How long did I sleep? That question was easy to answer considering that I would have definitely woken up during the next night. Just to confirm my theory, I opened my eyes and saw a lavishly decorated ceiling illuminated by moonlight. And while I couldn’t confirm that I merely slept through the day, I hoped that this was the case.

I looked down and noticed just then how comfortable this bed was. While it wasn’t perfect, it certainly was a lot more comfortable than the tent I slept in for the last hundreds of years or so. Tucked in a fluffy blanket on top of an equally soft mattress, I let out a small yawn. This was the first time I slept like a log since … since forever? I didn’t wake up even once during my sleep which was certainly new and welcome. Shortly afterwards, I turned to my left with a blank face as I heard someone breathing beside me.

“Creepy.” I whispered and stood up silently. Only then did I notice that my dress was changed to a white nightgown in my sleep. I shook my head, thinking about what else they did while I was passed out. I seriously needed some way of securing my sleeping place, otherwise, I would be completely defenceless against surprise attacks. At least, I had someone that could feel my anger directly after I woke up. I was standing beside Markus who was fast asleep on a chair, lifted my barefoot up and kicked him. Defenceless, he fell from the chair to the ground where he promptly hit his head.

“Ohh, I´m so sorry. I wish I could have caught you, but it seems that I was too slow. Well, that does happen, doesn’t it?” I smiled towards the man on the floor who was rubbing his head furiously. Not catching me and apparently keeping an eye on me made him the perfect target for my fury. I placed my foot on the edge of the chair, claiming it as mine with a smug smile on my face.

“For fucks sake, what was that for?” At least he showed me his anger and wasn’t as emotionally dead as yesterday. Following his words, he stood up swiftly and grimaced, still holding his head.

“You looked too peaceful in your sleep for someone that lures innocent little vampires into the sunlight and then proceeds to keep an eye on them during their sleep.” Which was quite creepy in my opinion and completely unnecessary. I mean, what could I have done? Murder a few humans? I mean yes, but … whatever.

“Innocent? Your kind is all but innocent. You deserve to die, no matter what the lords' opinion on you is.” I was quite surprised that he indeed had a healthy dose of racism in him. It was probably justified, but I didn’t expect such a strong reaction from him considering that he was quite nonchalant to murder someone for me the day before.

“How wonderful! You can think for yourself. I am honestly a bit impressed that you are actually a thinking slave instead of a walnut that follows every command!” 

He was a rather interesting person in all honestly. On a mission, he was focused and kept his emotions in check, but when he was off duty or given mundane tasks, he was way too easy to provoke. I wasn’t aware of this difference yet and as such, I was quite surprised by the fist that came flying. I wasn’t unprepared though. I didn’t place my foot on the chair just for fun, but rather in preparation. Before the fist was halfway there, the chair between us already hit him. The edge struck him around the knees with a speed he couldn’t quite react to. Due to his forward motion, he couldn’t pull back at all and began to stumble.

Sadly, his reaction time was better than I anticipated. His fist still came flying and even as I evaded to the side and twisted my face away, he hit my nose. I was sure that my nose broke at this moment as blood spewed out nearly instantly.

I was taken aback by this development.

The first person I talked to turned out to be someone who could hit me in a fight which I found strangely exhilarating.

I still didn’t let this opportunity pass by though, grabbed his arm and pulled him even further towards me. In a matter of milliseconds, he lost all balance and fell over the chair where his face met my foot, just before it could hit the ground. He screamed in pain as my foot connected with his nose. His head bent backwards but luckily didn’t snap right there.

Thrilled, I looked at Markus who was laying over the chair and held his bleeding nose. A sweet scent immediately filled the room, but I didn’t use this opportunity to still my thirst. There was still way too much that I didn’t know about this place and killing him right here would certainly be too much. A bit dissatisfied, I held my own bleeding nose, which was healing slower than I expected.

Only then did I look around the room I was in. It felt so extravagant and was decorated with bright colours that I barely contained the urge to ruin everything here. Well, I certainly already made the room better by painting it a bit red so there was that. Just as I wanted to open a drawer and check its contents, the door opened in a rush. I assumed that the woman who opened it was a maid, mostly because of her clothing, but also because of the dust cloth she held in her right hand.

I instantly smiled at her appearance, happy that I wasn’t alone with this asshole anymore. Well, she on the other hand … well she stared. With wide eyes, she stared at an apparently thirteen-year-old child with sharp and longer canines, red eyes and blood all over her face and even her dress. In hindsight, I shouldn’t have wondered why she ran away while screaming her lungs out.

“What´s up with her?” I turned towards Markus who now sat on the chair and still held his face but seemed otherwise quite alright. He didn’t scream or anything, which was probably why the maid missed him completely as he sat just barely out of her sight.

“There is nothing wrong with her. This mess is your fault.” I didn’t understand his reasoning, especially because I didn’t do anything wrong here, at least in my opinion.

“You hit me!” It all happened because he started fighting. I mean, we were having a civil discussion and out of nowhere, he became violent.

“And you kicked me.” He said in a rather furious tone. Yes, I did that, but even then …

“You didn’t catch me yesterday!” It all started with his actions, or rather his missing action. Yes, that was it. In no way was I responsible for any of this.

“You are a damn monster! Look at you, your nose is already healed, so why bother about hitting your head on the floor once?” He said while I got furious once again.

“Because it hurts! And more importantly … I am not a monster. Don’t put me in a group with filthy animalss.” I huffed and purposely looked away from him, back towards the drawer. After opening it, I found completely disorganized contents. There was a bunch of stuff in it, from some knives to quills and paper. But most importantly, I found two bottles and immediately pulled them out. Swiftly afterwards, I pulled the cork out of these bottles with my teeth and went back to the bed where I sat in front of Markus. I showed him the bottle which he immediately took while staring into my eyes.

“You aren’t a normal vampire, are you?” he said while sipping on the bottle of wine.

“Not even close.” As soon as I said that I placed the lid on my mouth and drank. I emptied half the bottle in one go and while some of the wine spilt and dirtied my dress even more, most of it found its way in my stomach. The sparks that were between us vanished for a short time and my boiling blood calmed down considerably. Even as some guards stormed into the room and stared at us stupefied while we drank a considerable amount, the atmosphere stayed calm. So calm in fact, that I soon resumed my conversation with Markus. “Who has wine bottles in a drawer?”

“Some kind of bastard was a guest of the lord a few days ago. The maids apparently didn’t have the time to clean it properly.” With the last gulp, he emptied his bottle completely and proceeded to look into it, hoping to find some wine left. I shrugged and placed my bottle on my lips once again, emptying it similarly as I did before.

It was probably the worst moment for an important figure to step into the room that was honestly a mess by this point. And yet, the lord of the mansion graced us with his presence just as I emptied the last bit of wine which was in all honestly, not the best first impression I could have given. But remembering the maid who came here earlier, it probably wasn’t the worst one either. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to say as I looked at the black-haired man who was in his mid-twenties and clad in elegant black clothing. But I did know what I shouldn’t say in this situation.

“Yo. Whazzup?” I still said it. I shouldn’t have drunk this much. He looked at me with disappointment, but I honestly didn’t care too much as I was quite intoxicated.

“Make sure that she sobers up and bring her to my study.” With these words, the lord left the room in a hurry, leaving me with Markus and three other guards behind.