I was a vampire. To keep Sebastian Remington’s beloved, Gwen Dawson, alive, I bit her.
But when Gwen woke up, tears streamed down her face as she cried, “Sebastian, I don’t want to live. I don’t want to become a vampire monster.”
Sebastian was furious. Without a word, he dragged me into the sunlight.
As my skin began to smoke and my flesh melted away, he sneered.
“You turned Gwen into a monster. This is what you deserve.”
Sebastian captured all the vampires, using them to find a way to return Gwen to normal.
I knelt before him, pleading, “Use me for your experiments. Let the others go.”
He agreed but then proceeded to execute my clansmen one by one, crushing their hearts before my very eyes.
He forced me to use my blood to nourish Gwen so she wouldn’t need to hunt.
On the fifteenth of every month, the blood pact required me to drink one drop of his blood.
Sebastian never made it easy for me.
He ordered me to stand by the bedside, motionless, as he made love to Gwen.
Gwen chuckled, her fingers gently caressing his face. “Sebastian, the way you treat her almost makes me feel sorry for her.”
Sebastian just laughed.
“Why feel sorry for her? She’s nothing more than an immortal monster who can’t even die. What’s there to pity?”
“My biggest regret was accepting her blood pact when I was on the brink of death.”
With that, he let the blood drip onto Gwen’s lips, then looked at me with a smile.
“Eulalie, don’t you need my blood? Come get it yourself.”
I smiled, a bitter realization settling in. So, this was how Sebastian saw me.
He had no idea I could break the blood pact. But if I did, I would only have one day to live.
——
I knelt, my gaze fixed on the drop of bright red blood on Gwen’s lips.
It was Sebastian’s blood.
But I didn’t move.
Sebastian’s dark eyes bored into me, his brow furrowing.
“What’s wrong? Disgusted by Gwen? Or my blood?”
The bloodlust from the full moon was tearing at me, but I stayed rooted in place.
This was the first time I had refused.
The pain from the blood pact surged through me, like a thousand knives slicing through my veins.
Beads of blood oozed from my skin, but I remained silent.
Gwen let out a soft laugh, licking the blood from her lips.
“Sebastian looks like she doesn’t want it after all.”
Sebastian kicked me hard in the chest, sending me crashing to the ground.
I coughed up blood, my body curling on the cold floor.
“If you don’t want it, then kneel.”
His words were cold, his eyes already turning away from me as he held Gwen in his arms, making love to her right before my eyes.
I listened to the unbearable sounds, the pain radiating through every part of me. Slowly, I succumbed to the darkness and everything went black.
At dawn, a sharp tug yanked at my hair, dragging me through the rough ground.
I knew it was Sebastian and I knew exactly what he planned to do.
What he didn’t know was that this time, my body could no longer heal itself like it used to.
He dragged me to the center of the rooftop and threw me down carelessly.
“Do you know, Eulalie?”
“I’ve always wondered, how much sunlight can a monster like you really endure?”
I looked up at him. For the first time, there was no fear in my eyes.
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
His shock was palpable, but the rage quickly overtook it.
“Looks like you really need a lesson.”
He crouched low, his left hand seizing my throat as his right reached into his pocket, pulling out a small silver knife.
The blade grazed my neck, sending a searing burn through my skin.
“Your disrespect last night... your arrogance today... they both need to be punished.”
The knife sliced into my skin slowly, over and over again.
The pain was unbearable and yet I kept my eyes shut, refusing to scream, refusing to beg for mercy.
