Once Bitten *On Hiatus*

𝕱𝖎𝖋𝖙𝖞 𝕾𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖓

A/N: Something to note:
These next few chapters will end on a cliffhanger. We're getting to a big turning point and there's no way I can put all of this into one chapter (unless I made chapter 57 over 10k words lol). But! These are also my favorite parts to write, so there's a pretty high chance I will update more than once a week.
Enjoy!

*****
• 𝓜𝓪𝓮 •

Kite held up a notebook - my notebook, filled with all the ways I wanted to kill and maim Zero. I stared at it like it was the one that betrayed me, sitting in my room in the literal worst hiding spot I could have put it in. I could have slid it under my mattress, but it was way too late for that. I hadn't thought they'd go through it.

I turned my attention to Seraph, and instead of looking sheepish, he merely stared back.

"You're getting closer to that hate list, dude," I muttered, falling back into a seat in Kite's office.

He raised an eyebrow. "No, I'm not."

I narrowed my eyes at him before looking at Kite. Because he could just tell me who I could and couldn't hate. Right. I was going to kick his ass. Maybe stab him in the leg with the silver dagger he gave me.

I saw a little smile curl his lips from the corner of my eye, almost like he could hear my thoughts.

He couldn't hear my thoughts, could he?

Damn.

"None of these will work," Kite placed the notebook down on his desk.

I didn't think any of my ideas would. It had just become therapeutic to write down all the ways I wanted to kill Zero. That sadistic part of me that wanted him to suffer. I knew I wouldn't be able to kill him slowly. I didn't have the strength to hold him for long, and I really didn't want anyone to help me. So I was left with the quick and easy route. Pardon me for thinking of ways to kill the piece of shit.

I'd hated vampires since the beginning - from the moment they crashed through the door of my temporary home and I found out just what they were. I'd fantasized plenty about killing them. Somehow gaining the strength to overtake them. To rule them, instead of the other way around. But Zero. He was the first one I planned to kill. The one vampire I'd finally carry out my plans on.

What he'd done was unforgivable. Every little thing he did to torment me was nothing compared to the two things that truly sent me over the edge.

He should have never killed my kids. And he should have never tried to kill Noah.

He should have never entered my home. Should have never been around, or spoken with, my children. Should have never been in my home long enough to bake a fucking cake around them, and then stick around to see my reaction to their deaths.

He should have never touched Noah. Never should have planned to have his body splayed out in front of my house for me to find.

It was either escape, or kill him. And my escape plan hadn't worked.

But I couldn't admit to any of that. So I just sat there, staring at my notebook.

"You're not going to be able to kill him in a week," Kite said. "You likely won't even be able to kill him months from now. That's why we have Seraph."

I tore my eyes away from the notebook. "What? To train me?"

"No," Luca chimed in. "Let's just say Zero is super unhappy with how your relationship turned out with one of his closest friends."

Seraph looked like he was about to drop kick Luca for a moment before he schooled his features. Apparently he didn't like being considered Zero's friend. It made sense. According to him, he hated Zero with a burning passion.

"It's a distraction," Seraph said. "We figure he's going to be too pissed off with me to worry about whatever fascination he has with you."

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Fascination?"

I knew he hated me. I didn't know it was a fascination.

Seraph blinked at me, then glanced at Kite. Kite shook his head slowly, staring at Seraph like he was about to reveal something not meant to be spoken aloud.

Nothing like mind links I had no part in.

Seraph sighed. "I really don't like how you're handling any of this. She's locked up in her room, or she's in this room or the dining room with one of you. How is that a life?"

Kite opened his mouth to reply, but Seraph narrowed his eyes, stopping him. "And on top of that, you're keeping vital information from her."

Luca and Noah shared a look, and by the confusion on their faces, they had no idea what he was talking about either.

Kite clenched his jaw so tightly that I heard his teeth grind.

"He wants to keep your mind safe," Seraph said, finally looking back at me. "So don't blame Kite. He's doing what he thinks is right. What he thinks will protect you. But if you knew what Zero wanted with you, or what he did that you don't know about, you'd be even more determined to kill him."

What didn't I know? What did Zero want with me? I thought he just liked to torment me. To see me in pain. But it didn't look like that was it.

"He wants you in a cage," Seraph said. "He has one in his room, in the corner, with your name on it. He has collars for you, food and water bowls for you, and he fixed up one of his walk-in closets to be a room for discipline for you. He is obsessed with you. He is obsessed with owning you. And the moment one of these idiots slip up, or he learns your routine, you're done. None of us - and I mean none of us - will be able to save you."

I stared at him in horror, my body going cold and clammy. I wanted to puke. I knew eventually that fear would be replaced by repulsion, then anger. But in that moment, all I wanted to do was hide. To lock myself away, far from everyone. But there was another part of me that never wanted to be left alone again. Because I wasn't strong enough to kill Zero. Not yet.

Would I ever be? Or was I always going to have to live, worrying about that cage until the day I died?

I stared at the floor, my eyes watering, realizing just how futile all this could be. Even with my little dagger that Seraph gave me. I'd never be strong enough. I was only human.

I stood slowly, trying not to throw up. "I'm going to go back to my room. I don't...I can't do this right now."

I wanted one of them to come with me. I didn't want any of them to come with me. I needed them near me. I wanted to be alone.

Closing my eyes I took a slow, even breath. In. Out. Then I opened my eyes and motioned for Luca to sit down. It wasn't that far of a walk, and my need to be alone won out.

I slid into my room barely a minute later and shut the door. Locked it. Took comfort in the click. Took a breath.

And then I froze. My heart suddenly felt like it stopped in my chest and my blood turned to ice. Something was wrong. Someone else was in my room.

If I didn't turn, if I didn't see him, he wouldn't really be there. He was a figment of my imagination. A hallucination from the fear Seraph's words caused.

Fear was a funny thing. It could make you do or say things you don't mean, or it could make you see things that weren't really there, if that fear was strong enough.

I went for the lock, but a hand wrapped around mine and another closed over my mouth to keep me from screaming.

He placed his lips by my ear.

"Hello there, Maeve," Zero murmured.