Silver Creek Academy

Hello Cruel World

Frances groans and holds the side of her head as she comes to. She takes in her surroundings and furrows her brows in confusion. Fear grips her as she recalls the day before. Her mother is gone and so is her best friend. She didn’t even get to say goodbye to him. She pulls herself together and gets out of bed. She has no idea where she is or how she got here. Frances frowns when she realizes she’s no longer in the dress she wore to her mother’s funeral. Someone changed her, but who?

A soft knock at the door brings her out of her thoughts. A woman who looks to be barely legal enters with a tray of food. She sets it down on the table and offers her a warm smile. Frances narrows her eyes and studies her before forcing a smile of her own. Maybe this woman can help her escape.

“I need your help. This man, he kidnapped me. Please…”

“You must be hungry, darling.” The woman ignores her pleas.

“I have to get out of here.” Frances tries again.

The woman shakes her head and puts a finger to her lips and points to her ears. “You mustn’t anger him anymore than he already is. Once you’re in this house, there’s no leaving. No one has ever escaped and lived to talk about it.”

Frances sags her shoulders in defeat and sighs. “I want to see him. He owes me an explanation to why he’s taken me on the day of my mother’s funeral.”

“Be patient, he’s waited seventeen years for the moment that Princ…”

“Millie! I think that’s quite enough talking for now.” Frances raises her head to see a younger version of her biological father. Must be his son or maybe a brother. Frances could care less who he is.

“My apologies.” Millie mutters under her breath.

Time seems to slow down when she meets his eyes. There’s no denying the man is powerful. His green eyes darken as he takes her in. Frances turns her head only to be sucked in all over again. Heat creeps up her neck and to her cheeks when he puts two fingers under her chin to force her to meet his icy glare. She’s never been frightened like this before, but now, she’s silently praying. A dark chuckle erupts from his throat. “God can’t save you now, sweetheart.”

“W-who are you?”

“Right now, your worst f*****g nightmare. Let’s get one thing straight, I don’t like you. I don’t trust you. If I hear you talk about my father like that again, I won’t hesitate to sneak in here in the middle of the night and sink my teeth into this pretty little neck. Drain you slowly and watch you wither and die.”

“What?”

Her eyes widen when he reveals his true face. Red eyes and fangs. He leans into her neck and inhales. “Do you know what I am?”

The word is on the tip of her tongue, but it can’t be true. Vampires don’t exist. It’s just a stupid myth. Fiction. It can’t be true.

“Say it.” He snaps.

“Vampire, but it can’t be real. Vampires aren’t real. You’re not real, it’s just a dream.”

“Bebe, c’est reel. Les vampires sont reels.”

Baby, it’s real.

Vampires are real.

“Don’t cross me and we won’t have a problem. I’ll be watching you, girl. Very closely. And when you do f**k up, I’ll be waiting for you.”

Frances can’t stop the sob from spilling from her lips. She never looked the Devil in the face, but now, it seems she’s looking him straight in the face. In three seconds flat, she’s shoved against the wall with his hand around her throat. She whimpers as he squeezes the life out of her. He raises her up off her feet and smirks. “Welcome home, baby sister. Say hello to your new life. Your cruel new world.”

Hello cruel world.

A week has passed since the encounter with him. Her stepbrother. She barely leaves her room in fear that he’ll attack her at any given moment. If her brother is a vampire, does that make her father a vampire as well. What does that make her? Vampire or human? She can only find solace in the library where she got lost in historical romance. Just as she’s about to leave, a firm hand wraps around her wrist. She drops her book and tries to break free. She opens her mouth to scream but he covers her mouth and shoves her against the bookshelf.

“Human.” He hisses in her ear.

Dread fills her as he scrapes his teeth against her neck and sinks his fangs inside her flesh. A whimper falls from her lips, and she suddenly grows weaker by the second. Just as she’s about to close her eyes, the man is ripped from her. She falls to her knees and hold her neck. Standing above her is the one person she never thought would ever be her savior. Him. The cruel bastard that threatened her when she first arrived.

He whirls around and grabs the man by the throat. “Do you have any idea what you’ve f*****g done?! No one is to touch her. I should snap your neck for this. The prophecy… f**k, get the hell out of here. I’ll fix this.”

He drops him and the man scurries out like his ass is on fire.

Frances cowers away when he reaches for her. He sighs in frustration. “Look, I’m not going to hurt you. I never was, ok? Please, let me help you.”

Unsure about him, she cautiously takes his hand but stumbles. He groans and steadies her. He bites into his wrist and forces his blood into her mouth. She holds his hand and drinks. A strange sensation hits him in his chest, but he quickly pushes it away. He can never act on his urges. Not with her. She’s not his to take. That belongs to someone else.

“Thank you…”

“Bennet, my name Bennet.”

“Thank you for saving my life, Bennet. I owe you one.”

“You don’t owe me a thing, girl.” He mutters.

“Maybe you’re not so bad.” Frances murmurs.

“Trust me, I am very bad.”

“But you saved me.”

“I did, but that doesn’t mean I like you. I still hate you for being here. Besides, my father would’ve killed me if I let anything happen to you. Now that my blood is in your veins, no one will touch you.”

“Have I done something to offend you?”

“No, you haven’t done anything. It’s just…your blood is very tempting. I would love to have been the one who got a taste of your sweetness, but you’re untouchable. No one can take from you. Not even me.”

“Why did my father bring me here?”

“You’re not ready for that. It’s too soon. I promise in due time I’ll tell you, but not yet.”

Bennet takes her back to her room and tucks her into bed. She’ll be weak for a few hours until she’s back to normal. He closes the door softly and presses his forehead against it, letting out a sigh.

“She’s not for you, son.” Bennet hears his father say from behind.

“I didn’t have a choice. She would’ve died if I hadn’t fed her my blood. You know this.”

“This complicates things. It could change the prophecy completely. She could…”

“I know what I’ve done. What was I supposed to do? It was either she bled out or I fed my blood to her. I did what I had to do.”

His father puts a hand on his shoulder and whispers. “I didn’t say it was wrong. All I said was that it complicates things.”

“How do you mean?”

“It might not happen. For all I know, it could be a myth.”

“What are you not telling me?”

“I can’t tell you yet. Not until I research this some more.”

His father hates to lie, but he can’t say a word.

If the prophecy happens, it must happen on without saying a word.

It has to come about on its own accord.

Naturally.

The prophecy has already started to unravel.

He brought Frances home.

Her blood was shed by a vampire.

Saved by someone close to her.

Now, it starts.

As soon as the Blood Moon comes this month, the witches will work their magic summoning them all.

One vampire.

One hybrid.

And three Alphas.

They’ll come for her.

Stake their claim.

Mark their beautiful virgin mate.

And one by one, they’ll take her.

But who will be the one to break her in?