That night, the rain poured heavily, drumming against the roof like an echo of the chaos inside. She remembered her mother, tears streaming down her face as her father's furious shout reverberated through the room, his hand striking her cheek. 'Why would you betray me?' he yelled, his voice cracking with hurt and rage. Outside, neighbors gathered, their eyes fixed on the scene. Some watched with quiet pity, others with detached indifference, as if the storm inside their home was just another fleeting spectacle.
This was the night when her father had found about her mother's affair. Everything was so clear in Arabella's mind as she knew her sister had hid under the bed on the second floor of their small house while she had ran outside near the door while watching her parent's argument.
Her mother then ran back inside the house, her clothes dripping wet as well as her blonde hair that was cut by sharp scissor by her father.
Ever since she was young, Arabella remembered her mother as someone frightening. She couldn't remember why exactly but she would always find herself shuddering when she try to recall her mother's face or any memories between them.
Only the memories of this night stayed in her head for years.
Her little self was watching her mother who seemed to be muttering something underneath her breaths with her hands clenched. She then lifted her eyes and spoke, "...said.. true... can't.."
"Mama?" Arabella called and her mother flinched. She lifted her face that seemed horrifyingly painted in black shrouds of anger. Her mother seemed to be in a deep thought, no she seemed to be talking even though she was alone with her now. Then she maneuvered toward Bella, crouching in front of her while the wooden floor beneath them had turned wet from the dripping rainwater from her mother's brown dress.
Holding tightly to her arms, her mother stared into her eyes, "We're born under the shadow of cursed stars—that is the fate of every woman born from our bloodline. You are no exception. The vampire's interest in you is no coincidence; it is a harbinger. But my daughter hear this: Cassius, that vampire, is no savior. He is the darkness that will lead you to ruin or- worse."
"Cassius?" Arabella's eyes widened as she knew this wasn't the words her mother had said that night before she ran away with the man she had an affair with.
Who is Cassius?
Oh... this was a dream...
Arabella snapped her eyes the next second, awake from her nightmare with her back drenched wet from sweat. Her heart was racing while her eyes tried its best to study her surroundings. She slowly pushed her elbows from the softest bed that she had ever slept on, realizing the castle's luxurious interior and how she was still in Hell.
All those vampires she had seen, it wasn't a mere nightmare but the reality. This realization hits her every time she woke up, making her more desperate for her escape. How she missed Ariel so badly, how badly she want to return living far away from the castle of this monsters.
"Took you a long time to wake up, little birdie," Cassius' voice startled her. She turned to see him closing his book with one hand, his long legs crossed while his black hair slightly damp as if he had just taken a bath. His tunic was left mostly unbottoned and from it, she could see the scars that had marred his crafted body.
She wondered why would he had scars all over his body when he's a vampire? From what she had heard vampires could heal without leaving any scars on their body.
"How do you feel?" He asked while propping his chin over his hand that he rested on the armrest of his plush chair. "Better?"
She slowly wondered why he had asked her such question as she knew he wasn't worried about her because he cared for her. Then she recalled the horrifying image she had seen right before she passed out. The moment those memories flooded her head, her hands trembled and her anger rose.
This monster- This evil, twisted, monstrous bastard!
"After watching you kill someone, your highness?" She repressed her tone, reminding herself not too sound too rude but her anger was bubbling in her chest. "Perhaps if you were a human you would understand how ill I feel right now."
"Isn't that fine? The one who was killed wasn't your family or someone you know well. It's also not you, so shouldn't you be rejoiced that I had severed someone's neck instead of you?"
She bit down her lower lips and glared at him, unable to contain her anger, "Really?" she scoffed, "I should be happy that someone dies instead of me?"
"What? Would you have liked it if you were the one dying instead?" Cassius calmly crossed his arms despite being faced with her anger. He spoke with ease as if he can't understand her words, "Besides she died because of you, birdie."
"Me?"
"Yes, you," Cassius said with a smirk that didn't reach his eyes, his tone cold and merciless. "If you hadn't been so reckless, she wouldn't have been dragged into this mess. Her death? That's on you, birdie."
Her glare sharpened, and she took a step closer, trembling with anger. "You're the one who killed her! Don't you dare pin this on me!"
He tilted his head slightly, his expression unreadable but his words laced with venom. "Did I killed her for no reason, then? I only acted because your foolishness left me no choice. Think about that next time you decide to play the hero."
"So you hate that I defended her?" she asked, speechless. Did he want her to simply watch as Lady Blair die when she confirmed how the woman had hurt her? She shook her head. "You will kill her regardless of what I did."
"Clever! I don't like anyone hurting my pet. It puts me in an ill mood. I'm not a child who will just watch my pet dies on me, but do you know what had annoyed me most?" He riddled her with a question. "I promise I will stop my plan to punish you if you had answered me with the right response."
'Hell with punishment' Bella thought in her head. She tried to find anything that could help her to escape his punishment. But for someone with such a crazy head on his shoulders, could she ever understand him?
Then again she gave him her best answer. After thinking for a while, she thought of putting herself in his shoes. Sure she isn't crazy and mad like him but if she was, what would annoy him so much as to kill Lady Blair?
"Because she had touched you?" She recalled how his eyes seemed to have darkened to the point of killing when Lady Blair had placed her hand on his shoulder.
Bella watched as his eyes widened, a flicker of something almost playful crossing his expression. For a brief moment, she dared to hope. She could almost hear his voice in her mind, smugly declaring, 'That's the right answer!' as though her obedience would spare her.
But the grin that followed shattered her expectations.
"Wrong," he murmured, his voice low and dark, the word cutting through the air like a blade. He leaned in slightly, his grin twisting into something cruel. "What I don't like the most, Birdie, is how you lied to me. When I asked if there was a part of you that hurt, you denied it, didn't you? Yet the human doctor I brought here was practically in tears, insisting that your head was bleeding. She said that woman yanked your hair so hard it broke skin. And still, you lied."
Her lips pressed into a thin line, her bitterness barely contained. "That's because I didn't want her to die," she shot back, her voice trembling with defiance.
His grin only widened, a chilling mockery of her sympathy. "That's moving," he drawled. "But it seems you've forgotten something important. I make the rules here, Birdie. And when you break them— when you lie to me —there's a price to pay."
Bella's heart sank as the cold finality in his tone left no room for argument. What he meant is that he want her to entertain him but also maintain her loyalty to him. Like how one would feel jealous when their pet shows a liking to another human other than him.
But she was no pet!
This crazy man!
"Then it seems the punishment still stands." The room felt stifling, the walls closing in as the weight of his words settled over her like an inescapable shadow
He then stood up from his chair, startling her.
Oh no. She yelled! Is he going to kill her? NO. EVEN WORSE!
Arabella turned her head backward, shocked when finding out that she was lying on the bed. Though she was dressed, the human pets were mostly dressed in a loose fitting white dressed that could barely reach her ankles. She fretted about him pouncing at her like the monster he was, and when he closed in, she shut her eyes for good, praying to any gods she could think of from the top of her head.
"D- Don't!" She was ready to attack him like she did to minister Rueben. Sure Cassius is scarier but she would rather die than be assaulted. As she was wrecking her head, Cassius grinned and walked to the edge of the bed, his hands raised and his shadow covering her entire body...