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"Is she awake yet?" a woman’s voice asked, brimming with boredom.
"I prefer it when they are not," a male voice answered her. "Fear gives a bitter taste; something I'm not quite partial to."
Miriam felt herself slowly coming out of a dark haze. Her head throbbed from where she had been struck, her throat felt dry and her heart beat irregularly as she slowly came to.
"Water?" she whispered through parched lips.
"Oh, it speaks," stated another male voice.
"Unfortunately," mused the first.
"Well give her something to drink," commanded an older, female voice. "And all you of be quiet; she is not yours."
Miriam felt a cup lifted to her lips and drank desperately. The cool water allowed her to regain her senses and, slowly, she opened her eyes, horrified by the sights before her.
She was sitting on a raised platform, staring down into a sea of people, much like a royal court. Although everyone was dressed in lavish, modern gowns and suits, the resemblance to historical courtiers was striking. She noticed the string quartet playing classical music in the corner, while the group of 'courtiers' watched the person to her right, expectantly.
Miriam turned towards the throne situated next to her. A woman, decked in opulent jewels and wearing a silk gown, commanded her court with the air of a Queen. It was both a mesmerizing and terrifying site.
Just then, Miriam had the sudden realization that she was not there as a member, but for something far more sinister. The "Queen's" face was pulled back in a smile, revealing large, white fangs.
"So pretty," the Queen tilted her head as she spoke. She flashed another one of those appalling smiles.
Miriam tried her best to swallow her fear and keep her face as still as possible, which was not an easy task, considering that she felt as if she was the prey for a den of lions.
"So, you are the little human that has stolen Dominic away from us?" She spoke with a death-like calmness about her and in a whispery tone that curdled Miriam's blood.
"Pardon?" Miriam stuttered. So much for keeping herself calm.
"Well, Rogan was telling us all about it," she motioned towards the only familiar face in the room. Rogan nodded, but didn't make a move towards them. "He mentioned that our dear Dominic would not be able to attend my dinner party because he was busy with some girl." She turned her frightening, hollow gaze back to Miriam.
The orchestra continued to play an eerily slow, baroque song; it gave Miriam chills.
"I'm sorry, but I only just met Dominic yesterday," she tried to explain. She thought she sounded calm and assured, but her voice came out in a pitch similar to a violin's squeal.
"Oh?" The Queen raised an arched eyebrow. "Then you must be quite special to have made such an impression in such a short amount of time." She turned back towards her court for validation, they all nodded in agreement.
Shit, Miriam thought. That wasn't the reaction she was hoping for. Her heart began to beat more rapidly, her thoughts raced for ideas of how to leave this place alive.
She came up empty.
Miriam decided to ask the one question she wasn't sure she wanted the answer to: "What do you want from me?"
"Oh," the Queen chuckled in a way that sounded like a thousand broken bells clanging together. "What a strange question." She gave Miriam another one of her curious looks.
"I believe that Dominic kept her in the dark, Mother," Rogan interrupted.
Miriam gasped. So, this was Dominic's mother? The thought wasn't comforting. Although she wasn't tied to the chair, she knew that there was no way she would be able to get out of this situation unless they let her—and at the moment, it didn't look like that was happening any time soon.
"Look," Miriam desperately tried to reason with her. "I have no idea what is going on here, but I am nothing to Dominic Kane. I just work at a local antique shop and was simply delivering an item to him today. Nothing more." She gave her little speech everything she had.
The orchestra stopped playing as a disconcerting hush descended over the room. There was a long silence as every eye fixated on Miriam. She squirmed in her seat, uncomfortable with the prolonged attention.
The Queen was the first to break the silence. "That's too bad," she cooed. "If you do not belong to Dominic, then you are fair game." Her mouth stretched wide, her fangs gleamed, and her demeanor grew more menacing and otherworldly.
The door to the room swung open with a loud bang. All eyes turned towards the figure standing in the entrance. The Queen's face once again became a mask of impassivity.
"Dominic!" She exclaimed joyfully, clapping her hands together like a child. "How good of you to join us," she beamed. Gone was the cool, haunting expression.
Dominic's eyes roamed over the crowd for just a moment before coming to settle on Miriam. He shot her an indecipherable look before he turned his attention back to the women next to her.
"Mother," his voice dripped with disdain.
The Queen's face dropped and her beaming facade disappeared altogether. "Be careful, Dominic," she threatened coolly.
Dominic advanced forward and the crowd of people around him quickly moved out of the way. His determined strides and intimidating demeanor discouraged anyone from crossing him.
Miriam wasn't sure if she was relieved to see Dominic arrive, as she wasn't sure where he stood on the equation and what his arrival meant. After all, it was his driver that had brought her here.
"You know why I am here," Dominic replied with the same level of cool composure.
"You will need to elaborate, Dominic." His mother spoke again with that eerily airy voice.
"I've come for what is mine." He motioned towards Miriam.
Miriam wasn't sure she liked his use of "mine," but at the current moment she wasn't sure normal social rules applied.
"Tsk tsk, Dominic." The Queen clicked her tongue at her son. "She is not yours; she said so herself."
The Queen placed a protective hand on Miriam's chair. "And all good vampires know that she is fair game," she purred sinisterly.
Miriam's stomach dropped as her mind attempted to wrap her thoughts around what was going on. "Vampires?" she breathed under her breath.
All eyes turned to her despite Miriam having spoken in a voice barely above a hushed whisper.
"Oh, you didn't know?" The Queen asked mockingly.
"Of course, she didn't know," Dominic roared. The mood in the room suddenly shifted as chaos erupted in a cacophony of raised voices.
As their voices whirled around her, Miriam tried to make sense of the horrifically surreal situation around her. Vampires, seriously? So, Dominic Kane and his family were immortal undead creatures? No, she thought, that can't be right? Yet that part of her that knew things other people didn't know—the part that could read an object and tell its story—told her what was going on was very real.
"Silence!" cried the Queen. Her tone startled Miriam, who hadn't realized she could take yet another shock to the system.
Dominic advanced closer. "Hand her over," he demanded.
"Are you sure you want to do that, especially since you might not be able to control yourself?" She motioned towards Miriam. "You wouldn't want to hurt her pretty face."
Dominic stopped short and his eyes narrowed. "It was you," he growled.
"Oh, don't be like that, dear," she chastised. "You needed to be reminded of how vulnerable you are without us." She rose from her throne and descended the small steps towards Dominic as she spoke. "You are so arrogant to think that you can do it all on your own," she touched his cheek. "See how easy it was for me to have someone close to you, like your driver, just snatch your Anima and this girl away?"
Dominic pulled her hand away from where it rested on his cheek. "If anything, it makes my resolve to distance myself from this family even stronger."
"Fine!" She cut off in a shrill voice. "You have made your point." She turned back towards her throne. "You may continue on your silly endeavor, but remember the lesson you have learned here." She stopped once she reached the platform and turned around to face her followers. "Without each other, our existence is fragile. I want my son—" she shot a pointed look towards Rogan, who was standing across the room, "—all of my sons to have noted this lesson today." She sat down upon her throne in a flourish of silk. "Take her," she waved towards Miriam, "and go."
"Come, Miriam." Dominic spoke to her without once lifting his eyes from the level gaze he aimed at his matriarch.
Miriam rose cautiously, expecting the Queen to change her mind. She stepped down from the platform and picked up her pace as she moved towards Dominic.
"Goodnight," Dominic spoke stiffly. He reached out with a gloved hand and brought it around Miriam's waist to usher her out of the room.
Once they had left the room and the doors had shut securely behind them, Miriam tried to speak. "What is going—"
"Hush," he broke her off roughly. "Not yet." He continued to walk them down the dark halls and towards the exit. He didn't say another word and neither did she.
When they had reached the front door and stepped out into the cool night air, Miriam wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, but knew better. Just because she was no longer inside, did not mean that she was safe.
Dominic guided her towards a sleek, black bike. He got on and motioned for her to climb on behind him. Miriam complied, and the moment she put her arms around his waist, the bike came alive with a deafening roar.
She gripped him from behind as they zoomed away from the frightening estate. They left the property and started riding down a long, dark stretch of road flanked by forest on either side.
Miriam dared not look back, afraid to see the house where she was quite certain she almost met her end if it wasn't for Dominic.
Yet, she mused darkly, if it wasn't for Dominic, she would never have been in this situation in the first place. She wasn't sure of what to make of her enigmatic rescuer. Although he was anything but a hero—quite the contrary—she had sensed that he was much different from the rest of his family. Although he was shrouded by a dark intensity, he was not consumed by it like they were.
And then there was the whole vampire thing, which she wasn't quite sure what to make of yet. Hell, at this point, nothing really shocked her when it came to Dominic Kane.
"What happened back there?" she asked as the wind whipped her hair in a frenzy around her face. She clung tighter to Dominic's leather-clad waist.
"I will answer your questions in time," he spoke above the roar of the engine. "It's not safe yet to speak of such things." He revved the engine in response and picked up speed as they zipped down the road.
Miriam wasn't sure she could handle the bike going any faster; they already were flying by at a pace that made the trees on either side look like shadowed blurs. She couldn't talk and concentrate on holding on, so she chose to just hold on for dear life.