Blood Debt

Setting the Date

A slight headache pulled me from my dreamless sleep. It had to be early in the morning since there was no light against me eyelids. I knew wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep without taking something for my head.

I tried to peel my eyes open, but they were crusted over from last night’s tears. Groaning, I rubbed them and opened my eyes to a dark room. I sat up slowly and tried to orient myself. Where was I?

Yesterday’s events came to the forefront of my mind, and I groaned again for a different reason. I was in my new room in the creepy old mansion, with the dungeon in the basement, being held captive by vampires.

Hell it wasn’t even morning. The windows, while covered with thick curtains, showed light peaking in through. When I turned to the bedside clock to see it was already one in the afternoon.

I’m certifiably insane, I thought to myself as I laid back down. I still couldn’t believe the turn of events in my life. When had everything gotten so hectic? I touched the patch of skin Pierce bit into last night. The holes weren’t there, but the skin itself felt tender.

I wanted to cry almost immediately. My chance for escaping today was thwarted before I had a chance. He had enough of my blood to find me if I did run and he made it pretty clear that he would be no allie of mine.

I calmed my breathing and willed my panic to ebb. I just needed to think of a plan B. My head was starting to pound, and I couldn’t hold in my pee anymore, so I got up and made my way across the hall to the bathroom. A note taped to the door told me that breakfast would be served downstairs.

I crossed the hall to the beige bathroom. Inside stood a standing shower and large rectangular bath. A large mirror that took up the right wall sat atop the vanity. The granite counter was lined with my opened toiletries from Daniel’s place.

Great, he packed my s**t. I really have no home to go to. With that depressing thought, I turned on the shower to let it warm up before turning to the mirror to take myself in. I sighed at what I saw.

My red hair stuck out in all directions from sleep and rough pulls from Pierce from the night before no doubt. My normally clear blue eyes looked dull and tired. A bruise was developing on my upper arm where Urvic held onto me yesterday. I looked away and dug into the drawers of the vanity until I found some medicine.

Grateful to have found it, I took 2 pills and moved into the shower. I cleaned away the grime off. I stood for a while, enjoying the seemingly endless hot water and thought about my current situation.

Of course I could submit and be the good blood bag the Aldeleans wanted me to be. Since mom’s passing, I tended to follow the path of least resistance. But that was before.

That was when Daniel would threaten me when I thought about running. He made it clear that if I ran, he would call the cops on me. He wasn’t missing out on the monthly stipend he received for caring for me from mom’s life insurance.

I doubted that the Carlo was man who would willing invite the police into his life, and with Daniel seemingly out of mine, if I could escape, I would be truly on my own and free to do as I pleased.

A new weightlessness settled over me. Nothing in my old life anchored me to it. While I had nothing to go back to, I also was free to go anywhere and start new. I would escape this place.

Fuck my uncle. And f**k the Aldelean family. I wasn’t going to be a slave or die because of Daniel’s mistakes.

I went over everything I knew about the vampires to start planning my escape. First, I knew that they were freakishly strong. I wouldn’t be able to outfight them if I tried an offensive attack.

I knew that the front door was never locked because they were cocky enough to think I wouldn’t try to leave. I knew that sunlight didn’t bother them, so It wouldn’t matter to them when I tried to go.

I also knew that they were ungodly attractive.

Ugh not where my train of thought should be going. Right now. Clearly my blood didn’t stay in their system forever. Pierce confirmed that before he bit me last night. So, neither of his brothers had any of my blood left in their systems.

Ok, I didn’t have a lot to go on, so my next step would be to see how long it took my blood to metabolize through Pierce. Maybe if it was a short period of time, I could figure a way to get all the brothers to feed on the same day and run the right before the next one.

I would also need funds to get me out of the state. I wouldn’t even need much, just enough for a bus ticket, but I would need to find that money somehow. These were things I would try to figure out today and start implementing tomorrow.

While I was feeling cleaner, my head was still throbbing from all my thinking. I turned off the water, feeling good with my plan to gather info from the brothers today. I wrapped myself in a fluffy white towel and crossed back into my room to change

In the armoire, I found all of my clothing plus some extra pieces that I’d never seen before. I picked up a green long sleeve and some gray sweats to wear.

While pulling the clothing out, I thought about escaping. If I was trying to grab money for a bus fare only, I wouldn’t have the money to get new clothing. Plus there were a few pieces that belonged to my mom that I wouldn’t want to part with. I decided to make a go bag.

After I changed, I dug through the drawers and sighed in relief when I pulled out the men’s XXL Green Day tee my mom wore. For weeks after she passed, I’d wear it to bed. It also happened to be massive and the perfect substitute for a bag.

I grabbed a few shirts, a pair of jeans and sweats, some underwear and socks, and a pair of knock off vans I got from a thrift store down town. Those shoes were my number two shoe and if I couldn’t wear my combat boots, the fake vans were it.

Thank god for Marie Kondo. I folded my clothing with precision to have them as small as possible. I wrapped the small collection of clothing into the shirt, and tied the sleeves together. It almost looked like a small lumpy pillow when I was finished, but it was enough for me start out with when I left.

I needed a way to have access to this whenever I was ready to leave, but I wasn’t sure if I would always have access to the top floor of the house. What if I ended up in the basement and had to leave from there?

Looking at the window, I got an idea. I went back into the bathroom, looking for something to protect my pack from the elements. Under the vanity held cabinets filled with bathroom cleaners and plastic garbage bags. Perfect.

It was something waterproof in case it rained or snowed overnight. While under there, I also found an extra tooth brush and full size bottle of tooth paste. Grabbing them as well, I put the shirt and toiletries in the plastic bag, opened the window, and dropped the bag.

Feeling good about the pack, knowing I could get it when I leave, released some anxiety I held. I finished ready to go downstairs, nervous to start phase two of my plan.

I looked in the full length mirror to check myself one last time before going downstairs. The green top that hugged my slim figure and made my eyes turn almost teal. The gray sweats were new and were too long.

They covered my feet, making me look almost childish. I grabbed a pair of white wooly socks and stuffed my pants bottoms into them. I took my damp hair out of the towel to cover my neck. Hopefully less temptation for the brothers.

Getting intel on how their metabolisms worked was crucial though. I just hoped that I would be facing Pierce when I was the questions. The devil you know right?

I gathered my courage, and walked down the first flight of stairs. I paused when I stood in front of the three bedrooms belonging to the brothers. The doors were closed and the rooms were quiet.

I knew I was playing with fire, but I wanted to know whose was whose. My heart was pounding in my chest as I slowly twisted and opened the door to a dark room. A woodsy scent overwhelmed me and I knew I found Pierce’s room.

Just as I was about to walk in, a noise downstairs made me jump. I was reminded where I was and who could be stalking me in these halls. I closed the door as quietly as so could and continued my way downstairs.

I slowed in the hallway just outside the kitchen. Someone was in there. I wasn’t sure who I was more scared to see, the twins who seemed as sadistic as their dad, or Pierce who made me feel contradicting feelings here.

Steeling my spine and remembering my resolve, I made my way into the kitchen. I needed information. While certain areas of the house felt extremely dated, the kitchen was updated with new appliances and marble counter tops.

I found the twin without the white streak sitting at the counter on his phone. I was pretty sure he was Zade but to be honest, I could have been wrong.

In a black tee shirt that stretched across his define chest and black sweats, he managed to make casual wear sexy. His body language made him seem relaxed, but his presence screamed of predator.

His dark hair was pulled back into a little bun. His chocolate brown eyes assessed me as I made my way towards him and the plate of food sitting next to him. His critical gaze had my fighting a blush, and I had to fight to not fidget.

Taking in the rest of the room, I noticed we were the only ones in it. He watched my inspection before providing “Noah and Pierce were called away by my father. It will just be you and me today.”

My heart was racing and the adrenaline that hit me made me feel nauseous. Was this my shot? Only one brother was home and he didn’t even have my blood in his system anymore? Did I try and run today? Would it be my only chance?

Zade pulled out the stool next to him and gestured for me to sit when I just stood there dumbfounded. I sat down on the stool, and he pushed the plate of eggs, bacon and avocado toast to towards me.

My mind was racing, trying to pro and con reasons why today would be the day to do it. What if he was worst than his dad? Would he hurt me if I failed? No Pierce made it clear they weren’t going to hurt their “source”.

My paralysis seemed to annoy Zade because he spoke up. “Eat. Pierce will have my ass if I let you skip a meal.”

“Is Pierce your boss? Aren’t you older?” The sass flew out of my mouth before I could stop it. His attitude rubbed me the wrong way though. It wasn’t my fault his family kidnapped me and he had to babysit.

He blatantly ignored my question before pushing a fork into my hand. However, He didn’t seem mad at me. In fact, I thought I caught a hint of challenge in his eyes, but it was gone before I could be sure.

His attitude helped relaxed me a little to take a bite of my eggs. They were perfectly seasoned, and I tried to hold in my food- heaven moan. I continued to eat as I decided to escape.

Yes this was it. I would find a way to run out the front door today and get as far away as possible. My pack was ready and while I didn’t have my bus fare, I wasn’t opposed to begging for the fare or even hitchhiking. I just needed to disappear.

With the knowledge that this was probably going to be one of my last meals here, I settled and ate, my stomach coming out of it’s knots. Zade continued to watch me with penetrating eyes.

It was like he was trying to solve the puzzle that was me. Well I wouldn’t give away my sense of relief. I schooled my features, meeting his gaze with a blank mask of indifference.

After several minutes of me eating, his demeanor relaxed. His shoulders relaxed a fraction, and his eyes watched me like he was curious rather than suspicious. I could tell the small differences after living a year with a volatile guardian.

“It’s distracting to eat with you watching me. What?” I asked when I couldn’t take his attention on me anymore.

“Did you have any plans for the rest of the day?”

I narrowed my eyes at him “Oh yeah, lots of staring at walls to do. I noticed my bedroom doesn’t have a TV, and I don’t have clue where my phone went.” He just shrugged and ignored the comment about my phone.

“Well if you want something to do, I can take you to the ‘Kid’s Room’.” He said kids room with air quotations and I got a little worried. I felt that in a house filled with vampires, a “kids room” could have many meanings.

Seeing my hesitation, he chuckled and started walking to the other entry way of the kitchen. After a second to think f**k it, I followed behind.