Chapter 1: Love makes you crazy

My fingers fiddled with the glass locket that hung above my chest, standing undiscovered on the rooftop of an uninhabited building. Hours passed as I stared at the bridge nervously, awaiting his return with impatience. It always made me anxious when he left for long periods of time, even though he was not mine to worry about.

After hours of waiting, it was then that I saw it - a throng of children wearing only rags, guided by a small number of vampires who made sure they wouldn't try to escape. A faint grimace appeared over my face as I watched the young boys and girls walk into the underground city that was our home; their new prison. To say that I was unfazed by the misery soon to be inflicted on them would be a lie, even if I preferred pretending to be. It was better this way...but that didn't mean it was any less hard.

But my attention flicked elsewhere when I finally spotted the one person who's return I had awaited for so long a time. I took in the breathtaking sight that was Ferid Bathory, as ever captivated by his unfathomable beauty. His long silver hair was attached in a neat ponytail, swinging as he walked with grace - his white cape fluttering behind him.

As if he knew where I was from the start, his crimson eyes landed on me without a hint of effort, and my heart made a small leap. A careless smile on his pale face, he beckoned me over with his finger. But instead of doing as he wanted, I turned on my heels and headed in the opposite direction, the shadow of a smile appearing on my lips as I found it strangely satisfying to refuse him. But jumping down from the tall building and swiftly landing into the empty street, I was not expecting what would happen next.

"Going somewhere ?" He had followed me. Turning around, I struggled to keep a straight face as I looked at him. "Aww, you waited so long for me and yet you're not even going to greet me ? How sad." He said, putting a hand over his heart to feign being hurt.

I crossed my arms and lifted a questioning eyebrow, if not sarcastic. "And how do you know I waited for you at all ? Maybe I was simply passing by."

My heart leaped once more when his mouth stretched into a mischievous smirk, and I cursed internally for being so easily affected by him. How much I wished I could kiss those lips...

"Perhaps." He took a wide step toward me, leaving barely any distance between us. Too close. A flowery scent filled my nose, and it was enough to nearly drive me crazy. Pointing one finger and keeping the rest folded, he pressed the tip of it against my chest, over the spot where my heart was. "But your heart never lies, darling."

To my embarrassment, I knew he could now hear the sound of my heartbeat loud and clear, as it was now pounding against my ribcage. Why did I have to be the only vampire with a beating heart ? Why did I have to have a heartbeat at all ? It was humiliating, and he was having too much fun with this.

I took a sharp step back, my mask teetering on the edge of faltering. "I must go." Turning around, I stopped midway to look at him. "I am glad you are safe." I jumped high into the air before he could see the deep flush that followed after my words.

Ferid Bathory had to be one of the most evil vampires I knew. Everything that was once human in him was long gone, faded away with time. Or had he never had a human heart in the first place ? Questions aside, he was a ruthless monster who enjoyed the pain of others, especially if he was the cause of it.

But did that stop me ?

No, his cruelty had never affected my feelings for him. I was a pathetic woman who had fallen in love with the most cruel man there was, but I never asked for his love, for I had never felt the need for it. I was content with how things were. Revealing my affections towards him neither felt necessary, but little did I know that fate had other plans in mind. And when the wheels of destiny began to turn...no one alive or dead had the power to stop them.

To be continued...