Just A Taste | BOOK 1 The Night Lords Series

6. Welcome to Hell

I'm having another nightmare.

At least, that's what I'm trying to believe. There's no way this is happening. I was still asleep in my room, safe inside my house. I never opened the door, I never saw a super attractive vampire who later tried to suck my blood, and I was not lying in an unfamiliar room lying on somebody else's bed.

Keeping my eyes closed helped a little. The less I saw, the calmer I felt. As time dragged on, though, I knew I'd have to do something soon. It's already been who knows how long and the vampire could be back any second. So, taking a shaky breath, I open my eyes.

It's like waking up inside the bedroom of a royal goth. Everything was black; the bedding, the curtains, the walls, the decor. The overload of such tenebrous shades would make anybody feel gloomy. I'm surprised a coffin wasn't lying in the corner with a medieval candelabra lit beside it. Despite the morbidity of the place, I had to admit the interior architecture was very nice. Thick, long beams of mahogany stretched across the ceiling while rounded pillars of the same element shone with a polished coat around the massive bedroom. From what I could see of it, intricate designs were carved into the tall, pristine window frames that were mostly concealed behind heavy curtains of black velvet.

I roll off the bed. I'm relieved to see I still have on the same clothes. It's nice to know a perverted vampire didn't undress me or anything. Thinking it wouldn't hurt to be a little nosy, I wander over to the wardrobe in the corner that looked like an exact replica of the wardrobe in Narnia, minus the lion head. I turn one of the gold knobs. Inside, I'm faced with neatly hung attire that ranged from casual to dressy.

All dark in color.

I close the door and continue on over to the waist high bookshelves sitting on either side of a large, mahogany desk. I pick through them. All the volumes range from information I don't understand at all or history books I've never seen before. A part of me would love to sit here and take my time, maybe read a few of these, but I had to get out of here. I step up to the desk and start searching for something, anything, that might seem useful. It was mostly just paper and journals. I'm turning to search the rest of the room when my hand knocks a stack of documents to the floor. I curse as the white sheets scatter across the floor. Not caring about whether or not I have it in order, I drop down and start scooping it back together. As I'm straightening the new stack, my gaze falls on the first page. It's what appears to be a list of names with a series of numbers printed alongside it on some sort of chart.

Sarah Wood - - - 52V - - - 20 - - - $285,000
Mark Jills - - - 106V - - - 18 - - - $1,008,000
Mia Ting - - - 13V - - - 38 - - - $35,000
Micheal Anderson - - - 0V - - - 16 - - - $0

The name Micheal had a red X next to it. Call me crazy, but it almost looks like a sales chart.

Voices startle me out of my snooping and I jump to my feet. I set the stack on the edge of the desk and run over to the window first. Making sure to stay as quiet as possible, I ease one curtain aside with both hands because, geez, the fabric is heavy. I look through the spotless glass to determine that I was on the second floor. A tree line stood maybe forty yards away. Slipping between the curtains and the window, I try lifting the sliding glass up. It shifts, cracking open just an inch. I let out a sigh of relief. Praying the wood doesn't creak, I open it some more before peering over the ledge only to see that there's absolutely nothing for me to climb.

"But he insists, my Lord." Comes a feathery male voice from outside the room. I freeze. Another voice, this one very familiar, answers back, sounding irritated.

"I decline his invitation. Now, unless you want me to send you back to him in pieces, I suggest you get out of my house and off my property!"

Whoever the messenger is has to be either deaf or fabricating his own death wish because he continues despite the imminent threat layered thick in the vampire's voice.