JENNIE
"Lisa," Somi greeted flatly. "Jennie and I were just having a little chat—"
"Oh, I'm sure you were."
She approached us with all the grace of a hunting lion, and I couldn't help the childish part of me that noticed how her demeanor was even colder towards Somi than to me. Unlike her customary frigid expression, she held her gaze with a glare that would have reduced anyone else to a quivering pile of fear.
To her credit, Somi didn't even flinch.
"You called me here, yet you weren't even where you said to meet," Lisa continued in a tone laced with suspicion. "One might wonder why that is ..."
"Oh, don't be so dramatic, darling!" Somi shooed her off with a wave of her hand. "I was just getting some fresh air."
As Somi spoke, her eyes slithered over to mine in warning: Careful, little girl. Hush. Sensing her glance, Lisa reached for my arm, and I found myself unceremoniously shoved behind her and out of her line of sight.
"What did you want?"
"Don't shoot the messenger, darling," Somi huffed. "I'm just the bearer of bad news; Raphael has requested that you take over one of my contracts."
I flinched as Lisa's grip tightened, nails indenting my skin.
"What? Why?"
"I don't know," Somi chirped. "Maybe he thinks you've decided to take a more active role again, considering that you've come out of retirement?" Her amber eyes darted pointedly in my direction.
"For how long?"
Take over a contract? What on earth did that mean?
"I can't be bothered to remember the terms of every single contract." Somi waved a hand absently through the air. "Mikhail is around here somewhere. Ask him."
With that, she turned on her heel and headed for the door. However, near the threshold she paused, one foot poised in the air and a coy smile shaping her lips.
"Oh and, Lisa? I almost forgot …" Her tone was casual, as if the detail had simply slipped her mind, but the look in her eye was anything but innocent.
From the way Lisa tensed, I knew that Lisa had seen the ominous glint in Somi's eye as well. I had a horrible suspicion that Somi had been waiting for this moment all along, like a cat toying with a mouse right before delivering the killing blow.
"Raphael has also requested an audience with you tomorrow night," she began. "And he wants you to bring the lovely Jennie along as well. Ta-ta!"
Smiling, she slipped through the doors with an elegant toss of her head, leaving me alone with a person who seemed inclined to break my wrist. I gasped as the delicate bones compacted beneath her grip.
"L-Lisa, you're—"
She whirled around and the expression on her face struck me senseless. "What did she say to you?"
A shiver ran down my spine at her tone; I didn't think I'd ever heard her sound so cold. Her eyes were glacial, filled with such hatred …
It was a split-second before I realized that the emotion wasn't directed at me.
"N-Nothing—"
"Nothing?" A single raised eyebrow was my only clue as to the true extent of her rage. "Don't lie to me. Somi isn't one for small talk. What did she say?"
"S-She just wanted to gloat over how little you paid for me," I lied, hoping that the small bit of truth might placate her enough to let the subject drop.
But the words had the opposite effect.
She drew back violently. Her mouth opened ...
Then closed again. I doubted I could have gotten that same reaction if I'd slapped her. For the longest time, she just stood there, staring at me until I was forced to consider the impossible; Lisa Manoban was speechless.
"She was just being cruel," I rushed to add. "She only wanted to rub it in that I hadn't been bid on—"
Her eyes narrowed as she processed my words. Then, after another tortured second, she became her arrogant, distant self once again. "Stay away from her."
Before I could even hope to respond, she turned and dragged me down the hall after her. With lightning speed we mounted a set of stairs and entered the hallway that I recognized as leading to the lounge.
There, a voice greeted us from the shadows. "So the reclusive Lisa Manoban shows her face once again ..."
A beautiful man—whom I recognized from my first visit to the club—appeared around a corner.
Mikhail.
Today, he only wore a pair of black pants, a smug expression and ...nothing else. I tried to ignore the way my eyes darted over his body once before settling on his face. His strange pendant caught my attention again, only now something about the design of it seemed familiar.
I had seen a chain like that before ...
"Mikhail," Lisa greeted in a voice of steel, dragging my attention back to her.
"Tired of her already, have you?" The man wondered, nodding to me. "Though she's lasted longer with you than I thought she would. If you're finished, I'm sure I could find some use for her somewhere."
Lisa didn't rise to the bait. "You have a contract for me. Where?"
"It's somewhere around here," Mikhail said, his eyes glinting from beneath a fringe of dark hair. "Though it's nowhere near as important to Raphael as that of Jennie Kim—"
"The contract, Mikhail," Lisa growled, so low that I could feel the vibrations resonate in my bones. "Now."
Unlike Somi, Mikhail didn't simper in the face of Lisa's rage. Instead, he simply nodded to the lounge, the embodiment of indifference—but not without one last quip. "Careful, Lisa. Become any less of a recluse and one might think you seek to return to the fold …"
A threat laced the words more than any hint of a greeting.
Rather than respond, Lisa watched expressionlessly as Mikhail disappeared within the shadows of the corridor. Then, she shifted her attention to someone else. I turned along with her and noticed a woman sitting on one of the couches.
She faced away from me, but that peachy skin and wavy blonde hair seemed familiar. Somehow I knew—even before she finally looked over at us—that she was the same girl Somi had brought along on my first night in the club.
Seeing Lisa, she stood, clutching a purse to her chest, and made her way toward us on a pair of black heels. Once she came close enough, she reached into the purse and withdrew a square, black object: a contract book.
Letting go of my wrist, Lisa took it and then casually lifted the cover.
"You are to remain here ...Katherine," Lisa informed her while her eyes scanned the page nestled in between. I attempted to sneak a peek from over her shoulder, only to have her slam the leather case shut before I could read a single word.
"Only from now on, you will answer to me. I'll expect no less from you than would Mikhail."
"Yes, Mam."
Katherine nodded, but from the way her eyes had widened while Lisa spoken, one might think that Lisa had five heads, her fangs bared and had spit a few flames while she was at it. Katherine's shoulders trembled as she hurried past Mikhail—who lurked a few feet ahead—and vanished down the hall.
Confused, I watched her go; was she now indebted to Lisa as well?
More importantly …would Lisa have her do the same things I had done in order to 'fulfill' her bargain?
It wasn't jealousy that stung through my chest like a hot poker at the thought.
It wasn't.
"Interesting," Mikhail murmured, brown eyes thoughtful as he watched the woman go. "Did you not have enough room on your arm for two pets?"
Lisa didn't dignify him with an answer.
Instead, she turned, pulling me after her so suddenly that I was afraid my shoulder might be ripped right from its socket. In a blur we descended the stairs, barged through the lobby and reentered daylight just as the clouds above were beginning to break. Sunlight filtered down, bouncing off the ebony surface of the car.
I felt like someone who'd just re-entered reality after leaving the Twilight Zone. Somi's bargain kept circling my brain. Pranpriya. Pranpriya. Pranpriya.
Considering how Lisa had reacted to her and I merely being in the same general vicinity, there was no way in hell that I would ever risk saying that word out loud. For all I knew, it was some kind of magic spell meant to kill us both—and no amount of information was worth the potential consequences …
I supposed. I hadn't quite convinced myself of that when Lisa suddenly spoke while man-handling me onto the passenger's seat.
"Lunch?" she grumbled, expression unreadable.
I didn't get the chance to answer before I found the door slammed in my face. However, in a matter of seconds she appeared in the driver's seat and the car slipped effortlessly into the mid-morning traffic.
I kept quiet as she navigated a series of twists and turns through downtown—but rather than stopping in front of the Cafe Claret or even that smaller coffee shop, I was surprised to find the imposing façade of Kim Manor looming above.
No sooner had Lisa parked the car than servants burst through the front doors as if they had played out this scenario a thousand times. One took her jacket, while another assured her that everything was "ready, as requested."
She didn't take my arm again and instead left me to catch up while she marched through the front doors—as if she owned the damn place—and headed straight for the drawing room.
My mind was a blur of questions—about Somi's pointed little 'hints' most of all—but when I passed through the doorway after Lisa, I promptly forgot all about it. Someone had already set a small table for two, and shock couldn't even begin to describe the emotion that ran through me at the sight of steaming plates of food being carried in by a maid as if on cue.
Lisa sure knew how to run my staff like clockwork. She could have given Mother a run for her money in the art of slave-driving—I mean 'management.' Without a word, sje pulled out a chair for me, but I could only stand there, gaping, until she cleared her throat.
"Are you going to just look at the food or eat it?"
My jaw snapped shut and I perched on the chair's very edge. Satisfied, Lisa took the seat across from me and observed the platters being placed between us like a diligent overseer: a dish of soup, followed by a bowl of salad and a platter of fresh bread.
It was more than I was used to being served on a daily basis. However, a regular meal didn't have the usual connotation when it came to Lisa. I thought of her 'breakfast' from all those days ago—coincidentally where she first presented me with her 'cure'—and shuddered. All of a sudden, the crisp, white tablecloth and priceless china took on an ominous aura.
At the clinking of silverware, I glanced up to find that, once again, Lisa had taken it upon herself to serve me. She cut two slices from the loaf and spread each one neatly with butter before placing them both on my plate. Then she ladled a serving of steaming clam chowder into a bowl and placed it on my side as well.
Sitting back in her chair, she raised a single eyebrow in a way that conveyed what she didn't say out loud; eat something. Now.
Rolling my eyes in exasperation, I scooted closer to the table.
"You never eat," I said and reached for a fork before she could even begin to snap at me. As I fixed myself a serving of salad, I added, "Is that a vampire thing—"
"It's a preference thing," she said, smoothly cutting over me.
Though, as if to prove me wrong, she ripped off a chunk of bread and took a bite. Entranced, I watched her chew, deliberately slow. The motion looked awkward—stiff—as if she were only mimicking the action and couldn't quite remember how to do it naturally.
Finally, she swallowed.
"Preference," she insisted, while dabbing at her lips with a napkin lifted from the table. "I'm sure that you wouldn't enjoy the things I prefer to feast upon."
Feast upon …
The word choice conjured up all sorts of unsightly images—namely me, trapped beneath her, while her fangs teased my knee. At the memory my body jumped as if remembering the jolt of heat that had run through my skin.
My tongue dampened, my throat tightened. I couldn't breathe.
"Actually …that is something we need to discuss," I heard Lisa begin, snapping me back to reality.
Uh-oh. No doubt this 'something' was the real reason behind our little 'lunch.'
Warily my eyes met her. "W-What?"
"I need to feed."
It was such a blunt admission that I blinked and tried to right myself before I could slide off my chair in shock.
"F-Feed?"
"I need blood, Jennie," she snapped. "I believe this was one of the conditions mentioned before you signed your new contract."
The scathing tone stung, but there was something hidden beneath it; a dark sense of desperation that had me reaching up for my throat before I could help it. Tentatively, my finger prodded a pulse and I gulped at the thought of her leaping over the table for a bite.
"D-Do you just …"
As if reading my mind, she scoffed in disgust. "Not in here."
I was confused. "Then, where—"
"Is there nothing you're afraid of?" I flinched at the change of subject. Her tone was too soft and those eyes flashed an alarming shade of gray. "You need to realize, Jennie," she practically growled. "This isn't a game."
As she spoke, ivory glinted beneath her upper lip, sharp and undeniably terrifying.
"I could kill you."
I waited, though I had no idea for what.
Maybe the punch-line to this morbid joke?
But it never came.
She wasn't laughing.
"And this," she said next as if to prove my darkest fears to be true, "is the part where you run."
I couldn't deny how tempting the suggestion was.
My heart pounded, aching to give into that very urge, to dash from the room screaming and waving my arms through the air like a true damsel in distress. Instead, my father's voice chose that moment to ring from the grave. "A Kim always fulfills his debts ..."
I couldn't quite remember the context in which he had first given me that advice—but it seemed more than fitting now. Five dollars or not, there was no way in hell that I would ever allow Lisa to have more of a hold over me than she already did.
She appeared shocked when I only crossed my legs politely at the knee. I couldn't quite face her yet, so I stared down at the table, fingering the edge of the white cloth with a trembling thumb. "I don't understand," I began in the strongest tone I could manage. "You've already fed from me before—"
"I bit you," she corrected harshly. "And trust me when I say that I was adequately restrained."
I glanced over to find that she had withdrawn something from beneath the crisp collar of her shirt; the long, silver, chain with that delicate cross dangling from the center. Had wearing the necklace somehow held her back from truly 'feeding' from me—sort of like a vampiric version of a leash? Or perhaps Lisa was the pious sort and the cross represented something more significant.
I started to ask, but she spoke over me.
"It would take a lot more than a few drops to satisfy my hunger," she said without elaborating.
Oh. Surreptitiously, I cleared my throat enough to ask, "How much?"
"Enough that could be easily replenished by a dose of my blood."
It was a deceptive answer. Kind of like if I had asked her, 'How badly will jumping off this bridge injure me?' And she had replied, 'Not badly enough that the world's best surgeons wouldn't be able to patch you up—maybe.'
"Why me?" I found myself asking. "Why not just get a girl from Somi?" As she had so rudely suggested the other day.
"Because I don't want a girl from Somi." Oh? Before I could even consider the pathetic chance that she might have only wanted me, she continued. "A word of advice, Jennie; never eat from the hand of your enemy."
Fair enough. Feeding from me would have just been convenient—still, the prospect gave me an idea, one that I couldn't resist, no matter how foolish. I shifted on my chair and tried to gather up enough nerve to meet her impassive stare.
"You biting me was a part of our agreement," I began. "Not being chained and drained."
"Just what are you saying?" There wasn't any sort of expression on her face. God, she looked terrifying.
"I'm asking …if you have to put a monetary value on this new 'condition' what would it be?"
"What?"
I sucked in a deep breath. Here goes ...
"I wasn't kidding about repaying my debt. If you maintain that five dollars was how much you paid for me, then I remain determined to repay every cent."
I doubted she could have looked more shocked than if I had climbed onto the table and done the Can-Can over the salad bowl. "You can't be serious—"
"I am."
"Fine," she snapped. "If I had to put a 'price' on what your blood would be worth to me, then …twenty-five cents."
"Done," I blurted without even wasting the time to be insulted. "From now on, every time you feed from me, twenty-five cents will be deducted from my debt. Fair enough?"
"Are you insane?"
I frowned at her tone more so than the question. "Probably," I admitted. "But I told you; don't like leaving debts unpaid."
She sat back in her chair, watching me with an expression that made me squirm. Taking advantage of the silence, I attempted another question. "What have you been, um …drinking up until now?"
"I have my methods," she replied softly. "But nothing compares to feeding fresh from the vein."
It was such a blatant admission. I couldn't recall if she had ever spoken so freely to me before.
"Ah," I croaked. "So do you have …regulars?"
"I don't pick up random damsels from the alleyway like it's a drive-thru restaurant, if that's what you mean." Her tone was cold. "I may be a creature bound for hell, but I am discrete, Jennie; feeding from you would merely be convenient."
She watched me for the longest time. I supposed she wanted a definitive answer.
"It … It's not like I have a choice," I said finally.
"No," she agreed. "But I like the drama when those in your position try to refuse." Her pompous tone merely strengthened my resolve to never give her the same satisfaction.
"What do you need me to do?" I demanded, fully prepared for her to spout some cryptic riddles.
I have to pierce a vein?
Eviscerate you over an open spit?
"I'll have to tie you up."
"W-What?" Tie was the polite word. I knew what she'd really meant: chain. "Why?"
She shrugged and suddenly jabbed a finger toward my bowl. Eat. It was only when I attempted to swallow a spoonful of the scalding liquid that she explained, "For your own safety. This won't be like before, Jennie."
As she spoke, my gaze trailed down to that silver cross. She held it between two fingers, unconsciously swinging the chain back and forth like a pendulum.
"W-When?" It was the only thing I could think to say.
"Tonight."
"Oh?" I tried to play nonchalant, while inside I was screaming. "At the club?"
"No." Her expression darkened, daring me to wonder why. I kept my mouth shut until she grudgingly added, "I'll have a car sent around midnight. I shouldn't have to tell you what will happen if you aren't out front at that time."
I shook my head.
"Midnight," she repeated, rising to her feet.
As she did, I remembered something. "What do you want me to wear?"
It was a foolish question, but I was surprised to find that it was the only one I could think to ask.
She turned, glancing back at me from over her shoulder. "It won't matter."
I sat there, dazed as she disappeared down the hall in a flash of dove-gray, and wondered why that might have been.