Part 2

Isley was struggling to stay calm as she sat in the car with the vampire called Elijah. He hadn't said a word to her after they had left Carlisle's house, he hadn't even looked at her. She wasn't sure was that a good thing or not.

"So…" she finally started, feeling the need to end the silence. "Do you live far?"

"No," he replied carelessly, keeping his eyes on the road.

"Okay… Is your place big?"

"No."

"I'm a great cleaner," she blurted out. "I really am. I can clean, do the laundry, run all your daytime errands, everything that needs to be done when you can't go outside."

He didn't say anything. That wasn't good, she needed to give him a reason for not to kill her.

"Oh and I can make the best omelet you've ever tasted. The secret is the cheese and of course spices. I can make you one as soon as we're in your place and if you don't have eggs and cheese and can go grocery shopping. Or if you need…"

"Do you always talk so much?" he snorted.

"No," she replied quickly. "I'm usually very quiet, you won't even notice me, I promise."

"Hmm. What makes you think that I would take you to my apartment?"

She swallowed.

"I can be useful to you, I swear. I've lived with a vampire for years, I know what you need."

His lips curved into an amused smile.

"I seriously doubt that, my little human."

A flush was rising in her cheeks, but she wasn't going to give up.

"I can make your life easier. I can run all your errands and if you make me the owner of your apartment, no other vampires can get in without an invitation."

For once she was grateful that she knew all these things, but he didn't seem impressed. What else could she offer to him? Think, think, think… She didn't want to die, not like this.

"You can feed from me," she said as calmly as she could. "When you don't feel like going outside. That's convenient, right?"

He didn't say anything. What more could he want? A punching bag? Something worse? She swallowed when she noticed that he drove the car down the ramp and into the semi-darkness of the underground parking garage. This was probably the apartment building where he lived.

"How do you want to do this?" he asked after parking the car.

"What do you mean?" she muttered cautiously. She was hugging herself and her heart was beating like a drum. There was no one here in this hour, just the two of them. No one would hear her or even if someone would, they wouldn't be able to help her. He glanced at her and crossed his arms.

"Easy way or the hard way? Can you walk by yourself or do I have to compel you?"

"No, no," she replied quickly. "I can walk."

Her hand was shaking as she opened the door and got out of the car. He did the same and locked the doors.

"Shall we then?" he stated and gestured towards the elevator.

Her legs felt heavy, but somehow she managed to move while her mind was desperately trying to find a way out of this. She couldn't outrun him and screaming would probably only make him kill her right there. What other options did she have? There had to be something. Neither of them spoke as they rode up the elevator to the tenth floor and walked down the corridor to the correct door. He unlocked the door and pushed it open.

"Get in," he huffed when she didn't move.

Her terror had paralyzed her, but somehow she managed to obey. The apartment wasn't very big and it looked quite ascetic. There were no rugs, paintings or ornaments, only a dark brown sofa, a TV, a small table and two chairs. The kitchen was very tiny and there were two closed doors, probably a bedroom and a bathroom.

"Home sweet home," Elijah stated.

"It's very nice," Isley replied cautiously. "Have you lived here for long?"

"No."

He opened the door to the bedroom and dropped his jacket on the bed. Suddenly the horrible thought hit Isley. His bed… Was that why he had brought her here? How could have she been so stupid for not realizing it before. In fact, the thought hadn't even crossed her mind. She was an idiot. A vampire or not, he was a man, what else could he want from her? Instinctively she wrapped her arms around her, desperately trying to calm herself down. He must have noticed her terror since he gave her an amused look.

"Don't flatter yourself, little human," he huffed. "You're not my type."

"Are you gay?" she blurted out and wanted immediately to kick herself.

His eyes widened before he burst into laughter.

"Oh, someone's vain," he chuckled. "You think that all the men who aren't interested in you must be gay?"

"No, no!" she assured quickly. "I'm sorry, that came out wrong. I'm sorry."

"Well, the answer to your question is no, I'm not gay."

"Oh… Okay."

She couldn't deny that she had kind of hoped that he would be gay. At least then she would know that her body would be safe from violation.

"So, where do I start?" she asked, trying desperately to sound perky instead of exhausted. "I could dust and wash the floor…"

"It's 4am," he stated. "Aren't you tired?"

"No," she lied. "I don't need much sleep. Or food."

He observed her for a brief moment before crossing his arms.

"Come here."

She couldn't move, instead she forced a terrible fake smile on her face.

"I would really like to get started, there seems to be a lot of dust…"

"What part of 'not my type' didn't you understand?" he snorted. "Come here."

Somehow she managed to obey, although every fiber of her being wanted to run or curl up into a ball. The bedroom was just as ascetic as the rest of the apartment, there was only a bed, a nightstand and a closet.

"Here," he said and patted the bed. "Lie down."

Her body refused to obey, she was too terrified. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Not very smart are you? How many times do I have to tell you that your body doesn't interest me? What I want is for you to get some rest."

"Why?" she murmured.

His eyebrows furrowed.

"Because I say so and I would advice you not to test my patience. Lie down."

This time she obeyed, although her whole body was rigid.

"There, that wasn't so hard now, was it?" he huffed. "Get some rest."

With that he turned around and left the room. She heard him turning the TV on. What would happen next? What was he going to do to her? She was determined to stay awake, but her eyelids weighted a ton. No, she couldn't fall asleep, she couldn't… It didn't take long before she lost her fight and drifted into sleep.