Just One Bite

[3] Sect

SECT

I heard multiple voices when I opened the bathroom door after my shower.

Even feeling the water on my skin made me flinch at first, it was almost pounding even though the pressure wasn't high. My hair was as dry as I could get it but it hung around my face like a depressive curtain. I looked like the grudge.

Rhys's hoodie was soft and dark brown and oddly comforting. It smelt like lavender. He'd even given me some socks.

The voices gave me pause. Being able to hear them from not only the doorway of the upstairs bathroom but the calming clarity of them as well was unnerving in itself.

My anxiety hadn't quelled in the shower even though I tried to take an interest in what products were in there to take my mind off of it: head and shoulders two in one, Loreal men expert face wash, a few bars of soap each in their own dishes, lynx ice chill body wash.

It hadn't gone away but after getting cleaned up a little I felt a tad better, but stepping out into the dark hall and hearing voices I didn't recognise made my teeth set on edge.

"--gotta be shitting me," someone said from below.

"Shut up, Isak. You did the right thing bringing her in, bro," another said, just as unrecognisable as the first.

"You know how this works, both of you. Don't make any sudden moves. Don't startle her. You'll remember well that anything that moved like prey in the first few days was something to hunt. To eat."

A violent shiver raked through me.

A grumble came. "I don't like strays."

I leaned forward a little, trying to hear more but alas, stealth was not on my side and I set off a creaking floorboard.

Rhys appeared at the bottom of the stairs a moment later. "How was your shower?" His voice was low, almost a whisper but I heard him crystal clear.

I didn't answer for a moment, my body tingling with unexpected adrenaline. Who were the people he'd called over? What were they here for?

"Ah," Rhys said like he realised my unspoken anxiety and gestured for me to come downstairs. "My brothers are here. I'm sorry, I should've told you they were coming."

His brothers? I glanced at the other doors. "Do they--" I stated then cleared my throat when my voice broke. "Do they live here, too?" I clenched the damp towel I'd used in between my hands. I'd never been an anxious person before, but it was like my body was ahead of my mind and it sensed danger. Hostility.

Rhys smiled kind of lopsidedly. "Yeah. Come meet them. You're safe here, I promise Lyla."

Despite my body gritting it's teeth and resisting, I pushed through knowing I couldn't very well stay upstairs forever. Rhys gave me a somewhat calming smile and a reassuring nod to the lounge. I sucked in a sharp breath, brushed my hair out of my face and went in.

There were two of them. One was massive and the other lean. The massive one had long dreadlocks tied back into a half ponytail. Everything about him was big, his arms, legs, shoulders. He looked like he worked out for a living.

He gave off no bad vibes, it was the other one I was sensing the hostility from. He was sat on the sofa, arms crossed with a deadly scowl on his otherwise nice face. He was pale with fine blonde hair, the type of guy that was all elbows and neck.

They were both, undeniably, vampires.

"Ah," the massive one said, standing slowly from his previous seat on one of the armchairs. "Hello, Lyla. I'm Aaron."