Blood Debt

Zade

Zade and I made our way through the huge house, passing different types of sitting rooms or closed doors. I let my eyes wander in awe at the sheer size of this home and the detail that went into making it. I also memorized the path we took, knowing that could be crucial for my escape.

Zade finally made it to a set of large wooden double doors and opened them. My jaw dropped a little in when the room was revealed. The large open space was not what I was expected when Zade mentioned having a kid’s room.

A large L shaped couch took up the center of the room. It faced the 60 in screen TVs mounted to the wall. On either side stood an aide hockey table, a pool table and even an old pac man machine. The walls were a cream color that kept the room light and modern.

While I took in the room, Zade’s lean frame settled in the corner of the L couch. I chose to stand in front of it. I wanted to be on my feet in case he gave me a reason to run. I was not sure what protection my bedroom door provided, but I’d run up there if Zade got weird.

After a moment of staring at each other, I broke the silence “If I’m being honest, I wasn’t sure this is was what you meant by kids room. Screams. Blood. Those were more what I was thinking.”

He seemed entertained by this statement. “I can call the interior decorator to set it up to more your vision if you’d like?”

The gleam in his eye challenged me to dare him. I near shivered at the thought of the nightmare dungeon I had pictured immediately “I’d rather not.”

He chuckled at that and the sound rumbled though me. “Sit down.”

I wanted to fight him, but then I thought better of it. Better to make him think I was a more willing participant to maybe gain some free time tonight. All I needed was one mistake and I could dash. So, I settled on the outer cushion closest to the door.

He turned and kicked his leg out on the couch so that his foot came to the cushion next to mine. “So my sweet Ana, tell me, what makes you so special? Why does your blood taste so good?”

“I don’t know” I answered. “And don’t call me that. It’s weird.” While I wanted to approach him cautiously in case he was cheeky AND violent, but I didn’t want that nickname to stick.

Zade’s dark eyes met mine before asking “Does the rest of you taste that good?”

I blushed at the insinuation, but tried not to let it get to me.“Shut up. You’re probably some perverted old man, trying to hit on a teenager. You may be hot, but your probably like 95 years old.” Well I guess my caution flew out the window.

Luckily, that had him laughing. “I’m 19, and I know that technically you’re too young for me, but I didn’t think two years was a big thing. Now about me being hot.”

He finished with a wink at my confused expression. “Wait, but how? Aren’t you guys supposed to be ancient?”

“Our father is if you’d like me to schedule an interview for you”

My facial expression must have shown how horrified I was about that idea because him smirked.

“I thought so. He’s probably closer to the age your thought I was. But back to my questions, any boyfriend I can hunt down to answer my previous question?

I broke eye contact not feeling comfortable taking about this side of my life. “Didn’t your dad have someone stalk me before kidnapping me to know my habits and where I’d be when? He probably knows the answer.”

“Are you getting defensive?” He pulled himself up to his hands and knees before crawling across the couch “Why sweet little Ana, have you ever had a boyfriend?”

I scowled at the TV screen, but that just egged him on me. “Ana Connors, are you a virgin?” He came up right to my ear when he said it, and that had me jumping off the couch to get some space.

Without my answer, he continued on. “Virgin blood doesn’t usually taste any different than other human blood though.”

“Great, and how many virgins have you kidnapped and eaten to come to that conclusion?”

“Well the whole adoption thing is new with my father, but occasionally I have been known to journey where no man has gone before. A conquistador, if you will.”

His ability to make me feel contradicting feelings was baffling. I never knew you could feel so much anger while also being turned on. The fact that he referred to my being here as the an adoption instead of the kidnapping it was, frustrated me.

But thinking about him drinking from virgins, and what activity followed after had me blushing bright red. The image of him aggressively taking a faceless woman from behind filled my mind and My face was impossibly hot.

“I’d love to know what your thinking of” his eyebrows wiggled.

When he saw I wasn’t going to budge, he pressed me to sit.“Come on, come sit back down. I will try and behave.” He moved back to the corner of the couch to prove his point, and I sat back down on the edge.

His eyes locked on my face for a moment, and I broke the silence again “So what are we going to do?”

“We are going to watch a movie my religion professor assigned the class to watch.”

“Wait your in college?”

“Yes.” Ok that was vague.

“And why do I have to watch your homework with you?”

“Well you’re my responsible for the afternoon while Noah and Pierce are away, and I need to watch this movie. Hence why you’re here.”

“Couldn’t I just stay in my room?”

He regarded me for a moment, and I thought he was about to take my suggestion seriously. “I mean I guess you could, but then I’d have to tie you to the bed. Unless that is how you’d like the spend the day...” he trailed off, letting his words settle over me.

My mouth dropped open at what he was implying “I-“

“Ana, I’m not an i***t. If I’m here, you can access the front door. So it’s either hang out with your baby sitter or get tied up. I just need to know that you’re being good.”

I promptly shut my mouth and turned to face the screen of the massive TV. His chuckle caressed my skin, and I ignored how it made me feel as he set up the movie.

Apparently Zade was taking an Indian religion elective, and his assignment was to write some paper on this movie afterwords. He ended up turning on an animated movie about some Indian Gods and the mythology surrounding their marriages.

The movie itself was three hours long, but he ended up pausing it frequently to ask me questions about my thoughts on the movie, or my life. I chose not to answer any personal questions but we ended up having some interested side conversations about the Indian god Rama. By the time we finished the movie, it was dusk and I had to pee.

A delicious smell started wafting into the air, and Zade looked at the clock under the TV. “Dinner will ready soon. Come on.”

That confused me.“How is dinner being made if we are the only ones here?”

“Mari. She’s our house keeper, keeping the place clean while we stay here. Since you are here, she will now be in charge of your meals.” He responded casually, like the news that another person being here wasn’t big.

Maybe she would-

“I see the look in your eye. Don’t even try. She’s been charmed to not react or respond when you bring up your situation with her. Just leave her alone unless it pertains to her job.”

“She was what?” My stomach chose to growl at that very moment.

He smiled at me and I nearly melted on the spot. “I’ll explain over dinner. Let’s get you fed.”

“I actually have to pee.”

“Ok I can take you there first, then we can-“

“Oh, well if it’s alright with you, I’d like to go change before dinner. We just sat for so long for that movie.” He nodded and we moved to leave the room.

He turned off the lights and we walked back towards the kitchen room. At the dinning room, I expected him to continue with me into the kitchen, but instead he stopped and caught me by my wrist.

“Sweet Ana,” I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes. The name was clearly going to stick. “I am going to give you the opportunity impress me. I will let you go to your room and come back after you’ve changed.”

I looked up at him, nodded and pulled out of his grip. “Before you run off, remember this if you’re stupid enough to try something. If you disobey, you will be punished.” His excited tone was concerning, considering he was threatening me.

My mind and heart raced at the sudden development. This was my shot. There was one of them, and he was going to be rooms away from the front door. I had my pack packed, and if I could be silent, he wouldn’t know I left.

“But if your actions somehow results in the suffering or death of either of my brothers, I will personal pull your heart out from your throat and eat it. Do you understand me?” His sudden change into a deadly serious tone had me almost rethink my escape. Almost.

“Yes” I said before turning and flying past Mari in the kitchen and up the stairs to my room.

In there, I went to my armoire and pulled out the winter coat that hung inside. I also grabbed some fur-lined boots that definitely weren’t mine before but looked sturdy enough to hike or run in. I put the coat on and carried the boots with me.

I looked out the window one last time to make sure my shirt pack was still from this morning, then made my way back down the stairs silently. While I’m sure my steps made no sound, blood rushed in my ears causing me to think I was too loud.

When I made it to the front door, no one stopped me when I quietly turned the knob, walked out and closed it behind me. I moved quickly, not getting caught up in the harsh wind that cut across my face.

I ran with my boots in hand, around the house to grab my escape pack. Ok, I knew I was in Oregon from my conversation from Pierce. I also knew that it was their isolated vacation home that was far enough away from civilization. I was probably in the middle of nowhere and would probably die before seeing anyone.

No, I couldn’t think like that. The fact that this opportunity came up had to be a sign. All I had to do was problem solve. My first step then was to find a main road and follow it until I could hitchhike away from here.

Feeling ok enough with my plan, I pulled on my boots as fast as I could, and grabbed my pack from the ground. I looked around one more time to make sure no one was coming, then made a mad dash into the closest tree line.