Chapter 28 - Turning to a Vampire

Chapter 28 - Turning to a Vampire
Cord’s hands sought her breasts and roughly squeezed them. Amanda winced and gritted her teeth. She hated how he did it, but she wasn’t going to be emotional. She wasn’t going to cry just because of his rough manhandling. Instead, she flashed him a sharp glare.

Unfortunately, it was the only thing she could do. Even if she wanted to, she couldn’t fight him off. Aside from the shadows restraining her, she still saw him as the same man she loved. No matter what side he was showing, she still saw him as one person.

Ignoring her glare, Cord dove down to capture her lips. His kiss was bruising and aggressive. Amanda felt it different and uncomfortable, but at the same time, disturbingly a turn-on.

His hands moved down to reposition her legs. He rearranged himself in between as her thighs spread wide. Then, pulling himself out of their kiss, he stuck his tongue out and with one swoop tasted her flesh raw and wet. A groan escaped from his mouth then, taking pleasure on licking her.

Amanda couldn’t help but close her eyes. She bit her lip trying to suppress her moan, but it was semi-unsuccessful. She was indeed in one heck of a complicated state. She wanted this, but at the same time, disliked it.

Cord’s fingers slowly entered her, feeling her wetness and stretching her. Amanda squirmed under him, trying to close her legs but unfortunately couldn’t. With another wicked grin, he aligned his cock near her entrance and then proceeded to plunge it inside.

Amanda stifled her moan as he rocked on top her with a rhythm that was truly his; truly Cord—dominant and confident with his masculinity. She was torn between liking it and abhorring it. This was him after all. Maybe a lot rougher than he usually does, but him nonetheless.

He grunted when he was almost at his climax. Amanda sensed this and she too was on the verge of hitting her peak. Painstakingly, she clenched her teeth and closed her mouth, allowing not a single cry of pleasure when they both achieved their orgasms together.

Cord, hissing, lowered his face to kiss her again. Under the wave of euphoria, Amanda’s mind had clouded and without thinking, she angled her head up and clashed her mouth with his. They kissed so passionately neither of them minded what was truly happening, until Cord withdrew with an approving rumble under his breath.

“You’re surprisingly open to this, witch. You’re actually enjoying it. I could sense it. I could smell your desire. I could feel your heart thudding not of fear but of pleasure.”

“Cord, you’re still you despite turning into your cold, heartless persona. I will always be open for you,” Amanda replied despite hating how his shadows still restricted her from moving. Panting, she awarded him a loving gaze, but it was only met with a chuckle.

“Huh, big words from a witch who wouldn’t bat an eye placing a curse on poor helpless people.”

“The sin of one witch is not the sin of the many!” she cried. “Why do you kill them when they are innocent! They have done nothing wrong to you!”

“Simple,” Cord clucked his tongue and flashed her a proud smile. “I’m yet to quench my thirst for their blood. The curse had made me this way. I had embraced my darkness. I had embraced being a dark one.”

One finger traced a lazy doodle on her neck while his gaze focused on the eye-catching lift of her carotid pulse.

“Witch as you are, I can’t quite ascertain why, but your blood seems to simply sing to me,” he said. “Who are you, woman? What is your name?”

“I’m Amanda Caitlin Roand, daughter of Eloisa Hasting Roand; niece of Eloise Hasting, the witch who placed a curse on you!” Amanda found it awkward to introduce herself to him again, but she did anyway, realizing her name might jog his memory, but it didn’t.

However, for the first time since Cord’s dark side emerged, he showed a crack on his expression.

“You’re my curse’s answer...” he breathed out, “you’re my end.” The discovery hit him like a comet. Though it wasn’t exactly the kind of response Amanda hoped for, it was still a response, and she was going to use it to her advantage.

“Yes,” she lifted her chin up and smugly looked at him.

“What an utter surprise this is.” Cord lowered his head again and sniffed her neck, getting as much of the honeysuckle sweet scent she had.

“Drain me then, kill me so that you’d break your curse and return to your former life as a human,” she taunted. She wasn’t quite sure why she said that, but with all things considered, she was also thinking of the welfare of the residents inside the house, especially the safety of her father. Like in the hotel, she was that ready to sacrifice herself for them.

But Cord only laughed at her words.

“Woman, being a human again is not my concern anymore. I have long past that frail body. I am much better off as a vampire,” he stated. Using his thumb, he pressed her carotid artery so that it would pulsate even more against her skin.

“You however are another story,” he added and roamed his eyes on her naked form; from her head, down to her breasts and then to her clean-shaven womanhood past his half erection. “It would be a waste to kill you. Don’t you know I could turn you into a vampire?”

Amanda knew, but she and Cord had a mutual silent agreement never to talk about it. It was unnecessary, a risk and certainly not an answer to his curse. Plus, she couldn’t see herself as a vampire. Never.

“I’d die first before that happens,” Amanda’s nostrils flared. Now she felt fear starting to crawl inside her.

“Oh Amanda, believe me, with your fiery attitude and desirable beauty, you would fit right in,” Cord went on. “Once you’re turned, you’ll forever be under my command, and I will forever show you what passion is. We are perfect for each other. The sex we had earlier spoke the best evidence. I’m offering you to be my lover, take it.”

“We are already lovers,” Amanda corrected, but of course, not the kind his dark side offered. Their relationship was based on equality. No dominion or submission over the other.

Cord shook his head.

“Ah, but that is the problem, don’t you see? I don’t remember a thing about you.”

Amanda took a deep breath and huffed. Here goes nothing...

“You’re the Master of the Vitalis Castle! You stopped taking blood directly from humans a number of centuries ago! You preferred to drink from blood bags and sometimes even commit to fasting. You expressed your love to me less than a month ago and you’re with me now to protect me from whatever it is that’s trying to attack us. Don’t you remember all of this, Cord?”

He shook his head again and chuckled. “Not a single word, Amanda, but I say you have quite a lively imagination.”

“Cord...” She felt a little hurt with his words, wanted to shed a tear for it even, but she willed herself to be strong. She tried to focus again on distributing her crystal all over her body. She had started practicing this since she was in the Vitalis Castle but never got a chance to actually use it in a dangerous situation. With Cord aiming to make her a vampire now, it would exactly be the right time.

“Now, lay still and drink my blood,” he stated, cupping her face to angle her head up, “but first, I have to drink yours enough that you’d be in a semi-coma.”

Amanda, feeling distressed, wiggled as much as she could.

“Cord, you can’t do this! No!” she cried out as he slowly lowered his head, his fangs elongating and sharpening.

Quickly, she focused on her crystals again. It was now or never.

“Come on, Amanda, don’t fight the inevitable,” he pressed his other hand on her wrists and clamped her legs so that she wouldn’t move much.

It was a wrong move on his part.

As Amanda snapped her eyes open, her crystals immediately surged all over her body. From a fair complexion, her skin changed color into a bluish white, turning her into a crystal maiden from head to foot. Such was the sight that it caught Cord off-guard.

He speedily withdrew, jumping away from the bed, but instead of looking concerned, he cracked a smile.

Amanda sat up and stepped out of the bed, ready to battle him, but before anyone of them could even move, a circle of light emerged from Amanda’s feet and a hand materialized out of thin air grabbing her waist.

“Let’s get you out of here, Sweetheart,” Eloisa’s disembodied voice rang inside Amanda’s head. Her weight turned light as a feather and then gravity disappeared from where she stood. The last thing Amanda saw before darkness enveloped her was Cord’s surprised and angry face.

“How is she?” Winding in and out of consciousness, Amanda heard Matteo’s worried voice say. She couldn’t yet bring herself to open her eyes, something seemed to hinder her from doing so, but her hearing had at least picked up a sound. She reckoned Matteo was just a couple of feet away from the bed she was lying. She could feel his eyes on her and she could also sense another person in the room—wherever room she was in.

“She’s fine. She just needs rest,” she heard her mother answer. Somehow, Amanda couldn’t pick up a tone of concern from her, but maybe it was just her tiredness acting up. Her mother did say she needed rest. Judging from her voice, she seemed to be on Amanda’s left, the dip of the mattress told her she was sitting at the edge of the bed.

“Has he bit her?” Matteo’s voice was closer now, and Amanda, despite her exhausted state, was aware he was standing on her right, the warmth of his body seeping through when she suddenly felt his hand touch her cheek.

“Her skin looks unbroken, so it’s safe to say she wasn’t bitten, but I’ll ask once she wakes up. You do know vampires could heal the bite marks of their victims.”

There was a hint of disgust in Eloisa’s voice, something that Amanda expected from her mother when it came to vampires.

“Yes, I very well know...” Matteo replied. “My anger for that man could never be sated. Remember what we discussed, you are to...”

Amanda tried to hear more, but unfortunately, her consciousness simply faded, guiding her back into a deep slumber she couldn’t fight off.

Reports of dead people had surfaced since six days ago and officials are now scratching their heads as to the weirdness of the case. Victims range from different ages and gender, from a nine-year-old boy in an orphanage house to a seventy-year-old woman living in hospice care. Some victims were prostitutes, some businessmen, others firemen, teachers and many more. The deaths came from random places all over New Zealand. This would have been dismissed by the officers as a rare illness yet to be studied if not for the similarity of their deaths. All victims are dried up, their skin sticking to their bones. Officers had reported no entry or exit wound to explain their deaths. It was as if these victims were sucked out of life. Many conspiracy theorists say this is the work of a satanic cult or a laboratory experiment gone wrong. Some even said it was the work of UFOs. Authorities now have created a team of scientists and investigators to hopefully explain this phenomenon.

This is Alice Pasten, reporting for The Daily Press.

Amanda heard the television news the next time her consciousness returned. Good thing it did because she now realized how much daylight she just wasted sleeping. She knew using her full petrifaction powers would likely put her in a coma for a day or two, but six days? Surely, something was odd here and with that, she was more than ready to interrogate Matteo. He could have placed her in a sleep spell so that she’d not leave his house and that just didn’t sit well with her.

After that amount of sleep one would have expected she’d feel regenerated and refreshed, but she felt exhausted still which was an odd occurrence once again. Still, Amanda tried her hardest to wrench her eyes open, move her toes and fingers, and keep her senses active.

Luckily, she was able to stay fully awake and the first thing that caught her sight was her mother, busy writing something on a black notebook.

“Mom...?” Amanda’s throat was parched that her voice came out scratchy. Painstakingly, she swallowed hard and touched her neck to soothe the roughness away.

Eloisa swiftly closed the notebook and turned to look at her daughter with a smile.

“Sweetheart, oh God, you’re finally awake,” she stood up and rushed to Amanda’s side. She warmly gave her a big hug, her arms tightening around her daughter’s chest.

Amanda didn’t have the mood to return the gesture. She examined the room she was in while waiting for her mother to withdraw.

“Am I in Matteo’s house again?” she asked once her mother pulled back. This was a different room than the room she was in a week ago. The curtains were thick; it’s colors — a dull gray and dark brown. The flooring weren’t wood paneling anymore, but more of royal blue carpet past a large spread of white animal fur under the bed frame. Across the four-poster bed was a modern fireplace lit up with fresh logs. The Moroccan-style chandelier in the middle of the room helped the fire of the hearth illuminate the whole space. To Amanda, this place looked almost masculine. Definitely a stark contrast of what she expected to be a hospital room. At first, she seriously thought she was in one.

“Yes, with Matteo’s teleportation powers, I took you out from that vampire’s attack, Sweety,” Eloisa replied.

Amanda lowered her eyes and recalled the past events that had unfolded. She remembered Cord, controlled by his dark side. She remembered her whole body transformed into crystals like that woman in the Marvel movie Noman used to watch. She recalled preparing herself to fight him off after expressing his interest on turning her into a vampire. She remembered a bright circle materializing on her feet and Cord’s angry but surprised face before darkness enveloped her.

Judging from her mother’s calm demeanor, it seemed she was still in the dark about the truth and Amanda knew this was the exact time she’ll have to spill it.

“How did you know I was in danger, mom?” she asked.

Eloisa took her hand and squeezed it tight.

“I felt your fear, Sweety. I sensed you were in danger,” she answered. Amanda took it as a reasonable response. Back when she was still young, her mother used to tell her that they had a bond so strong that whatever happens to her, her mother would feel it.

“Had that vampire bit you?” Eloisa continued; an expression of worry clear on her face. “You were naked when I took you, did he assault you?”

Amanda cleared her throat. This was exactly the right time to spill everything.

“Mom, I need to tell you the truth. I hope you’ll understand everything I’m going to say,” she stated, looking at her mother with gravity, but then, the bedroom door opened and in came Matteo who was dressed in a business suit.

“Cait,” he breathed in relief. Their eyes met. Amanda, that instant, was slightly irked at his interruption. “Thank God you’re awake. I was so worried about you.”

He approached them, but Amanda was quick to raise her hand up.

“Matteo, can I have a moment with my mother please?” she said in a stern voice.

Matteo and Eloisa exchanged glances, and then he nodded. “I’ll return when you’re done.”

Once the door closed, Amanda’s attention returned to her mother’s who was already looking at her in confusion.

“What’s this, Sweety? What is it that you want to tell me?”

Amanda gathered her courage to speak as smoothly as she could. She didn’t want her mother to sense any kind of doubt inside her. She wanted her mother to sense only the truthfulness of her heart and nothing more.

“Mom, I’m in love with the Master of Vampires,” she blurted out without delay. She squeezed back her mother’s hand and stared at her without blinking. “And he loves me too. Believe me, when you died, all I did was stay low, away from any untoward attention and away from the dark ones, but it just so happened I met their Master and I—”

“You’re telling me you’re in a relationship with a vampire?!” her mother interrupted, her tone a little bit higher than Amanda would have expected. “And not just a vampire, but the Master?!”

Still, Amanda kept her cool.

“He had changed, mom. He is no longer the cruel, hateful vampire you knew him to be. Even his subjects, they all have changed. They don’t just drink a human’s blood without their consent. They are civilized now. They have feelings. They care. They love.”

Eloisa frowned and shook her head.

“That’s exactly what they show you in order to fool you, Amanda. They appear to love you but in the end, they will drain your blood and take your witch ability. Was your experience six days ago not already an enough proof of these vile creatures’ intent?”

“Let me prove to you that they are not our enemies now,” Amanda stated. “What happened six days ago was just a minor setback. Cord would never hurt me. He loves me.”

“I didn’t bring you up in this world just to love a vampire, Amanda,” Eloisa stood up and pointed to the door. “Matteo is here for you. He’s the one who loves you true. He’ll make a fine husband for you.”

“No! As much as I love you, mom, you can’t force me to marry a man I don’t love! You of all people should know that.” Amanda pulled herself and sat up, her back against the headboard. Her eyes were a mixture of rage and hurt. She couldn’t believe her mother was adamant on pushing Matteo to her.

“I’m doing this because I want you to be safe from those vampires, Amanda,” Eloisa replied. “I want you to live not with fear but with happiness.”

Just as the door opened, Amanda cried out with all her might.

“Matteo is not my happiness!”

The man in question stood mute on the threshold, meeting Amanda’s gaze again; his was filled with controlled anger and pain while Amanda’s was filled with determination. There was no guilt involved. Why would she be guilty when she already made it clear to him that she didn’t love him?

“Matt...“Amanda muttered softly, trying to abate the tension slowly simmering with the silence of the room.

Matteo, in response, briefly laughed and shook his head. “It’s okay, Cait, I understand,” he said, but he didn’t meet her eyes. He retreated and closed the door again.

Eloisa, who saw the exchange, frowned even more.

“Reflect on my words, dear. Don’t be blind,” she stated and then walked out of the bedroom, following wherever Matteo was going.

Amanda huffed and pressed her palms to her face. A bead of tear escaped from her eye, but she quickly wiped it away.

No, she wasn’t going to cry. Not for this. Not for Matteo or her mother.

“I’d rather be blind and truly love the man I want, than to have sight and be forced to love a man I don’t want,” she muttered to herself through clenched teeth.