Touch Me ✔

Chapter Ten

We stepped into the building with confidence. It was expected from Oliver, who looked as though he lived to be different from everyone else. But to feel the grace in my own step beside him, to step into the sight of strangers without withering or halting, felt like something else altogether.

Oliver had kept his arm around my shoulder as we entered the party, reaching out to snatch a glass from a passing waitress before drinking the thick red liquid within swiftly. Eyes lifted from their conversations, taking in our appearance with both a lack of surprise and distain. The members of the party were adorned in fashionably formal outfits; suits and dresses among glittering jewelry galore.

"Oliver," A voice greeted him, a lilt of disapproval among amusement in the name. Oliver steered us both to face the woman who had called him. She was beautiful. Her hair was red like fire, almost artificially so. Her skin was pale and creamy. And her eyes were just as black as the men I was currently housing with. As I glanced around the room, I noticed many of the eyes were that same black color; soulless and dangerous. They were vampires, with spots of humans between as nothing more than guests of said vampires.

"Scarlett," Oliver greeted her in kind, "I got your invitation." He smiled deviously.

"Yes. I see that you didn't bother with the formal part of the equation," The woman, Scarlett, noted while observing his casualwear. Her eyes moved over him and landed on me. "You brought a pet? How unusual."

"She's just a snack for later," Oliver answered simply, brushing the woman's interest of me away as if I were the least important person in the room. For some reason, this bothered me despite the fact that I knew it was to prevent anyone assuming I was something more than human. I bit my tongue, turning my eyes towards the other people wandering the party.

"Come, Oliver. I have someone for you to meet. He's interested in linking up with Sebastian," Scarlett turned and waited expectantly. When Oliver hesitated, throwing me a glance from the corner of his eye, she raised a brow in curiosity. "Your snack can wait, I'm sure."

"Fine, but I think your guest would prefer talking to someone like Levi or Miles. I just do the deliveries," Oliver sighed and reluctantly removed his arm from my shoulder before allowing Scarlett to lace her arm through his. She seemed to take no heed to his words, leading him away from me determinedly. I watched him disappear through from the room, his eyes on me until the moment his sight was separated by walls.

Once I was alone, I felt significantly more vulnerable. I stepped carefully from the entrance, aiming to move between the conversing persons throughout the building. There were several vampires in separate groups, but between them were also humans. The most obvious way to tell the difference besides their eyes not being the same black coals was the fact that many of the humans were being fed on there within the room.

A waiter paused in front of me, holding out a platter with glasses on top expectantly. I hesitated, but thought it was considered rude to ignore the request. When I reached for one glass, the waiter tilted the platter away, turning it so that a glass next to it was presented to me. When I hesitated to grab it, the waiter smiled kindly.

"I'm assuming you don't want blood," He merely suggested, waiting for me to grab the glass he was offering. Realizing I must've reached for a glass of blood originally, I smiled nervously and grasped the other drink quickly. The waiter didn't wait for words of thanks before disappearing through the crowd.

I looked at the contents of the glass suspiciously. When I sniffed it, an aroma of alcohol floated to my senses. I knew what alcohol did and I most definitely knew I didn't want to become drunk in this setting, but a curious part of me wanted a taste. I leaned forward to take a sip, the liquid only just tracing my tongue before causing me to nearly spit it back up. It tasted absolutely horrible; like a fruit trying too hard to be sweet that it had gone sour.