Twelve hours later, Lilian woke slowly as her awareness returned in pieces. The first thing she noticed was how soft everything felt.
The bed beneath her felt too comfortable, the blanket was light but warm, even the air she breathed felt clean and lightly scented with the perfume that smelled expensive.
For a moment, she let herself believe that she was in a dream, and the alley incident had been a nightmare before she landed into this comforting dream. She told herself she would wake up fully any second now in her tiny apartment, and everything would be normal.
Then Lilian moved her hand to touch her forehead, but noticed something wrapped around her neck. A bandage.
Her eyes snapped open, and saw the ceiling above her was not the drywall of her apartment. It was ornate and elegant carved wood and crown molding. A crystal chandelier hung from the center, dimmed to a soft glow.
This wasn't her apartment, or anywhere she had ever been in her entire twenty four years of life.
Lilian sat up slowly, fighting a wave of dizziness and nausea, but she forced it down, refusing to throw up in a place that already terrified her.
The bed she was lying in was large enough for several people, with dark wooden posts and deep burgundy velvet curtains hung from golden cords, tied back neatly.
And she was wearing soft and plain white cotton pajamas that probably cost more than her entire sleepwear collection combined. Someone had changed her clothes while she was unconscious.
Panic flared in her mind right that instant.
Lilian slid her legs over the side of the bed, and her feet touched thick carpet that felt like warm moss. Her eyes caught on to antique furniture and oil paintings lined on the wall which showed the kind of casual wealth, just expensive in a way that didn't need to show off.
These people, probably the three vampires she saw at the alley, had wealth she couldn't even imagine. She became more panicked.
She stood up, using the bed for support as the room swayed. She wasn't injured badly, but her body felt strange, though she couldn't explain why.
Limping, she moved toward the floor to ceiling windows, needing to know where she was. But the view outside stole her breath away.
Perfectly manicured gardens stretched in every direction with fountains, stone pathways, and a massive hedge maze. Beyond the gardens, she saw nothing but dense forest.
There were no other houses, and no signs of the city as far as her eyes could see.
Lilian grabbed the ornate brass handle of the window and pulled, but it was locked. They locked her up here.
Her breathing sped up, feeling the room grew smaller as the walls were like pressing in on her. Then she couldn't breath and her heart began to race.
She pressed her forehead against the window glass, trying to control her breathing, but it wasn't working.
The door suddenly opened and Lilian spun around, raising her hands in front of her face instinctively in defense. His panic turned immediately into fear, as she saw a man with blue eyes standing in the doorway, holding a silver tray balanced on one hand.
It was one of them from the alley last night. One of the vampires.
In the daylight, he looked different, less terrifying. His golden blond hair fell neatly around his face, framing it. And his blue eyes glowed softly like cat's.
He wore casual clothes, it was only dark jeans and a soft sweater, and she knew those should be expensive. But the watch that made Lilian widened her eyes for a few moments.
It was Patek Phillippe, with the same design her ex-boyfriend always showed her, telling her that he wanted to buy one some day. And she knew the watch cost more that most people made in years.
"I brought breakfast. You need to eat," he said gently, as if he were talking to a frightened animal.
His words snapped Lilian back into reality, and she rasped, "I need to leave."
Pain shot through her damaged throat when she talked, like she was swallowing broken glass. She touched the bandages on her neck instinctively.
The man's expression softened in pity. He set the tray down on a side table. "I understand you're scared~"
"Don't~" Lilian cut him off sharply despite the pain. "Don't pretend you understand. You're one of them. You're a~"
She stopped, and couldn't say the word.
"A vampire," he finished her words calmly. "Yes. I am."
The last bit of hope Lilian had been holding to believe that all what had happened to her was only a dream, shattered, after hearing him say it so casually. So it was all real.
"I want to go home," she said weakly. "Please~ just let me go home."
"I can't do that."
The answer crushed her. These vampires held her captive for what? To drink her blood until she dies…?
"Why not?" she whispered.
He stepped closer, then stopped when Lilian pressed her back against the window with frightened expression.
"Because you've been bitten. In a few days, you'll start to turn, as the transformation has already begun in your blood."
She felt her blood run cold from head to toe. "Turn?"
"When that vampire bit you, his venom entered your system. That's how we reproduce. Your body is already changing, your cells are dying and being rebuilt into one of us."
He stopped, watching her face to make sure she wasn't passing out again. "Also because, every vampire in this city can smell the attack on you now. You're marked. If you go back to your old life, they'll find you in five seconds. And they won't be as merciful as we were."
"Merciful?" Lilian snapped, her voice rising.
"We call saving your life mercy," he replied calmly. "You are under our protection now."
"I never asked for your protection," she said, but her voice had lost its earlier sharpness. She just sounded tired now as she felt she had been defeated by her situation.
"No," he agreed. "You didn't. My name is Adrian, and I give you my word that as long as you remain within these walls, no vampire will touch you. No one is foolish enough to challenge vampire princes."
Princes. The vampire in the alley had called them lords. Now Adrian was claiming they were royalty of some kind.
Lilian sank to the floor, wanting to cry and raging at the same time, asking for someone to fix this nightmare she had stumbled into through no fault of her own.
"I'm sorry," he said, and he sounded like he actually meant it. "We didn't get there in time to stop the bite. There is no cure, or a way to reverse it."
"So I'm going to be a monster," she said, her voice sounding hollow and empty. "And a whole god damn army of vampires is chasing me…"