Tempting Jocelyn

Chapter 5: I Hate Mondays (2)

I suspected something was amiss when Chelsea and I walked into this hoax in the form of a mansion, but I never thought it to be infested with hypnotic blood-sucking creatures of the night.

The vampire I once came across had been intriguing as well as mysterious in some ways. Aliya mostly used her gift of hypnosis when she wanted to lure in her victims and feed on them, but never did she harm or murder hermeals. Hiding bodies isn't an easy task, she'd once said, plus if they're eventually found, we risk getting exposed.

I recall when she tried using her ability on me, but I had remained unaffected, which came as a surprise to her and me. However, she never questioned it even though she seemed very curious about me.

I may be wrong, but the man standing tall and daunting in front of me, with his hand outstretched to Chelsea, may just be like Aliya. His brown hair is visibly wet, and droplets of water still remain on his skin, probably from taking a dip in the pool, but his eyes, those green globes, weren't straying away from my friend, nor were they letting hers free from his spell. I watched her grip on the pizza boxes loosen, and they cluttered to the floor with a thud while her eyes remained transfixed on the man. She took a step toward him, and that's when I shook away the remaining hazy fog clouding my mind and quickly grasped her arm to stop her.

I gained the guy's attention now, who frowned at my action, and he slowly brought his hand down. His eyebrows furrowed with his curious gaze scrutinizing my form and grip on Chelsea as I held her back. He looked back up, and I wilfully met his gaze, not fazed as he lifted an eyebrow in question. No one would be sucking mine or my friend's blood tonight. I was now sure this man wasn't human.

One of his friends on the lounger stretched, sniffed the air and commented after opening his eyes and noticing us, "Ah, dinner's here." Dinner obviously wasn't pizza as his hungry, malicious eyes were focused on Chelsea and me. I pulled Chelsea even closer, suddenly remembering what Cody had informed me at my mum's party. Were these the vampires causing mischief across town and murdering people? If they were, then what was going to happen to Chelsea and me?

My strong façade was slowly slipping as my hands began to shake slightly and become clammy with sweat. My apprehensive eyes darted around the room, noticing everyone else now giving us a bit of their attention and not just the brunette vampire anymore. I could drag a dazed Chelsea and make a run for it through the door behind us, but if there's one thing I know about vampires, it's how fast they were. They would catch up with us in less than a second, and the chase would only excite them further.

"Oh no! I'm such a clutz." Chelsea seemed to have snapped out of her trance, blinking down at the deserted pizza boxes on the floor with one even opened. "I'm so sorry about your order." She began to apologize and attempted to crouch and pick them up, but my grip on her hand tightened, halting her. Poor thing was so unaware of her surroundings. She scrunched her eyebrows at me and then followed the direction of my glare, now detecting the peculiar atmosphere.

"What's wrong?" She whispered close to me, now warily staring at them.

"Nothing, precious." The brunette obviously heard her and once more stretched his palm out for her, "Just come here." His voice took a deep seductive tone as he added, "I only want to make you feel good."

"Chelsea, no!" I yelled and pulled her back again, noticing she was back to her hypnotic state, entranced by the vampire's spell. His palm hanging in the air balled into a fist, and I observed the irritation sip into his eyes at my constant meddling.

His smile is gone now, replaced by a scowl as he threatened darkly, "Let her go."

"No!" I snarled back even though my legs were trembling under me and my eyes watered up. I hated being this weak, and for the first time ever, I wished I had inherited my mum's powers also. Then I would have muttered a spell to slow them down while I made a run for it with Chelsea.

My defiance was now getting everyone's attention, and all eyes focused on us more intently. Even the lady kept her book down to sit up and watch me, amused. The vampire huffed and took a step forward, and before I could react, Chelsea was snatched and teleported a few feet away from me, now being held by him. I say teleport because it all happened in less than a second.

I tried reaching for her, but he tugged her back away from my reach and pulled his lips back to bare his teeth at me, only his canines were twice their length now. I was taken aback by his fangs on display and froze on the spot, but he soon also paused, retracting them back as his gaze focused on something behind me, or was it someone?

Baffled by his sudden shift in attitude, I stared around to see everyone else holding the same expression as him, but their eyes were not on me also. The hairs on the back of my neck suddenly stood erect as goosebumps began to pile on my arms at the feeling of a presence behind me. Chills ran down my spine as dread filled me, and slowly, I rotated my neck, but there was surprisingly nothing there. My eyes sought around, confused, and I was about to turn back around when I felt arms pull out from nowhere and curl around my waist. I gasped, being yanked back into a solid wall, only this wall was radiating lots of heat and was breathing.

I tried to break free, but the grip around my waist was solid and impossible to peel off, keeping me bound to whatever was holding me.

"Let me go!" I panicked, squirming and wriggling about against the person behind me. It was a man, that was for sure from his build and the scent of his cologne filling the air around me till I was entirely engulfed by it. Their fingers glided into my thick messy mane of hair, grabbing a fistful to yank my head back and expose my neck while their jaw rested on my shoulder blade with their hot breath fanning my neck as they took in a deep breath.

"Mine." The growl vibrated from his chest to my body, centering on my core. I shut my eyelids feeling sharp fangs glide on my skin, and firmly pulled my lips together to suppress the scream threatening to break through. No one would hear me if I did, so what was the use?

My whole body shook, and I opened my eyes one last time to see the look of shock and wonder on everyone else's faces through my blurry tears. Why were they so surprised to see one of their kind about to feed like they also do? Only Chelsea, who was slowly blinking out of her dazed state, showed a different emotion: fear. She was starting to slowly catch on.

I stared up at the sky glittering with stars, enjoying the view one last time as it might be my last. This wasn't how I had envisioned my end. Never again would I get a disapproving remark from my mum, a threat from Carol, a warm hug from grams, or hear my dad's laughter.

The fangs stopped their search on my skin, now focused on a pulsating vein. I shut my eyes close just as tears streamed down my face, and I tasted the saltiness on my lip. I ground my teeth together, feeling the skin of my neck being broken by what felt like two large needles, slowly piercing deep into an artery. I had seen Aliya feed on her victims, but they never screamed; however, she had hypnotized them and ordered them to keep shut all through. I never guessed it was painful until now.

My lips are probably bloody now from me biting down too hard, but I couldn't stop the gasp of pain that escaped my mouth as much as I tried.

My eyes opened once more, but I could barely see with black dots filling my vision as the darkness pulled me in. Maybe it was from the day's exhaustion or the fact that my life force was being sucked out of me, but I could barely hold myself up and was only standing because of the arms supporting me. My head sagged and fell on the shoulder of the vampire behind me, and the last thing I saw before my vision was wholly clouded was Chelsea's wide eyes and pale face. It's a shame I couldn't protect her.

Ughthis is why I hate Mondays. Who would have thought I'd been dying on the day I hate the most?

A/N: The remaining parts of this book is being updated on the Dreame site/app