Chapter Five
I stared down at the dress. It was a black. I guessed that it would probably reach mid-thigh, but there was no way I was going to find out. I was just attacked by vampires yesterday, and they wanted me to wear a dress? Who can move reasonably in a dress? That seemed like a horrible idea. I looked around the plain room in Revenges living quarters. The only furniture other than the bed was a wooden dresser on the other side of the room. The floors were a cherry colored wood. I pulled open the dresser drawer without a second thought. Revenge's clothes. I was five feet six inches. Revenge was six feet. That wasn't too much of a stretch…
I threw on a dark pair of jeans and the only shirt of his that wasn't blue or black. The forest green of the shirt matched my eyes. A brush sat next to the dress, and I ran it through my straight brown hair. I pulled the baggy pants up a little as I opened the door and stepped through to the hallway. About five feet down the hall on the right was another door. Smooth and quiet voices made me turn left down the hallway. I turned the corner into what appeared to be a living room.
I obviously had just interrupted a meeting of some sort. They were all leaned forward on couches around a glass table. Male eyes traced me up and down. I didn't feel like they were complete enemies anymore. They had saved my life. I recognized Dax immediately. His grin was wide enough that his teeth were showing. Revenge's lips twitched up into that smirk that was starting to become familiar. Torture looked at me with an annoyed expression. I didn't know one of the men that was sitting beside him. My heart clenched in my chest. His blue eyes met mine, and I nervously put my hands in my pockets then took them out. They were my enemies but not life and death enemies. They were my enemies because they were keeping me trapped.
"Interesting choice of clothing," Zane commented as he picked up a paper on the table and flipped it, so it was face down on the table. Oh, we have some secretes over there…do we? I thought as my eyes narrowed in on the papers.
"It was either this or the dress, and I can't move in a dress like-" His blue eyes were staring only inches away into my green ones. His hands came underneath my chin and jerked my head to the side.
"Ouch!" I complained weakly. The contact of his skin on mine made my heart jump in my chest. I'm sure everyone in the room could hear it, and if they couldn't they could definitely see the blush that tinted my cheeks. He pulled up bits of my hair to see where the staples went.
"How badly have you been damaged? It appears as if it has gotten worse." I did look worse. The bruises had all shown up.
"For the last time, stop treating me like I'm property. I'm hurt, not damaged," I sighed as I tried to push his hand away from my face. His hand didn't budge.
"Still in denial I see," he replied as his hand fell from my face. He stepped away from me, and I looked at all of the men who were all staring at me. All of the vampires in the room had long black coats on, which would be really funny to me if it weren't for the weapons they had hidden underneath.
"Well good morning everyone!" I said as I looked around the room with silver eyes staring at me. I think my energetic mood startled them.
"Mornin' Blair," Dax greeted me with a smile.
"Good morning," Revenge said, and I pranced over to Revenge and took the empty seat next to him on the tan leather couch. There was a second of silence before everyone started to talk again.
"The tunnels are not on the original blue prints, and not even the lower parts of the royal family know about the passages," Revenge said beside me. I guessed I had become a part of the meeting. I leaned back and tapped my fingers on the arm rest on the couch.
"What the question appears to be is how did this group get knowledge of the tunnels?" Zane started to pace around the living room while casually flipping a knife over and over again in his hand.
"They may have gotten it through the files that were sifted through on the web system," The man I didn't recognize spoke up. His hair was buzz-cut in a familiar style both of my brothers always had during the summers.
"Ummm… no. That would be impossible since the tunnel's map isn't saved on any of the computers. It isn't even mentioned," Dax had a frown on his face as he said that. A sigh passed between my lips; that made everyone snap their attention to me. I stood up and yawned.
"Let me just come out and say what I know all of you bright people are thinking but don't want to say. Someone who knew about the tunnels gave the blueprints or mentioned them to the enemy side," I said while rolling my eyes. The knife in Zane's hand stopped rotating.
"Everyone prepare for the next twenty four hours. My human, I would like to speak with you." Everyone started to stand up. While all of the others were distracted, I took Revenge's arm in my hand. Without asking, I pushed up the sleeve covering his arm. Any traces of the fight from yesterday had disappeared. I turned his arm over in my hand amazed. He had the same frozen look on his face that he had last night as he stared at his smooth skin I drifted my fingers over.
"Ah, you were right. I was just wasting my time last night, huh?" His frozen look melted away.
"That time wasn't wasted," he said in a small whisper. My attention was taken away from me as Zane's smooth voice entered the room.
"You all know your tasks, so we will meet in an hour's time at the exiting point. Except for you, Torture. You, of course, know what's expected." Everyone started to get up and start to walk toward the door.
"Well what's my task?" I asked with a disconnected feeling from the group. It's like life with my brothers. They never asked me if I wanted to play football too; they just assumed it. Fishing too. They think I don't want to do anything. My brothers. I was going to find a way home to them. I wondered who was making their lunches now that I was gone. Yes, I made my older brother his lunch for school. Zane threw a smile at me, and all of his perfect white teeth shined.
"You would not want these tasks, my human," Zane said as I watched Torture walk over to a sleek metal door. Freedom! I thought, but my hope diminished when I saw Revenge type a password into a key pad next to the door. How am I ever going to get out of here in a windowless apartment and a secret code to open the door? I thought.
"Rev, please go and see Barrett." I glanced over at Revenge and tried to figure out if that name was good or bad. His facial expression didn't change; it stayed blank. I shifted my eyes around the room after Revenge left, and it was only Zane and I.
"I do not think you are clever," were the first words out of his mouth. "I was purposefully leaving the group members to bring up the topic of a possible traitor, so I could have evaluated their reactions to the situation," Zane whispered as his blue eyes followed my fidgeting hands.
"Well I don't think you're very nice. Whatcha gonna do, ya know?"
"I am not supposed to be nice. I kill others," he answered as he began to walk toward the door. I followed a couple steps behind him. He said 'I kill others' as someone would say 'it's nice out today'.
"You don't care about everyone you've killed?" I asked with disbelief. The door let out a small beep after I failed to see the code Zane entered.
"My Human, what is it that you think I do?" We crossed the entrance to Revenge's and took a left down the hall. It looked like a standard apartment building hallway.
"You're head of security…" I said with a shrug of my shoulders. I had a constant grip on my pants to keep them from falling.
"And who was the one who told you that?"
"Revenge," I answered. Zane smirked.
"Ah, yes. Well leave it up to Revenge to make things appear more pleasing in comparison to reality," Zane said as he turned a corner.
"What are you talking about?" We stopped in front of a door.
"I'm an assassin." I stared at him with a frown.
"What?"
"I am one of the most skilled assassins the Court of Radiance has known."
"But..."
"And Revenge, Dax, Torture…all of the vampires you constantly see are all highly skilled assassins too. I lead them." My mouth stayed closed as we walked down the white hallway. They really needed some color. I found it hard to meet Zane's eyes again. Revenge killed to protect me. Did he kill for other reasons too?
"So you want me to answer the question to whether killing bothers me. No, it doesn't." I stayed silent as Zane entered a code to open a door. I had no idea where we were.
"Where are we?" I asked as we stepped over the entrance. The floors were wooden. The room was shaped like a 'L'. Furthest on the left, four high tech computers sat grouped together with one chair. A huge flat screen T.V. sat in front of a black leather couch a little ways away from the computers. On the right side, a long table sat with a map of some place on the wall next to it.
"Where you will be staying," he answered.
"What was wrong with staying with Revenge? He's a good roomy." I was constantly pulling up the baggy pants. His body moved in much the same way that Revenge's did. They're both fighters. I told myself as I followed his footsteps into the new space.
"I do not like you being close to Revenge." I rolled my eyes at his reply.
"And why's that?" I turned around when I heard a beep, and the door shut behind us. Great, I thought, now I'm going to be trapped in a room. I let out a sigh as I shifted my eyes back to my surroundings.
"Because," he shrugged, "you are mine." There was that word again. Mine. It was the word I found myself thinking over and over again whenever Zane was around.
"No, no, no. I'm not yours, and you are not mine," I said out loud as we stepped through the door way.
"Of course I'm not yours. That would imply a different relationship in which you would have control." Zane's voice was toned like he was just stating a simple fact. We passed the couches, and then the T.V. and kept on walking back into the apartment like space. It reminded me of Revenge's, but this was bigger. There were more doors in the hallway.
"I shouldn't have to tell you not to mention anything that was said in that meeting, correct?" I gave him an I'm-not-stupid-look. Zane stopped in front of the door and turned the silver handle. I stood still for a few seconds.
"Do you like this room?" Zane's iced blue eyes were watching me intently. My eyes widened. The bed was easily a king size. Bright neon colors lit up the room in a happiness that I loved. A flat screen TV sat in the top right hand corner of the room. The dressers were neon blue, and the ground had a neon pink rug. I had to force myself not to make my expression show any signs of me liking it. My room back at home had a bunch of neon in it. He cheated.
"You do know I'm not staying here," I said after a moment of silence.
"Of course you will." Zane's head turned, and then a beeping sound rang through the space; it was the door opening.
"Torture's here to take you to breakfast," Zane said as his eyes flickered over me. "and you should get rid of those clothes. There are clothes in your dresser." He turned and walked out of the room.
"I don't know what I want," I sang as Torture sat across from me. The café looked like nothing had happened yesterday. The only difference was the increased number of guards who walked around. It was also quieter, more people whispered. The whispers were full of death, and I tried to block the unwanted comments out.
"Torture, what was your favorite food?" I asked as I played with a strand of my hair. We were sitting down at the table, and since it was night time a server was waiting for me to fill my order. The server was human. Her eyes were brown, and her brown hair was pulled back in such a tight pony tail that the skin on her face looked pulled back.
"I ate what I had," he answered softly, not helping me at all. I stuck to some of Revenge's favorites.
"I'll have pancakes and fruit," I said. The server smiled and walked away.
"Why do you always look so serious?" I asked Torture after a long period of silence. His head turned to look down at me with a look that said 'what an inferior being' and then looked straight beyond me again.
"Why did the pony cough?" He turned his head to look at me again. His silver eyes held confusion in them.
"Cuz he was a little hoarse!" I finished the joke with a smile and a small giggle.
"Ha-ha. You get it?" I added when he didn't smile. Torture's lips seemed to twitch into a gesture that almost looked like a smirk. The almost smirk dropped off of his face when his eyes seemed to quickly flicker to somewhere behind me. I glanced over my shoulder only to find the café half-filled as it had been before.
"I will be back shortly," Torture said as he stood up with purpose and started to walk off. My eyes followed him until he stopped in front of two guards on the other side of the café. Five minutes later my food came. I hummed as I cut the pancakes.
"You're new." A tray slammed down from the other side of where I was seated. I glanced up surprised. My eyes were immediately drawn to the scar that cut from her right eye to the top of her right lip. Her blonde hair was back in a loose braid.
"I'm not new. Just visiting," I reworded. The word 'new' implied I was going to be old here at one point. I wasn't going to stay here.
"Don't worry it'll get better," she said loudly. I narrowed my eyes at her. I sighed. I was feeling a bit disheveled due to last night's fight. I froze when a sudden realization came to me. I wasn't sore. Zane's blood!
A tray slid onto the table smoothly forcing me to bring my eyes up again. The only human boy that I had seen there slid next to the girl opposite of me.
"Don't listen to Sarah, she's just jealous." His voice was surprisingly strong. For some reason, I thought it would be soft. His green eyes flickered around the room every couple of seconds fearful. It was like he was searching for a threat. His brown hair was cut short.
"Ah, I hate to admit it," Sarah took a bite of her corn then spoke once again. "But you're totally right, Josh. I am jealous of her."
"So what's your name?" Sarah asked me.
"Well everyone around here has been calling me Human, which to me sounds a little broad, but back home I just go by the name Blair." There was a moment of silence as I took my first bite.
"Don't you just hate them all?" I glanced at the smirk she held on her face as she looked toward Torture. For some reason it bothered me.
"Ummm…" I tried to think of the right way to answer my question. How was I supposed to say I hate them, but I don't at the same time?
"Uh Oh. You're hesitating. If you hesitate you're never going to get out of here."
"But you-"
"Yes. I'm still here, and I hesitated." She took a sip of her milk. I watched Josh's face next to her. His eyes were glued to his plate.
"It's how I got the scar. Apparently, I was to set an example." She rolled her eyes. Her face showed annoyance rather than fear. It was silent for a few seconds. When she spoke again, her voice was soft.
"But you want to know the truth?" Her eyes shifted away from mine and to her plate. "I'll never get out of here. I like my vampire too much. If I ever got the chance to leave, I would stop to look back. I'd hesitate again," her quiet voice broke off in a laugh. A frown formed on my face. She took a bite of her corn again.
"So, Blair, how did you end up with the bad ass vampires of this place?" I watched her eye brows raise expectantly waiting for my answer.
"Zane kidnapped me randomly," I said as I played with the little pieces of pancake left on my plate.
"Ah, Zane. At random too, huh? He doesn't really strike me as the human loving type. Next time you see him, you can thank him for my scar. After all, he was the one that ordered it to be done." My heart dropped, and for some odd reason I felt a sense of betrayal. I was upset. My mouth opened, but I didn't know what to say. I wanted to apologize, but it wasn't my fault. I was saved from saying anything when Josh spoke up.
"Where's your mark?" he asked as his eyes searched over me.
"Where's my what?" I said with confusion.
"Apparently your boys haven't claimed you," Sarah said beside me. A smirk started to form on her face. She brought her arm up and pointed to as slim silver bracelet on her wrist. The initials R.T. were engraved largely on the front.
"This," she said tinkering with the bracelet. "is a mark. It lets all of the other vampires around here know that you've been claimed by another. Without it, you're pretty much a free for all."
"I'm not going to be claimed because I'm not going to give someone the illusion that they have power over me. No, that's not happening," I said as I pushed my plate away from me.
"Now, if you would excuse me, I'm going to attempt plan D for escape." I got up slowly.
"Hey, Blair," Sarah called to me as I started to walk away. I turned around and faced her. "remember it'll get better." I walked across the café and actually managed to get to a door I've never been through before. I glanced over my shoulder to see Torture still in conversation with two guards. I smiled as I opened the door and found myself alone in a hall way.
The door swung shut behind me. Now that I was out, I didn't know what to do. I started to walk straight down the hall way and hope for the best. My footsteps came to a stop when I ran out of hallway. A large metal door blocked me from continuing down the hallway. I let a frustrated sigh through my lips. A key pad sat next to it. It needed a code.
"So, you're Zane's human." The voice came from behind me, and I jumped in surprise. My head turned quickly trying to find the owner of the voice. His blond hair brushed in front of his silver eyes. A light smirk tilted his lips into an interested smile.
"No," I answered as I pressed my back up against the wall. I tried not to show any emotions. I did feel intimidated, but I remembered Revenge telling me that the vampires at the court show a little respect for human life. So he wouldn't really hurt me, or he wouldn't kill me.
"So, you do not belong to Zane?" His voice held a confused note to it.
"I don't belong to any one," I replied as he got closer to me and leaned on the wall with one shoulder to face me.
"But in the future that could change." His smirk grew into a smile showing bright white teeth.
"No, I will never belong to anyone. I'm not an object. You vampires and owning humans," I muttered.
"I like your attitude. I'm guessing that's the reason Zane chose you." His eyes flashed over my body, and I had a very intense urge to back away. My arm injured and in a splint made me nervous. I wanted it free.
"Hmm..." he hummed as he got closer to me. His hand came up and touched a strand of my hair. I wasn't going to let him just touch me. My hand came up and slapped his hand away. Instead of getting mad, like I had expected, he laughed.
"What are you doing wandering the halls alone?" I thought about how to respond.
"I'm..umm…" My mind flashed to mental images of a girl locked behind metal bars.
"I.. I'm looking for the cells," I announced.
"Why would you want to go to the cells?" he asked with that smile still in place.
"Because I do," I said indifferent to what he thought.
"I'll show you the way. For a small price of course,"
"We'll walk and talk about it. I'm running low on time," I agreed, and he started walking. I didn't know how long I had before Torture noticed my absence. His hands reached out toward the key pad. He flashed me a smile as he slowly entered the code. He knew I could see the numbers he was entering. Three. One. Four. The door gave off the signature beep.
As soon as we passed through the door way, color struck my eyes. We turned left. The walls were a burgundy and there was beige carpet on the wider hallway's floor. Paintings hung every couple meters away, and rich chandeliers hung from the ceiling.
"This is one of the many main hallways. Different sections of the court branch off from the main halls," he answered my question without me having to ask.
"So, what's this price?" I questioned thinking of what he would possibly want from me.
"I get to own you," he said as he took a right into a smaller hallway. I memorized the way as we walked. The walls were white again. A huge wooden door sat at the end of the hall. We made our way to it.
"That's not possible," I replied as I stopped in my tracks.
"I don't see why it wouldn't be," he stated.
"I can," a recognizable voice entered the conversation. I turned around startled, and Torture held the same bored expression that always seemed to be plastered onto his face.
"Ah, hello, Torture," the man that was leading me said.
"Colten, leave," The man, now known as Colten, gave me a cool smirk before he left. When his figure fully disappeared from view Torture turned his back on me and started to walk the way we had come from.
"Umm… thanks, Torture," I called to him. His non-answer was unnerving. I fast walked to keep up with his retreating form.
"Even though, you know, I think I couldda handled it by myself back there." His whole body stopped after I said that. He rotated around to look at me.
"Do you have the slightest idea of what you are doing? Ever?" he asked me with annoyance in his silver eyes. I didn't have an answer.
"You are no longer in your human world. You walk around here like it's not dangerous, but it is. Every vampire that you meet, you should be scared of. You have no idea how weak you are to us."
"Revenge said that the Court of Radiance cares for human life and-"
"Revenge thinks everything out there is good, Blair. He sees what could potential be considered good, and he extends it. Rules are broken. Our kind isn't stable, so don't listen to everything that is said. A human is only two things in a vampires mind, a possession and a way to survive." I followed him silently to the café. We walked through the café and to the set of doors on the other side. We took an elevator down to a floor marked 'L'. We exited, and I recognized the hallway and Revenge's door. We past it and Torture entered the code to where I was staying. I walked in. When Torture left me to suffer in the room void of any possible contact with anyone or anything I sat and thought a lot. The computers and TVS needed a code in order to work. I had already tried three-one-four. It told me that if I guessed wrong one more time an alarm would go off. I thought about Zane most of the time. Was I really random? Or was there something more to me that made me his kidnap victim?
Well hello there! So here is chapter five! Let me know what you think? I hope it's getting more interesting!
I-like-your-story-question -If your front yard could be made up of anything you want what would it be (it's instead of grass)? I was thinking boxes of chocolate, but then I realized how fun a trampoline front yard would be! Instead of grass just having trampoline.. Ahhh! Fun.
AlexandraSterling41- Hello there! :) I'm glad you liked the Revenge/ Blair talk to! Haha so you are a Revenge/Blair fan? :D Thank you for leaving a review 3
1SouthernBelle- Hello again! Lol! Blair does make for a bad vampire semi-slayer though! As mentioned in the story, Revenge is a part of an elite assassin group, so he can hold his own! Zane does have his reasons for being so bipolar toward Blair. As for Zane showing up in the future….well there may be a point in time when Blair can't get rid of him ;) haha Yes, Zane is responsible for any important royal in the court of radiance. That could mean his assigns people to protect them, or that he does it himself. –And all of the royals are vampires. As for having a lot to learn… well I hope there will be tons of questions that need to be answered when you read! Cuz I like to keep things mysterious haha :) and thank you, as always, for your review! 3
tvdtwilight101- Hi! Thank you for reviewing! I'm glad that you like it so far! And that you like my characters! :) I've been working on characterization for a while, and I hope that I'm getting better at it!
Tamike- hey there! :) thank you for reviewing! Oh my gosh! You checked every day :)! I'm so happy you liked it so much!
DJShayShayxx- Well hello there! Thank you for all FOUR of your reviews! I loved that you reviewed on each chapter :) it made me feel special lol. Ahaha! I was amused by you yelling at Zane :D funny! But yeah, Zane can get really pushy! Thanks again for your reviews!
Krystal Lynn2- Ahhh! So happy to make your favorite story list :D I hope you continue to like it! Awww 3 thanks for complimenting me as a writer! That really does mean a lot to me! I devote so much time to writing! I think Stephenie Meyer is a good author too…. But The Host will always be 43183189 times better than Twilight. Thank you for your review!
VaMpIr3 pRiNc3sS- Hey :) I saw your review and got motivated to update! Haha so thank you for reviewing! I'm glad you're loving it! 3
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