Chapter 9. My Mate
And they were gone. I could hear Kako's cries and the agonizing screams of Yuichiro and Mikaela, screaming for the sacrifice I made, for my loss. I let the last pair of tears slide down my cheeks, before slowly turning to Aristes.
He was right. He was right all along. And I didn't believe him. He said he would find a way to make me his. And he did. How naive I was. What a fool I was, believing I could fight him. He won. This was the end. The end of many children's life, the end of my endless fighting, the end of the little freedom I had. I surrendered.
Aristes, smiling, walked towards me with long, slow, echoing steps. He stopped an inch appart from me and slid his hand under my hair, touching my cheek with his cold fingers. It would have been called a gesture of love...but to me, it was like admiring a new piece of his collection. Like I was an artifact of a museum or a very expensive gem. Only an object.
I wish I had told them how much I loved them.
...
"Welcome, my mate." He said as we entered his mansion.
"Why are you welcoming me, I have already entered this place more than once." I said, grimly.
"The last time you came here, it was as a blood slave. Now that you are my mate, you became a different person, your status changed and you just entered another world as you agreed to be mine." He said as we walked down the corridor.
He held my hand with a strong grip that was not gentle. He didn't do it as a sign of love, he did it to show that I was his, that I was under his command and nobody elses. My world was turned upside down in just a fraction of a second. A moment, I was fighting to protect, and the next second I had agreed to be his mate. I didn't feel lost or confused, in the contrary, I felt reality now more than ever. I was the mate of a noble vampire and I would now forever be his slave, until one day he will be bored of me and he will suck my blood, dry. That is my reality now. But I don't regret anything. I'm glad that I made the choice I chose to make- because now, I can rest without worrying about Mika, Yuu, and Kako's safety.
Aristes led me to a wide, broad room with a king size bed covered by white covers with beautiful red patterned flowers decorating it. It looked like a taspestry. The walls were covered of a beautiful, golden paint and the floor was a soft, warm, red carpet.
"This is our bedroom. The maids will bring you clothes that fit. Stay here until I return." He said before disappearing.
I stood there, dumbstruck, as my mind registered everything that had happened. Every moment I lived reappeared in my mind in flashes. Almost everybody of the Hyakuya orphanage was killed. At least Mika and Yuu managed to escape. At least them...but everyone else...
My eyes welled up and tears spilled. I laid my head on the bed as I sat on the floor and cried my heart out. Because I couldn't protect them, because my life was doomed to be one of a servant, because I would never see Mika and Yuu again... I cried.
When I heard the sound of someone knocking on the door, I realized I had fallen asleep. I stood up and gave the word for whoever was behind the door to enter. There were two female vampires wearing simple maid clothes. Their hair was neatly arranged in a bun. I could have mistaken them for human girls if it wasn't for their vivid, blood, red eyes. I could also see that they didn't like me much, for what reason, that, I did not yet know. But they didn't fail in showing me respect, as I was Aristes's mate.
However, something bothered me. I didn't quite understand what "mate" implied. I knew for a fact that I was Aristes's, THAT I understood very clearly. But why did I need to become his mate for him to claim me as his ? You could claim a slave as yours without having to become mate with it. Mate can mean different things to many people...for some, when you say mate, it means "soulmate", for others it could just mean a simple girlfriend, boyfriend relationship. So what could it mean to Artistes ? I didn't know what that word meant to him but there was one thing I was sure of. I was definitely not his "soulmate" and I was not his "girlfriend" either...but I knew very well that on this day, I had become his partner.
And my own words confused me. I tried to stop thinking about it, until I decided to ask him myself. The maids had brought me very fluttery, expensive dresses. They were so colourful and full of gems, while the other children only wore black and white simple uniforms. Aristes would probably want me out of my dirty clothes, so I changed into the less extravagant, coloured dress I could find. It was a dark, velvet, purple dress that had long sleeves that let my shoulders uncovered and my chest showed as well. The dress made a V shape, showing my back, clearly. Right, when I was done changing, Aristes barged in, his eyes searching for me.
He looked surprised for only a split second and I say "surprised" but if I had blinked, I wouldn't even have noticed.
"You are beautiful." He said as he walked to me, caressing my cheek with the back of his fingers.
"Like a new gem in your collection." I said as I stared into his eyes.
"No, you are much, much more interesting and special than any gem." He said with his usual smile.
Aristes was a beautiful man. He was devilishly gorgeous. His skin was a milky white, his eyes were a bright, intense red, the curves in his body were refined and gracious and his hair was silky and shiny. As much as he was handsome, he was evil.
He took my hand, making me twirl. It was like he was playing with his new toy. He pressed my back against him and I hanged my head to the right so that the left side of my neck was uncovered. He ran his lips on my neck, making me shudder.
"Your body reacts to my touch." He said, matter of fact.
"And I hate it."
"Your body says otherwise."
"That's why I hate it."
He then bit into my neck faster than last time, making me do an embarrassing yelp. He snaked his arms around my waist and he held me so tightly that he lifted my feet off the ground. Once he was done, he completely let go of me and I fell to the ground, to my knees.
"Change your clothes."
But I already did.
"I am going to present you as my mate."
I was a little bit surprised at the suddenness of this.
"Already ?" I said as I tried something suitable to wear.
Did he not realize he had just killed my one and only family ? Why would he care, that coldhearted bastard.
"The sooner the better, Zakuro-chan."
Then found a dress that I would look good in and moreover, it would match Aristes's white and black ensemble. The dress was mostly white with some black touches, here and there, there were no sleeves and it completely covered my chest to my neck. The dress was all thight down to above my knees and it opened in a sort of a A shape that let the rest of the skirt come out to trail behind me as I walked. Attached to the dress, on the left part of my neck was a pink rose. I didn't know what that meant but I knew it had an important signification. I was about to slip on a pair of shoes but Aristes didn't let me.
"Don't wear shoes."
"Wouldn't it be considered rude ?" I asked confused as to why he wpuld tell me to do that.
But he only smiled in answer. What was he planning ?
I wouldn't have been surprised if there was a carriage waiting for us outside, but to my relief, we apparently were going to walk. To walk...in human speed. My arm was linked with his. A troop of vampire guards followed us all the while. Why weren't we going in vampire speed ?
Aristes was smiling as usual and I sometimes shot him confused glances but he didn't return them. I noticed many of the children were gawking at us, sometimes mostly at me because they had previously seen me in my ragged uniform and now they saw me frolicking with a noble vampire in a beautiful dress.
But...that was the point...wasn't it ? The reason Aristes was making me walk so slowly was to show me off to the humans here. It was to show them that I was no longer one of them, but that I was with the vampires. I grimly laughed, internally. We finally arrived after a long walk of children shooting me hateful glares and vampires whispering about me. We entered a big white building, about the same size as Artistes's mansion and as soon as we entered, all the vampires inside laid their eyes on me. How uncomfortable. But I did not falter, I did not look to the ground, instead, I looked straight ahead without showing any fear or shame and walked with confidance and my head high. I had surrendered to Aristes and I was now his. I knew that very well. But I would surrender to no other vampire.
Aristes and I walked to a room that resembled a...council room. Vampires sat at their place but when I made my apearance, some were outraged and disgusted. Before they could do anything, we walked to the center of room (which I didn't like much) and Aristes presented me as his mate.
"Dear comrades, I present you this human, also know as the beast...my mate." Said Aristes with a confidant smile.
I heard outraged gasps from the vampires, which was a big reaction for them. Aristes was pleased.
"Ferid-sama, what are you thinking making this...this human your mate ?" Said one of the male vampires.
I shot him a glare and it made him furious. I was pleased.
"My mate, Zakuro, is not a simple human. She is immortal."
This time, not a single one of them made a sound.
"She has stopped aging a year ago. Her five senses are enhanced as much as ours. She is as strong and fast as a vampire."
"Impossible." Said the same vampire.
I guess not everybody knew of my abilities, as I had thought. Wonder who went to all the trouble of keeping me a secret. Aristes. I smiled bitterly. No surprise there.
"Would you care for a demonstration ?" I spoke, for the first time.
They all looked strangely at me, as if I was an animal who had spoken like a human. The vampire with brown short hair slicked back, sneered at me and then suddenly smirked. He said, "Well, that would be interesting, wouldn't it be ?"
And as soon as he said that, he jumped at me with his fangs showing like a predator, intending to grab my neck with his outstretched hand but he was so slow for a vampire, to my eyes, and so I grabbed his neck without hesitation with my right hand and threw him into the wall, breaking it at the same time. Now the committee looked at me with curiosity, as if I was a mystical being. The brown haired vampire stood up, not as beautifully as Aristes had before, and lunged at me again but this time, Aristes stood in front of me, strangling the vampire.
"Her strength, her body, her blood and her very own life are MINE. You must have realized by now that this human is the rare case we had gotten a few years ago but as she is now my mate, she is mine and whoever tries to touch her will be faced with me. She is MY property." Said Aristes with a possessive voice, blankly smiling at the vampire who's throat he was crushing.
Usually, that blank smile of his meant he was angry. Was he ? Affectionately, without thinking, I laid both of my hands on his left shoulder. What was I doing ? He let go of the vampire he was holding and the vampire crumbled to the floor, making strange noises from his throat.
I felt a strange feeling come over me...it was as if we had power over this entire room.
