A Ticking Time Bomb

"You're staying at Luka Haydes' house?!"

Steph's loud shriek pierced through the phone, nearly deafening Keisha who held the device up with one hand while the other struggled with a box of folded clothes.

"Could you stop screaming, Steph. And yes, I'm literally moving in as we speak."

Another loud shriek erupted from the phone, and this time Keisha let it drop to the floor, startled by her friend's excited squealing. Placing down the box of clothes with a sigh, she picked up the phone and after inspecting it for damage, put it back up to her ear.

"Steph, I've got to finish unpacking. I'll call you back later when you're in a calmer state."

"Keisha, wait – "

Cutting her friend off, Keisha ended the call, relieved to be free from her ex-roommate's ear-shattering screams. Picking up the box she had earlier placed on the ground, Keisha walked into the large duplex that she'd been moving her very few belongings into for the past ten minutes.

The large house was decorated lavishly with expensive wooden floors and fancy looking paintings, and Keisha couldn't help but admire the grandeur of the place as she made her way up the stairs to the bedroom she was to sleep in.

As expected, Luka hadn't offered to help her, instead locking himself away in his room from the moment she arrived. Ever since Mr. Samuel forced them to live together, the Prince of Hell had been rather moody, spending the last few days sulking and glaring at Keisha whenever he saw her around campus.

Keisha found his behaviour incredibly childish, as she was also uncomfortable with the idea of living with a boy, yet she didn't go around being an ass to people. Instead, she'd tried her best to reason with Mr. Samuel and voice her concerns to him, but the dean remained adamant, insisting that it was perfectly within school rules for students of the opposite sex to be flat mates, so far as they lived in separate rooms.

Luckily, Luka's house was huge – having six bedrooms in total – so Keisha didn't have to worry too much about running into the vampire. She'd planned to keep a low profile as long as she lived here, so as not to have anymore altercations with the vampire.

After moving up the last of her stuff, Keisha fell into her new bed, exhausted. The bed was much larger and softer than the one in her dorm room, and she snuggled into it, feeling as if she was laying on a cloud.

Perhaps this isn't so bad, Keisha thought to herself, her eyes scanning her new room.

Much like the other rooms in the house, her bedroom was huge, furnished with beautiful wooden furniture painted in white to match with the cream walls, carpet and drapes. A chandelier hung from the roof, its golden glow illuminating the room with soft, warm lighting, contrasting with the cool natural light coming from the floor-to-ceiling windows. On the wall across from her bed was a 65" OLED flat screen TV, complete with a sound system and gaming console.

"I'm in heaven," Keisha gushed, awed by her lavish abode as she rolled around in her massive bed. "I'm most definitely in heaven."

Her gleeful playing was interrupted by a loud growl from her abdomen, and Keisha clutched her stomach in embarrassment. She hadn't eaten all day as she was busy moving her things from the dorm to this house, and it was now well into the afternoon.

Not one to skip meals, Keisha decided to head to the kitchen in search of something to eat. As she walked out her door, she glanced across the hall to Luka's room which was conveniently situated right opposite her own, and thankfully his door was still locked.

The last thing she wanted was to bump into the brooding vampire.

Making her way down the stairs and into the kitchen, she gasped at the costly design. It was filled with the latest of culinary appliances, most of which Keisha was unfamiliar with, all in grey to match the metallic aesthetic of the kitchen.

Just how rich was this boy?

Keisha refrained from questioning the magnitude and source of Luka's wealth, instead choosing to focus on her goal of finding food. Rummaging through the fridge, she searched through tons of condiments and frozen food, taking out whatever items appealed to her.

Settling for a chicken sandwich, she returned the unnecessary ingredients back into the fridge and got to work making her sandwich. Layering the grilled chicken onto the mayonnaise covered bread slice, Keisha wondered if she should also make one for the owner of the house and her flat mate.

He would probably also be hungry as it was time for lunch and he hadn't stepped out of his room since she arrived. Perhaps food was what she needed to break the ice with the temperamental supernatural.

After all, they say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach.

Grabbing another plate, she began to make a second serving of the sandwich, humming cheerfully as she did. This was going to be her peace offering, and she was determined to make it the best chicken sandwich he'd ever had. She was so enamored with her cooking that she didn't hear footsteps approaching.

"Why the fuck are you touching my stuff?"

Luka's furious voice thundered through the kitchen, startling Keisha and causing her to knock the plate of food over, its content scattering all over the kitchen floor. Horrified at the mess she'd made, she immediately dropped to her knees, attempting to salvage what was left of the sandwich.

"You idiot! Look at this mess!" Luka yelled angrily, storming over to the human and forcefully yanking her off the floor. "Who is supposed to clean this up?"

"I-I'm s-sorry," Keisha stuttered, flinching away from the seething vampire as he gripped her arm, scared he would hit her. "I'll clean it up."

"No! I don't want you fucking touching anything that's mine, do you understand?" he glared daggers at her as he spat venomously, eliciting a whimper from the terrified girl.

"S-s-sorry…I was h-hungry – "

"Then buy your own fucking food! Don't touch mine!"

Tears began to trail down Keisha's cheeks as he let go of her hand harshly, his brown eyes filled with disgust as she quickly moved to wipe them away. Stomping out of the kitchen, he threw one last hateful glance at her sniffling figure.

"One more thing, little girl. Stay in your room tonight. I don't want to catch you anywhere around this house or I swear, I'll fucking lock you in the basement."

Keisha didn't get a chance to respond to him as the furious vampire stormed away before she could get a word in. Collapsing to the floor, she reached up to touch the enchantment she always wore, sobbing quietly as she recounted what just happened.

She was only trying to do something nice for him, yet he'd been so horrible to her. For a moment, she feared he would hit her because of how angry he looked. Thankfully it hadn't come to that, but now more than ever Keisha dreaded the thought of living with Luka.

He was too volatile, and his erratic behaviour was more than she could handle. The last time she'd encountered someone this unstable, they'd left her with some horrible scars, traumatizing her for life.

She had thought she'd left those awful memories behind, along with her abusers, but now, watching Luka freak out over a little accident, she realized those days were far from over.

Luka Haydes was exactly like her bullies; reckless and unpredictable. He was a ticking time bomb that was too easily triggered, destroying everything in its wake. Keisha didn't want to be engulfed in the fire that was Luka Haydes, not now, not ever.

She needed to find her way out from this hell – from his hell.

-

Heeding the bipolar vampire's warning, Keisha remained in her room for the rest of that day, throwing away any chance of eating. By the time night fell, she was bored and starving.

For the umpteenth time, she tried to reach Mr. Samuel, but like all the times before, she was sent straight to voicemail. Frustrated, she tossed her phone on her bed beside her, wondering what on Earth could've kept the dean away from his phone all day.

She'd hoped to report Luka's outburst and cite it as a reason to end their cohabitation, but it seemed the universe was not in her favour.

With a groan, she rolled around in the bed, glancing at the clock on the wall as her stomach rumbled. It was now past midnight, and she hadn't eaten anything out of fear of upsetting Luka again. She couldn't order food either, as she'd have to go downstairs to get it, and that meant breaking Luka's rule.

With a frustrated sigh, Keisha sat up in her bed. She couldn't possibly go any longer without food, yet she couldn't leave the safety of her room. What was she going to do?

Not able to withstand the hunger anymore, Keisha caved in and picked up her phone, dialing the number of the nearby pizza shop. After placing her order, she waited for what seemed to be the longest twenty minutes in her life, before her phone went off, alerting her that her pizza delivery had arrived.

She'd opted for a prepaid delivery, so that it could be dropped off at the front door and prevent her from wasting time interacting with the delivery guy. All she had to do now was sneak downstairs and get her pizza without getting caught by a psychopathic vampire.

How hard could it possibly be?

Summoning courage, Keisha slowly pushed her door open, tiptoeing out of her room. Her socks clad feet were soundless as she cautiously inched down the hallway, making it down the stairs and into the living room without attracting the attention of her rabid flat mate.

Peeping into the living room, Keisha heaved a sigh of relief when she found it empty. Quickly stealth-walking across the large living area, she finally arrived at the front door, gingerly unlocking the large wooden barrier.

As expected, her pizza lay at the doorstep, its warm and savory aroma instantly flooding her nostrils. Keisha let out a satisfied moan, the thought of sinking her teeth into the beautiful pepperoni pizza making her mouth water already.

Not wanting to wait a second longer, she quickly picked up the box, only to realize something was amiss. She'd only ordered one box of pizza, so why then was she currently holding two in her hands?

Had the pizza guy accidently delivered an extra one? What in the world was –

"Who the hell are you?"

Keisha froze at the voice that thundered from behind her, stupefied like a deer caught in headlights. She'd been discovered.

Oh shit.