"Hands. Off. Her."
Without being told for the second time, both men released their grip on her, and Samantha once again found herself on the cold floor. Her disheveled golden-blonde hair covered both sides of her pale-stricken face, leaving her features protected by its shadow.
With her quivering hands, she managed to push herself up into a sitting position. Her hair swayed slightly at her movements, and when she raised her head up to look at who had stopped them, the only thing her blurry vision could catch a glimpse of was someone magnificently clad in white.
Was it her Angel of death? Is he here to take her soul this time around? Nothing else invaded her mind more than finding herself dead in a few minutes.
"My Lord," their heads were instantly dipped in a very low bow, not daring to look him in the eyes as they spoke. "She's a murderer and needs to be punished severely for it. Madame Cerise gave us a strict order to take her to the solitary room, she needs to learn." Samantha could hear one of her Madame's men say to the strange man in white, but the strange fellow barely batted his lashes at their provocative report.
"Hmmm… are the eyes I see of any use to you? Or are you turning a blind eye to obvious circumstances?" The young man in white asked in a matter-of-fact tone, leaving the two foolish men who exchanged glances, utterly confused and intimidated by his question.
"My Lord?"
"Weak, drained, hungry, starved to the bone." The two men instinctively shifted back when he moved forward and crouched down to Samantha's level, his gloved index finger resting on her chin as he gently tipped her head up so he could stare into her water-filled drooping eyes.
"Close to the brink of losing consciousness," his hardened gaze shifted to both men who gulped down in fear, trembling slightly with their heads bowed deep. "A murderer doesn't possess these physical qualities, only a helpless person has these qualities."
He rose to his full height, "I'm the one who killed Harvory. Either she didn't tell you or you were just stupid to not have listened." He shoved his white-gloved hands into his trouser pocket, and that's when he heard a voice call his name from behind.
"Lord Ivan."
At the familiar voice of Madame Cerise, Samantha's body involuntarily tensed up, an action that didn't miss Lord Ivan's deadpanned gaze.
He casually turned to look at the woman who approached him with a detestable smile on her red-colored lips, and Samantha who managed to steal a peek from under her lashes, watched as her own Madame offered a very polite bow to the Lord Ivan.
Seeing everyone bowing their heads to the young man with a tinge of fear attached to that respect, Samantha's brain could finally take the obvious into consideration. What happened at her Father's place that night replayed in her head, and those cold-blooded beady eyes that stared straight into hers.
Is he….???
Her eyes goggled when the familiar man made more sense to her now, and her pupils dilated.
She wished she could pass out and avoid this. Oh no! Lord Ivan??? The Young warrior prince of EmptyHollow??? How is he here?? Why is he here??
He saw her face! Does he recognize her??
"I thought you never liked the brothel, Lord Ivan." Madame Cerise inquired politely, knowing how much the young Lord detests such uncanny places.
"I never liked peasants, but I still see them." Came his brusque retort that left Madame Cerise laughing hesitantly, but she quickly recovered her nerves. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't bring herself to look into those inhuman eyes of his.
"Regardless of your dislike, it is an honor to have you here, but may I ask, what brought such a fine young prince like Lord Ivan to a brothel in the middle of the night? I can arrange someone special for you tonight if your situation is what I think it is, for free."
"Spare the girl." He said, not as a request, but a straight out order that even the Madame herself couldn't refuse, for she knew exactly whom she was dealing with.
At the same time, Madame Cerise never fancied the presence of Lord Ivan but fought through her resentment.
"I respect your presence, Lord Ivan, but this is my brothel, you don't decide how I get to treat…" Madame Cerise stopped mid-sentence when she felt the edge of a cold sharpened blade placed against her throat, and her eyes widened slightly, not finding it surprising that the one who's blade was on her neck belonged to Ivan's men.
"She killed someone."
"I killed him." Ivan corrected with a sly grin, "she was unfortunate enough to be a witness."
"Why did it have to be in my brothel?"
"Would you perhaps have chosen to let me burn it down instead? Your options would still be futile since I made up my mind already, but..…" turning away from Madame Cerise, he placed his attention back on Samantha who was putting in a lot of effort to hide her face so he wouldn't recognize her.
"You look familiar." She heard him say as he once again crouched down to her level, "have I perhaps threatened you in the past?"
With his hand on her jaw, he forced her to meet his gaze, and how wonderful! Those emerald green eyes were still a memory that haunted him till this very day. After five years of continuous searching, he runs into the same color of eyes that disturbs his dream.
"She's mine." He claimed out of the blue, watching her face go white in horrification. "With her owner dead, she'll need a new master to serve, would she not?"
"Lord Ivan, for that girl, you'll have to pay.."
"Will Five hundred thousand gold coins be enough? Or should I add an extra ten thousand?"
Samantha's eyes widened at the amount of gold coin he just mentioned, she wanted to refuse, she wanted to shake her head in declination, but her voice and body were betraying her as she could do none of those things. All the while he kept speaking, his intimidating gaze never left hers, and Samantha gulped down her fear.
"There there." He gave her head a pat and leaned close enough till his cold lips rested on her twitching earlobe. "You will make a wonderful blood slave, my dear little Samantha."
Her body flinched at the coldness of his voice when he uttered her name, her throat tightened, and her eyes grew wide in fear and anger.
He remembers!
"No one can beat up to the greatest Vampire Lord, she's all yours." Madame Cerise didn't hesitate to sell her off. She was stunned that someone so wretched would gain the attention of a dangerous dark prince like Lord Ivan, but with money involved, who is she to be bothered?
"I don't--"
"Shhhh." He silenced Samantha with a finger to his lips, and then rose to his feet. "I'm doing you a favor, so quietly follow me."
Samantha was well aware of the favor he was talking about, and he made sure to hint at it. Her Father's act of treason, he was using it to keep her in his clutches now.
Rising to her feet with no power to refuse him, he led Samantha into one of the private rooms and the door closed shut with a bang the minute she stepped in.
Unbeknownst to Samantha, another bloodshed occured in the hallway as Ivan's bodyguard stealthily sliced the throat of both Madame Cerise and her men. They were quick to cover up the traces and take the bodies away.