Chapter 5 NO.5

I was definitely not in my own bed. The sheets were too silky, and the mattress was too firm. I groaned and went to stretch, but found my arms restricted. That's when I knew something was really not right.

I jumped and scrambled away from whatever was holding me down. A guy. Seth? I was too disoriented to stop him from swiftly wrapping his arms around me and tugging me down into our former position. My entire body was sprawled on top of his, my head resting in the crook of his neck. Seth groggily blinked open his eyes and grinned a sleepy smile at me. "Good morning, " he murmured in my ear once he had pulled me back to him. "Where did you think you were going?" My cheek was resting on his bare chest, and I felt it rumble with his voice against my cheek every time he talked.

"You had better start explaining, " I snapped. "And let me go!"

I gave a particularly hard shove to his chest, and he loosened his arms enough for me to push myself up. I glanced around the room, biting the inside of my cheek nervously when I noticed that it was a room completely foreign to me. It wasn't his room in that cute little cottage where we had danced to tango music. This one was much bigger and decorated elaborately. The only similarity was the color scheme of red and black.

Seth sighed. "Welcome to your new home, Angel. This is our room."

I blanched at his ridiculous statement. "Where are we?" I squeaked out.

"In my bedroom, in the castle."

"Castle?" I responded sarcastically. "What are you, a prince that whisked me away from my evil mother and sister? Am I expected to change my name to Cinderella, too?"

"No, Angel is fine, " he retorted cheekily. I scowled, crossing my arms defiantly. "You'll be throwing yourself at me soon enough, Angel."

"Get me out of here!" I screamed, throwing his hand off that had begun sneaking up my leg. The situation was starting to freak me out. "I don't want you!"

His eyebrows furrowed. "I don't understand, " he mused. "You should be happy. I want you to be happy."

"What do I have to be happy about? Enlighten me."

"You'll be respected here. I'm here to protect you now, and I always will be. I love you. Do you not feel the same about me?"

"Just tell me where the hell I am, Seth, so I can go home, " I instructed, trying to resist my oncoming headache.

"Go home?" He seemed even more confused. "I told you, this is your new home. You aren't going back."

"You...you really kidnapped me?" Breathing was becoming harder and harder with every breath. I put a hand to my heart, willing it to beat at a normal pace. It pounded faster, beating so hard I wouldn't be surprised if it left a bruise on my chest.

"Whoa, calm down, Angel. It's okay, everything's all right, " Seth soothed, combing his fingers through my hair.

"How far away are we?" I asked, swallowing the lump in my throat. "How far did you take me last night? I was only out for one night, right?"

"Yes, you feel asleep in my arms, " Seth confirmed, staring at me intently. "Don't stress yourself."

Well, I thought ironically, I found his flaw. Mr. Perfect turned out to be a kidnapper.

I needed a plan. I had to squeeze as much information out of him as I could so I could get the heck out of Dodge. With a logical course of action, I calmed down enough to speak clearly and focus.

"I'm fine, " I said, smiling slightly. "Can't you tell me where we are?"

"I guess it can't hurt anything, " he replied, half to himself. "We're in my castle. Well, it will be mine soon. Right now, it's my parents. They're king and queen right now. I'm a prince."

"Okay, Seth. What country?" I continued smiling patiently, but rolled my eyes on the inside. We couldn't have made it out of the country overnight. He would need my passport and a bunch of other legal papers and identifications. Like security would let him pass with a girl passed out in his arms.

"Oh, this is the hard part, " he winced. "Uh, it's a bit broader than that, Angel. We refer to them as realms."

"We?" I prompted.

"...Damn, this is harder than it should be, " he grumbled. "Okay, this is the vampire realm. I'm a vampire. Colton and Cody are. My parents are. Every single person in this realm is. Except you, of course."

"Seth, that's not possible." I cocked my head to the side. "Do you need to go to the hospital?" A hospital would be good. Anywhere public would give me the perfect chance to either sneak away or make a scene. Someone would notice me, right?

He flipped us over so that he was hovering over me. I yelped, pressing myself farther into the bed.

"Trust me, Angel, there is nothing wrong with my head, " he whispered in my ear.

"What are you doing?" I sighed, quickly clearing my throat after my breathy response.

"You're doubting me, so I'm going to make you see things my way."

He began kissing along my jaw, and I gasped at the strange feeling. My mind became a jumbled mess, and I realized that was his plan all along when he once again began his explanation. I wouldn't have the logic or the willpower to contradict anything he said right now. Delicious shocks ran up my spine and spread throughout my body, and I couldn't suppress my shiver of delight.

"Vampire are masters of seduction, Angel, " he explained. "We know how attractive we are. We have strength in our muscles and speed from our athletic body structure. We have access to about half of our brain power, so we can control human minds and hear thoughts. We can also use vampire telepathy to communicate with other vampires and our soul mates, talking with our heads."

"I...You can't...Not possible..." I gasped out, warring with the feelings he was forcing me to feel. My head was hurting from the information overload and fighting with my body's natural reaction to accept whatever he was doing to me, to hell with escaping. Leaning down to my ear, he blew in it. I felt like he had blown all of my doubts from my head, leaving me defenselessly flaccid in his arms.

"Do you want me to stop, Angel? I know you have a headache. Just lay down for a little longer. Sleep, " he crooned. I was so tempted to listen to him, but I roughly shook my head.

"Last time you told me to sleep, you kidnapped me. Who knows what you'll do if I listen to you again." My tone, although weak, was full of spite. He flinched, obviously not knowing the rage boiling in my gut like a stewing storm.

"I would never hurt you, " he responded.

"Continue explaining, " I instructed.

"You, Elena, and Cassie are grouped in what's called a nexus number, a group of three people from the same race that are the same gender. Colton, Cody, and I are also grouped, and you three are our soul mates. What matched you to us was your hair color: Blonde, brown, and black. Your trait matched ours."

I rolled my eyes. So I was only here because my hair color matched Cody's? This guy could go find some blonde who would willingly throw herself at him and take me back home! I didn't want to be here!

Seth growled-at my thoughts, I realized-and kissed my neck savagely. He bit and sucked and licked until I wasn't even in control of my own body anymore. When he abandoned the spot he had tortured, he kissed his way up to my ear, teasingly nibbling it. I came out of my haze realizing that my hands had found their way into his hair, and I was clutching those strands like my life depended on it.

"I'm not afraid to punish you, sweetheart, " Seth whispered. I leaned towards his voice pathetically. "I already know how to make you uncomfortable. When I was asking you all those questions? If you answered in depth, then you liked that topic, such as music and your dancing. Others, like your personality, you didn't like to share much. Don't make me have to embarrass you. Alright?" I slowly nodded, shocked I had given so much information away when I had though I wasn't. "Good.

"Now, in case you haven't noticed, vampires are old-fashioned. For example, I was forced to learn all forms of ballroom dancing, and my main focus was tangoing. We are also very traditional in everything else as well. You know I'm prince, so we have a king and queen, my mom and dad. We haven't upgraded to a democracy, and I don't think we plan to anytime soon. Relationship wise, the female is to listen to her mate. I take care of you. I protect you. I provide for you. Your job is to stand there and look pretty." He smirked and kissed the tip of my nose. I jerked my head to the side to dislodge his lips, scowling in disagreement. I could take care of myself. I didn't need to rely on anyone.

"Get used to it, sweetheart. You think you're going anywhere anytime soon? I spent two whole years trying to find you. I'm not letting you go." I didn't answer, not even to defend my thoughts, continuing to glare my hardest glare.

I gasped when I remembered that I wasn't alone at the theater last night.

"Elena and Cassie!" I yelped. "Where are they?!"

"Colton and Cody are with them, " Seth shrugged, finally sliding off of me and laying down on his side. He draped an arm around my waist, and I knew I didn't have the strength to fight him off, so I didn't try to. "They're somewhere, probably their rooms."

My stomach growled viciously, making Seth sit up straight. "You need food." It wasn't a question.

Figure that one out on your own, Sherlock? I thought.

He gently grabbed my wrist and began leading me out of the room, but I ripped my limb away and glared at him. I wouldn't let him take away every form of my independence.

"Why are you resisting the bond?" he growled in frustration. His hands clenched into fists. "I know you can feel it. Don't deny that you are attracted to me just as much as I am to you."

"I don't trust you. I have no proof, Seth. Not one piece of evidence that I should believe a word you've said to me."

I stared into his eyes, daring him to challenge me. And he did. "Then how about we set a little bet?" he asked, a glint in his eye.

"What kind of bet?" I asked, my defense and suspicion increasing tenfold.

"I'll try and make you fall for me. That'll be your proof that you insist on having. If I win, you give me anything I want, for a week. As soon as you fall for me, that's when the seven days start. And I'll know when you do, so there's no use in hiding it. Besides, even if you somehow manage to hide it, I'll just tack a day onto that week for every day you don't tell me. Deal?" He stuck out his hand.

"And what if I resist? What if I don't fall for you?"

Seth looked sad for a moment, then anger overrode every other emotion. "Then I'll make you fall for me, " he snapped. His tone was final, as if the outcome was unavoidable. I huffed in annoyance.

"How about..." What could I say? "How about you take me home, but if we meet again, then, well, that's that. But nothing happens. No interaction whatsoever." He slowly nodded his head.

We clasped hands and shook firmly, sealing the bet. I went in search of my friends, the kitchen, and some food. As soon as our hands separated, though, I felt this prickling on my hand. I looked down to see a mole I had on my left ring finger illuminated, glowing almost, until it faded back into its mud brown color again. Weird... I glanced at Seth, and he explained to me. "It's to seal a promise. Since vampires are old-fashioned, we take promises very seriously. Your body will make you fulfill it, if it's the last thing you do in your life."

He eventually recovered the mechanics of his legs and guided me to the kitchen. Elena and Cassie immediately hugged me, and Colton and Cody sheepishly waved. The boys' mother, Sarah, was also at the table with one of their younger sisters, the brunette. Riley, I think her name was. Marshall and Victoria were missing.

"He had some paperwork to take care of, and Victoria just adores him and the work he does, so she's with him in his office. She's very bright for only three hundred years young, " Sarah explained when I questioned her on it.

"Three hundred?!" Elena gasped.

"Of course. It takes us one hundred years to advance to the next age, girls, " Sarah replied. "Since she only looks three, she's really three hundred years. Well, three hundred and fifty-six, but only I, her mother, would know that off the top of my head. Then we stop aging when our bodies are at our best, which is usually in the late one thousands, early two thousands. The average is around two thousand years."

While I sat down next to Elena, a chef set down a steaming plate of breakfast food in front of me. I thanked him, and he bowed before silently disappearing behind a swinging door. It must have lead into the kitchen. Seth followed him. He came back and sat down next to me with a cup of red liquid that was too thick to be wine.

"Seth!" Sarah scolded.

"What?" He looked at me. "She's fine." Sarah angrily stabbed a finger in Cassie's direction, who had her face buried in Cody's shoulder and was looking a little green. "Oh my, Cassie, I'm so sorry!" he apologized. Seth quickly took the glass away into the other room and came back out empty-handed.

Cody glared at him. "Ease into it!" he snarled. My eyes widened at the hostility in his voice. Cody had always seemed so chipper, it was odd hearing him sound hostile. "She doesn't like blood! They only just found out we were vampires, and you waltz in here like they're already...you know." I opened my mouth to ask what he wouldn't say, but one look at Cassie told me to confront Seth about it later, preferably when we were alone.

I walked over to her, rubbing her back. "It's okay, Cassie, " I comforted. "It's alright, it's gone. You can look back up now." She slowly did as I encouraged and carefully looked around her. Seth was staring at the floor.

"I'm sorry, Cassie. I wasn't thinking."

"Damn right you weren't, " Cody mumbled. Sarah gave him a reprimanding look that clearly said to drop the issue. After breakfast, I grabbed Seth's arm and guided him into what looked like a living room.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Cody said something interesting this morning. He said '...and you waltz in here like they're already...you know.' Could you tell me what he was going to say?"

"I'd rather not."

I dropped the nice act. "Let me rephrase that. Tell me what he was going to say, and I'll talk to you. If you don't, I will remain silent around you until you do tell me."

"Is that a threat?"

"Did it sound like a threat?"

"Yes."

"Then I guess it's a threat. And trust me, Seth, I can do a lot while not having to worry about speaking to you." Like scope the land and see if I couldn't find a way out of here.

Seth abruptly snagged my waist and tugged me toward him. When my chest hit his, I leaned back. "What are you doing?"

"You'll just have to wait and see, " he whispered into my neck. I followed my instincts and placed my hands on his chest, pushing him away from me.

"Don't touch me, " I warned. "Now tell me what Cody was going to say."

"You know, " he mused, "it's not exactly your place to tell me what to do. I ought to teach you where your place is, Angel..."

"Are you threatening me?" I hissed.

"Did it sound like a threat?" he mocked.

"Nice try at distracting me with my own irritation, but I'm not one to be swayed when I want answers to something. Last chance, Seth. Cody was saying like we're already..." I left it up to him to fill in the blank.

"Like you're already vampires yourselves, " he caved. I stood there, mulling over that. Wow, sadly that made a lot of sense. If we were going to stay here, why wouldn't we just become vampires? Unless we were just toys for a while...

Seth snarled lightly. He literally snarled at me. I stared at him with wide eyes. "You are not a toy, " he seethed, his voice low. "Why would my wife be a toy?" You could say that snapped me out of my spell.

"Who said anything about a wife?"

"You're my soul mate. It's practically a given. Why wouldn't you be my wife? We were made for each other." I slowly backed out of the room.

"Just give me some time to think about this, okay?" I didn't wait for his answer.

* * *

I always found it strangely calming when I reflected on how different Cassie, Elena, and I were, yet we were such good friends.

Cassie took life as it came to her, not caring what challenge she's thrown. She knew she could handle it. Elena worries about problems when they come to her, but her guard is up. Me... my guard is never down. I take every piece of information and put it under a microscope, finding every possibility and every loop-hole in a deal. I think everything through, and I need proof for everything. That's why I didn't like this situation we were in.

For this kind of thing-vampires, soul mates, Seth-I just had to accept it. That's why Elena and Cassie don't see any problems right now, but I was a worried mess. What about our parents? What about our plans? What about our lives? Is that all going down the toilet the second I agree to stay here? What if Seth or someone gets hurt, or killed? Then what do we do?

I laughed humorlessly as I remembered my resolution the night before. Had it really only been last night that I'd promised myself I would be more adventurous? Well, this certainly took the cake. Hell, it took the entire damn bakery. I'd like to go to school and see if anyone would point fingers at the shy, nerdy girl now. They hadn't been kidnapped by a vampire prince who wanted to make a wife out of his victim.

I sighed, trying to keep calm. I suddenly felt a hand shaking my shoulder, and I tensed, thinking it was Seth. I didn't want to deal with him right now. I whipped my head around and relaxed when I saw it was only Elena and Cassie.

We silently formed a triangle on the bed and sat looking at each other. "We need to talk, get everything off our chests, " Cassie told us, breaking the comfortable silence of three friends enjoying each other's company. Elena and I agreed.

"I guess I'll start when I woke up. I was super cold, " Cassie started with her story. "And I felt something really warm, so I went to it and it turned out to be Cody. Last night, I had wanted answers, but he could see I was really tired, so he told me that he'd answer any questions I had in the morning. He explained about nexus numbers and soul mates, and vampires and slow aging and stop aging and all that technical stuff.

"And then he explained that vampires aren't cold or pale or sleep in coffins-thank goodness for that-and they have a beating heart and mostly a normal anatomy system. And did you guys have a weird dream about when you were fourteen or so? And Seth or Colton saved you from another guy?" Oh my god, that dream! That was Seth!

"Yeah!" Elena nodded, ready to soak up this new information. I nodded once, my foul mood rising.

"He kissed you? Well, that was supposed to bind your souls together, so he could find you. Soul mate? Get it?" Seth was the one that stole my first kiss in a dream when I was supposed to be fourteen? That boy is going to have hell to pay when I see him next.

"That's when Cody and I start talking and laughing with each other. It was incredible the way we instantly connected, but I guess that's just the magic of the bond. And so that's when I guess I realized I was in love, " she finished, throwing herself onto her back on my bed. I rolled my eyes at her, a smile on my lips. Just because I didn't want to be with Seth didn't mean she couldn't be with Cody. He definitely seemed to make her happy. A frown formed in my mind, though. Is that what I was going to be like? All lovesick? I sure hoped not.

"Pretty much the same thing happened with me..." Elena trailed off, blushing like crazy.

"What?" I prodded, smirking.

"Well, I got my answers last night so this morning Colton and I had some free time so we just let one thing lead to another and spent the morning more or less kissing."

I took my turn, telling them my story and how I made the bet with Seth.

"Well, Colton and Cody are apparently Seth's body guards because he's really important. He didn't go into much detail, " Elena said afterwards.

"Seth is a prince, " I supplied. After that initial shock wore, off I collected and reorganized all of our thoughts.

Cody and Cassie are soul mates, Colton and Elena, and Seth and me. Seth is prince, so Cody and Colton, who are brothers, are his body guards. They're vampires. We have no way out of this castle as of yet and are pretty much stuck here.

Great. Just fan-freaking-tastic.

Elena and Cassie left soon after to leave me to my thoughts, and Seth took their place. I still wasn't comfortable around him, so I made my quick escape by blurting out the first thing that came to my head when I felt how much energy I had. I needed to dance. "I need to use up some energy. Is there a computer or stereo somewhere that I can get music from?"

"Why do you need music?" he asked suspiciously.

"Uh..." I stuttered, heat filling my face. Come on, Eva, it's easy. Just lie to the guy. You've done it before. "I...um...want to check out a new band?"

He suddenly trailed a finger up my neck, then back down. My muscles locked up, my eyes instinctively slipping half-shut as I focused on the contact he was making. I snapped them back open, surprised at the amount of emotion he could evoke from such a simple touch. "C'mon, Eva, what's the real reason?"

"Why do you want to know? It's none of your business, " I got out, breathless. I could just imagine his face if he ever saw me dancing. I was always so into the music that I tuned out everything around me and became completely oblivious. I couldn't leave myself defenseless like that around him.

Thankfully, I was able to use the typical bathroom excuse to get out of that awkward situation. I made a run for it as soon as I was out of his sight, going into the room right next to ours. It had black walls with dance posters, a stereo, and a wrap around mirror around the whole room. The floors were made of beautiful, smooth wood. It was a dance studio!

There was even a closet that probably had a bunch of dancing clothes. I switched into a comfortable pair of spandex, a sports bra, and a loose crop top. Creating a playlist of my favorite songs, I hit play and sauntered onto the floor barefoot, confident as ever. With Shakira singing in the background, I stretched to warm up my muscles, feeling the familiar pulling and popping as I pushed my limits. It was refreshing.

After some extensive stretching and a couple of drills, I began a routine from last year. It was fast paced and the steps could be confusing if they didn't flow exactly right.

After about ten minutes, I lost myself in the music and focused on my steps. Unconsciously almost, I wildly swayed my body, shaking my hips this way and that, moving my arms in all different directions, spinning, turning and going from one end of the room to the other before I started back again. Sometimes I closed my eyes, sometimes I left them open to make sure I was doing the movements right, checking my reflection in the mirror. Every time I saw myself, I smiled. I looked so comfortable here, so confident. The deodorant I put on was hard at work, and I started to get thirsty after a while. Luckily, I found a mini-fridge beside the speakers.

I had no idea how long I had been dancing, but I finally took a final swig of water, shut the music off, and sat down against the wall, resting my sore arms and legs. My stomach was in burning with pain, not just aching. I wondered how Seth would react if I told him the best thing for my abuse body would be to take an ice bath. He would freak out about my health, most likely. I took deep breathes to clear my stuffy head. I loved it all. This is one of the few things I lived for.

I wondered how long I had been in here. It felt like fifteen minutes, and Seth couldn't have been fooled by my simple trick for long. My body protested, saying it had been at least a few hours. The clock on the far side of the wall agreed with my body. It had been two hours.

Seth wasn't stupid though. He would have known of my plan within the first five minutes, if not beforehand. Maybe he even knew what I was doing when I had first dashed out of the room. Either way, I wasn't too sure if I would rather be arguing with him right now or not knowing what he was doing. Both situations made butterflies swirl in my stomach, and I forced my tired legs to start dancing again to clear my thoughts.