My Vampire King

Ch. 5

Toralie sat in her chair, shell shocked. She had found her mate? When? Where? She had only been around Prince Ray for the past few days. But... that's impossible. It was common knowledge that he didn't want a mate, even Toralie held onto that piece of gossip. But, she couldn't deny the inexplicable pull to him that she felt. Something inside of her became saddened at the thought of him leaving or rejecting her. But Toralie couldn't be sure about the Prince's feelings.

She didn't want to be rejected, nobody did. But, she didn't know if she could take his hot and cold attitude for much longer. Toralie was startled out of her thoughts when the chair she was sitting in cracked. She looked behind her to see the backing was crushed under the Prince's grip. His eyes were wide, nostrils flared. He looked as though he was about to explode, ready to punch someone in the face. Toralie braced herself for it, expecting some harsh words or some things being thrown.

But he didn't do anything. He simply took a deep breath and left. That somehow hurt more. Toralie couldn't help the empty feeling she felt when he simply got up and left like that. She heard the King and Queen sigh behind her, and turned to see the pity shining in their eyes. It was a blow to her pride, having to absorb the pity they thought she deserved. Toralie sighed and put on the best smile she could muster. She looked at the queen and said goodbye, quickly scurrying out of the sitting room and to her own room.

She avoided the Prince's room at all costs, not wanting to feel the anger and angst the Prince was probably stewing in. She went into her room and locked the door, not wanting to be bothered by anyone else. Toralie didn't even make it to the bed before her legs gave out from under her. She slid down the door, holding her face in her hands. The tears started flowing before she had the chance to stop them.

Toralie never really cried. She never felt the need to, not caring about her scraped knees or when the other kids pushed her into the bushes on a dare. But now, it felt like every tear she'd ever created in her life was pouring out of her. It seemed an endless flood, as though her eyes were never going to dry. Toralie didn't even know why she was crying. She didn't have feelings for the Prince, she couldn't!

It had only been two days and Toralie had barely seen the Prince for most of that time. Sure, he whisked her away to a fairytale castle and life that every little girl dreamed of, but that wasn't for Toralie. She was content with her life, her few friends and her promise of college and a life to lead. Wasn't she?

Toralie shook her head, gathering the strength to wobble over to her bed. She dropped down onto it and let her head fall into her hands. Her thoughts kept swirling around in her head, endlessly. She tried to control them, to keep herself calm. This is it. Toralie knew she had been close to her breaking point when she first arrived at the castle, and this whole mate business pushed her over the edge.

Toralie had a very low tolerance for stress and thus had a very high chance of having a panic attack. Her old life had been the perfect levels of stress and panic. It was enough to keep her challenged but not in panic mode all of the time. She had liked it, but this was too much for her.

Toralie could feel the thoughts crowding her, clawing their way into her brain. She tried to push them down, push them away, but they kept coming back. He won't love you. You're trapped here. He'll reject you. You're nothing. You don't deserve to be princess. Everybody has already forgotten you. They don't like you. You're disposable. Who do you think you are? He's not going to love you, he never will. You're worthless. You're not worthy of the prince.

Toralie felt this heaviness on her chest, as though something had wrapped around her and was squeezing as tight as it could. The pressure moved up to her throat, cutting off her hyperventilation. Toralie clawed at her throat, feeling as if her body was attacking itself. She couldn't breathe, and felt her chest trying to expand. Toralie slid off of her bed, trying to get to the door.

She didn't have her medication, she had left it at home! Toralie wasn't able to hear the pounding on her door through the blood rushing too loudly in her ears. Her eyes were leaking tears as her body started to give in to the pressure, to let her thoughts consume her until she was a mess on the floor. She didn't want to give up, she wanted to keep fighting! She wanted to force herself up and out the door, but she was too weak.

Toralie felt her legs curling up into herself. Her body wanted to give in to the thoughts, to let them consume her. Toralie was tempted, the screams now swirling so loudly in her mind she couldn't hear her own heartbeat. She was dimly aware someone else was in the room with her, but she couldn't get past the feeling of being trapped in her own mind. She felt herself being lifted, hands holding her arms down to her sides. The new feelings helped Toralie burst out of her slump. She fought at the arms caging her in, trying to get out of their suffocating hold.

Toralie dropped to the ground and crawled away from whoever was with her. She kept going until she felt her back hit the wall. The person followed her across the room, crouching down when her back hit the wall. Toralie tried to see who it was but her eyes didn't seem to be working. Her sight was blurred by the tears flowing down her face. The person held their hands up in front of Toralie, taking her hands into theirs. Soothing tingles flowed up and down her arms, piercing their way through the clouded haze of panic that kept her trapped.

The tingles weren't enough and her wrists felt trapped even further. She tried to pull out of them until she felt a pinch of pain in her wrist. The painful feeling spread through her veins, until it reached her brain and shocked her. It woke Toralie out of her haze enough for her to clutch at whoever was holding her. The pain slowly dissolved into pleasure, arcing through her veins and driving her mad.

Toralie's back arched towards the person before the incredible pleasure slowed down and eventually stopped. Toralie was gasping for air by the time she had come down from her high, and everything seemed to have stopped. Her head lolled back, her breathing heavy as Toralie was exhausted. She felt as though she had just fought a demon her own size, and almost lost. She felt the shakes coming on and brought her knees up so she could curl up into a ball and simply lay there.

Toralie was about to pull her arms in when something stopped her. There were fingers wrapped around her wrists, keeping her upright. Toralie somehow found the strength to lift her head and look up at who was holding her up. Her eyes struggled to focus until Toralie concentrated on actually using her vision. His features slowly came into place and Toralie wasn't able to comprehend what was happening.

It was the Prince.