Twin Flame

Chapter Three

"Princes?" My voice sounds incredulous, even to my own ears. "I'm not sure if you're aware, but this is the United States. It's not a monarchy. "

He mimics my tone mockingly. "I'm not sure if you're aware, but you're not exactly in any position to be mouthing off."

My mouth opens and closes and I can't seem to form a comeback to this obvious fact.

"Let's see if I can explain this to you in a way your itty bitty human brain can comprehend." I scowled at him, but he completely ignored me. He tapped his chin, as though he was deep in thought, and then he plopped down in the chair next to me.

"You know only the human version of government. The vampyre version is a little different. "

"If vampires even exist." I say snidely. "For all I know, you could have had colored contacts in and fake fangs."

As quick as lightning, his hand struck out and gripped my wrist. I let out a small shriek and tried to pull away, but his grip was iron. And... I was still chained up.

I watched in open horror as his eyes shifted from brown to red in a second and then I saw fangs elogate from his canines. He pulled my wrist close to his mouth and dragged his teeth down my skin.

"Aah!" I squeaked out. I watched crimson dots bead up from the small mark he made. And then, he brought his tongue to my flesh and lapped up the blood.

"It's a shame I have to hand you over to those royal pains in the ass. You're delicious. "

He dropped my hand and I pulled it to myself, holding the cut to my rumpled dress to stop the bleeding.

"Are you ready to shut your mouth and listen or do you need another demonstration?" He licked his lips, trying to get every last bit of blood onto his tongue.

"I'm all ears."

Even though I meant it just a tad sarcastically, he surged forward. I couldn't take my eyes off the razor sharp fangs poking into his lower lip. It was like seeing a car crash on the side of the road. I just couldn't seem to look away.

"There are bodies of power in every country and nation. Presidents, queens, lords, chiefs, sultans, whatever. All of the mortals have to listen to their command. Except, it isn't their rule. It's ours. You humans look like you are the ones in charge, but we're really the ones pulling the strings. Your leaders are nothing but puppets to send our laws and orders through."

"Why, though? Why even bother? Why do it secretly?" Curiosity, laced with horror, tugged at me.

"An excellent question. Despite being much more powerful than your kind in every way, our population is rather small. Only about a billion of us still left after the last World War."

"A billion?!"

"I know. Our numbers have dwindled greatly over the years. "

"Why can't you... I don't know... Make more? Isn't that how it works?"

His face twisted, like this was a sore subject for him. "That's not how it works. Only the royalty can turn vampyres. The sentence for turning a human is death. "

"I didn't know you could die. "

"It's hard, yes, but very much still possible." He dragged his finger over his throat in a horizontal line, mimicking a knife. "The head. Cutting it off. That's the only way to kill a vampyre."

"Yeah, I would imagine that would kill most things." I say snidely. He bared his fangs at me and I shut my mouth.

"Want to see what else can kill most things?" I wordlessly shake my head. "Then keep your mouth shut. Anyway, because our numbers are so low, we have to keep hidden from mortals. Your World War Two was simply a cover for humans trying to eradicate the vampyres. World War One twiped out the lycanthropes." My wrist stung and I continued to press it tightly against my dress.

"Lycanthropes? You mean like - "

"Yeah. Werewolves. Disgusting beasts. Filthy mutts. But forever gone now, thanks to your creature hunters. Honestly, what do you humans think your armies are for? Other humans? Ridiculous. After the last war, we were almost eradicated completely, but we survived. Now there are fewer humans that know about our existence. We keep to ourselves. Innocent mortal murder is punishable by death. Turning is punishable by death. Exposing ourselves is punishable by death. We're kept on a short leash."

"By who?"

"Are you not paying any attention? It's different for every part of the would. For the United States, Mexico, Canada, and Puerto Rico, we're governed by the Princes. And they've been doing a damn good job too. Hunger is at an all time low, exposure is near nonexistent. And all they have to do to keep peace is bribe your puny government."

"If there are a few vampires as you say, why can't we just wipe you out?"

He laughed, like this was the most amusing thing in the world.

"Because it's mutually assured destruction. If we die, we won't go without a fight." I shivered at that thought. "Vampyres don't much care about mortals. They're just food and entertainment. But if we see you as a threat? Let's just say vampyres are very territorial. "

I tried to think hard about that idea, but it made me sick to my stomach.

"Alright. So the United States is actually a bloodsucking monarchy, fine, whatever. Then if humans aren't supposed to know about you, what the hell are you doing with me?"

He grinned darkly. "I was wondering when you'd get to that question. You're more curious than the others. You're here because in simple terms, you're a sacrifice. "

My blood ran cold. "W-What?"

"Maybe sacrifice isn't the perfect word, but it's the closest thing. In exchange for keeping hidden and not destroying the mortal world, our Princes require a... plaything every month. We take one girl every month and your officials turn their head the other way. The Princes can be rather greedy, so this was the compromise. One girl every month. They feed and do... well, whatever it is they do. And then we find the next one. We have people searching everywhere for girls. We have to be careful, though. No state or territory can have a tribute more than once every four years to avoid suspicion, the girls must be twenty years of age, and they tend to prefer blondes, but sometimes, they're ravenous. Blood is blood, after all. But the pretty packaging makes it so much better. And goodness, I've hit the jackpot with you. I might even get a promotion after dropping you at their feet. "

I clenched my eyes shut and felt my stomach curl.

"You know, you're taking this remarkably well. "

I breathed out a shaky breath. "I'm still under the assumption that this is a very vivid hangover dream. "

I suddenly felt the ground lurch under me and watched as land came into view beneath. For hundreds of miles, the only thing I could see were mountains and trees.

"I'm sorry to tell you this. But it's real. This is your life now. Well, at least for the next month. After that..." He trailed off. He didn't need to finish his sentence. I could fill in the blanks.

In a month, I would be dead.