Vamp Guards ✔️

T W E N T Y-F I V E

Five minutes in and Iris was a fidgeting, pacing mess. Sage didn't mention she was out fetching human blood, so it was going to take a lot longer than just a trip to the fridge.

His eyes pealed off of his bedroom door to stare at Kai's when the smallest noise caught his ears. It happened occasionally, small shuffling noises, until he was holding himself back when the door started jiggling.

The lock was on the outside, as it was a rule in the mansion. Kai got his privacy but not the control over it. It was a bit useless considering any vampire in their weakest mind can easily kick down their wooden doors.

When it stopped, his breathing did to. Iris didn't know what was more nerve-racking- the silence or the anticipation. Was he going to break out? Or did he even have the ability to? All his nerves wanted to hijack his common sense and rush over, rip the door open, and comfort the vampire. But he was smarter than that, smart enough to know his 'comfort' would actually be a tease for Kai, and the last thing he wanted to do was make things harder for him. If that meant keeping his distance..so be it. 

He vowed to stay still and wait. He was patient through the silence but the ticking of his wall clock, too. Soon, commotion started in the halls. Iris listened to the distraught voices, catching onto vague descriptions-a murder-but not distinct enough to create a story; but he did picture scenes in his mind, and none of them consisted anything other than gore.

Now he was just a sitting duck that had to watch the worst unfold before him.

††

"Well?"

Iris shut his bedroom door after peeking out and peering down the corridor. Whatever news spiked the ruckus in the mansion had calmed down, a minute after it did Sage came back; still reluctant to tell the prince what happened.

"It's clear." Iris informed and turned around but he stayed near the door.

Sage nodded, relieved, and continued staring down at her feet. The atmosphere wasn't awkward, it was almost obstructive. Whatever was hovering between them didn't allow them to speak freely to one another. And that feeling depended knowing it was going to be worse when Kai came to his senses.

"Prince, I'm sorry you had to hear the news from an outside source. I really was going to tell you everything that happened-or as much as I could."

Iris sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sage..it's fine. You know I'm not focused on worrying about my village's problem." He glanced at Kai's door and Sage nodded again.

"In the state he's in, I don't think it's safe for you to be around him yet. You see, Kai and I lived off of human blood our whole lives. Converting to animal was really hard on him, but like almost all of us he barely learned to deal with it. Consider it an addiction-they're always curable, right?" Iris nodded,
"Well, there's always something lingering after. Kai has never drunk from a human since he's been here, despite a few others breaking the rules. But you didn't hear that from me. Anyway, drinking from one was considered his relapse. It's even harder to ignore the urge now."

Iris was still slightly confused and a bit in the dark, but he didn't let his ignorance get in the way of seeing the bigger picture.

"One feeding after five years, our blood must be really powerful."

"You don't even know the half of it," Sage chuckled humorlessly and Iris scratched his head.