DESIRE

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

WINTER BRAY

I maintained a groan. My headache hadn't gone away, and the answer to why it occurred was something I still questioned. The drive to Dimitri's house as he was so-called, was far longer than I had predicted. The road which we were presently on, was totally abandoned. The snow fell rapidly from the sky. It was beautiful. The white snow which had landed onto the ground, made everything seem brighter in the darkness.

"Hey, are you okay?" Nadora cast me a glimpse before settling her eyes on the road again.

"I'm fine," I replied shortly. I couldn't let her know about how much I dreaded this party. How much I just wanted to go home and maybe get some painkillers for the headache.

"Well, then drop the sour look on your face, and be a little more positive." I turned my head to the side, so she couldn't see me rolling my eyes. As I pointed out previously, I'm not the nicest person when being sick or when having a headache for the matter.

"Sorry, I just have this headache." I spoke, the tone of my voice turning softer "It's a shame Altin couldn't make it." I sighed after a slight pause.

"Yeah, who does he even think he is? How can he ditch us like that? And he didn't even tell us why he couldn't make it." I let out a chuckle. The whole thing about Altin cancelling didn't bother me as much as it bothered Nadora. Every time the subject came up, Nadora couldn't shut up about how much it displeased her.

"Maybe it's something personal. Family maybe? I totally understand why he didn't give us any specific reason. Whether it's good or bad, we have to be there for him," Nadora groaned at my long speech, and I blushed from embarrassment.

"Why do you always have to be like that? Why can't my best friend be annoyed with me? You are no fun," She pouted, and I let out a silent laugh.

"Are you sure, this is the right way?" I asked after a few minutes of silence. It felt like we had been driving for an hour, maybe two.

"Totally," Nadora answered looking over at me for a split second. I nodded before leaning back, closing my eyes. My headache still bothered me, but I tried not to think about it too much. Right now, I just listened to the noises which got produced from the old car.

"We're here." She announced as she parked the car. My eyes fluttered open. We were on what looked like to be a hill. Light shone from the house but to say it looked inviting would be a lie. Could I even call it a house? It was more like a castle or a mansion.

The building was tall, dark. Black surrounded the whole area, and to be honest, it looked kind of creepy. I turned around to see the small, foggy town right in front of me. I could see the lights from every car and house. I had never thought about how the town would look from afar, before now. In general, it reminded me of something which could be connected to a cemetery.

"Well, are you coming or what?" My head snapped to look at Nadora. I gave a small smile and nodded. I took slow steps to take in this big mansion as well as I felt my anxiousness increasing. For every step I took, I couldn't hear any music and mentally got relieved that it wouldn't make my headache worse. Suddenly, the light blinded me, and I put my hand in front of my eyes instantly. I peeked between my fingers and saw a tall, broad figure standing in the doorway.

I couldn't see his face, but Nadora ran toward him and attacked him with a hug. My eyes widened, and I removed my hand completely. I had never imagined them to be that close. By what Nadora had told me, they had only known each other for a short amount of time. As Nadora swung her arms around him, he stumbled a couple of steps back due to the force.

After Nadora had let go, she turned toward me "This is Dimitri." She exclaimed with the excitement reaching her eyes. I stepped forward and politely stuck out my hand. I tried to ignore the fact that my hand shook, and just tried to smile a little wider.

Dimitri had light brown hair with a matching, small beard. His eyes were blue, but they had a tint of grey in them. His lips were plump and had a slight shade of pink. His face, in general, looked handsome, but he looked older than Nadora and I. The small forming wrinkles on his forehead was enough to prove my statement. I wondered how old he actually was. He wore a black t-shirt which hugged his body to perfection as well as a pair of dark blue jeans.

"You must be the magnificent, Winter Bray, that I've heard so much about," Dimitri said as his voice and eyes were laced with hidden mischief which made my nervousness enlarge. He stepped forward, rubbing his large hands together. He bowed, took my hand and gave it a kiss but I retreated my hand hurriedly.

"Hi, nice to meet you, Dimitri," I replied politely, trying to ignore the uncomfortable atmosphere which lingered around us. He smirked at me, and my heart started to beat faster.

"Well, should we go inside or what?" Nadora snapped in annoyance. I swear I saw Dimitri's eyes darken as he turned to look at her. It was just my imagination, I didn't get much sleep last night, and my headache hadn't vanished.

"Of course, we wouldn't want you to get sick." Dimitri's lips tugged up into a sickening smile, and I gulped down a lump in my throat. Something wasn't right about this, and I didn't want to be here anymore.

"I don't feel so well," I announced and Dimitri's and Nadora's head snapped toward me. They had probably forgotten that I was still here, so they wouldn't miss me, anyway.

"But you can't go now. It took us an enormous amount of time to get here. Let's have some fun!" Nadora sounded to me like a whiny five-year-old. Nevertheless, I couldn't help but smile sweetly at her.

"I'm sorry. It's just my headache won't stop bothering me, you can still have a good time, though," I tried to be convincing, but I already knew that it wouldn't help.

"I think I have some painkillers in the kitchen." The sudden sound of Dimitri's voice startled me. However, I didn't have the courage to look over at him, so I just glanced down at my hands.

"Yeah, come on, Winter," Nadora said, putting more unwanted pressure onto my shoulders. I took a deep breath. There was no way out of this...

"Okay then..." The faster I got through the night, the sooner I could get home. Nadora squeaked, jumping up and down as she clapped her hands together. She walked right through the door as if she owned the place. Me on the other hand, I felt awkward, nervous. Dimitri cleared his throat and our eyes locked. His smirk grew, and I knew he somehow sensed my uneasiness. I noticed how his eyes wandered over my body, how he licked his lips. He definitely wasn't up for something good.

"After you," He said, biting his lip. I didn't spare him another glance before I practically ran into the house, mansion, castle... Whatever it actually was.

As soon as I entered, my mouth dropped open. The whole area was dark, and I didn't fail to see the enormous, curvy staircase. It took out almost all the space. Everything here looked neat, clean. Even though the staircase was black and the whole mansion was decorated with dark colours, I couldn't find one single amount of dust. How impressive.

"It's gorgeous, right?" Nadora said from beside me "Take this. It'll make your headache go away." I grabbed the glass of water and quickly drowned the painkillers. Now I just had to wait for the effect to kick in.

"Yes." I answered "Very."

"The manor itself got build in the early 1800. As you can see everything is still intact except for the colours, of course. We decided to repaint everything since we didn't like the brownish look. This manor has a lot of let's say... Family value." Dimitri told, "My brother has kept it beautifully clean while I was away-"

"Oh yeah. I didn't tell you. Dimitri has a brother. A younger brother, maybe the two of you should meet up... Like a date!" My eyes widened by the sudden suggestion... Like hell, I would go on a date with a stranger.

"I'm sure my brother would love to meet the stunning, Winter Bray. I bet he would like you immediately." The sinister look in his eye made me look away. The way he spoke made me uncomfortable. I bet his brother was even worse, and I would never meet up with him. Ever.

"We can talk about that later. Where is everyone else?" Nadora asked, raising an eyebrow at Dimitri whose expression had turned blank.

"You mentioned Winter's birthday, so I cancelled everything." He looked over at me, winking before facing to look at Nadora again.

"Boring!" Nadora yelled as a response "I was hoping to get drunk!" She yet again sounded like a five-year-old. I let out a low sigh. This would be a long night with me ending up being the third wheel. They both stood completely still, just staring at each other, not saying a word... This is awkward.

Nadora stepped forward, took another step, one more and suddenly the two of them were inches apart. Suddenly, Dimitri stared over at me, biting his lip, giving me a wink, before grabbing the back of Nadora's head kissing her with a force, looking so powerful, indescribable. I stood with wide eyes and looked away the moment I realised I was staring.

I slowly made myself go out of the room. I didn't know where I was going, but anything was better than listening to them and their noises. I walked down the first hallway I came upon and to my guess; I found the kitchen. Just like the rest of the house, the kitchen had been repainted. The floor was dark as well as every object. Dimitri and his brother certainly had a thing for darkness.

Outside the snow still poured down from the sky like crazy. It was like rain, but worse. I still loved it though because I knew in the morning everything would be completely white, and the brightness would overpower the dark night sky.

It was beautiful, but when my eyes suddenly caught the blue-grey ones. I gasped and turned around. Dimitri said nothing. Instead, he stalked toward me. My nervousness consumed me as I noticed Nadora wasn't with him. Dimitri had something dripping from the corner of his lip. The liquid was dark red, and it definitely was thicker than water.

"Where's Nadora?" I asked, my voice much smaller than I intended it to be.

"Who? The slut you call a friend?" Dimitri replied coldly. Something was going on, I knew it. I gulped down the lump in my throat. He took one step closer to me, and I stepped back closer to the counter. Dimitri smirked, rubbing his hands together at an extremely slow pace.

"I think I deserve an answer, Winter Bray." The way he said my name, made me want to hate it. The way the words rolled off his tongue made me shiver with uneasiness.

"She's not a slut. You have no right to call her such things." I retorted, slightly satisfied that he couldn't hear how shaky my voice sounded. However, the rest of my body shook, especially my hands.

"Such little confidence. How sad..." Dimitri spoke before turning his words into a sinister laugh which I knew would end up haunting me in my dreams. That was if I got out of here alive. By now he had me pressed up against the counter, leaving me no space to move or run away. I couldn't breathe. I hated the way he got to me. I hated his voice. His laugh.

"I must say this." Dimitri started as he eyed me up and down "That you, Winter Bray, are the most delicious thing I have ever laid my eyes on." My breath hitched, and I closed my eyes trying to control my breathing.

I shook as I felt him leaning closer to my ear. His breath lingered on my skin, and I felt like I couldn't breathe. I suffocated on the air I breathed. He got closer to my neck and breathed in my scent. I froze when I felt something on my neck. It wasn't his lips, but his teeth. He nibbled my skin. I couldn't move. Couldn't speak, but somehow a little whisper came to life.

"Please, stop it." I somehow found the courage to whisper. Dimitri pulled back and I let out a short breath of relief, but when I saw his face. I knew that I wouldn't make it out alive. His eyes were dark, and his teeth were jagged. I pushed myself as far away from Dimitri as I could, but his body was too close for me to do anything.

"I'm afraid I won't stop. I want to taste you so f*****g bad." Dimitri answered as he took a strand of my hair and played with it between his fingers. I continued to shake, I still couldn't breathe and felt like passing out.

"Please, let me go," I begged. Tears formed in my eyes as I continued to be in this terrifying state. The tears rolled down my cheeks as he didn't pull back. Instead, his hand landed on my thigh and ever-so-slowly went higher.

"Don't cry." Dimitri's appearance hadn't changed. Some part of me wished for this to be a nightmare, but I didn't wake up. Not this time "You're so beautiful, your scent. Everything about you is perfect." Dimitri continued as he caressed my cheek as his hand made it underneath my dress. I clenched my eyes shut as the tears continued to stream down endlessly. I couldn't stop my shuddering, I couldn't stop him.

"It's a shame, seeing I have to kill you. Just like I did to your friend," Dimitri said sadly. I opened my eyes. They burned, stung and hurt. My sobs only got louder as the seconds passed by.

"Please," I begged once again.

"Poor Theodore, he truly does care for you," My sore eyes widened at Dimitri's words. My mind went crazy. Theo... Oh god. I shook even more. I tried to look away, but Dimitri grabbed my face harshly, making me face him.

I whimpered in pain as I felt his nails dig into my skin. His eyes burned with fire as he continued to press me more and more up against him "I don't want to die." I whimpered, closing my eyes shut.

"You are going to end up just like your friend, and after that, I'm going to stake Theodore's heart," Dimitri responded, as his eyes looked at my face. A tickling feeling was just beneath Dimitri's nail, and I soon realised. It was blood coming from my face.

"Please don't,"

"Do you really think I'm going to listen to your pathetic words?" Dimitri let out a dark, emotionless laugh "Do you really think I, a vampire, would listen to you?" He removed his hand from my jaw and went directly for my throat "Do you?!" He roared, and I immediately shook my head as the tears continued to stream down my face.

He tightened his grip on my throat cutting my airways. I gasped, fought against him, but he was too strong. The evil look in his eyes grew darker as he increased the pressure. Suddenly, I couldn't feel my legs, they turned to jelly, but that didn't make him let go. Black spots started to appear as I felt myself growing limp, and only then he let go. I dropped to the floor coughing, gasping for air like never before.

"So weak. Such a pathetic human being. What does Theodore even see in you? You're nothing but a meal. I mean that virgin blood of yours smells amazing," He suddenly grabbed my arm, jerking me up to my feet.

"Why are you doing this?"

"A vampire like me needs blood and your slutty friend has been a great source, but you... You smell so much better than her," He licked his lips "You know, the legend says that virgin blood is some of the most precious blood to exist," His finger removed my hair from my neck. I didn't have the power to do anything, I couldn't.

The next thing happened so fast; I had no control. Dimitri's eyes darkened even more along with his teeth as they jagged further. He grabbed the back of my head and dug his teeth into my neck with a haunting growl. I tried to move. To scream. To fight back, but there was no use. I felt the life being sucked out of me. My breathing became troubled but slowly came to ease as the black spots appeared in front of my eyes. Was this is? Would I die like I dreamt of all those months ago? I welcomed the feeling of being powerless, limp. I welcomed death, everyone knew I wasn't strong enough to stay. To live in such a cruel society. My body became lifeless in Dimitri's arms, and soon enough, he dropped me to the ground as black invaded my vision.