Chapter forty three

Chapter forty three
We found Richie in his office. He was seated behind his table, a toothpick in his mouth.

What was he even picking since they survived on blood?

I wanted to roll my eyes when our eyes met, and he scoffed as if he wasn't the one who called me. I didn’t want to give him a reaction. I could see he desperately wanted one.

Marianne closed the door when she left.

I didn't sit down, instead waiting for him to tell why he called for me.

I stood there for a while. He was busy checking on his toothpick, eyes on me. I got fed up and asked, "Why did you call me?"

He scoffed again, throwing away the toothpick. "As if I'd want to see you. Get on with what you want and be on your way."

I frowned, confused. "Marianne said you wanted to see me."

He rolled his eyes, standing up. "Maybe you're on the menu today."

I knew he was joking, but I couldn't be sure. Just to be safe, I walked back to the door. I didn’t want to be readily available when he decided he saw me as a walking bag of blood.

"Don't flatter yourself. I’d rather starve than drink from you," he said.

I rolled my eyes, not believing him. I’m sure if he had his way, he would have bled me dry.

"What? You offering yourself? I bet that's what you did to get Drew, isn't it?" He scoffed.

When I heard Drew's name, I lost it. "Not sure if you know this, Richie, but Drew planted memories into my head that we were an item. I was engaged when he killed my fiancé just because he believed I was his Beloved or whatever. I’m sorry he didn’t choose you. Maybe you were not enough. Maybe he got tired of you. Or maybe he-"

Before I knew it, Richie was strangling me, eyes red and fangs out.

I've never seen a vampire up close. I was right to be scared.

"What were you saying?" he asked, face so close I could see the swirls of white in his red eyes.

I tried to claw his hand away, but he kept his grip on my neck tight.

I started to see spots, losing consciousness.

He let go, letting me fall.

I collapsed, my vision coming back. He stood over me, eyes still red and fangs out.

"For the record, I’m the one who left him. Hope you enjoyed him feeding on you, cause he definitely did. He saw you as cattle and a ticket to his Coven's freedom. Don't be too comfy here. He's coming back for you."

He chased me out of his office. I was only mad because I didn’t get the final say. I was confident too because I knew he wouldn’t do anything major to me. Marianne and Seren had my back.

Yes, I was naive to think they would choose me over their own, but that’s all I had here. If I didn’t believe they had my back, who was I without them?

I just had to believe they were on my side. Afterall, Marianne wanted me to kill Drew. I was important to her for now.

For the rest of the coming days, I didn’t run into Richie. Seren picked up my thoughts on what Richie did to me.

I don’t know what Marianne did to him. Seren told me not to worry about him.

The thing is, I did worry. As time went on, I started to feel guilty about what Drew did to him. If I was in his position, I would also feel betrayed. They spent sixty years together. I would crash out too.

When I asked Seren where Richie was, she didn't say anything. I pestered Marianne, and after the third day, she gave in.

She didn’t tell me what she did to him. She just told me he was locked up in the dungeon.

I was shocked there were even dungeons.

When I insisted to see him, she had someone accompany me to the dungeons. It was in the basement, where we had to walk two flights of stairs down. The girl who accompanied me, Layla, flicked on the switch when we reached the dungeons. She stayed behind when I approached the cell Richie was in.

There was a long line of cells. It was actually inhumane.

Richie was laying on the ground, hands behind his head as he was looking at the ceiling.

"Hello, Richie," I started, hoping I would apologise for the pain I put him through when Drew chose me.

He didn’t reply, just continued looking at the ceiling.

I swallowed the nerves before I tried to say anything. "Richie, I know you hate me for Drew leaving you, but I can assure you I didn’t have a choice. He planted things in my mind to make me believe we were lovers. I didn’t have a choice. I didn’t even know him, but I thought I did because he changed my memories and messed with my mind. I’m really sorry for Drew breaking your heart.”

He didn’t say anything, which was a bit disappointing. I understood where he came from. He had every right to be bitter and feel betrayal by Drew. He was right to be angry, but he was angry at the wrong guy. He should be angry with Drew.

I sighed, not seeing the point in trying to coax him to understand that I was not the enemy. It was Drew. Everything was Drew.

I turned around, my disappointment so tangible. Layla was waiting for me at the stairs. She probably heard what I told Richie. There was no privacy here, so I didn’t mind.

We left the basement. She didn’t say anything to me, which was a relief on my side. We parted ways after we exited the basement. I went to my room to get a good night of sleep. It was six in the evening.

I spent most of my time in my bedroom most days, especially after Richie’s stunt.