The Immortals of Sumer

Chapter Five

He sighed and said, “Remember how I swore I would never be violent around you again? This is me keeping that promise.” That was all he was going to say on the topic and I nodded, accepting that was the best I was going to get. Bogdan stood up from the couch and mentioned he received a text from Alexandru, who will apparently be the first to arrive tomorrow.

Great, another vampire. The idea that I would get more people here to distract him so I could get away was shredding to pieces in my head. Vlad excused himself to clean up, making me scoff, and I walked over to the living room couch to sit down and put my head in my hands. Mircea chuckled a bit as they all seemed to walk away, their voices seeming to go further away. The room was slightly spinning when I looked up to see myself alone finally.

Ugh, what the f**k had my life become? I traced the past 72 hours over in my head and felt my head start to hurt. Whatever, I’m going to bed. I went up the spiral staircase and went into my bedroom to grab pajamas, kicking my shoes off into the closet and sighing. I tossed my hair over to one side to try and ease my oncoming headache but this was from the alcohol-not a high ponytail.

I grabbed my iPhone for a shower and, with my arms full of clothes and a black towel, I went to turn around and stopped where I stood. Vlad was standing in the doorway again, this time leaning against it with his arms crossed over his chest-his bare chest! He had on straight cut dark blue jeans and nothing else. His hair was still a little wet and it dropped down into his shoulders and dribbled down his chest.

I realized his flawless six pack abs were in fact not flawless. He had marks-scars-on his chest like…stab wounds! He grinned at me, as I realized he had just caught me staring. I blushed, sure my ears were turned red, as my sass set in. “Were you raised in a barn or did your mother ever teach you to knock first maybe?” He chuckled, stepping away from the doorframe and more into my room.

“Leave. It’s my turn for a shower, asshole,” I said to him and he shook his head. Some of his wet hair flicked water at me as he shook his head and I wiped it away as I tried to side step him. But I had known he had come into my room for a reason so he wouldn’t just let me walk by. He held out his arm to stop me and, at his hands touching my waist above my skirt hem, his hand just molded to my hip almost naturally.

I wrapped my hand around his wrist on my hip and glared up at him. “You can’t just wake up and think the first woman you see is yours. It’s asinine to think this is okay or that I would just be okay with it,” I finally burst out and he sighed, rubbing his thumb across my bottom lip.

“No, not the first woman I saw but the first woman I tasted and the first woman that has tasted my blood in over three hundred years. You don’t know how personal that BloodBond is for a vampire but I did it to protect you. Otherwise, the bone shard piercing your thigh would have caused you to bleed to death.” He explained solemnly and I paused for a moment. Was that why everything seemed so natural for us? No, that’s silly.

But I did remember the liquor like liquid in my mouth in the basement. So we shared blood? He called it a BloodBond? I was grateful to be alive but I had only been stabbed because of him. I was thoughtful about what this all meant for me as I finally got the guts to reach out and touch one of his scars.

“How did you get these?” I asked quietly and he sighed.

“War wounds,” he muttered, wrapping his hand around mine. I looked up at him in all seriousness I could muster despite my drunkenness and he seemed to be taking in my whole face before he lean down and kissed me again. I don’t know what the hell was wrong with me but he was comforting, warm, to hold at the moment.

I stepped up against him, kissing him back, and he moaned. He gripped both of my hips and pressed me against him harder as we kissed. I pulled back first, needing to breathe, and I giggled up at him.

“I’m sorry. That was the alcohol talking. I’m not that girl that makes out with more than one guy in a week and here I have kissed two different men tonight. I gotta go shower and, you know, sleep this off,” I explained and he sighed.

“That will never happen again,” he said, holding me against him still. I looked up at him, confused. “That man, the Irish lad, you are never to touch him like that again. If I commit to you, then you will do the same and commit to me.” Part of me was feminist roaring at him and yet…something tugged at my mind, telling me not to argue it but be grateful. It was a dark survival instinct in my mind, I think, that worried what would happen to me if war did erupt in America? Part of me wanted the safety I knew he offered.

So I simply nodded up to him and he smiled down at me, a genuine smile that warmed all of his features. He let me go and I practically zombie walked to the bathroom to shower, still unsure of what the hell I was doing with my life at this point. The whole time I had to pee and shower, I had music blasting from my phone because I questioned vampire hearing. By the end of the shower, I was questioning everything.

Was I crazy? Did vampires really exist? Had there been a vampire dying in our basement this whole time? Did Uncle know? Or rather had he known…? What happened to Uncle? What was going to happen to me? Ugh! I was staring in the foggy mirror at my reflection, one of my makeup free moments, questioning my sanity when my phone rang. I was so startled I jumped, bumping it into the sink, and I sighed.

I reached out and answered it, picking it up. Lanie and Alexis were wondering where the hell I went. “Hey, I can’t explain right now. That’s a really lame answer, I know, but it’s all I got. Did you two make it home safe?” I asked and they explained how the lake house party got broken up by cops so everyone scattered. Alexis and Lanie apparently had to run into the woods to get back to Lanie’s car on the side of the road, only to find a ticket but, yeah, they made it safe.

“Good then I’m sleeping this off and I’ll text you in the morning with the details and a long apology, deal?” I said before hanging up without waiting for her answer. I hesitated for a second before I just dropped my phone back into the sink with an empty thud. I had reached f**k it level. I just wanted to be in my warm comfy bed at this point. I gathered my stuff and finally walked out of the bathroom and right into Bogdan. “f**k, you guys are at every damn corner, aren’t you?” I startled out. He chuckled, tapping my phone.

“I’m happy that you’re authentic,” he said and I frowned. “That music is harsh but I love it-you’re great.” My music-what the…

“I drank too much to deal with you and your sarcasm. Goodnight,” I muttered as I walked past him and slammed my bedroom door shut. I walked around my room, dropping the dirty clothes in the hamper, plugging my phone in, and starting Netflix on my TV. Jenna Ortega popped up on my screen and I curled up in bed to finally relax. But something was still off…I yanked my yoga pants off as it just felt like too much cloth under the blankets and got back up and stumbled into my closet to get some pj shorts on instead. Then back in bed, I hardly began rethinking over today before I was fast asleep, dreamlessly.

…

I hardly had time to register a noise at my bedroom door before it burst open. I didn’t startle or yell; I was still waking up as Vlad came into my room. “Morning, love. Normally, I’d let you get your beauty sleep but your friends are at the door. Like we talked about before, invite them inside,” he explained as I pulled the bed comforter over my head.

“I was hoping you were a nightmare,” I muttered, realizing what all had happened. He chuckled, sounding closer. Suddenly, the blanket was pulled back and I groaned until I heard it. Car doors slammed and I heard voices so I finally sat up with a moan and ran my fingers through my hair to tame it. As I stood up from my bed, I cast a glare at Vlad, only to see him looking me up and down. I was in comfy black cotton shorts that were a bit tight (which is why they had been retired to PJ’s!) and a spaghetti strapped shirt without a bra.

Wearing regular t-shirts to bed with how much I move around in my sleep is what causes me to get choked in my sleep by my neckline. I grabbed my pillow and threw it at his face as I walked out of my room and quickly down the stairs. I grumbled as I got to the front door just as the girls banged on it. Alexis and Lanie stood there looking like we hadn’t drank cheap beer the night before.

Alexis wore blue jeans and a babydoll t-shirt cropped at her belly button with full hair and makeup. Lanie wore a burgundy suede skirt and a black lacy blouse with heels. I was expecting to be picked on for my lack thereof but they seemed concerned as they plowed inside the house. “Have you heard?” Lanie asked and I was so confused.

“Heard what?” I asked and they shared a look before Alexis turned and walked into the living room. She paused at the new TV, I kinda was too, until Lanie took my hand to lead me into the living room with her.

Alexis spoke to the room, “Alexa, turn on the news.” The TV, still on mute, changed channels anyway. I saw the local news reporter at the beach.

“Alexa, unmute,” I demanded, curious now. A Breaking News banner ran across the bottom of the screen as a local news reporter said:

“-we cover this on scene,” she said as she walked next to police caution tape lining the tree line behind the beach. “They have yet to bring the bodies out or release the names of the three male victims. Police have yet to comment on this gruesome discovery from this morning. However, local social sites have been mentioning police being called out to this very spot last night to break up a party of teenagers.”

“If this is true, then were these bodies discovered last night rather than this morning, and just who are these poor victims names? We have heard that someone has been taken in for questioning in ties to-”

Lanie started talking over the TV, saying, “The rumor is the dead guys are the three guys Seth was arguing with before I found you two. In fact, Seth has been arrested and his parents are getting him a lawyer already. We figured you should know, hun.” Oh but I did know…the truth of what happened. Vlad had been taking care of my business, as they had put it….and worse, Seth was being blamed for it!

I turned around, looking for Vlad. He nor the other men were anywhere to be seen. Is this good that they’re gone or is it just more disturbing? It felt more disturbing…Suddenly, Vlad came around the corner, smirking. “Looking for me, Love?” He asked and I pointed to the TV news title. Alexis and Lanie muttered about the pet name but all I could do right now was deal with him.

“You did this!” I said, my voice low with anger. He didn’t even look at the TV; he just nodded.

“I did tell you that you and the Irish lad would never happen again. Hard to invite a woman home when you are in a cell,” he repeated himself from last night.

“Unbelievable,” I muttered, glaring at him, still processing. Alexis said something that made Vlad move more into the room. I stepped into his way, putting my hand up, and he had stopped directly in front of me.

He smiled down at me as he said, “It’s fine, darling, I’m just introducing myself to your friends.”

“Yeah, Miss Rude, introduce us,” Mircea said as he rounded the corner into the room too.

“Actually, we met last night, right?” Mircea said to Alexis and she was shocked at me. Lanie was looking at me sideways too.

“What are two men from the party doing here so early?” Lanie shot off sarcastically. She hadn’t even met Bog-

“We never left. Good morning, my hungover Gothic babydoll!” Bogdan flamboyantly said from the hallway.

“Scratch that-three men?” Alexis asked as Vlad snaked his hands around my waist. Our nearness was not missed by them. But, firstly, I needed to help Seth from being unjustly framed. I clenched my hands up in his shirt and he grinned.

“Setting him up for murder is not the answer. Get him a lawyer, get him off,” I demanded quietly between him and I.

“Or what?” He asked. I looked him dead in the eyes.

“Do it and I’ll be a good girl. Don’t and I’ll make your life a total hell,” I warned. Alexis and Mircea were talking but he and I were having our own conversation.

He chuckled, leaning down to whisper in my ear, “You will be good? Why do I doubt that so strongly?”

“Do you doubt me giving you hell if you don’t,” I asked.

He lean away from me a bit too look me in the eyes. Chuckling, he said, “I don’t doubt that one bit. However, if I do…‘get him off’ his sentence then you stay away from him. In fact, you’ll stay by my side.” He whispered to me, “You will behave enough to allow me to protect you.” I looked to the news to see the morning reporter showing the local animal shelter.

The news was already moving on to the other topics when all I could think about was the fact that three boys died last night-more like murdered. All I could see was the blood all over him last night…As much as it shocked me that they were actually dead… I could not summon a drip of real sadness over the mannequins deaths. Again, there was a dark voice in my head, saying that it was better to be his right hand rather than being in his path.

I looked back up at him, saying: “I’ll stay by your side if you fix this.”

He nodded down to me just as Lanie spoke. “So who the hell are you?” Lanie asked Vlad as I came back to the whole room.

“Lanie, this is Vlad, his brother, Mircea-who we met last night, and that is their uncle, Bogdan. Gentlemen, meet my best friends Alexis and Lanie,” I finally officially introduced. That’s when I realized that Radu was missing.

“Oh, okay, is Vlad taken?” Lanie savagely asked me and I felt my face burn with a blush. He caressed the back of his fingers across my cheekbone. I glared at Lanie but then remembered his own words.

“Yes, he is,” I blatantly said, adding, “I’m committing to him and he to me. No touching.” Lanie looked shocked but Alexis just burst out laughing.

“That’s my girl,” Alexis said to the room as she walked away with Mircea. Great.. wait-if they actually hit it off then I secretly hoped she’d be protected by Mircea like I was with Vlad. Lanie glared at me, silently demanding girl talk, as I looked back up to Vlad. He was pleased.

“Don’t push it; just fix this,” I said before I turned fully to Lanie. She instantly pulled me upstairs by my hand. As soon as she closed the door, she turned on me and said, “So…are you being serious?”

“Yeah,” I said and she deflated a bit.

“You are getting serious with someone? Or did you just say that for his benefit?” She asked and I sighed.

“Odd for me, I know, but it’s hard to explain. I am with Vlad.” I said simply.

“Since when?” She blurted out.

“Okay, um…” I began, sighing, “Vlad saved my life. He is dangerous himself but I know I’m safe with him. Let me put it to you this way: it’s better to be his right hand than in his way…and he is my type so yeah…besides, after kissing Seth, I realized I could commit to Vlad. All the locals never interested me anyway. So…give him a chance?” I asked of her.

“Fine,” she muttered, “For saving you, but now you better explain how the hell he saved you?”

I sighed, knowing more half-truths were coming. “So… you know how my uncle hasn’t been around-like straight missing? Bogdan is the business partner of my uncles. He stopped over to give my uncle some papers and…and I was being-people had broken in and I used the weird passage ways to get into the basement…Look, Vlad got me out safely and Bogdan had been so kind. Like the new TV the robbers had broken trying to steal and scheduling cleaners for all the glass and whatnot. Vlad did save my life from them.” I said truthfully. Lanie looked shocked.

“Oh my f**k,” she said and I scoffed.

“Yeah, my life turned upside down so fast in the last three days that my head is spinning,” I said with another sigh…

 .(•).

The men could hear the ladies speaking upstairs. Once he heard her say it was better to be his right hand than in his way, Vlad understood why she was behaving for him. He had wondered why she accepted committing to him so suddenly but he understood now. Bogdan looked to him and said, “Smart woman. She is telling the truth too.”

They heard her heart rate stay the same during the whole talk and he accepted it. He felt Bogdan looking at him and tried to ignore it until Bogdan finally said, “Why the woman, Vlad? From her own words, you could have let her die apparently or even drained her yourself so…why are you keeping her, even wasting time on her?”

He had asked himself that very question as he carried her from the manor unconscious but they had already BloodBonded. He realized that he could see her life’s story in her memories and he…liked her spirit. Her will to continue despite being all alone…

He turned to Bogdan and told him exactly that. Bogdan’s jaw dropped and he marched up to Vlad, pointing at Vlad. “My boy, did you…are you two Bonded?” Vlad sighed, realizing his slip up. He chuckled as he realized she was going to be his slip up from now on, so Vlad put his head up high and nodded.

“Yeah, we’re BloodBonded. She is my mate in my eyes for all intents and purposes,” Vlad said and Bogdan went tense. He started pacing as his tantrum took on a mind of its own.

“Vlad! You know how your grandfather felt about BloodBonding! She is now your f*****g weakness walking around for anyone to hold against you! Why would you decide this? And after being asleep so long, why would you wake up and mate the first woman you see?!” Vlad was just standing there, calmly listening, unaffected. Mircea had left the Alexis woman to see what was happening but stood gaping at Vlad as he caught on to Bogdan’s rant.

“You really just…chose her?” He asked, deflated, and Vlad chuckled, nodding.

“She is part of the family now, when everyone is here I will tell them all that she is such if you feel I must-” Vlad said finally and Mircea shook his head, stepping into the room.

“No! The less people that know about her, the better. It does not leave this room that that mortal is your weakness. Everyone swear upon it,” Mircea demanded and Bogdan nodded along. They heard the women talking as Alexis rejoined them. Elena even knew that what they had just seemed natural. Bogdan smacked him over the back of the head and then swore he would never utter a word. Mircea chuckled, promising the same. Vlad sighed, feeling better now that his family knew her importance to him. She was safer.

.(•).

I could hear Bogdan’s voice through the floor all of a sudden and Lanie looked at me funny. I shrugged, just as Alexis came into the room, saying, “Oh, Mircea left to go see what Bogdan was yelling about. So…how long have you known Vlad because you two seem so natural together?” She asked, thrilled.

I shrugged, explaining, “It does feel very natural but I’ve only known him for like two days.” Alexis stopped looking at my makeup and frowned at me. “No, for real, I know this is weird but he is mine, no touching, ladies.” They got their jabs in for a few more minutes before they asked even harder questions…about my Uncle. Where do I even begin?

“Well, my Uncle is missing and I think I was supposed to report him missing or something but, wow, this seems like a lot to handle all at once.” The girls shared a concerned look that made me want to roll my eyes. Usually, I am the one mothering them to text me when they get home safe and be sure to take mental days to refresh yourself but here I am losing my s**t inch by inch.

“Let’s have a girls’ day in then and tomorrow we will drive you down to the station ourselves,” they suggested and I nodded, happy to procrastinate on what I was supposed to be doing with my Uncles’ passing. Alexis immediately suggested renting an early home access rental on Prime and I was down to cook the popcorn while the girls grabbed pillows and blankets. We converged on the theater room and had half of the popcorn bowl eaten by the time we actually settled on a movie we could all agree on.

By the time the movie was over, I was suggesting we order pizza and we spent some time on our phones for a bit while we ordered via an app and waited around for the delivery. We didn’t turn on the TV, let alone the news, for the rest of the day and none of us bothered bringing it up again, despite it feeling like a looming weight suppressing the excitement of our weekend. So when Lanie seemed curt and slammed the door after the pizza delivery, I didn’t think much of it at all. Looking back, I should have remembered and realized but hindsight is always 20/20.

For the rest of the night, we smoked a joint of marijuanna on the porch and watched the lightning bugs flit around as it got darker. Now that my body was relaxing, I settled in for another movie with the girls and the guys. We had popcorn and a wide selection of snacks from skittles to gummy to chocolate. I pulled the blanket up to my chest and snuggled deeper into the couch and I felt Vlad wrap his arm around my shoulder. I didn’t mind his touch as I was relaxing and, before I realized what I was doing, I was falling asleep against his chest…