Chapter Two

Tonight's dinner was something I never wanted to repeat. I was the first to leave the table which is unusual for me, I'm usually a slow eater; I like to thoroughly chew my food because I have had stomach issues my entire life. Doctors couldn’t figure it out but this is the only thing that allow me to have a semi-normal day but today, I couldn't take the silence. I ate as much as I could without eating to fast because I wasn’t looking to suffer especially when this night full of the unknown. Looking at both of my parents, I excused myself, taking my dishes with me. Standing up, I pushed my chair in but stopped in the entry of the room. Without turning around I said,

"Please take care of the left overs and dishes... I'll be up in my room if you need me."

And with that, I made my way to the kitchen. As I walked down the hallway away from the dinning room, I feel my eyes tear up. How could the two people I idolized just disappear in the blink of an eye. It was like those years they spent cherishing each other, building their love, hadn't ever happened or that it wasn’t even real to begin with.

As I put my dishes in the sink and came to a realization. If they truly loved each other then this wouldn't have changed them this much. I gripped the edge of the counter in front of the sink with my hands and gritted my teeth as I felt the tears flow freely down my face. If they had a true unconditional love for each other, they would have looked to each other for support, had each other back, listened to each other concerns... but they didn't. Looking up, I could see my reflection streaked in water from the rain outside the window in front of me but I could hardly recognize myself. This person, this woman, was bitter, angry, broken even. Huffing I looked back down to my hands, and since I was holding the counter still they were turning white in contrast to my Carmel colored skin. Reluctantly, after a few more traitorous tears, I released the counter putting my hands in my hair the had previously been put up for the household work.

"Fuck this" I started to yank at the the ponytail, not caring if it hurt or not, "What the point of any of this anymore," I muttered.

I finally pulled my hair free and started rearranging it to look as normal as i could get it but slightly failing since my long curly hair was more frizzy now.

"Love is a Lie" I said while shaking my head.

"I'd have to disagree." A deep melodic voice responded. I froze.

That voice... I've only heard it once but I knew for a fact that I know this voice. I spun around as quickly as I could but as I looked upon his face, I felt the color drain from my own. It was him, It was the man who had changed my life with speech that couldn’t have been more than five minutes. The man that I loathed, Ezra Nightingale was standing in my house maybe 20 feet away. He was accompanied by two men standing right behind him. I saw his eyes narrow and he waved his left hand, the men left in the direction of the dinning room. My eyes widened in fear for my parents and rushed forward, opening my mouth to yell and warn the but by the time I took my third step, he was there in front of me with his right hand on my mouth. I tried getting away from him but he just wrapped is his left arm around my waist and pulled me to him just as I heard my dad shout and my mom scream. Screaming through his hand, I started to thrash around in his arms trying to free myself so I could get to them but of course to no avail.

Suddenly, his hand was off my mouth and entangled in my hair pulling my head back so I was looking him in the eyes. The thing is, He was holding me so gently yet so firmly but never once hurting me.

"Silence."

That one word held so much power behind it and I stopped, I just stood there, shaking like a leaf in his arms. Well when I say stand, it's more like he was dipping me and leaning over me. He towered over my 5'3" body, I was maybe half of his size and I was terrified. What did this man, no, vampire, have in store for my family and I? Slowly he released my hair from his grip while I just stayed there, scared out of my mind and observed his every movement. He let his eyes wonder across my face and suddenly his hand was there right next to my face. I tried flinching away from it but he just raised his left eyebrow at me and slowly brushed the hair from out of my face, rearranging it as I was earlier. Knowing that for the moment I safe, I looked at him, really looked and took in his features. He had bright gray eyes that looked like there was a storm brewing in them, his skin was fair but it had a warm look to it, his features were sharp, inhuman but he was the most beautiful person I'd ever seen. I had been so entranced by his beauty that when he wiped his thumb across my cheek I gasped and softly pushed against his chest with my hand.

"Why were you crying?" His question surprised me.

He was asking in past tense instead of present, which means he knew these tears weren't caused by him. That would mean that he had been here much longer than I had originally anticipated. Not only that, his eyes looked somewhat gentle, kind even. How could that even be possible?

"His Majesty has asked you a question!" A gruff voice barked, reminding me that I was in the arms of Vampire Royalty.

And just like that, the kind gentle look was gone. He straightened up, bringing me with him and pulling me as close as he could, making me uncomfortable. Not because he was hurting me, no quite the opposite, it felt more protective than anything and It didn't suit this stoic man. Trying to put some space between us and failing, I responded and looked anywhere but in his direction,

"Everything has changed..." I muttered trailing off as I saw my parents gagged, their wrists tied, whilst being held in place by their upper arms by the two vampires I saw earlier.

"How?" Ezra questioned, his eyes burning holes in side of my head.

Seeing my parents like that stoked the coals of a fire inside my heart that I didn't even know was there. I turned my head back to him, my eyes full of hatred,

"You," I spat out "You have the audacity to ask that as you have my parents tied up? You have the nerve to believe that you are not in the wrong?! YOU have ruined everything I've ever had and dreamed of having and yet you stand here acting as innocent as the day you were born. Anyone of us humans, that you hate so much, would feel the same way."

He stayed silent for a moment, eyes searching but displaying no emotions on his face. When he finally broke the silence he said something I never thought I'd hear, "My love, you are not human."