Bab 18: I'll kill you

After the girl who introduced herself as Mary left the room, Ellie was once again left alone.

She finally pushed herself to her feet and walked to the bed, plopping her bottom down on it.

Her mind was a mess. Was she going to die tonight? That girl had said 'if she survived the night', and the way she said it, it didn't look like it would be easy to survive the night. What was going to happen to her?

Another thing baffling her was her location. Alada's Royal House only accommodated the chief of state, his family, their domestic workers, and a few other important officials of the city.

Just yesterday, the chief of state addressed the people via a live broadcast from the Royal House, assuring them that all was in control, and they shouldn't panic.

How come there were vampires in the Royal House where the same chief of state, who had killed them all in the past, resided? It didn't make sense to Ellie. Could the girl be lying?

She was still deep in thought when the door was pushed open again and in walked the same vampire who brought her here.

Out of instinct, Ellie jumped out of the bed and moved backward until her back hit the metal wall. But the guy didn't stop. He continued to approach her.

"What do you want?" Ellie questioned in panic, but he just grabbed her again by the arm and started dragging her out of the room.

"What do you want with me? What is going on?" Ellie continued to ask as she was dragged outside the building and headed toward another. "Where are you taking me?"

When no response was given to her, not even a glance was thrown her way, Ellie stopped talking. She felt as if she was speaking to a brick wall and expecting it to answer.

Anger roused in her heart. At that moment, she wanted to punch the guy in the face for treating her the way he was. She hated the police, but at that point, she felt it would have been better if it was the police that caught her, not these people.

But punching the guy now could mean her death, and she doesn't want to ruin her chance of leaving this place if any presented itself in the future.

So she kept her anger in check and just followed.

They arrived at another building, and once they entered, Ellie was once again thrown into darkness. It wasn't as dark as the first one, but she still could barely see anything as they walked along the hallway.

The guy stopped in front of a door, pushed it open, and stepped inside, pulling her with him.

Ellie's brows knitted in confusion. A lab? What were they doing in a lab? The place was dimly lit, and there were three men in there.

Ellie's heart began to beat wildly in fear. She didn't know what they wanted to do, but she knew this was not good.

Before she knew it, she was forced to sit on a chair built to automatically hold a person down. As soon as she sat, metal cuffs came out from the chair and clasped over her wrists and ankles, securing her to the chair.

Although she knew her questions would go unanswered, she still threw out a series of them because she couldn't stay still.

"Who are you guys? What do you want from me? What is going on? What are you trying to do?"

When three of them were all looking at her as if they couldn't hear what she was saying, while the last one grabbed a syringe filled with a dark-looking liquid, Ellie snapped.

"Let me go this instant. This is kidnapping. Don't you dare come close to me with that thing." She glared at the one with the syringe while struggling to get herself free from the chair.

He continued to approach her as if her words had no single impact on him. The moment he stood in front of her, Ellie screamed with all her strength, and the men had to put their hands over their ears to block out the sound.

By the time she stopped, her throat became scratchy and sore.

"I said let me go this instant. Are y'all bunch of zombies dumb? Can't you speak?"

A blinding slap was the response she received from the man in front of her. Her vision literally went black and by the time it was restored, she saw stars dancing around her.

He raised his hand and was about to deliver another slap when…

"Leave her alone, Asaph." That bone-chilling voice echoed from a corner of the lab, making Ellie realize that there was a fifth man inside the lab.

He pushed himself from the comfortable, black single sofa he sat on, then slowly approached Ellie, while the other men backed away.

"No, they are not dumb. Yes, they can speak, but not without my permission. And yes, you are about to become like that since you desire to become a vampire. Does that answer your questions?" Storm spoke, coming to stand right before her.

Ellie couldn't speak immediately. He was standing right before her and she felt like her spirit would abandon her body soon.

Her reaction brought satisfaction to Storm's heart. "Now, be a good girl and let them turn you into a fine vampire."

That woke Ellie up. "NO! I don't want to become a vampire."

"Of course you do. They caught you practicing, remember?"

"I wasn't practicing. I only did that because I needed money to take care of my brother."

Storm didn't look impressed. "You decided to impersonate me and ruin my reputation because of money? Do I look poor to you?"

Ellie didn't understand what he was getting on about. She didn't know him before, and what reputation was he talking about?

"You reduced the great and horrifying vampire terrorizing Alada to a mere jewelry thief, and you expect me to let you go. How stupid." He spoke again, hinting at an answer to her unspoken question. "You wanted to become a vampire, a vampire you shall become. You're welcome."

"No… I swear I didn't even know the vampire story was real. I thought the media was just saying it to create fear. I didn't mean to offend you. Please forgive me." Ellie apologized with all sincerity.

Storm silently gazed at her for a while. He could feel her fear, but it didn't bring him satisfaction as it should.

"Fine. Take her back to her cell. We'll use her brother instead." He tested the water again, and just as he half expected, her fear of him evaporated, and was replaced by intense fury.

"I swear, if you touch my brother, I'll kill you." Ellie threatened.