The Royal Within

Chapter 17

Why would he do this to us? I was just so confused. I was trying not to jump to conclusions, but his betrayal hurt me more than I would like to admit.

Because he was one if the few boys that I fell for.

People were right when they said don't fall in love. I fell, and he may not have known it. And he didn't fall with me... Oh no, he didn't even catch me. I can't blame someone for not returning my feelings, but being with the vampires is a little different.

"Luke." The name brought happy memories from my heart, but my brain thought of all the reasons I shouldn't trust him.

But I did.

And for some reason, I still do.

Somewhere, I don't know where, but it's telling me to trust him. To believe him.

So I'm going to hear him out.

Luke winced as I said his name. "Ruth, I can explain."

I nodded and waited for an explanation, but then Luke quickly glanced to the clown.

He didn't want to talk in front of the clown. So I'll have to blindly trust him...a little but longer.

"Ha like you can explain." The clown snickered. He looked at me, and jabbed a thumb towards Luke. "This one was begging for his and his friend's lives, and we made him a contract."

My heart was pounding in my chest. "What-what was it?"

"Well, us vampires have been decreasing in population, and this fellow has some good muscle and potential.." The clown trailed off.

Luke looked down at his feet. "I'm sorry. I had to help them."

The clown snorted. "Don't be sorry my boy. You get to be one of us!"

The clown patted Luke's back, but Luke shrugged him off.

"When?" I questioned.

"Well funny you ask-" The clown started to say.

I glared at the clown. "Sorry that question was for Luke." I didn't like snapping at people, but I needed to understand fully what was going on.

Luke looked up at me. "Tomorrow."

My eyes widened as Luke shook his head. "Luke-"

He tried to smile. "It's ok. The king said you can go after he turns me."

I felt bile rise in my throat. There was no way I could let this happen.

I turned towards the clown. "You let him go-"

"Or what? You are stuck. We cut you from your guardian." He grabbed Luke. "We have your friends."

"I'm warning you." I said harshly. I said them with confidence, but in reality, I had no idea of what to do.

The clown made a pouty face. "As you trying to threaten me?" His grip on Luke tightened, and Luke's pain was evident on his face.

"Stop!" I touched my wrist, and thought about superspeed. I ran straight towards clown, and barreled into him.

He was surprised, but he quickly got back up. I ran at him again, but I stopped before I ran into him.

He had his freakishly long nails right at Luke's neck. "Come any closer and this one dies." He taunted.

"Ok.." I panted. "Just hear me out."

The clown waited. He pressed his fingers closer to Luke's neck, and a nail dug into his skin, causing him to grunt.

My eyes dilated, and blood rushed to my face. But instead of feeling hopeless, I felt powerful. My arms seemed to burst with energy, and my legs were pumping with it.

The clown was gaping at me, and I glanced down. My body's veins were glowing a bright blue, almost blinding.

I walked over to the clown and grasped his arm. Images of a boy with blonde hair, and a smile that was similar to a clown passed through my mind. It flashed to a different image, and the boy's smile had faded. He was standing next to the clown man, and the clown was staring at the boy with pride. The last image I saw was the boy laying in a pool of blood, and the clown man standing over him, his fangs out.

I jumped back in shock, and my arms returned to their normal color. The clown looked at me with a blank face, and dropped to the ground. His eyes were open, but he was muttering things I couldn't understand. He was whimpering, and slightly rocking.

"Ruth?" Luke groaned. "What did you just do?"

"I-I don't know.. Are you ok?"

He nodded, but when I went and rubbed his shoulder, he tensed.

I retract3ed my hand quickly, and moved away.

"I'm sorry Ruth. I-I am not trying to be rude. It's just... What just happened? Why is that guy freaking out on the floor." He paused, as if bracing himself. "You-you were blue.."

"Yeah." I whispered.

"Did you know?" He asked slowly.

I shook my head, and looked fearfully at my hands. Then I looked at the clown on the floor. Did I do that? Or was it just a coincidence?

"Hey, it's going to be ok. We can get through this." He grabbed one of the hands that I was looking at, and lightly squeezed it. "I promise."

I nodded, and pulled my hand away. We needed to go save the rest of my friends....

And I didn't know how to hold hands with a boy, so I could be embarrassing myself.

"Do you know where the others are?" I asked once I composed myself.

"Yeah. When they were telling me about being a vampire, they gave me a tour."

We walked in the dungeons a little longer, until it almost seemed like circles.

"Luke, are we lost?" I asked softly. He chuckled. "No we're close, don't worry."

I laughed. "I'm not worrying, just observing the fact that we have been going in circles for about 10 minutes."

He shot me an amused look. "Man, you do not trust me!"

I gasped, and held a hand to my heart. "What are you talking about?" I said in a fake stern voice. It didn't turn out being stern, and we both started doubling over laughing (quietly of course).

But then he turned serious. "If this doesn't work out, we need a plan B."

I eyes him suspiciously. "I was unaware we had a plan A."

He sighed. "We are going to get them out of their cells, and run for it."

I nodded my head, and had a sympathetic look on my face. "Definately need a plan B."

He smiled. "Yeah well do you have anything better?"

"Ok so we go through, and get them out like you said, but there has to be a secret door somewhere that can take us up to the village...and then we can run."

"Ok so that's plan A." He ran a hand through his hair. "Plan B is that if you guys get caught, I can make the same deal as before with them."

A/N
Sorry guys, I have been superrrrr busy lately! But here is the next chapter! Sorry for any grammatical errors, just wanted to get the chapter out!
As always, hope you enjoyed, and feel free to comment about what you think of the book.
Again, thanks for reading!!💝

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