"Kill me?!" A burst of booming laughter escaped his mouth as he inhaled deeply, a devilish smirk slowly forming on dry lips. These people are useless. He couldn't drink their blood. He had no idea what his father did to him in the past that made him sick, drinking blood that wasn't from the special family—Fleur's family. He gritted his teeth and the dark energy that he emitted became more suffocating.
"Mi…lord," he gasped, holding his neck. He bravely looked at the vampire's eyes to tell him that his kind was no longer feared in this modern world but the next thing he knew, he could not breathe. He was sitting on the couch and his body felt the change in the room temperature. His skin was peppered with goosebumps from the cold and his throat slowly constricted until he could barely breathe.
With much difficulty, he extended his hand in front of him, his eyes begging to the vampire in front of him who was smirking at him coldly.
"Nnnhhh…mi…lord"
"This world could kill me, you say?" He scoffed haughtily as he asked. He watched his eyes roll over his head as he gasped for air and slumped unconscious. These stupid mortals never learn their lesson.
He glanced at the basement door and listened to a soft steady heartbeat. The woman is awake. He licked his dry lips, thinking of how her blood tasted. He stood up with the intention of going down to the basement when he caught his reflection on the shiny surface of a photo hanging on the wall. He looked hideous!
His steps halted and he stood motionless in the middle of the floor, listening to the woman's heartbeat. The steady heartbeat was so mesmerizing like a piece of music that could lull him to sleep.
However, seeing his own reflection and remembering the way the girl in the basement shrieked in terror when she saw his taut and gaudy face stopped him from taking the stairs to the basement. He turned around and went back to the annoying mortal who was still unconscious on the couch.
'She isn't Fleur,' he said to himself when he felt the need to hide his hideous face to the girl in the basement.
"Hey, wake up!" He slapped Theo on his left cheek and when he didn't wake up, he grabbed the collar of his shirt and dragged him across the floor to where his wife and daughter were. He dropped him next to his wife before he bent down and picked up the young woman and slugged her on his shoulder like a sack of onions, and then grabbed the husband and wife with his hands.
He took the three unconscious mortals to the room that he perceived as the master's bedroom. He unceremoniously threw them to the bed and watched them stir to consciousness.
They all shrieked in unison when they woke up from their slumber but shut their mouth the moment he slammed the door closed. He caught their attention and when the younger woman saw him, she grabbed a pillow to cover her face and hid behind her father.
Theo, who already knew his temper, cleared his throat and said to his wife without taking his eyes off him.
"Minerva, this is…" he waited for the vampire to say his name. And when he thought, he wouldn't open his mouth to speak, he sneered at them.
"You and your family are living in my house and I expect you all to serve me."
He didn't know if the house they were in was still his house. After all, he had slept for five hundred years. He was just basing it on the fact that he was awakened in the basement of this house.
He needed time to gather his thoughts and find some sustenance for him not to look like a monster.
"Give me the blood of the girl that you have in your basement."
Calixto watched the couple exchange glances and the woman who was introduced as Minerva, slowly got up from the bed and pulled her daughter hiding behind her husband's back.
"May I bring my daughter with me? I will go down in the basement and get Iris's blood."
"Iris?" He creased his brows and didn't comment when Minerva pulled her daughter to her side.
"Yes. Our youngest daughter is named Iris."
He scoffed. It seemed that the couple truly considered the girl that was living in their basement as their daughter.
"Hurry! Make sure to bring back Iris's blood or else I will dry your husband with his." He said in a threatening voice. He could suck dry Theo his blood but he couldn't drink it. It would make him sick but they didn't need to know that. It is best that they don't know a lot of things about him. Especially that Theo told him that this world could kill his kind like they were nothing.
It sounds laughable but it's better to play safe. For now, he needs blood and later he will find out what the world became while he was in deep slumber after his own father poisoned him.
Minerva didn't need to be told twice. She quickly dragged her terrified daughter out of the master bedroom.
When it was just him and Theo in the room, he pulled a chair and sat down.
"I need the basement. Give the girl another room to use."
"I'm sorry, milord but the basement is the only safe place for the girl to stay." When the vampire gave him a look that he was now familiar with, he quickly added. "The basement is big enough for you and Iris milord."
Calixto didn't reply. Theo was speaking the truth. However, that wasn't the reason why he wanted Iris to be gone in the basement. He wasn't so sure of himself if he had already forgiven her for helping his father to poison him.
He also wasn't so sure if he could stay inside the same room with her when every time he looked at her, he remembered Fleur, and his old feelings were awakened.