by J. E Hanson
I read the second message he sent me, and my heart collapses.
Hottwin2: I would have taken you out on a date. I can see that you have interest in Paul. If he is whom you want, then I will stand aside. I will never interfere with your life again.
I lost my chance, to be with him. A few tears trickle from my chin. Ian writes this on a piece of paper, and hands it to me. “That was really stupid. Christian was an ass, before you came along. After you came along, he drastically changed for the better. Now, he’s back to his old self again. I want to thank you for that.”
Ian left me with what he wrote. Out of fear of losing someone else, I bury my feelings deep inside.
For the rest of the week, training with Sam remains uneventful. The message from Paul comes with complete instructions. None of the Enforcers will help me go on a date with Paul.
Willow steps up by offering, to smuggle me out of the castle. After my training, everything is precisely the same, except this time I snuck out from the castle. I wear a pair of tight jeans with a low cut snowy angora sweater. A pair of jet-black strap heels completes my ensemble. I return to wearing my sister’s necklace. I have already carefully planned my escape. The Enforcers failed to update the bottom floor with the latest touchscreen technology, unlike the rest of the castle. An ivory hat covers my red curls. Like a spy on a mission, I slip out of the castle without the security cameras detecting me. I make it outside and duck beside her car. Willow enters her car after three minutes. She unlocks her doors, to allow me to creep inside her car.
“You need to stay down until we make it through the gates,” she warns.
She starts her car, and drives towards the gates. Willow turns her head smiling and waves at security. She depresses the green button above her head. We make it outside the compound or prison in three seconds.
She laughs at my jailbreak. “You’re in the clear. You need to meet me at the pier, no later than three hours from now. Take my gun with you in case something happens.”
She hands me her small gold handgun, and makes sure that it’s in my purse for protection. Christian isn’t home, because he’s putting out a fire from one of his businesses. She drops me off at the pier. Paul stands at his Porsche smiling at me. There’s an opportunity, to return to the castle, but I’m already in too deep. I cautiously walk over to Paul, and he points to the passenger’s side. He gestures for me to get in. My dark shades cover my eyes with my snowy hat still hiding my curls.
Paul drives around for ten minutes until he pulls into a parking lot. He doesn’t even bother, to open my side for me. This date is heading down the toilet already. I hid my bitter disappointment, especially when he doesn’t even bother, to open the door to a small diner. He pulls out a couple of menus for both of us.
“Are you ready to order?”
“I just want water, and that’s it.”
Paul orders a large set of onion rings with a burger. His food makes my stomach churn. My diet remains intact, after watching the disgusting display of food.
Paul starts talking with his mouth full, “You’re an excellent assistant! How do you stay so organized?”
“I just make copies, and ensure his files have dates on them. I guess that it’s not that complicated. I make sure he has everything he needs.”
Paul wipes his greasy hands on his pants. He grosses me out with watching him use his clothes as napkins, especially when there’s a perfectly clean napkin resting on the table. My head cocks to the side, and stare at his blue vein throbbing in his neck. My eyes blink a few times trying, to clear my vision. It is hard to ignore the throbbing jugular vein.
“Did you know that we work for vampires?” Paul whispers.
In the restaurant, there are a few vampires sitting around with anticipation, waiting to see what he says next. My mouth starts to twinge with pain. The pain starts swelling in my gums and it even intensifies. His jugular vein looks incredibly tasty. My fangs want to bite him.
“You need to be careful with what you say,” I angrily whisper.
“Why do I need, to be careful?”
I pull my phone out, and I want to call one of the Enforcers. I’m in agony trying, to keep the tears away.
“I’m a hybrid, and I believe you have insulted me enough for the evening.” The vampires in the room, eye me suspiciously.
I had enough, so I run outside with Paul chasing after me. “You mean to tell me that you’re one of them! You seem alive to me! What the fuck?”
I jerk my arm out of his grasp. To my dismay, there are rogues starting to land from the sky.
“I’m one of them, and you had better run to your car, before one of those rogues takes you. They might even turn you.”
Paul notices the rogues landing from the sky. He left me, by running to his car. He threw my purse out his window and sped off. There’s no way, to hide from the rogues. One of them catches up to me. After reaching for my purse, I take out the gun. My aim is perfect as I shot a rogue directly in the head.
One of the rogues yells out, “Oh, this bitch is packing, dudes!”
I shot another one and the rogue explodes all over me. This will be exceptionally hard for me to explain, why I’m wearing dark blood and the obsidian tarry substance. The only thing left now is to pull the cover back, and push the button. I take a deep breath and sound the alarm on my cell phone. This will make Christian and the rest of the Enforcers angry with me. My phone will immediately show my current location, after sounding the alarm.
There are twenty rogues left, and I only shot one. I shot another rogue in the head, and his body blows all over the brick wall.
A set of muscular arms pull me back. In a blur, he destroys five rogues quickly. All the Enforcers show up in record time. They are quickly helping me, by snapping the rogues apart. We are fine until fifty more rogues join the party.
Christian tries to keep me behind him. “I will save the lectures for later, Jeannie! I will say that I’m extremely angry with you right now!”
He wears a pair of tight blue jeans for a change. He pulls his hair back in a quick ponytail, and nails a rogue with his silver tips on his boots. I save Ian with two quick shots to the heads of two rogues. My gun runs out of bullets, and I hit a rogue squarely in the head with it. Alexander moves to Christian’s side, and he helps us with five more rogues.
The carnage continues, but my heels become the latest victims. One of those heels saves Zane. The rogue blows up all over him. The second heel saves Brannon, who was fighting three rogues at the same time. One rogue almost nailed him.
Christian turns around. “I think you may have a hidden talent with heels.” He grins at me for a change.
Ian walks over, to rip another rogue apart. Brennan saves Tommy, by shredding a greasy rogue apart. They rip apart fifty rogues in fifteen minutes.
Charlie and Erik count off how many kills they each have, “That makes ten, Erik.”
Erik scoffs at him. “I have eleven rogues. I win, Charlie.”
Christian flips me over his shoulders, and he places me in his arms. “You better hold on to me.”
He’s about to give me a long lecture tonight. The large strap on my purse wraps around my neck. My arms grip his neck. We are back at the castle within two minutes. Christian places me down on the ground. I might as well be a dead princess. He starts yelling insanely at me, “You just broke two of my fucking rules! I am very pissed off right now! You are deliberately disobeying me!”
The other Enforcers land with Ian shaking his head in disgust at me. I trail behind him in the castle. I make it as far as the foyer, when my mouth continues, to throb from intense pain. I can no longer stand it anymore. It feels like someone is jerking out my teeth without anesthesia. My body crumbles to the floor from the excruciating pain.
He continues to blast me, “I hate how you fucking used me! I thought I could trust you! Obviously that was my fucking mistake!”
The pain makes me cry out in agony. Christian stops screaming at me for a se
cond after he notices the excruciating pain I’m in. “Are you hurting again?”
I can’t utter a single word. I threw off my shades, to show him just how intense the pain is.
He kneels down and stares into my eyes. “You need to promise me that you will never do something that stupid ever again.”
The tears stream down my cheeks. He picks me up and shakes his head at me. Christian carries me inside the library then perches me on his lap.
Alexander notices the pain that I’m in, and he returns with a topic solution. “I know you are hurting, but you need to open your mouth right now,” Alexander orders, and I shake my head no.
“You need to move your mind to something else. I want you to imagine a field with emerald grass. There is a river flowing with ice-cold water. You walk over to the river, and take a drink of ice-cold water from it,” Christian instructs.
The pain isn’t as noticeable now. His meditation technique works. My mouth opens wide enough for Alexander, to apply the topic solution, numbing my gums. My arms stay around his neck. He doesn’t seem as angry with me as I thought he would.
Christian keeps me in his lap. “I want to yell at you, but I struggle with it. I will calmly state that you could have ended many existences tonight. You could have ended your own life too. Now, if you will… I would like you, to tell me how your date went, since you broke that rule of mine.”
“I’m really stupid and it was such an immature thing to do. I will never do something that dumb ever again. I’m the worst princess ever, and the worst person for not following simple rules. I’m once again sorry, but at least the button works.”
The rest of the Enforcers snicker, but Erik is hot. “The rest of the guys may find it amusing. I don’t find it amusing! I find it incredibly selfish of you!”
“I deserve, to know the details of your date,” Christian asks me again.
“I will proudly say that I didn’t crash my diet. He was incredibly rude, and you didn’t miss much. I’m extremely disappointed, but I wanted to end his life by biting into his jugular vein,” I carefully explained how my date went.
Their faces drop in shock. Christian closes his eyes for a second, but he lets a tiny smirk escape.
“What do you mean by jugular vein?” Zane asks me.
“I wanted to bite his neck the whole time, because he irritated me. I never noticed the jugular vein before, and now I can see it pulsating. I guess that’s a bad thing, to want to eat your date?” I answer Zane’s inquiry.
Charlie chuckles at my story. “I had bad dates too. I wanted to bloody end them like that too. You’re not the only one, who wanted to take a life. The good news, Princess is that you found restraint, and I find that fascinating. This bird is bloody right! She won’t be able, to date mortal men. They will say the wrong thing to her, and then they will die,” Charlie pats my head and laughs.
The rest of the Enforcers start to laugh with Charlie. Christian pulls me closer to him. I have no desire, to date another human after that fiasco. “I think I would rather pick a blood diet over a food diet any day. The grease dripping from his burger made me really sick.”
Christian laughs and shakes his head. I lean my head on his chest. Christian picks me up. “I will make sure Leo installs more cameras, to keep you inside. You will never do this again!”
I drift away into his ultramarine eyes, and lean in to kiss his firm cheek. “I’m sorry for doing something so completely stupid. I promise to never do that again.”
Christian places me down and keeps me close to him. He stares into my eyes for the longest time. “I want to wish you goodnight. I will check in on you later. We have a very important meeting Monday night.” Christian caresses my cheek with the back of his hand. I can tell in his eyes that he still wants me. I wait for him, to make the first move, but he pulls my snowy hat off, and then he kisses my forehead. He left me standing there alone. The disappointment overwhelms me.
I shower, change into my nightgown, and climb into bed. I thank my lucky stars that he saved me again. Now, I know what a cat with nine lives feels like. If that’s true, then I’m blowing through all of them. My iPod blasts in my ears and eventually, I fell asleep to it.
Someone shakes me violently. I wake up and see Sam standing by my bed. “I think you’re running late.”
I jump out of bed, and quickly remove my iPod. Sam wears an ivory tank with blood red basketball shorts. He also wears a blood red beanie with charcoal letters saying “BIB.” on it. This could only mean one thing. I placed their existences in jeopardy last night, and even woke up late. Sam starts to count, and it’s time to hurry. This will be the roughest training day by far. Sam hands me my tennis shoes.
~~~***~~~
I sit down at the table, but he continues to count. To make up time, I’m practically inhaling my breakfast. He motions for me, to follow him outside. It is time to complete the obstacle course from hell. This time three volunteers watch me from different angles. Erik makes sure that if I miss a time trial, I redo the course.
I have firewood, to lift ten times from one pile to the next. Erik also makes sure I crawl underneath the barbwire. If I don’t make time, Erik orders me to retake that course. Ian isn’t happy with me either.
“Get your ass over that wall! You owe me for last night and you need to use your fucking head next time! You could have killed all of us last night!” Ian yells at me, to climb over the brick wall.
The constant screaming from the men won’t break me down.
“Is that how you show me fucking respect? You’re fucking ignoring our rules! How dare you!” Leo pops off a few screams at me too.
At the end of the twelve hours, Louie rinses me off with a water hose. They won’t allow me, to enter the castle a muddy mess. I untie my hair and pull my shirt off, to wash the rest of the mud off me.
“Oh, you want to wash yourself off like a common whore—do you?” Erik caught me and yells.
He won’t even allow me to explain. “I will add things, to your list today, since you have this need to bear your chest! You will wash all the vehicles tonight in nothing, but your swimsuit!” Erik yells at me.
Louie frowns at me. “I’m sorry Princess, but you pushed his buttons. Good luck, sweetheart.”
“He isn’t serious—is he?”
“I’m sorry, but he’s fucking dead serious,” Louie answers as he hands me a towel.
Erik returns with a bikini, keys, soap, and a bucket. “You will clean out all vehicles. I suggest you start right away. There won’t be one ding, or dent on any of the vehicles,” Erik orders me.
I only expect twelve sets of keys. Instead, he hands me forty-eight sets of keys. The thought of cleaning their vehicles doesn’t make me incredibly happy. Tommy pulls car after car in a single file line. I stand in front of a large garage. After changing my clothes in my bedroom, I eat a late dinner, and I walk outside in a pair of shorts. I yank off the shirt, and fill up the bucket with water and soap. Tommy shakes his head, and he hands me twelve sets of trash bags. One of the trash bags is for their important stuff, and the other trash bag is for their garbage. The men allow me, to wear a pair of long yellow rubber gloves, to clean out their vehicles.
Tommy pulls the first four up. There’s a Smart Car with bumper stickers. The next is a slate Porsche, BMW, and a Hummer.
Tommy winks at me. “You might need to keep the gloves on.”
The first set of vehicles has minimal trash. I throw away old bottles of blood instantly. Erik makes sure, to repeat his explicit rules. He wants me to clean out underneath the seats and between the seats. I found bras, thongs, and ripped dresses. The grossest part is finding used condoms. I try hard not to puke a few times. I’m so thankful for the rubber gloves. To my surprise, there aren’t any dead animals or anything like that. I expect to find a dead body, but I found nothing of that sort. I found a collection of used thongs.
The first four vehicles belong to Ian. He has used condoms inside his seats. After cleaning the insides
of his vehicles, the gloves are off. Luckily, my iPod motivates me. I scrub Ian’s vehicles down. The first two hours gave me six clean vehicles. Five of the Enforcers make sure nothing happens to their babies.
The next set of vehicles belongs to Zane. He had a few ripped thongs, but nothing foul in his vehicles.
Louie watches me clean out his vehicles. He has the cleanest set of vehicles. There are no used condoms or anything gross. The most he has is a stray piece of paper in his seat.
I blow him a kiss. “Thank you,” I whisper to him.
He smiles and winks back at me. Brennan and Brannon also have clean cars. All eight of their vehicles are now clean. The expensive cars roll out of the garage.
Tommy has one of the nastiest vehicles, and here I thought he was a Christian vampire. I pull out used condoms from his truck, Hummer, Porsche, and BMW. He has white stains all over his leather seats. I manage to keep it together, by spraying air freshener in his vehicles. Tommy keeps apologizing to me for the nasty state his vehicles are in right now. My anger reaches an all-time high at this point. I scrub the dirt off his vehicles and curse him under my breath.
I thought Leo and Sam's vehicles would be the worst. The only things they have are empty bottles and thongs. There are bras in their vehicles that fit in the small cup category. They have equal tastes in women. They date women with no ass and hardly any tits. I want to ask Leo a simple question.
The Enforcers pick on him. “Are you sure you’re asking for her age?”
Leo flips his hair back. “I have a particular taste in women. I always make sure they are legal.”
I shake my head at him in disgust, and continue to clean out Charlie's vehicles next. Charlie and Christian are out for the moment. There are bras and panties of all sizes. Charlie prefers the no ass girls too. The boobs have to depend on his mood. He has small cups all the way up to extra-large cups resting in his seats. The hips stay the same. My mouth remains shut, when it comes to Charlie’s taste in women. Erik struts outside with a bottle of blood, and he quickly takes his seat.
