The Vampires Pet

Chapter 8

I was woken by a loud bang. Quickly sitting up, my eyes locked with red eyes that I wished I'd never see again. 

"Good, you're awake." Nicholas spoke as if he didn't just wake me up. 

I looked outside to see it was barely past seven in the morning. I was so use to Nicholas being gone by the time I woke up. I could feel this day was going to be different and I wasn't thrilled about it.

I wasted no time in getting up. I folded the blanket I was using and placed it neatly on the end of the couch. I stepped forward and lowered my head.

"What is it Master?" I asked softly, my eyes trained on the ground.

"I think I've been too lenient with you, no?" His voice was calm as he spoke. "After all, I hadn't treated you like other masters treat their pets. All you did was read all day yet you still tried to escape." He tsked. 

"Im sorry Master." I said.

"Sorry isn't going to cut it Faye." He stepped forward until he was standing directly in front of me. "You made the wrong choice and now you must deal with the consequences." I gulped. 

I made my life so much harder by failing to escape this man's evil clutches. 

"Now for your punishment." He reached down and grabbed my chin with his fingers, pulling my face forwards. His face was only a mere few centimetres away from mine, I could feel his warmth breath. I sucked in a breath and my eyes widened, was he going to kill me now?

He grinned like a child before dropping his hand from my chin. He signaled me to follow him as he turned and walked out of his bedroom, I followed him with my head hung in defeat. When we were descending down the stairs, I raised my head and looked around. I hadn't been able to see the layout of this house since I was brought here because he wouldn't let me leave his room. Now would be a good chance to memorise everything so I could plan my escape again and hopefully not be caught.

I followed him down numerous hallways. Silently questioning where he was taking me. Was he taking me to his dungeon to torture me?

We turned down a dimly lit hallway and my previous thoughts resurfaced. At the end was a single glass door with delicate glass details. He opened the door with a moment of hesitation, my eyes widened slightly when I saw what was behind the door.

It was a garden, an old rundown garden. The grass and weeds were overgrown and all the vines and branches had tangled around the walls. There was a small pond in the middle, with a waterfall feature and rocks all around it. The garden was privately fenced off with tall hedges that I couldn't see over and trees that over hung made it even less visible.

After looking around like he was having nostalgia, Nicholas looked down at me. "Weed the flower beds."

I blinked and stared at him, just weed the flower beds? They were definitely years overgrown but weeding wasn't hard, although I may be speaking too soon.

"Do you have a problem with that?" I quickly shook my head at his question.

"Is this the punishment Master?" I questioned.

He grinned. "Would you like me to rethink a more suitable punishment?"

I shook my head instantly and walked towards one of the many flower beds that were littered with blue, purple, yellow and red flowers. The garden was definitely beautiful, despite the fact it looked like it had been left untouched for years. I wondered why no other slave or gardner had tended to this garden, the front gardens surrounding the house were empicable when I first arrived. 

Nicholas went and sat underneath the only tree that was in the garden, a majestically large oak. He had a certain expression of uneasiness that I hadn't failed to notice the moment he entered the garden. It had me wondering why a simple garden would cause that type of expression on the usually unfazed vampire. 

I carefully started to weed the flowerbeds. Making sure I didn't accidentally disturb the flowers and uproot them. If this was my punishment, it was a punishment I could handle. It was much better than being tortured in his dungeon. I would make sure I did this job effectively and as fast as I could. 

I wasn't sure if it was the sweet scent of the flowers that made me feel at ease or the familiarity it held to weeding at home. 

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Third Person POV

The woman walked past the floor to ceiling windows she use to stand by daily while she watched them play. Her steps faltered when she saw a shadow in the corner of her eye, she thought her mind was playing tricks on her. 

She turned and stared out the window, to her bewilderment, she saw not only her son in the garden but the human girl he had brought home too.

Her body was paralysed as she watched the girl weed the overgrown flower beds that hadn't been tended to for over 10 years. After that incident Nicholas forbid anyone from setting foot in the garden and he himself wouldn't go there. The garden was his special place, it was her favourite place. He refused to go into the garden that held the happiest memories of her, it was too painful for him.

She clutched the necklace that was hanging around her neck as memories of them as children paying in the garden filled her mind. Her heart ached. 

Now he was sitting under the oak with a book in his hand, not that he was paying attention to what was written on the page. Instead he watched intently with a placid expression while the human girl weeded the flowerbeds as if she was the most intriguing thing he had ever laid his eyes upon. His mother was astonished to say the least. First bringing a human home and now he was allowing her into his garden. She could only wonder what was going on with her son.

After what happened she knew Nicholas hated humans with a special passion. He barely considered them equal to the dirt that lay beneath his shoes. So why now, had he taken a baffling interest in a human?

Was he perhaps trying to replace her? She wondered but that thought was soon pushed from her mind. That couldn't be, the girl was human whilst she was a vampire. Nicholas hadn't shown any interest prior in trying to find a replacement for her with other vampires so he wouldn't possibly do it with a human girl. Nicholas loved her too dearly to try replace her. That kind of love could never be replaced. 

The pain Nicholas felt from that incident turned into a fatal rage. Afterall a vampire's greatest weakness is love that turns murderous. 

But she wouldn't be a good mother is she failed to notice how her son was someone else with this human. She wasn't sure whether she should be worried or happy about that.

She sighed deeply before turning and walking away, deciding she couldn't handle the painful memories any longer . Nicholas had failed to notice the presence of his mother watching them through the window, he was too absorbed in watching the frail human. He had noticed how she weeded carefully, as to not accidentally uproot any of the flowers. He wondered if she had noticed this place was special or if that was just the skills she acquired from being the granddaughter to a herbalist. 

Nicholas closed the book he hadn't read once since being in the garden. His eyes finally diverting from Faye and going to the sky. He was blind to the way his body unconsciously relaxed and felt at peace in the garden, while his mind remained conflicted by the space he hadn't entered since she had been gone.

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The sun had already begun to set, leaving an orange hue in the sky. I hadn't had a single break or food since I started weeding the garden. I could already tell Nicholas was going to be crueler on me now. I hadn't even finished the whole garden, there were still a few messy flower beds that needed some love and care.

"Hurry along. I'm starving." Nicholas said, standing and walking towards the door. "Unless you plan on becoming my dinner."

I quickly jumped to my feet at his words and followed submissively behind him.

I was so tired from today that I failed to notice someone approaching until I walked into them. I stumbled backwards and looked up at the man I had seen the first day Nicholas brought me here. Before I could react, my back was slammed against the wall and a crushing hand was wrapped around my neck. 

"Do you have no manners!" He growled in my face. 

I gasped for air and tried to pry his hand off my neck but it was a futile attempt. His yellow fangs peaked out. He was going to kill me. 

"I should just kill you."

"Arnold." Nicholas spoke calmly from beside us. 

"Do you not discipline your pet Nicholas!" Arnold said. "I'll have to do it for you."

"My pet is mine to discipline." Nicholas stepped forward, placing his hand around Arnold's arm.

"Your mother won't let you hurt me." He spoke smugly.

"My mother does not decide who I hurt." Nicholas' face was completely flat when the crunching of the bones echoed in the hallway. 

Arnold's hand dropped from my throat and he stumbled backwards, screaming in pain as he held his crushed arm against his chest. I gasped at the sickening sound and leaned back against the wall.

"How dare you Nicholas! She is just a filthy human! I am your blood!" Arnold screeched out, his eyes burning with anger and pain. 

"You are beneath me and you always will be." 

Nicholas roughly grabbed my wrist and pulled me behind him. He didn't release his hold on me until we were at the top of the stairs. 

"Such a rotten end to an adequate day." Nicholas mumbled quietly to himself. 

My eyebrows furrowed. He didn't seem to like anyone but if Arnold was his family why was Nicholas so volatile towards him? Not that I particularly mind, Arnold was a snobby boy with attitude problems but so was Nicholas.

We entered his food and I stood awkwardly by the couch. My hand was gently rubbing the already forming bruise on my aching neck, an action that didn't go unnoticed by Nicholas. He was unwavered by it. What else was I expecting?

"Stay here. I'll be back later." He headed towards the door. "Have a bath, you're covered in filth."

I waited until the door shut to release a breath I had been holding in unconsciously. I went to the bathroom and soaked my body in the warm water. I washed quickly, not wanting Nicholas to return to find me still in the bath. This was a luxury, I couldn't abuse it. 

After my bath I retired to the couch, my aching body relishing in the relaxment. My eyelids slowly became heavy and I was soon swept into the comfort of the darkness. 

I slowly woke up, my eyes opening and glancing around the room. I hadn't meant to doze off. The first thing I noticed was the darkness outside, I must've slept for an hour or two. The second thing I noticed was the bread that lay on the china plate on the end table. 

My stomach grumbled so I wasted no time in grabbing the bread and devouring it.  It wasn't much but I was thankful I got something. After a few minutes the bathroom door opened and Nicholas walked in. 

"I see you found the food." He said, his eyes glancing to the empty plate.

"Yes. Thank you Master." 

He simply nodded. Walking over to his desk and grabbing a piece of paper and pen from the draw. He started writing elegantly with the same hand I've witnessed break two arms already. This vampire was strange. If he can so effortlessly without even needing to think, break the arm of his comrade and his blood why am I still alive and unbroken?

"Why didn't you just kill me?" The question on my mind blurted from my lips, shocking not only me but Nicholas.

He turned his attention to me, raising a single chestnut brow. "Do you want me too?"

I didn't answer his question but I'm certain my eyes screamed no and one thing I've learnt about Nicholas, he is able to see everything behind your eyes.

He turned back away and continued writing, leaving a cold silence in the room. 

"Do farmers send their piglets to the butcher?" He suddenly asked. 

I furrowed my brows at his random question. "No Master." I answered.

"And why not?" 

I was confused, why did he care about farmers and piglets?

"Err because they don't have much meat on them."

"So it would be a waste." His eyes found mine. I nodded. "So they keep them and feed them up before killing them."

A cold shiver ran down my spine, making my fingers twitch. Nicholas kept a straight face the whole time, his eyes once again left mine and focused on what he was writing.What did he mean by that? And why did it give me such a strange feeling?

Was he referring to me as one of those piglets?