Kidnapped By The Vampire Prince

Without further ado, I pushed myself off the bed, and began sprinting towards the door, which Fiona had fortunately left open. She called after me and I knew within the next few seconds she would capture me, but I didn’t stop. When those few seconds passed and I was still running freely down the hallway, relief washed through me. She was letting me go. She understood my situation.

I had no idea where I was going. All I knew was that if I kept looking, eventually I’d find the exit. Then I could escape, forget any of this ever happened, and live my peaceful, ignorant life. I could tell my parents I actually ended up sleeping at Alli’s and just forgot to tell them, that way they wouldn’t worry over me. Everything was going to work out okay.

Just as I thought that, I crashed into something hard. My head ricocheted off whatever I hit and I closed my eyes tightly, trying not to cry out in pain.

“Emily? What are you doing?” a familiar voice questioned.

I looked up to see Joel gazing down at me with a confused expression. My heart dropped into my gut and I took a few wary steps back, getting ready to run again. “I’m not doing anything…”

“Obviously you’re up to something.”

“No, I’m not.”

Joel gave me a sarcastic look. “Then why are you running?”

Instead of responding, I twisted on my heel, running back the other way. In a flash Joel was in front of me, causing me to slam into his chest. My body ricocheted off his, my head slamming against his jaw painfully. The hallway spun in front of my eyes and before I knew it I was on the ground. Joel hovered above me, raising an eyebrow.

“Need some help?” he inquired, holding out his hand.

I slid myself backwards, across the red carpet that lined the hallway. Joel followed me, taking the smallest steps possible, an amused expression on his face. I did my best to glare up at him. “Go away.”

“Go away?” he parroted, grinning widely. “Those are some mighty bossy words for a human.”

Holding his gaze, I slowly pushed myself back to my feet. “I’m going home,” I said slowly.

Joel cocked his head to the side. “No…”

“Yes.”

“Uh-uh.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Yes, I am, and you’re going to let me.”

“Actually, I do believe the King would like to see you,” he commented, tapping his chin with a slim, pale finger. “Vincent was sent out about half an hour to retrieve you but I guess he forgot.”

The King wanted to see me now? What about? I couldn’t stop anxiety from creeping up on me again. What if they decided the best course of action was to kill me? There was no way I was going to see the King. With that thought, I began to sprint down the hallway again.

Joel kept up easily. “I can just follow you until you tire out. Vampires have great stamina.”

Ignoring him, I abruptly took a right, continuing down the maze-like hallways. Unfortunately for me, it led to a dead end. Joel snickered from beside me as I came to a dead stop. Unbelievable.

“Give up yet?” he questioned, leaning casually against the wall. “Unless you can pull walking through walls out of your hat, I think you’re stuck.”

After giving him a sarcastic look, I quickly surveyed my surroundings. There was a door behind Joel, but other than that, the only way to escape was to go back the way I came. Joel faked a yawn, putting his arms up to stretch. I took the chance to duck under his arms and leap towards the door.

“Emily, I wouldn’t go in there-”

Ignoring his warning, I yanked open the door; looking back to make sure Joel wasn’t right behind me. Instead of meeting my gaze, his eyes shot past me, widening slightly. I turned to see what he was so surprised about, but as I turned back around I slammed into something hard. My head ricocheted off what felt like a wall and I stumbled to the ground, shouting out in pain. What kind of house was this? Who put fake doors in their houses?

“There you are Vivi!”

Vivi? I slowly raised my eyes to see Vincent gazing down at me with an amused smirk on his face. So he was the wall I walked into. Flushing, I immediately pushed myself back to my feet.

“I hope you do realize you were just about to enter my room without my permission,” he commented, snapping the door shut behind him. “You are not allowed to go in there.”

Swallowing nervously, I used all my courage to glare back at him. “Sorry, I didn’t know it was your room.”

“Now you do,” he responded simply. “Let’s go.” He abruptly grabbed me by my upper arm, dragging me down the hallway.

“Hey! Let me go!” I cried, staggering backwards in order to keep my balance. “Vincent, let go!”

He raised an eyebrow at me. “You remembered my name?”

“Let go of me!”

“Nope,” he responded casually. “We have to go see my father. I have things to do today, so I don’t want to have to hunt you down as you try to run away. Now I suggest you keep up or I’ll be forced to throw you over my shoulder.”

I glared at the back of his head, once again attempting to rip my arm out of his grasp. “Let go of me! Ugh!”

Joel suddenly appeared at my side, falling into step with Vincent. “You’re in a better mood today I see.”

Vincent shrugged. “More or less.”

Scowling at the two of them, I finally managed to break free from Vincent. It was obvious he let me though- there was no way a human would be able to escape his vice-like grip. Joel flashed to my right side, scaring me half to death. He grinned sheepishly as I choked on air, flinching away from him.

“You know what you remind me of?” he inquired, giving me a rough slap to my back.

A small hiss of pain left my lips. “That hurt!”

“The girl who is afraid of pickles,” Joel continued, ignoring me. “You basically act around us the same way she acts around pickles.”

For a second, I was taken aback. Joel saw that video? Vampires watched normal television? But… “I don’t act like her!” I protested, narrowing my eyes at him. “She’s totally paranoid.”

“So are you,” Vincent pointed out.

“Well there’s the fact that you guys could kill me at any moment that puts a new edge to my fear!” I snapped, irritated. “Not to mention I’ve only known that vampires exist for… How long have I been here for?”

Joel grinned mischievously. “Only about two weeks.”

I stopped dead, feeling my heart drop into my gut. Two weeks? How was that possible? What did my parents think? What if they though I was dead? And Leah and Alli? Tears sprung to my eyes before I could help it. Two weeks…

Vincent suddenly punched Joel in the shoulder. “Don’t be a prick.”

“You’re no fun,” Joel mumbled moodily, rubbing the place where Vincent punched him. “Sorry, Emily. I lied.”

I sobered up instantly. “What?”Content rights by NôvelDr//ama.Org.

“You’ve only been out for a night.”

Instead of feeling angry with Joel, I almost laughed. He fooled me so easily. Though the best part was the fact I’d only been gone for my day. If I could convince the King to let me go home today, my parents wouldn’t have anything to worry about. There was a chance everything could be fine again.

“This way,” Vincent ordered, yanking on my arm.

I jerked away in surprise, my breath catching in my throat. He held on tightly, rolling his eyes.

“You’re such a chicken.”

“Sorry,” I retorted sarcastically. “It’s obviously expected that I knew you were going to randomly grab me, isn’t it?”

Joel smiled in amusement, his brown eyes meeting mine. “I think I’m going to like you, Em.”

“Em?”

“My new nickname for you.”

I frowned at him. A nickname? Usually only close friends called each other by their nicknames. But if it was Joel… No Emily , I told myself firmly. Even if Joel came off as a friendly person, he was still a vampire. And vampires were dangerous. I couldn’t let down my guard that easily!

“The same rules that applied while talking to my mother apply to my father,” Vincent told me. “Be careful what you say.”

I turned my head and gave Joel a questioning look. Be careful what I say? What was that supposed to mean? Joel gave me a half-smile. “The King is an interesting man… He’ll probably scare you more than the rest of us.”

Suddenly I felt like I was going to be sick. Just what type of man was the King?