Honeysuckle: Red

Chapter 5: Enthralled

You sit on the small sofa in your room, watching a small fire that you risked starting in the hearth. You'd made sure to pull the curtains and even used a few books to keep them tight against the wall so that the small warmth and light didn't cause any extra issues.

You didn't know how long Kid was going to be gone, but worry made the minutes seem even longer. You'd worked so hard to adjust to being awake at night, but you were diurnal by nature, and without any company, or chores, it was hard to stay awake.

You wanted to. You wanted to be up when he came back. Even if he yelled at you or got irritated about it. Something in the back of your mind just... wanted to be there when he got back.

He hadn't even truly scared you earlier. Five days was enough time to realize that he was intimidating, and terrifying when he wanted to be, but he wasn't a monster. He wasn't a voracious, mindless beast, sniffing out his next meal like some wild animal.

He wasn't like what you'd been raised to believe Vampires were like.

You'd expected that at least some of what you'd learned would be factual, but the more you thought about what you knew versus what he knew, and what you'd experienced, the more you realized it was all propaganda. The only way to know the truth was to learn it for yourself.

The only way to do that was to travel.

Traveling meant not staying in the manor with Kid, but it wasn't like you had a strict schedule. There wasn't any harm in staying for a while. Long enough to learn from him. Long enough to build up the strength and stamina to look after yourself.

Did Vampires travel?

You'd been told they made lairs, or nests of a sort, and rarely moved from those. Instead, they relied on thralls to do things for them. Tend to chores, offer up blood to their master, go fetch victims. Evil Vampire stuff.

All the reasons why Honeysuckles were protected and controlled the way they were.

An unexpected sound pulled you from your thoughts and you stilled. Focusing entirely on any other sound you could pick up you held your breath. The front door hadn't slammed, but it had opened, and closed, you were certain.

It seemed too soon for Kid to have returned, and you weren't sure what to do. If it was Kid you wanted to be able to see him, but the effects of your blood would last much longer, and if he was out blowing off his energy and anger it would be an hour at least before he even started to cool down. At least, with your blood empowering him, he wouldn't be feeling exhaustion like usual for a long while.

There was more than one person, you realized, muffled voices you didn't recognize sounding against the boards of the house. They weren't harsh and curt, like orders between marines, they were more relaxed and jovial.

You heard someone call out for Kid by name, and then another voice. Big booming voices that would carry easily through the entire manor. You can hear them working through the house, a few of them less-booming, adding to the chorus.

Voices turning from reverie to concern.

Getting up off the small sofa, you walk closer to the door, trying to make out the voices. You can hear them coming up the stairs.

"- he wouldn't leave without good reason." One voice says.

"Where the fuck would he go though?" Another asks.

"I mean, it's Kid, he could just be tearing through the forest cause he's bored." The third voice sounds more muffled than the others, and you aren't sure why.