Amaranthine

17: A Blue Rose

ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF LONDON, THERE WAS A CASTLE ON A HILL. It was the perfect place for a vampire and a bunch of zombies to hide. It was adjacent to a graveyard, making it in a rather remote location even though it was relatively close to the city. Before Dio moved in, there had been no one even visiting the castle for a long time.

Or so I was told by Dio. I'd been in the same room ever since I'd entered the castle, so I didn't know for sure what the place looked like on the inside. Much less, the outside. But I was thinking it was about time to explore.

I made a careful note of where Dio's room was before heading down the long hallway. It didn't take me long to spot a zombie. I quickly pulled back, feeling unsettled after my past few experiences with those creatures. But the zombie noticed me before I could even finish taking a step in the opposite direction.

He smirked. "Hello . . ." The way he spoke made it sound like he wanted to say something else.

"U-uh, hello." I responded mostly out of habit. I wasn't getting a very good feeling about this guy. Perhaps it was the way his smile showed off his pointed teeth. Or maybe it was the dark look in his eyes that made me feel uncomfortable.

The lingering feeling of death inside the mansion seemed to grow stronger as the zombie neared. "You're looking for something," he observed.

"Yes. Do you know where Dio is?"

"I don't," the zombie frowned.

I frowned. I was really hungry . . . "Would you happen to know if there's any human food here?"

"'Human' food, huh?" The zombie chuckled. "That's right in front of me."

It took me a second to process that the zombie had made a joke from my poorly worded question. It took another second for me to realize that he'd just referred to me as food.

"Ah, that's not what I meant," I said. For some reason, I felt the need to clarify this to the zombie.

His smile grew into an amused smirk. "I know."

I suddenly became aware that the wound on my side was nowhere near completely healed. Plus, I was still wearing the same dress as before, blood stains and all. I probably shouldn't have left Dio's room.

"Dio will be mad if you do anything," I said, hoping that the mention of the blonde's name would do something to help me.

It didn't. The zombie chuckled. "Well, it's better to ask forgiveness than permission."

I didn't wait to start running, ignoring the sudden sting in my side. I hoped I was correctly remembering the path back to Dio's room. I didn't have time to find out.

The zombie let me run a few seconds before using his inhuman speed to catch up to me. In a mere second, he had raced past me and blocked my path. My steps faltered to a halt.

"What will you do now? You don't know your way around the mansion, do you?" He stepped slowly towards me, as if he was waiting for me to do something. I held my ground until he stopped in front of me. "Are you going to run?" He asked.

I tried to answer confidently. "No, because you want me to run."

"Then you're surrendering yourself?" The zombie raised his eyebrows. "That's no fun."

"Well, I'm not a toy."

"Really? You're certainly letting Dio play around with you." The zombie scoffed.

Fear was forgotten as anger rose in my chest. "What?" I snapped.

"The only women he's ever brought to this castle have become food," the zombie explained. "Perhaps he told you he cares about you after your little one-night fling, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I killed you right now. After all, I'm hungry too."