Chapter 4
709 Words
Her words didn’t sink in right away.
They floated there in the air between us, heavy and impossible.
She belongs to me now.
I stared at her.
Belongs.
The word echoed in my head.
“I’m not a thing,” I said quietly, though my voice trembled.
One of the vampires near the booths smirked.
“She’s got spirit,” he muttered.
The woman didn’t look at him. She kept her eyes on me.
“That was never the question,” she said calmly.
Her gaze moved over my face like she was memorizing it.
“You were delivered.”
Delivered.
My stomach twisted.
“No,” I whispered. “Bryant wouldn’t—”
“He did,” she interrupted.
Her tone wasn’t loud. It didn’t need to be.
“It was very simple, really. He owed money. We offered a solution.”
My mind struggled to process that.
“What kind of solution?” I asked.
One of the vampires leaned against the wall.
“Debt relief,” he said casually.
The woman finally turned slightly toward him.
“Enough,” she said.
Instantly, he straightened.
She faced me again.
“In exchange for his freedom,” she continued, “he provided something valuable.”
Her eyes darkened slightly.
“You.”
The room felt smaller.
The air felt colder.
“I don’t understand,” I said, my voice barely above a breath.
She stepped closer again, slow and deliberate.
“You waited outside for four hours,” she said. “Exactly as instructed.”
My heart stumbled.
“Instructed?” I repeated.
“Yes.”
Her lips curved faintly.
“He knew you would hesitate. He knew you wouldn’t want to come inside. So he told you to meet him somewhere public.”
My throat tightened.
“So you wouldn’t suspect anything.”
The realization hit me in pieces.
This wasn’t an accident.
This wasn’t bad timing.
This was planned.
My knees felt weak.
“He said he’d be here,” I murmured.
The words felt fragile leaving my mouth.
And then it hit me.
Not as a thought.
As a truth.
He hadn’t answered my calls.
He hadn’t texted back.
He hadn’t shown up.
My throat tightened.
“No,” I whispered again, but this time it sounded different — smaller. Hurt.
The silence in the room changed.
I felt it before I saw anything.
My vision blurred.
I blinked hard.
The woman’s expression shifted slightly when she noticed.
Not surprise.
Observation.
My chest started shaking as the realization fully landed.
Bryant hadn’t forgotten.
He hadn’t been delayed.
He had sent me here.
On purpose.
A tear slipped down my cheek before I could stop it.
Then another.
I quickly wiped at my face, embarrassed — even now.
The vampires reacted immediately.
One of them straightened off the wall.
Another tilted his head, studying me with open curiosity.
The tall one near the booth frowned slightly.
Not mocking.
Not cruel.
Just… watching.
The woman, however, didn’t move.
She simply observed me as if I were something delicate placed under glass.
More tears followed.
I tried to stop them, but I couldn’t.
Four hours of waiting.
All that hope.
All that anxiety.
All that effort to convince myself everything was fine.
Collapsed in seconds.
The woman finally spoke.
Her voice was softer now.
“Ah,” she said quietly.
That single sound made my stomach tighten.
She stepped closer, but not in a threatening way.
In a controlled one.
The room stayed silent.
Even the air felt still.
“You didn’t know,” she said.
It wasn’t a question.
One of the vampires shifted uncomfortably.
Another avoided looking directly at me.
The tall one muttered under his breath, “He didn’t tell her.”
The woman didn’t respond to him.
Her dark eyes stayed on mine.
I hated that they could see me like this.
Crying.
Vulnerable.
Broken in front of monsters.
But none of them laughed.
That surprised me the most.
No teasing.
No cruelty.
Just watching.
Evaluating.
The woman’s expression changed again — subtle this time.
Not pity.
Not compassion.
Something closer to… interest.
“You trusted him,” she said softly.
It wasn’t an accusation.
It was a statement.
And that made it worse
- Writer
