Nyra's point of view.
I wake up feeling like someone relocated every bone in my body. It takes a moment for me to remember why everything aches.
Wedding night.
Consummation.
Then nothing.
I haven't seen him since he took my virginity last night. I slip out of bed and make my way into the massive bathroom. I stare at myself in the mirror. My face is lined with dried tear streaks and my hair is tragically mussed up from last night.
"You survived", I whisper to myself. But it doesn't make me feel any better.
I head downstairs to the kitchen. A woman in her early fifties stands near the counter sorting fresh produce. She's human, judging by the way her eyes widen slightly when she sees me.
What kind of Vampire hires humans? Probably one that marries them I would assume.
"Good morning Mrs. Stepanov," she says gently.
"Nyra," I correct softly, forcing a smile. "Please. And I'd like to make breakfast, if that's okay."
She hesitates. "We usually-"
"Please," I repeat. "I just...need to do something normal."
She nods stepping aside. And then leaves the kitchen.
I crack eggs into a bowl and grab a whisk to beat them.
The small television screen above the counter plays the morning news. A news reporter stands outside a government building that looks half destroyed.
"-third attack this month on human administration facilities. Authorities suspect extremist vampire factions protesting the recent rise in deaths linked to "Heamatodipsia" a nerve disease killing majorly the vampires..."
Images of vampires being dragged into armored vans fill the screen.
"-leaders claim the virus was engineered as a targeted biological weapon. Tensions between humans and vampire communities continue to escalate...."
I freeze.
Engineered?
Before I can process the thought, the screen goes black.
I turn. Ardonis stands at the doorway, remote in hand. Fully dressed, black suit immaculate. He looks like last night didn't exist.
His tone is sharp. "Don't watch that."
I set the whisk down. "It's just the news."
"Its unnecessary." He steps further in. "You don't need to involve yourself in political matters."
"It's my world too," I say quietly.
He doesn't respond. Instead, he grabs his coat.
"You're leaving already?" I ask
"It's a workday."
"I was.... making breakfast," I offer. "Would you like some?"
"No."
I swallow. "Do you want me to do anything while you're gone?"
He sighs. "Just stay out of my way."
"I took leave from work," I remind him. "For our honeymoon."
He pauses for the smallest moment.
"Honeymoon?" he scoffs. "Honeymoons are for real couples in a real marriage... this" he points between us. "This is not a real marriage so do whatever occupies you. Just, don't expect anything from me."
My chest tightens. "So, I just occupy myself then?" I pause then continue. "at least tell me...is it always going to be like this?"
Silence.
Then-
"That depends on how efficiently this arrangement achieves its purpose."
And then his gone.
***three months later***
The morning sickness had been subtle, then violent. For three weeks I blamed it on the stress from working at the lab. But this morning, I went to the hospital for routine tests.
When the nurse confirmed I was pregnant, I became overwhelmed with a sense of hope. That perhaps there was a chance that this marriage could be real. Maybe this was a bridge, that would finally change things between us. A baby. An heir. A family. He was a man of duty, after all and a child was the ultimate duty.
I head straight to the penthouse. It was the middle of the workday; the house should have been empty. But a distinct sound drifted down the hallway from the master bedroom.
Laughter. A woman's laughter.
My heart pounds against my ribs as I moved down the hall as if being pulled by an external force. I stopped in the doorway, and my world shatters.
The sheets, usually pristine and spotless, were a tangled mess of white silk. Ardonis lay his back against the headboard, his chest bare, looking more relaxed than I'd ever seen him. Beside him, her head resting possessively on his shoulder, was Elara. They were both naked as the day they were born.
I clamp my hand over my mouth, pressing myself against the doorframe hidden against the angle of the wall.
"You have to go soon," he murmured, using his fingers to idly trace patterns on her arm. "Nyra usually returns from work by three."
"Let her come," she scoffed, shifting so she could look him in the eye. "I'm tired of hiding, Ardonis. This bed is more comfortable than the hotel anyway." She paused, her voice turning sharp. "Did you keep doing what we discussed? With her?"
He sighed, "Yes. I slept with her again last week. I made sure of it."
My knees almost give out. I grab the walls to steady myself.
"Good," Elara purred. "Because my patience is wearing thin. I want to be the lady of this house, not the secret kept in the dark."
"it's a matter of biology now, Elara," he says, his voice clinical. "The moment she conceives, the clock starts ticking. We will need the heir to secure my bloodline and my place in the clan."
"And the mother?" Elara asked tracing a finger down his chest. "What happens when the baby comes?"
Ardonis chuckled darkly. "Once the child is born, we will take custody. The lawyers are already drafting the paper work. We'll paint her unstable. Unfit. She'll be cast out with a settlement, and the baby remains here."
"With me." Elara corrected softly. "I'll be a mother to it. A better one than she could ever be."
"With us," he agreed kissing the top of her head. "Just wait a few more months. Once we have the child, we discard the vessel."
The vessel.
That is all I am to him. A means to an end.
The tears stream down my face. Hot and silent. The ultrasound picture in my purse felt like it was burning a hole through the leather. they didn't want a family, they wanted a product to use as they pleased. They were planning to steal my child and hand him to this woman-this woman who was plotting to destroy me in my own bed.
A moment of clarity hits me. If I walked into that room now and screamed, I would lose. They would lock me up and monitor my every move until I gave birth, and then they would take everything.
I had to disappear, become a ghost.
I backed away, step by careful step, until I reached the foyer. I grabbed my keys and the emergency cash stash I kept in my old box. I don't pack any bags, not even a coat. That would look too suspicious if they checked the cameras later.
Once in the car I drove with no sure destination in mind. I drive aimlessly for a while until I reached a grimy gas station on the outskirts of the city. I parked in the shadows, and took out my cell phone and dialed the only person I could count on now.
"Hello?"
"Kelly," I choked out, the dam breaking once more as sobs racked my body. "Kelly please I need your help...I'm in trouble."
"What do you need?" she asks with a resolve that told me that I could count on her.
"I have to disappear. Now."
"Done. Tell me where you are and I'll come pick you up."
I tell her my location and hang up.
Then I pulled the Sim and battery from my cell phone and tossed it in the dumpster.
