Chapter Two

I was sure I was drowning. Once, when I was about seven years old, I was on vacation with my family, staying in a house on the beach in Rhode Island. My dad, Gabriel, was teaching me how to fish. We were standing only shin high in water, but somehow, the current got me and pulled me under the water, out into the ocean. There was a strange calm to drowning. It's like everything whooshes out of your head and body, leaving…nothing…as you float along and see the light from the sun fading and fading…until my father grabbed me and I burst through the surface of the water, gasping for breath.

So I found myself thinking I was drowning for a second time. I couldn't feel, hear, or see anything and my mind was a void of nothing but air and empty thoughts. But then it felt like someone grasped their hands over my heart and was pulling me upwards. I broke through the haze that surrounded me and everything rushed at me. I could hear the ticking of a clock, something that smelled like medicine filled my nose, and I saw Dominic Elias's face looming above mine.

"You're alright," He breathed and motioned for someone to come closer.

"She's up?" A voice asked, sounding almost exactly like Dominic.

A second face hovered above mine. He looked like Dominic, but older, more mature. Cyrus Elias. I had heard things about him, but had never seen him. Most people had never seen him. All we knew was that he was Dominic's older brother, twenty years old, who supposedly went to college in Hartford. But he remained elusive, staying in the Elias's house, along with the equally elusive Elias parents.

"W-Where am I?" I asked, voice coarse. I bet my breath smelt bad. And I was breathing right into Dominic's face. How horrifying.

Dominic smiled. "At my house."

"What!?" I screeched and sat up. "W-What about school? I need to get back to school…" My head shook from side to side. I probably looked like a crazy woman.

"Don't worry," Cyrus flashed a smile that rivaled his brother's. "I signed you out."

I frowned. That was strange. How could he have signed me out? The school had very strict security. You couldn't just sign a girl out without being a family member. But if Cyrus had the same charm as his brother, he could have probably convinced the female faculty to do just about anything.

Dominic's face was close to mine. So close I felt his breath, which smelled like candy, fanning across my face. I had never been this close to him, or any boy for that matter. My friends and I weren't very popular. And I was too shy for any boy to notice me. Especially Dominic. But…'She's mine'.

His skin was perfect, as were his features. They weren't extreme but just distinct enough to get him noticed. And his eyes…blue…but up close…I would have thought his eyes would be perfectly clear, like the ocean. But they weren't. Yes, they were beautiful. But foggy with something I couldn't put my finger on. All I knew was that something in his eyes wasn't a good something and it scared me. I looked to his brother and saw the same thing. It was enough to make me shoot out of the bed and try to run away. I got as far as the door of the bedroom before Dominic wrapped his hand around my arm.

"What are you doing?" A flash of rage went through his eyes. That gave me a large amount of adrenaline to rip away from him and run away.

I had never been inside Dominic's house before, but I somehow knew where to go. I flew down the stairs and out the door, only noticing that the house was bright and open. I didn't give myself time to notice details. That morning I would have been thrilled to be in Dominic Elias's house. But at that moment, I was terrified.

I ran. I ran so fast, faster then I ever had before. Trees flew by me. My lungs didn't even burn. What did start to burn were my eyes. And before I knew it, I was crying. It made my steps falter until I was moving barely at a jog and I tripped over my own feet.

A loud rumble came from behind me.

"Oh no!" I cried and tried to start running again but my legs wouldn't have it. How had my life suddenly turned into one of my nightmares? All I wanted to do was wake up.

The rumbling got louder until it was right by me. A motorcycle, big and black and shiny, cruised beside me. And who was sitting on top of it, grinning like a madman? Blake, I guess his name was.

"Either you stop running or I force you to." He called out to me, making my vision swim.

Another scream erupted from my mouth before I went under the water again and my body crumpled to the sidewalk.

That time, I knew I wasn't drowning. But it didn't comfort me. I tried and tried to break through that burrier that separated me from the physical world, but I just couldn't. Then cold spread through my body, enough to force me out of the comatose I was in. It was like I was being electrocuted. My body flew up into a sitting position and my fist twisted into the sheets, which were silky and slippery.

I didn't hear anything. It was completely silent. I was in a bed, surrounded by red and black silk sheets. The bed was surrounding by drapes, which were open. The air smelled, frankly, like sex and even night, intoxicating me and distorting my senses.

"I like you in my bed," Someone said to my left.

Blake sat in a high winged back chair, long legs stretched out in front of him. He looked almost regal, sitting there, holding a goblet in his hands. His hair spilled across his shoulders and a ring glittered in his nose. I noticed he had changed his clothes. He wore black pants and a white collared shirt, completely different then what he wore at school.

"Why…why are you dressed like that?" I asked him, voice scratchy.

A smirk played along his lips as he lifted the goblet up to them. "I…I like to get a rise out of people. Give them something to talk about."

I nodded and looked back down to the bed, feeling his cold gaze on me. The room was cold too. I lifted the sheets to cover me more, and realized I was only in my underwear. I let out a shriek and cowered against the headboard, pulling everything on the bed over me.

Blake rolled his eyes. "Calm down. I had to undress you. Your clothes were all dirty. I didn't take a peek, if that's what you're worried about. But," He looked towards my covered body, as if he was looking beneath the sheets. "I can't say I didn't want to."

I blushed, all the way from my toes to my hairline, and pressed myself farther into the wood behind me. I opened my mouth to say something, but my throat wouldn't let me.

As if he read my mind, he was immediately by the side of the bed. "Need something to drink?"

I looked at the goblet he handed to me wearily. He could have poisoned it…but the thing was, I wasn't that scared around him. Yes, he was scary. But his eyes were blank. And it was oddly comforting, compared to the Elias brother's. And I knew there was no way in hell I would have been able to escape from him.

"Just drink," He hissed and all of a sudden, me head was tipped back and liquid, cool and thick, was pouring down my throat. One of his hands was entangled in the back of my hair, pulling on it slightly, while the other held the cup to my lips. Whatever he was making me drink was amazing. It wasn't good, really, but cold and thick and gritty. All I could think was that I wanted more, more, more.

When I drank the last drop, Blake leaned over me to place the goblet on the bedside table. I moaned, wanting more, and I heard him snort.

"What was that?," I groaned, still feeling the taste of it on my tongue.

"I'll get you more later," He said and ignored me question.

I thought he would move away from me, but he stayed on the bed, looking at me.

"You can't be his," He mumbled. "Yet, it does make sense…"

He sat in front of me and lightly touched me hair. "So light…so different from me. You look like you belong to him…but…you're her. I just know it. The power…it's there…"

He must have not noticed I was looking at him like he was completely insane because he started to touch my other features. "Soft…everything about you is soft." His hands were as cold as I remembered and I shivered when his fingers touched my lips. "I wonder…your lips…they probably feel like heaven." He snorted and shook his head.

"You're crazy," I whispered. That got his attention back to me.

His eyebrows raised and he leaned in closer to me. "Am I? Sometimes I think so." His face got very close to mine. "But, whether you like it or not, you're stuck with me."

My lips grew tight, a sure fire sign that I was angry. "Oh am I? I don't think that you can-" My words were cut off by his mouth covering mine.

The kiss, my first kiss, was nothing as I would have expected it to be. Not sweet or gentle or simple, like the one's I saw in old movies, but demanding and hard. Before I knew it, I was pressed onto the mattress, with the weight of Blake over me. His teeth bit my bottom lip, so I gasped in pain, allowing him to slide his tongue into my mouth and swirl it around mine. His hands grabbed my breasts, covered in only my plain, white cotton bra and he moaned into my mouth.

I started to whimper as he moved his mouth to my neck. "Please," I said. "Please stop."

He laughed. "You know you want this Oriel," I started to say that my name wasn't Oriel but his teeth grazed my jugular and I gasped, pressing his head closer. For some reason…I wanted him to bite me.

"Not yet love," He breathed. "You aren't ready yet." His lips were replaced by his tongue. "But…we can do…other…things."

Other things. I guessed that meant…sex…because his hands hooked underneath my floral brief underwear. I hissed and thrashed underneath him. I was going to get raped the same day I received my first kiss.

"You're insane!" I screamed, believing it. "You're insane and horrible and…" I started choking. He had wrapped one of his hands over my throat, pushing it to the bed.

"Don't talk about things you don't understand," He spat. "Don't say things you can't take back."

My hands clawed at his and all I could do was stare up at him. His eyes were unbelievably black again, but burning, not blank. They were like a bottomless pit, full of fire, that I was falling into.

"Please," I whispered, choking the words out. I hate how small I sounded and how small I probably looked. I never liked being vulnerable. And I hated being controlled.

He searched my face. Something made him back off of me. I choked and coughed, not caring that I sounded like a cat spitting up a hairball. After all, I hated this Blake, so I didn't care what he thought about me…right?

He didn't look at me. "I'll get you something to wear." Then he was gone. One second he was sitting on the side of the bed, and the next he just wasn't.

"There," He reappeared just as quickly and threw something at me. It was a white robe, lined in lace. I tried to move, but my lungs heart from being strangled and I just let my body flop back done.

"I guess I have to fucking help you," He mumbled, mostly to himself, and came back over to me.

He dragged my body closer to the end of the bed and hauled me into a sitting position, mumbling things under his breath the whole time. He stood behind me and put my arms through the arms of the robe. His cold hands, along with the cool silk, made goose bumps rise on my skin and my teeth chattered.

"W-Why i-is it s-s-so col-cold?" I asked. He stopped and I felt his breath, just as cold, on my neck.

"Cold as death, isn't it?" He whispered. I froze and his teeth tugged on the skin of my neck.

"Oriel," He said, voice heavy. "It has to be you. You always liked it," He trailed off and ran his teeth along the back of neck. "You always liked this."

I struggled to tug the rest of the robe up. "D-Don't call me that. My name's Lux. Not Oriel."

"Oriel," He groaned and bit my neck, but not enough to puncture the skin. My mouth dropped and my head rolled back onto his shoulder. It was weird, how him biting me felt so good. Amazingly good, actually.

"What are you?" I managed to say.

He moved away from me and inside I groaned, needing him close to me again. He came to stand in front of me and tied the robe, not looking at me.

"What am I?" He laughed. "Not, who am I?"

"No," I said.

"Well, I'm like you," He said and smirked at me. It was a humorless smirk that made me spine shiver in fear. "Oriel…my angel." He kissed me, and I let him.

When he moved away, I was blushing scarlet. "I-I want to go home," I said, not looking at him.

"Oh." He said. I looked to his face and saw it went blank. "I'll get you some clothes." He was gone again, and came back within seconds, holding a bundle of all black clothes.

He set them on my lap and motioned for me to put them on. Realizing he wasn't going to let me get dressed in private, I took the robe off and slipped the black tee shirt on as fast as I could. Next came the sweatpants, which slipped down my hips and the hoodie, which hung around me like a sack.

"I need to go," I mumbled. "I really need to go."

"I heard you the first time," He hissed and tugged me arm so I came off the bed and pulled me out of the room. For the first time, I noticed that the curtains, which were heavy velvet, were pulled across the window and candles illuminated the room. It was dark, and chilled my bones.

He took me out of the room. Wherever we were, it was really dark. I couldn't see anything and stumbled behind him, clutching onto his hand. We walked down a set of stairs, which seemed to wind down. Then we came to a stop and a sliver of light came in through a heavy wood door.

"Where…where are your parents?" I asked, wrapping my arms around my waist.

He snorted. "I don't have parents." Before I could react, he shoved my sneakers into my chest. "Put them on," He ordered and I did, my hands shaking and I had to retie the knots over and over.

He opened the door without saying anything, and only dim light flooded in. Outside, there were dense trees and the air was almost green, hovering over the ground.

I looked back to him, and his face was expressionless. "How…how do I get home?" I asked him, feeling stupid.

"Walk through the break in the trees. You'll get to the road." His voice was monotone and I gaped at him. He wasn't going to help me? He kidnapped me then sent me out on my own. It…it wasn't right.

I whirled around angrily and stared at the trees, the rickety wood of the front porch.

"Oriel," He whispered and grabbed my hand so I turned around. He touched my face and closed his eyes. For a second, I too closed my eyes, feeling something that I couldn't really explain, but the anger that was in me bubbled up.

"Stay away from me," I hissed.

His hand dropped as if he was burned and stepped back into the house. He looked like he was going to say something, but then his eyes narrowed and he slammed the door in my face. Holding back tears, I walked down the steps of the porch as a pack of crows screamed.