Her Vampire Prince

Chapter XXII

Faith felt naked under the scrutinising eye of the thirty odd people stuffed into the room. Most of the men looked like they had escaped from prison, with large tattered beards and muscles to rival a boxer. Tattoos decorated their skin and they donned leather jackets, giving them the look of a biker gang. Some of the women actually looked more intimidating then the men, glaring at Faith as if she was the mistress of death, deserving to be buried under ground. However, others looked like your average businessman with a thirst for violence.

In the centre of the room was a handsome man with a devils smile, casually eating an apple whilst lazily observing them. He was relaxed into a chair, yet he wasn't slumped, his body too muscular for that to happen. Wearing what looked like an a thousand pound suit he looked out of place among the rabble flanking him, yet there was a murderous glint in his eyes that told Faith he was the worst of the lot, he was just wearing expensive cologne to disguise the smell.

"Ah William, you decided to bring your girlfriend to meet us?" The man chuckled nasally, his men snorting behind him and staring at Faith in such a way that made her feel like a piece of meat. She tried to relax further into William for protection.

"Yes actually. I would like you to meet Faith, my human girlfriend." Everyone immediately silenced, including Faith who was wondering if she heard right.

William was introducing her as his girlfriend?

How was she supposed to act? Did she need to take the role of a doting girlfriend? Why hadn't he briefed her on this!

"As you can tell from her body heat and rosy complexion, Faith is just as human as you are. She moved in with me last week, and as you can tell, no harm has come to her what so ever. We do not drink human blood, nor do we intend to. We have kept to our side of the agreement, so we would appreciate it if you stopped stealing our food supply and attacking my people." William drily explained.

For a few moments, the men looked uneasily at each other, before the leader piped up.

"Come here girl. I will assess whether you are what that animal says you to be." The man sat in the middle snarled, glaring at Faith with his amber eyes.

William's grip on Faith didn't lessen – if anything it tightened, but Faith knew that she had to prove she was a human to the man otherwise he would get suspicious. Looking up towards William, she silently communicated to him with her eyes, in a language only they knew. William's defiant orbs that reminded her of the green of life stubbornly refused to let her go; before she lightly pinched the hand around her waist, and with a resigned sigh, he released her. Anxiously Faith set her sights upon the cantankerous man, who was now swirling a silver blade in his right hand. Cautiously she stepped towards him, feeling as if she was entering into the lions den. Wringing her hands in front of her, the man stood with an effortless grace, raising a good foot above her. This close Faith could see the anger in his hard eyes, and two blaringly white scars trailing down his right cheek like tear drops.

Suddenly he raised a calloused hand, imprinting it onto Faith's cheek who froze in discomfort. He hummed in response, no doubt feeling the human heat radiating from within her. He then took her wrist in a tight grip that made Faith wince, wondering if he would snap it. Before anyone could stop it, the silver blade was thrust upwards and nicked Faith's finger, causing her to squeal and William to let out a murderous roar, pulling her back into his grip with all else forgotten.

"Faith are you ok? Where does it hurt?" He panicked.

"I'm ok William, calm down. It was just a scratch." She chuckled uneasily, relieved when William shielded her back into his arms.

Turning to look at the man, Faith found him examining the blade where droplets of her striking red blood were dripping.

"Hmm. Red as a rose. She's a human alright." The man murmured thoughtfully.

"Of course I am. Was it really necessary to cut my finger?" Faith snapped, sucking the limb in question into her mouth to protect it.

"Well I had to be sure, didn't I? But you know William, I'm not convinced. You may not hurt this girl because you can protect her from your... followers, and you obviously care for her, but what about everyone else? She is just one of many. And how do we know if she's real? You could have threatened her and made her play this part." The man challenged.

"Anyone who drinks human blood is either incarcerated or executed. We have strict rules! Those who do but get away with it are rebels, nothing to do with my coven. Criminals if you will, and we would gladly help you get rid of them!" William exclaimed, annoyed.

"And how can we trust you?" A beefy man with such fine hair he looked bald tested.

"Look, I know you have no reason to trust me, but William is telling the truth – they only drink animal blood. They have not hurt me or my sister and we have been living with them! They are the same as us except... more powerful really." Faith announced to the congregation.

"Yes and that power is why we must destroy them." The man darkly chuckled.

"No that's not what..."

But Faith was ignored as a number of angry voices erupted at the man's declaration. The vampires were outraged that he could so openly confess to wanting to kill them all, and the hunters were cheering in support. Faith paled. Then she noticed the ringleader reach into his suit pocket with a sinister smile like the joker lightening his dark features, wondering what he would do next. Unfortunately, a couple of guards noticed this too and jumped forward, causing some of the hunters to shoot at them with a metallic substance, making their skin sizzle. Faith was horror struck, terrified as the vampires screamed in pain and collapsed, writhing on the floor. They clutched at their disintegrating skin as they started turning into their other side, teeth elongating and black veins rising like the dead on Halloween night.

William let go of Faith to rush to help his brothers, anger flaring through his veins, when an incredibly high-pitched alarm blared, causing all vampires to fall to the floor, clutching at their heads in agony. As the king fell, his crown slipped off his head, rolling onto the dirty blue floor. The whistling noise irritated Faith, but it did not hurt as it did the vampires. She crouched down to William, tears bubbling in her eyes as she tried to help him. Writhing in agony with blood trailing out of his ears, Faith tried to drag him outside, intent on saving them all, when large hands grabbed her arms, forcefully removing her from William.

"No! Let me go!" She screamed, fighting the men whilst they laughed.

"I don't think so girly. You're coming with us." A cruel voice sneered.

Faith fought and screamed to be let go, when she was thrown over the man's shoulder, who didn't even flinch as she kicked out and pummelled her fists into his back. Just before she was pulled outside into the dead of the night, her eyes connected with William who was desperately trying to crawl towards her.

But he could do nothing as she was taken from him and thrown into the back of a van, racing off into the black, silent night.

I hope you enjoyed this update! Please vote and comment if you did. xoxo

Edited