place. I still needed to warn my parents about the Ancient Vampire.
"Excuse me for just a moment," I said and then left.
I found Mother and Father in the drawing room talking softly with each other. "Pardon my intrusion," I said when Mother and Father looked up at me.
"You wish to speak?" Father inquired.
"I've come to warn you about an enemy I've made. I believe they're going to come after you next," I told them in a quiet voice. They were silent as they studied me.
"What have you done?" Mother inquired.
"I made a mistake and now I'm paying the consequences," I responded.
"How old are they?" Father asked.
"Ancient," I replied, my voice still quiet. I had suddenly realized that I had put everyone around me in danger. "It was a mistake," I thought out loud.
"What did you do?" Father asked in a calm voice.
"I drank his blood," I responded in a whisper. Something about telling my parents my mistake made me feel like a child all over again. They were silent.
"You drank his blood?" Mother asked coldly. I nodded with confirmation.
"Why would you do that?" Father inquired with mild confusion and irritation.
"It was a mistake. I shouldn't have done it but I did and it's too late to take it back now. Besides, I'm paying for what I've done," I told them.
"A fatal mistake. Ancient Vampires will never forgive," Mother said.
"Neither will I," I commented in a barely audible voice, remembering Andrew.
"Thank you for the warning," Father said, dismissing me. "Take the humans and go," he added. I nodded and left the drawing room.
I found Adrian, Michael, Beatrice and Melinda and then left. They followed me. We took the back roads, avoiding those that would possibly report them.
I reached home and informed the servants about Adrian, Michael, Beatrice and Melinda. I then went to my room and changed, crawled into bed and then fell asleep.
"Well, well, she's awake," an unwelcome voice greeted when I woke. I swiftly sat up, growling at the Ancient Vampire. He was, as usual unfazed by my reaction. "I met your parents tonight," he said when I realized he was holding something. "What a lovely couple," he added as he held up the head in his hands. "Especially your mother," he told me as I let out a cry of surprise. He was holding Mother's head!
He smiled, revealing his fangs as he put Mother's head down. I then felt his fangs in my throat.
A scream of agony split through the air and I realized that it was mine. I heard the door open and then there was a deafening gunshot.
The Ancient Vampire slumped away from my neck, a gaping wound in the back of his head.
I pushed his body away and saw Adrian standing by the door, a gun in his hands.
I glanced at the body of the Ancient Vampire and noticed that his wound was healing. He wasn't dead after all. I got out of bed and picked Adrian up and then ran at full speed towards the kitchen to warn the others.
The kitchen was a blood bath. Everyone was dead. The floor was covered in blood and bodies were scattered everywhere. I stared at the bodies with shock. The Ancient Vampire hadn't fed on a single human. He had only fed on me and if I was right in assuming, he wanted to kill me like he had killed Mother. I decided not to linger and ran away from my home. I headed to my seasonal home on the other side of London, resisting the urge to crumple to the ground and let the fever of being an unwilling supernatural meal take over. I knew we would be safe there.
I hope so, I thought as I decided to stop and see Father.
He was unconscious, laying next to the headless and heartless body of Mother.
He's not going to stop, I thought as I continued on my way. Not until I'm dead, I mentally concluded. I reached my seasonal home and went into my room, the fever growing as I crawled into my bed. Adrian was silent as he tended to me in my fevered state.
I vaguely wondered why I hadn't thought of this fever when a supernatural being was fed on unwillingly. No wonder he hates me, I thought before slipping into a state of fevered hallucinations and incoherent mumbled words.