Kidnapped By The Vampire Prince

“Who’s Jake?”

“My brother!” I responded, abruptly bolting forwards.

Like a flash, Vincent’s hand was around my waist, effectively pulling me to a stop. “You’re not allowed to talk to him.”

“I won’t talk to him!” I promised. “Just let me go closer.”

“No,” he responded, dragging me in the opposite direction. “We need to go before I get caught.”

I struggled to free myself. “No! Vincent, just wait one moment!”

“No!”

“Let go of me!”

“Stop being a brat,” he growled.

I elbowed him as hard as I could in his chest, but ended up only hurting myself. Wincing in pain, I tried to duck under his arm. He tightened it, ruining my plan of escape.

“Just one moment,” I pleaded with him. “Please? I just need to look at him…”

“No.”

Tears began to form at my eyes now. I was so close to him… Even if we hardly get along, it felt like I hadn’t seen him in a year, and now he was right there. I needed to at least hear his voice. Just for a second…

Vincent seemed to guess my motives and moved faster, now heading towards the cash registers. “Stop struggling, stupid. You’ll make a scene.”

“Just one moment!” I cried.

“No means no!”

I glared at him, clenching my fists. “I’m not even going to talk to him!”

“I told you before you came in if you see anyone you knew you couldn’t come in contact with him,” he told me coldly. “That goes for your brother as well.”

“But-”

“We’re leaving. Samuel’s already in line.”

“You’re such an insensitive asshole!” I nearly shouted.

He gave me a warning glare. “Shut up. You’re being too loud.”

Clamping my mouth shut, I followed him to where Samuel was standing. I blinked furiously to make the wetness in my eyes go away. There was no way I’d cry in front of these two. It wasn’t that big of a deal. I’d see my brother at the end of the week anyway… But the least Vincent could do was at least allow me to look at him a little longer. I clenched my jaw in anger.

“Something happen?” Samuel inquired, watching me with an amused face. “You look upset.”

I turned my back on him, crossing my arms. It wasn’t his fault, but I didn’t feel like talking.

“She’s just being a brat.”

“I’m going to guess you did something then, Vivi.”

A smirk crossed my face. Samuel was smarter than he let on.

“Pay for the damn groceries,” Vincent responded, sounding tired. “Let’s just go home.”

My muteness continued the rest of the time we were in Walmart, and in the car on the ride home. The rain was heavier now, pounding loudly on the roof of the car. I sat in the back, my head resting against the cool windowpane. My earlier anger at Vincent hadn’t gone away, but it had died down a little. He was right. I wasn’t supposed to make contact with anyone at the store. It would have actually been bad if I’d let Jake see me- I was supposed to be across the country. He’d know something was up, and it wasn’t like I could explain what was happening.

Holding in a groan, I lightly banged my head against the window. I shouldn’t have called Vincent an insensitive asshole. My face warmed up at my immaturity. I was too embarrassed to apologize for it too.

By the time we reached the mansion, thunder was rumbling in the sky. Unease washed through me as I glanced at the sky. Thunderstorms and me didn’t mix. Another crash of thunder sounded in the sky, causing my heart rate to spike. No lightening came, which calmed me a little. Maybe it’d just pass quickly.

Vincent stayed quiet as he unloaded the groceries from the trunk, carrying them in one hand with ease. Samuel noticed the tension between us and whistled awkwardly to himself as we trudged towards the house. Rain soaked my jacket and hair the whole way, so when I finally entered the building I was dripping. My face slammed into something hard and I looked up to see Vincent’s back. Just as I was about to say something insulting, a different voice spoke up.

“Where did you go?”

My eyes moved past Vincent to where Solomon was standing, a frown etched into his face. Crap. I swallowed nervously.

“Walmart,” Vincent muttered.

“With Emily?”

“She insisted.”

Solomon gave him a disapproving look. “Vincent, I specifically told you no one outside the manor could know she was here. I also told you she couldn’t leave here.”

Vincent squared his shoulders. “The only person we saw there was Phillip, and he knows about her.”

“Just Phillip?” Solomon questioned skeptically.

“Just Phillip.”

I stared at Vincent’s back in surprise. He was lying so blatantly to his father! What if it was important to mention Claire? She didn’t know who I was… Maybe it didn’t matter.

“Samuel, why didn’t you try to stop him?”

Samuel chuckled sheepishly. “I actually kind of egged him on…”

Solomon sighed deeply. “I should have known…”

“Sorry, Sir.”

“Don’t do it again,” the King ordered seriously. “If I catch you taking Emily out again, you’re grounded.”

Vincent snorted. I bit my cheek to keep from smiling. Hearing Vincent being threatened with grounding was unexpectedly amusing.

“Fiona made dinner for you guys. Why don’t you go join her?”

Vincent didn’t respond. He just moved past his father, heading down the hallway. After a moment I decided to follow him, bidding adieu to the King. I hastened to keep up with Vincent, who was walking at a quick pace. Thunder cracked overhead, surprisingly loud through the mansion. I winced, taking longer strides so I was right behind him.

“Um, sorry you got caught,” I started, trying to lessen the awkwardness.

He ignored me. I scowled. Whatever.

When we entered the kitchen, Fiona nearly tackled me in a hug. “You’re back! I thought something happened when I couldn’t find you!”

I patted her back clumsily. It was still surprising having such a touchy-feely person around. “I just went to Walmart… no big deal.”

“Is that Emily?” a new voice inquired and moments later Sebastian appeared from the door on the other side of the room. Relief washed across his face. “Good. You’re okay.” He turned to Vincent. “That was really stupid, Vince.”

Vincent shrugged. “Save it.”

“You’re lucky nothing happened to her! Imagine if you’d run into someone who doesn’t like the idea of having a human stay with us? She could have been hurt!”

M eyes widened in surprise. “What?”

Sebastian turned back to me, his eyes softening. “There are vampires that don’t exactly like us that know you’re here and they aren’t happy about it. I don’t know what they’d do to you if they found you…”

“They wouldn’t have done anything,” Vincent interjected angrily. “I was with her the whole time. It’s no big deal. Father didn’t make anything out of it, so neither should you.”

Sebastian returned his gaze to Vincent, looking stern. “Unlike you, I am worried about her safety. And so is Fiona.”

“Whatever,” Vincent growled, twisting on his heel, and walking out of the kitchen again. “I’m not eating.”

I stared after him for a moment while Fiona tried calling him back. Sebastian sighed lightly, shaking his head.

“Sebastian,” Fiona scolded, narrowing his eyes at him. “You know Vincent gets upset easily.”

“Well he should think about this one,” he responded flatly. “Emily was put in danger.”

“But…”

He shook his head. “You know he’ll get over it, Fiona.”

She sighed. “I know… But still.”

“Let’s just eat,” Sebastian offered. “Emily, are you hungry?”

I nodded my head slowly. “Yeah. If I’m in danger while going out now, what about when I leave for good?”

He hesitated a moment. “I’m not sure…”

I blanked. That wasn’t good.

Dinner passed by quickly. It was a silent occasion. When it was finished, Sebastian led me back to my room. Now tired, I said goodnight and went over to my bed, plopping down on it heavily. A yawn left my lips and I stretched. Thunder was still rumbling outside, causing my feeling of uneasiness to return. It’d be hard to get to sleep tonight. Nevertheless, I stripped and changed into a pair of pajamas from my house. After shutting off the lights, I slipped under the covers. Just as I did so, a bright flash of lightning streaked across the sky, almost immediately followed by a crash of thunder that nearly shook the house.

I bolted up in my bed, my heart pounding a mile a minute. The storm would officially start when I was about to go to sleep. The wind changed so now the rain was pounding against my window. Another burst of lightning tore through the blackness outside, illuminating the dark trees in the distance.

A groan escaped my lips and I fell back against my pillows roughly. I clamped my hand around my ears to try to block out the sound of the storm, but I could still hear it perfectly clear. Swallowing, I bit my lip, wishing I were at home. Jake would always let me sleep in his room during a thunderstorm because he knew I was terrified of them. But now I was stuck in a house full of vampires that probably didn’t even think twice of the storm, let alone were afraid.

Suddenly the door to my bedroom opened and I quickly unclamped my ears, trying to lie as still as possible. Maybe I feigned sleep, whoever it was would go away. I wasn’t going to let any of the vampires here know my childish fear. Light flooded the room and I fought to make my breathing calm and regular. The frantic beating of m heart was making it a hard feat.

“I know you’re awake, stupid.”

My eyes snapped open. It had to be Vincent, didn’t it? I turned to glare at him. “What are you doing here?”

He shrugged, plopping himself down in a chair. “Sebastian’s looking for me so I figured this was the safest place to hide from him.”

“Why is he looking for you?”

“Probably to scold me for earlier,” he told me, his voice dripping with anger. “It’s none of his business.”

I lowered my gaze. “I’m sorry. I wouldn’t have pestered you to take me out if I knew it’d be so troublesome…”

“It’s not. Sebastian’s just trying too hard to act King-like.”

“But still…”

“Whatever. I put you in danger so we’re equal.”

My eyes snapped back up to him. “So I was in danger?”

He gave me a flat look. “I would have protected you if something happened. I highly doubt anyone will ever attack you though. You don’t pose any threat.”

I could tell that was meant to be an insult, but I let it slide. “Oh.”

“Go back to bed,” he ordered.

“What are you going to do?”

“Stay here until the storm dies out,” he informed me. “It’ll be over soon.”

I stared at him. He couldn’t know I was afraid of thunderstorms… Could he? He noticed my wary look and smirked, pointing to his chest.

“I could hear your heart beat. I guess most child fears stay with you, huh?”

I blushed, turning away from him. “Shut up.”

He chuckled. “Fine. But just so you know, I won’t let you live this down. Boom,” he said just as the thunder cracked overhead again.

My heart skipped a beat at the loud noise. “Haha.”

“If you’re really that scared, I won’t be opposed to hold you in your sleep tonight.”

I turned my heated face to scowl at him. “Don’t even think about it.”

He smirked at me. “I take it it’s okay to leave the room then?”

“No wait,” I responded quickly as he stood up.

“You can stay. In that chair…”

“That’s what I thought,” he said triumphantly, dragging the chair to my bedside.

“I’ll keep the scaredy-cat company.”

Ignoring his jibe, once more I turned to my other side, this time more comfortable than before. Even with the thunder booming outside and the lightning filling the sky, I felt safe. It was weird to say it was because of Vincent. But that was the truth. Eventually tiredness swept over me and I closed my eyes, finally managing to fall asleep.