Thirst - The Dark Side (Book I of the Thirst Trilogy)

Chapter 20 - No One Should Know

Arien's POV

My knees wobbled.

My breath was shallow.

My head was throbbing.

My hearbeat is similar to a horse speeding across the whole world.

His fangs dug deep into my flesh, sucking every blood out of my body. My whole being felt numb. I can't feel anything but numbness.

This is the exact same thing I felt before. When he first drank my blood. It was too much that I fainted and thought it was a dream. But it wasn't.

He felt my body weakened. He grabbed my waist to support me and suck more blood out of my body. I closed my eyes shut because of the sudden pain. It gave a burning feeling on my neck where he was still biting me.

"S-Stop.....p-please.."I hardly spoke.

It seems like, something just snapped inside him and he immediately back off and dropped me on the floor. I finally get to breathe, still having the throbbing pain on my neck.

In just a second, I heard my door shut loudly. I sighed.

I rested on the cold floor, still adjusting from the fact that I'm living with some not-so-ordinary people. Specifically, vampires.

How can I have agreed to this?

-

Just like the last time, I went pale. But it wasn't too much so I don't feel like fainting. A few drop of blood tainted the wound so I needed to wipe them off and cover my neck with a scarf again.

The last wound he made already faded off. And good thing my hair is long that it can cover it up without wearing any scarf earlier at school. I'm quite thankful that my bruises and wounds heals weirdly quick.

I feel weak yet I want to eat dinner. Maybe that way, my energy will come back anytime soon. I don't want to look like a withered vegetable in front of my friends tomorrow.

I exited my room and went straight to the kitchen. Shawn was present, feeding Autumn, his dog. I went for the fridge, looking for food.

I heard him sniffed the air. What is he doing?

"I can smell your blood from here, Arien. Better be careful next time."he spoke.

A shiver ran down through my spine. He smelled my blood? Sh*t. I knew coming down here with an open wound will get me in trouble.

"But don't worry. I'll come for you next time. My brother just caused you pain today. I don't want that to double."he said and I heard his steps, walking out of the kitchen.

What the hell? So I'll be fed alive to all of them? Wow. Great. I will have a lot of blood loss then. I'll be looking forward to it.

I sighed. I don't know why I don't feel weird about this set up. I should be. But it feels like it's just a normal thing.

I sighed again and took out the sliced strawberries I made this morning. I wanna coat them with caramelized sugar.

-

I was doing a report on my laptop when my phone rang.

I immediately sprung from my bed at the sight of mum's calling ID. I quickly answered it.

"Mum? Are you all okay? Where are you right now? Are you all going home?"she asked continuously.

"We are fine, Ari. We were about to go home, but we met an accident. Thankfully, we survived. We are now staying at a nice stranger's house since the accident happened in the middle of nowhere."she answered.

I bet that nice stranger's house is Mr. Levid's friend. Just like them, the house of that stranger was in the middle of nowhere, that's why that stranger managed to save my family. Wow. What a coincidence.

"Oh and, before you get mad, Andrei lost your precious necklace. We went back to search it but it was gone."

It was with me mum.

I sighed.

"It's fine, mum. Don't worry or look for it, already."

"You're not mad?"

"Of course not. How can I be mad at you? Your lives are much more important than that necklace. Thank god, you're all safe."I told her.

"Yeah, I know, Ari. I was very much thankful to the man who helped us. Without him, it will take days for us to be passed by strangers. And at that time, we are already dead and rotting."

"Mum! Don't say that! Oh gosh... Well anyway, when are you going to come home? Are you all really fine?"

"I don't think we can go home right now, Ari. Your dad had a serious injury on his left leg and still in bed. I think we need to stay here for a couple of days."

"Is he alright?"I asked worriedly.

"He's fine. He's a strong man. An injury is just like an ant's bite. His words, not mine."and we both laugh at her statement.

"What about Aunt Lea?"

"She stayed at your grandma's. By the way, she's okay and was already discharged from the hospital. Your Aunt Lea will be back after a few couple days. She wants to monitor her mum."

"That's a relief."

"What about you Ari? Are you doing fine living in your landlord's mansion?"

I'm living in hell, mum.

"It's fine. And also, his sons came home a month ago and they are really nice."

Well, I thought at first. But now, they are all savage bloodsuckers.

"Really? Well, I just hope for your safety. You know boys. Only a few decent ones and the others, can be too attracted to beautiful girls like you. Look out for them."I imagined mum grinning right now.

"What is your point mum?"

"My point is, don't take a guy as your boyfriend until you're sure that he's a nice handsome and smart guy. Or if possible, don't get into a relationship. You're still young."

"I get you now. I'll keep that in mind."

"Well, I need to go to our room to check on Andrei. You know he likes to stay up late just to play mobile games on his phone."

"Y-Yeah, of course. Will you call again?"

"Of course dear. I'll be calling you again if we're ready to go home."

"Okay. Be careful."

"Bye."

"Bye."and her mum ended the call.

Well, I guess no one needs to know.