My heart pounded so hard, I could hear it in my ears. Time slowed down, and my mind went blank. It was as if the ground had disappeared beneath me, leaving me suspended in a void of disbelief. My mouth hung open, but no words came out. All I could do was stare, frozen in absolute shock.
No doubt Alexander had mistaken me for somebody else. Many dark haired girls lived in the village and were of the same age. Besides, my mother would have told me. We told each other everything. I furrowed my brow, trying to make sense of the jumble of information bombarding my mind, but nothing seemed to add up, and every answer led to more questions. I felt like I was grasping at shadows, lost in a maze of uncertainty.
I clenched my fists, my jaw sat in determination. "What do you mean my mother's got everything to do with this!?"
Tension crackled in the air like electricity as Alexander and I stood face to face, our eyes locked in a silent battle.
He remained silent, his expression unreadable.
I took a step forward. "What do you mean? Explain to me."
Ignoring my question, Alexander shouldered past and strides back inside the palace.
"Answer me!" I shrieked.
He stopped in his tracks, whirled around and stared back at me coldly. "I do not need to explain myself to you! You are my servant. Remember that, Jane."
I knew that I was crossing a line by demanding a vampire of all sorts to talk to me, but I was desperate. How could I not be? It involved my mother, and for that reason alone, I too was involved.
I took a deep breath and spoke calmly and collectively. "I...apologise deeply for my outburst, but she's my mother. I have every right to know."
Again, he remained silent.
"Please." I begged.
He stared for awhile, his cold eyes watching me closely. It felt like years past until he spoke again. "My family...owes your family a debt."
The atmosphere seemed to shrink around us. My breath caught in my throat and my heart skipped a beat as I replayed his words over and over in my head. It felt like the ground had dropped from under me. I blinked, trying to process the information, but it refused to sink in.
I frowned. "What?"
Alexander exhaled heavily. "Me purchasing you at the auction. It was your mother's idea."
What? My mother?
How could this be true? My mind raced with a thousand questions, each one more delirious than the last.
I stared blankly at Alexander. "What are you talking about?"
"Your mother came here days before the auction, begging me to take you in, so I did."
My eyes widened? She came here? To the palace?
"Why?" I asked.
"I told you. My family owes your family a debt. This is me fulfilling that debt."
A debt? What kind of debt?
I felt like I was swimming in a sea of fog, unable to find my way through the thick haze of confusion. Every thought collided with another, leaving me disoriented and unsure of which direction to turn.
"And what does this debt entail exactly?" I asked.
He shrugged. "To not feed from you, and to keep you safe and unharmed. That was your mother's wish."
That was the reason why he wasn't feeding from me. Because of my mother? Inside my chest, I could feel my heart bursting with love and admiration at her efforts for making me safe, but I still couldn't help wonder what Alexander's family had done to owe my family a debt.
I bit my lip from thinking about my mother and focused entirely on the prince standing in front of me. "But why do you owe my family a debt in the first place? How does my family even know you because I for one have never heard of you?"
He put his hands up to stop me from speaking further. "Listen, I do not have the time or the patience to explain everything right now, but I promise you that I will tell you what you need to know. In time."
No!
I shook my head repeatedly. "You cannot just say something like that and walk away."
"I am sorry. Another time." He muttered before walking away.
Come back!
"Stop!" I demanded.
But his back never turned.
I rushed to his and stopped him in his tracks. "Look, I know that I can be a little bossy and demanding…"
Alexander's arched a brow. "A little?"
I rolled my eyes at him and sighed in frustration. "But I have not seen my mother in three days! That's the longest time I've ever gone without seeing her. To hear you say that my mother is a part of all of this will not be forgotten anytime soon. Please, tell me, otherwise I will make my stay here very difficult."
Alexander stepped forward until we were nose to nose, his voice low and dangerous. "I do not answer to you, little one."
My shoulders sagged and my eyes closed in defeat. "Please tell me and I will never ask again."
He scoffed, causing me to open my eyes to see him look away and tense his jaw. "Your mother came here a few days ago urgently wanting to see me. Apparently she'd been looking for my family for fifteen years. I knew one day she would come here wanting the...repayment, but the last thing I expected her to ask was for me to take you in because I don't feed on humans. In fact, I am the only vampire who drinks from the blood of animals."
"You are?"
I nodded. "Yes. When your mother came here, she knew what she was doing. She had this whole idea inside her head. She knew that if I took you in that, you'd be in safe hands."
"And... am I in safe hands?" I asked, cautiously.
"I will not touch you. I mean that wholeheartedly. I do not...grapple with humans. If anything I keep my distance from them." He uttered.
His words made me grimace. "Why? Are we really that repulsive? Has the war changed your opinion of us?"
Alexander scoffed, shaking his head. "Forgive me. I have said too much."
"And yet nothing at all." I snapped. "Why do you not associate yourself with humans?"
The prince cleared his thought and pondered before speaking again. "A person I once admired greatly betrayed me by fulfilling his own selfish needs, and took the only person I loved away from me and turned her into something I hated." His nostrils flared with anger as his attention returned to me. "Does that satisfy you?"
I gazed wondrously at him. "If anything, I am more curious to know what hurt you."
"You will never know. That I promise you."
A deafening pause followed.
"With that aside, I owe your family a debt, and I intend to fulfil my duty. I am a man of my word."
My eyes widened. "So, I am to stay here...forever?"
He nodded. "Yes."
My heart sank. "You cannot do this to me."
"I'm sorry." He murmured.
"Please!" I pleaded desperately.
"Truly, I am." The prince muttered before entering the palace.
I was unable to move my feet from the ground. My chest tightened constricted by the invisible bonds as I looked at the empty space where the prince once stood. Each breath felt like a struggle as the air grew thinner as the feeling of being trapped, helpless and alone slowly sank in.
My hands trembled as I recalled everything that had occurred between me and the prince. There was nothing I could've done to change the outcome, everything had been planned beforehand. Every instinct screamed at me to act, to protest, but I was paralysed, rooted to the spot by a suffocating sense of helplessness.
There was no escape.