“Lianna…” Draven finally called softly and I saw something flash in her eyes before she turned around, disappearing from our sight. “Wait!” Draven yelled before his hands were practically ripped away from mine. My heart dropped and I took a step forward as he started bolting towards the door but backed away as soon as his movements came to a halt. He turned around and I found him suddenly appearing in front of me before pulling me into a tight hug, my whole body squeezing against his.
“I’ll be right back, can you go back inside first?” he pulled away and I saw the desperation in his eyes but I didn’t say anything, instead I just gave him one final look before turning away. “I’ll just be a minute.” He disappeared and I was left standing alone in the terrace, my whole body freezing cold in this weather. Wow, okay.
After a few minutes, I found myself back in the bedroom and quickly changed into different clothes before plopping on the bed, burying myself inside the blanket as I brushed away some more tears. I waited for Draven for about an hour or so but realizing that he was not going to show up anytime soon, I decided to go to sleep. I literally did not have the strength to stress out about what happened just now, so it was best if I just go to sleep anyways.

x-x

The next day was all about avoiding Lianna and Draven, so I did my best to occupy myself with almost about anything. I had spilled the beans for Emily about last night before she left to visit her parents this morning, so yes, I was all alone today. I didn’t have breakfast nor lunch for that matter and luckily Draven was out all day. So here I was, back at the library and reading my second book for the day. I wanted to get my mind off about what happened last night and I was willing to do just about anything for it.
“Adriana, we need to talk.” Lianna’s voice almost made me jump up and I stood up, turning around to face her. She didn’t even bother to hide a scowl as I shrugged at her words.
“Yes?”
“I just want to clear things up. What’s going on with you and Draven?” My eyes slightly widened at her words but then I realized that she already saw us kissing so of course there was no point in hiding anything anymore.
“I don’t know. He says that he’s figuring things out.”
“He’s already figured it out. Look, I understand that you both have a thing now, but Adriana, I didn’t go through hell to come back to this,” she shook her head, her hair dancing around her face as she did. “I need him and he needs me. He is just confused right now and he is in a lot of pain, which is why he is using you to forget about me. But we both know that that’s not happening anytime soon because I don’t plan to give him up.” She went on and I could feel my mouth forming the shape of an “o” as she continued.
“How are you so sure that he doesn’t have feelings for me?” she visibly flinched at my question before putting on a small frown.
“Because he loves me, Adriana. We have been together for a long time and you can’t expect those feelings to just go away for some random girl he keeps around for pleasure.” At this point, I literally had to hold back a punch and the anger I’ve been trying so hard to keep in since last night was slowly beginning to rise again, thanks to this ignorant bitch. Lianna seemed to notice how upset I was getting and I watched her give me an apologetic look before turning away.
“I just want what’s mine, Adriana. Wouldn’t you fight for something you worked so hard to build? We both have seen the good side of Draven and I know how much you care about him. But so do I. And we both know that he is still in love with me, not you.” Her blunt words formed a painful lump in my throat but I had to keep a straight face on.
“Lianna-”
“Are you falling for him?” my heart raced faster than ever and there was no way that she was not able to hear them.
“No.” an obvious lie but Lianna nodded, as if she had just made a point in all of this.
“So let him go and let him be happy. If you really care about him then let him go. Because at the end of the day, I’m all he’s got, Adriana. I fixed him when he was broken once, and I can fix him again, I just need your help,” she finally breathed as if we were both already coming to an understanding. “So are you going to help me or keep playing the role of a mistress?” I scoffed at her words and shook my head in disbelief.
“Okay, first of all, Lianna, you need to take a step back and not make this about you-”
“Do you want to keep feeling like a second choice or not, Adriana? I’m just being real with you right now because I care about you too and wouldn’t want you to get hurt. I know how many girls Draven has used in the past for his own pleasure while I was gone. You just happened to be a bit special because of your blood, darling, it’s making him crave for more but that’s about it. He’s a vampire, Adriana and you’re a human. That’s never happened before. He is never going to fall in love with a human.” She leaned back against the book shelf and I folded my arms across my chest.
“And what about you?”
“I was different because I was the first girl he ever fell in love with. And after I was taken away? He never fell in love, and I really hope it stays that way, Adriana, am I clear now?” she was starting to get impatient and for the first time, her words got to me. I actually took in everything she said and I somehow found myself agreeing to everything she just made up.
“Crystal.” I said finally and thought about everything she said one more time. To be honest, maybe this was for the best. I was never good enough for him and if I stopped trying so hard to get something I can never have, then maybe I can finally move on. It’s kind of true that he is confused, it sure seemed like it when we talked even last night. Yes, at some point last night, I did believe in him, in us, but that was just my fantasy and I had to face reality now. As painful as this may be, I needed to let him go.
“Thank you, for understanding.” She said softly, touching my arms gently and giving them a small squeeze as I nodded with a weak smile. After that, she just disappeared and I dropped back down on my chair, my whole body feeling queasy, the sick feeling in my stomach making me want to hurl any second. But this was for the best. After all, Draven doesn’t really care about whatever we had, or else he would have made it clear last night when he went to talk with Liaanna. But he didn’t,and I can finally let him go. It’s crazy how things are for us. One minute, I want him, the next minute, I just want him to stay the hell away from me and just move on. God, this is going to be a one hell of a cliché story. I was the side bitch, who had somehow fallen in love with the devil himself, his ex-lover comes back into his life, leaving him torn apart and in confusion. The side chick is now going crazy, bouncing back and forth as she tries to win the heart of a man who has eyes for someone else. The love triangle becomes-
“Adriana, we’re inviting some people over, get ready to greet them,” Raymond popped out of nowhere and I gasped before shooting him a glare as he grinned. “Ah, never gets old.” He amused as I rolled my eyes.
“Do you guys necessarily have to have people around all the time? Why not just do something more productive and-”
“And read a book?” Raymond made a face in disgust and I gasped before hitting his shoulder playfully.
“How dare you.”
“Not everyone likes to live in a mansion and do nothing but mope around like you, kitten.”
“I swear, you guys deserve an award for being assholes.”
“Good looking ones at that.” I rolled my eyes and raised a brow at him.
“You really think you’re good looking? Honey, I’ve seen lab rats better looking than-”
“Step off my ego, kitten, that’s not nice.” He started sulking and I let out a dark chuckle before brushing past him and leaving the room.

Later that night, I dressed up for the night, slipping on a black tight with an oversized pink sweater before making my hair into a messy bun. I didn’t really care about the people or anything, I just had to be there to say hello and all that, and then I’m out. So after applying a thin layer of lip gloss and mascara, I rushed downstairs where Vincent was waiting for me.
“Hey, how’re you feeling?”
“I feel good actually, thanks.” I lied, giving him a genuine smile though and he nodded back with a smile too as we made our way to the sitting room. I noticed some females around my age already sitting on the boy’s laps, greeting me with a huge grin.
“This is Adriana, our adorable little angel.” Kevin introduced me to the girls and I smiled at each and every one of them.
“Also known as blood bag number one.” I decided to humor myself and the girls chuckled, including Lianna but for some reason, all the guys remained silent at my joke, which was weird because they never pass a chance when it comes to mocking me.
“Come sit, darling.” Lianna moved away to create a space and I hesitated but slowly sat down on the sofa next to her.
“Try to act happy, it’s how you can convince them and Draven that you’re fine with me and us being together.” Lianna barely mumbled, her eyes darting everywhere as she spoke and I narrowed my eyes at her. “Please, this is for Draven.” She said softly yet harshly and I let out a sigh before nodding. An hour flew by as everyone talked about random stuff, including life stories and their childhood. They were all joking and laughing now, having a good time but I had to force myself to keep a straight face. Sure, the boys were fun and all that, but acting nice around Lianna when I’ve seen her ugly side was annoying and just suffocating. But at the same time, it was bearable if it means that I’ll be getting something out of this.
“So tell us an embarrassing childhood accident that happened to you, Adriana.” Lianna nudged my shoulders and everyone waited for me to speak. I cleared my throat and went deep into my thoughts, trying to remember one.
“Oh god, one time, when I was six, I sleep walked up to the fridge in the middle of the night, opened it and slid the bottom drawer, thinking that it was the toilet,” I cringed at the memory. “And I just stripped off my pants and was about sit down on the drawer ready to go all out when my Dad saw me and stopped me.” Before I could finish, everyone had roared into laughter, causing a bright shade of pink to creep up on my cheeks and I could hear them mumbling something along the lines, “Our refrigerators are not safe anymore”, followed by a “Seriously though, hide our fridges” and I simply rolled my eyes before chuckling softly. We were still laughing and cracking more jokes when the door opened and in came Draven, brushing something off his long sleeved black sweater before his eyes met ours.
“Hey, D!” Lianna squealed and I could feel him staring at me but I was now pretending to talk to Edward about something oh-so-very-important.
“How was it?”
“Couldn’t find it, but I’m getting there. Finn is helping to search as well.” Draven breathed and I went silent for a bit, along with everyone else.
“Hey, let’s play truth or dare.” One of the girls squealed in delight, her eyes shifting onto Draven as she batted her eyelashes like there was no tomorrow. Draven raised a brow and muttered something along the lines, “Not interested” and I raised my hands up like a child.
“I’m in.” I don’t know why I even volunteered but I had to find a way to distract myself from him.
“Adriana? You don’t understand how wild these games get.” Vincent said in a worried tone and I simply waved my hands at him.
“Oh, don’t be a spoilt sport Vincy, right Adriana? We’re just going to have some fun.” Lianna said before disappearing from her spot and I looked at the boys as they nodded with a grin, clearly surprised but pleased that I was joining in their “fun” for once. We all sat down in a circle on the floor and I could still feel both Vincent and Draven staring at me from a distance as they kept silent, which was really not helping but I had to act like I was fine with all this. And who knows, maybe this could be fun. Lianna returned back with an empty beer bottle and sat down right next to me, much to my discomfort and from the corner of my eyes, I could see Draven and Vincent exchanging glances for some reason before going silent.
“If you both are not going to play then leave?” Lianna joked and I watched Draven lean back against the sofa as he studied my every movement.
“I’ll leave when I feel like it.” He said in a rather rude tone and I could see Lianna’s lips curl downwards before she shrugged him off.
“Alright, start!”
Okay, so remember how I said that, “this game could be fun?”, Well, I might have been wrong. Well, fucking dead wrong, considering the fact that we already had two people make out, one lick someone’s foot and another acting like chicken. The game was all too simple, for them, of course. The bottle spins and it stops to point at one of us. We either have to pick truth or dare and one of us gets to ask that person to do something or answer a question. The worst part is that, we can’t choose truth twice, which means that we have no choice but to choose dare at some point. Anyways, I was lucky so far, I didn’t even have a chance to pick either so I was pretty much safe-
“Ooh, finally.” The boys cooed and my eyes widened at the bottle that was now pointing at me. Talk about bad Karma.
“Truth or dare, babe.” Danny grinned and I almost gulped at the question.
“Dare.” I blabbered out in a panic. “I mean, truth!” I took it back almost immediately but everyone started shaking their heads with a grin. Why the hell did I blabber out Dare when I was supposed to pick truth?!
“Too late now, okay, I’ll choose the dare,” Lianna grinned at Kevin and my eyes widened, my heart racing faster than ever. “Remember how you made me lick Alaric’s dirty foot? Well, lick her.” She grinned, her eyes flickering in amusement as my jaws dropped open in disbelief.
“What-”
“No.” Draven interrupted and we all turned to look at him. I narrowed my eyes at his expressionless look and then looked at Vincent, who was now looking at me with a small frown as well. What was their problem? They don’t have to be so cold just because I’m playing a game and actually enjoying for once.
“Draven, it’s just a game-” Danny started but stopped when Draven gave him a look. Everyone went silent and I only glanced at Draven once but was already able to notice the hint of both annoyance and anger in his eyes.
“Fine, then if a guy can’t do it, I can.” Lianna suddenly said, motioning me to come closer and I just stiffened a bit before giving her a look. She gave me an obvious nod and for some reason, I decided to do as she says. Plus, I didn’t want to ruin the fun for everybody so might as well get it over with.
“Seriously, you guys, this is childish.” Vincent grumbled as I made my way over to Lianna and shivered as I turned my back towards her. I could feel her cold fingertips graze against my skin as she slipped my hair to a side, causing goosebumps to rise all over my body. To make it extra worse, the boys had gone all silent as I squirmed in my position uncomfortably, waiting for Lianna to do it already but for some reason, this bitch was taking her time. I swear, if she keeps breathing down my neck for another second, I’m considering her a lesbian, which is a good thing because then Draven could be mine and-oh shut up Adriana, for goodness sake, why can’t you just let him go already and-
I let out a squeal when something hot and wet brushed against my skin, making my whole body tingle in discomfort and my whole face to flush in embarrassment.
“Hot.” Danny coughed but stopped when he noticed Draven shoot him another warning glare and it was then when I noticed how impatient he was getting. One of his elbow was resting on the sofa’s arm rest while his other hand lay on his lap, tapping his fingers on them impatiently for some reason, not to mention his jawlines locked with a hard expression on his face.
“See, simple. Now let’s play again.” Lianna finally broke the ice and motioned me to get back in the circle and I did as I was told, slightly wiping her spit away from my neck. Ugh, now I had to take a bath in holy water for the next two months.
“Dare.” Raymond grinned confidently.
“Kiss Edward,” one of the girls said and my eyes widened in shock as I looked at Edward and Raymond look at each other in disgust. “On the lips.”
“I would rather kiss a fucking duck, this guy is not even attractive.”
“Fuck off mate, girls and guys dig this face.” Edward scowled and I rolled my eyes. “Plus, we’re all straight so kissing on the lips is a no-no.” Raymond said in a girly voice and Edward agreed.
“Oh hell no, it’s a dare. It’s either you do that or take off your shirt or pants.” Lianna said out loud and the girls agreed in excitement, except me of course.
“Gladly.” Raymond muttered, stripping off his shirt to reveal his abs and I slightly blushed before turning away.
“Good.” I heard Edward hiss before the game continued. These two should just get married.
“Not again.” I groaned as the bottle finally landed on me again and everyone started clapping and cooing again.
“Truth.” I said with a smug look on my face and I could see Tyrell raise his hand up to ask my question.
“Do you have any feelings for someone here?” he questioned and my heart dropped at his words.
“I-I-”
“Oh, and remember that we are allowed to use compulsion and get the truth out of you if we find your answer even slightly suspicious.” Alaric added with a grin and I gulped softly before chuckling nervously, the air around me suddenly making me feel suffocated.
“I-I’ll pass that question.” By now, everyone was legit cooing and making weird teasing noises none-stop. God, just let me die in a hole.  
“That means only thing, darling,” Lianna whispered into my ears and I shuddered at her voice. “Take off your shirt.” She raised her voice a bit and I went silent as the boys grinned at my silence.
“Can’t you let it go?” I asked softly and everyone shook their head, making my heart race faster than ever.
“It’s either that, or we compel you into telling the truth, babe. Maybe reveal the name too and-”
“Alright!” I cut Danny off and grabbed the end of my sweater, ready to just take it off and get this over with. I mean anything, anything, would be better than telling them how I felt about Draven. I was about to slip it off when a hand grabbed my wrist, suddenly jerking me up from my position. I winced and looked up at Draven, who was now glaring at me, the expressionless mask he had on was now gone as his jawline locked in furiously, his blue eyes piercing right into my soul.
“Game’s over.” He said with so much venom that everyone grew quiet and I was about to open my mouth to say something when he started dragging me out.
“D, it’s just a game.” Lianna stepped in front of us before we could go upstairs and I yanked my hand away.
“I want to talk with her alone right now so go back, Lia.” He spoke in a dangerous tone and I looked at Lianna, waiting for her to back me up.
“Just calm down, Draven.” Lianna said in her sweetest voice ever and I just awkwardly stood there, waiting for the right time to fade away and let them have a moment together or something.
“She’s right, it was just a game.” I said in a calm voice and Draven snapped his head to glare at me.
“You’re just tired, you need rest.” Lianna said softly, reaching out to touch his hand and Draven roughly caught her wrist, his eyes still on mine while he did so, causing my breath to hitch.
“What I need to do,” he started painfully slow, turning to face Lianna and I could see her flinch in fear. “Is talk to her in private, so I’ll say it one more time, Lianna,” his tone grew colder and I went silent. “Fuck-off, because I am really not in the mood right now.” He brushed her hand away and turned to grab mine before dragging me back upstairs. I glanced at Lianna, ready to give her an apologetic look but stopped when I saw her glaring at us.  What was her problem anyways? Can’t she see that I am trying my best to stick on her side? 
“No, I don’t want to go inside and talk.” I said, roughly jerking my hand away as he opened the door for me to enter.
“No, I want to talk so get in.”
“And I said that I don’t want to get in so talk here.” I folded my arms across my chest and watched him let out a huff in frustration.
“Fine, have it your way then,” He cocked his head to a side and I gasped when he slammed his hands on either side of my neck on the wall that I was somehow already pressed against. “Talk.” He demanded shortly, his eyes already turning a shade darker.
“Talk about what? Will you relax, Draven? You made Lianna upset now.” I said softly, still trying to go with Lianna’s little plan of making him fall in love with her again.
“Lianna? Since when did you care so much about how she felt?”
“Since I realized that she wasn’t so bad.” I lied, shrugging it off and he opened his mouth to say something but stopped when music suddenly blasted through the entire mansion, the lights suddenly turning off and getting replaced with a bunch of disco balls within seconds. I could hear the boys yelling and laughing downstairs along with a bunch of giggling girls and Draven let out a painful groan before turning to look at me again.
“Can I join the party?” I asked quickly, trying my best to change the subject and he shot me another deadly glare before standing up straight, swiftly slipping his hands inside his pockets.
“No.”
“Draven, come on, don’t be so gloomy all the time. Loosen up a bit.”
“That’s rich coming from you, doll face.”
“Whatever.” I muttered and started making my way when someone grabbed the back of my sweater, yanking me back.
“What now?”
“I want to talk about last night.” His words made my heart skip a beat but I faked a smile before brushing his hands away.
“It’s fine.” His eyes widened a bit before he raised a brow at me.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Have you finally calmed down?” Lianna’s voice made us both turn around and Draven went silent. “Good, because you owe me now, D.” he let out a sigh and looked at me as I quickly plastered on a smile.
“Hey, Adriana, I need help with the drinks. More people are going to come soon and I was wondering if you could help out a little.”
“We have butlers for that, she’s not going-”
“Sure.” I cut off Draven and I didn’t have to look at him to know that he was looking at me in disbelief now.
“Great.” Lianna said and I was about to leave when someone grabbed my hand, again.
“God, not again. No, just let go, Draven and enjoy for once.” I practically ripped my hands away from his and rushed downstairs, glancing back to see Lianna say something at him. This was really killing me inside and he has no idea at all, does he…?
After thirty minutes or so, more people started coming in and I was practically running around, handing them drinks and helping out the butlers.
“Oh god.” I breathed, finally leaning against the table of drinks, right in the middle of the room where everything was going down. Everyone was now dancing, laughing and pouring drinks everywhere but then again, this was like a normal Monday for us in this mansion. I turned and started pouring more drinks on the cups and from the corner of my eyes, I could see someone placing a hand on the table right next to me.
“Hey.”
“So what’s the problem?” Draven jumped right into the question I was badly wanting to avoid.
“Nothing, why?” I asked back in a calm voice, not ripping my eyes away from the cups as I kept pouring the drinks in slow motion, hoping I would bore him somehow and make him leave.
“Really?”
“Yes, and where is Lianna? Don’t just ditch her like that, it’s rude.” I glanced at him once and quickly averted my gaze, just in case he could see through my little act.
“Stop concerning yourself about her and stop doing whatever she asks you to do,” he suddenly inched closer. “You’re not some servant, Adriana-”
“Draven, you are exaggerating, I am just helping her out.” Draven went silent for a few seconds and I didn’t bother to speak either.
“Tell me what’s going on, Adriana-”
“Nothing’s going on, can you just stop stressing over nothing?” I was trying my best to keep up the act but Draven poking me to open up is clearly not helping right now. It was getting too painfully suffocating now and I barely even started this little act.
“Adriana, stop lying,” his soft tone caused a lump in my throat but I pasted on a weak smile, my hands now shaking as I kept pouring the drinks. “I know something’s up, you’re acting different,” he really was pushing me. “Very different.” He grabbed my wrist.
“Draven, please stop already…” I didn’t even try to conceal the hurt and plead in my voice anymore as I turned to look at him. Tears glistened in my eyes but I doubt that Draven would notice them in these lights and luckily, I was right.
“No, tell me. I’m not letting go unless you tell me.”
“I just want you to stop alright?” I finally choked out and Draven fixated his gaze into mine. “I just want to stop going back and forth already. I just want you to be with her already so that I can finally breathe.”
“Adriana, listen-”
“No, you listen Draven. I have been listening to you all this time and I can’t anymore. I really can’t so please just stop playing around with me? If you want a toy to play around with then find someone else, just let me go.” Tears rolled down my cheeks and I immediately brushed them away.
“Hey, shh,” he suddenly wrapped his arms around me and I held in a sob, the lump in my throat only getting tighter. “I’m sorry, can-”
“No, Lianna was right,” I pulled away, brushing away more tears and shaking my head slowly. “I never stood a chance.” I stated weakly and lowered my eyelashes on the ground.
“Lianna told you that?” My eyes widened and I looked up at Draven, who was now frowning at me in suspicion and I quickly shook my head with a weak smile.
“No, I am ju-just saying-”
“You’re lying.” His eyes grew a shade darker and I shook my head, desperately trying to convince him.
“I’m not, she never said anything to-” I froze when Draven reached out to take a firm grip on my cheeks, lifting them up to meet his piercing gaze and I could feel myself getting absorbed inside them almost instantly.
“Tell me what she said.” He demanded and my heart raced at his words.
“She told me that I never stood a chance. That I was just another one of your whores that you were using in order to forget about her." I blabbered out before I could stop myself and my eyes widened before my jaws dropped open at my own words.
“You compelled me?!” I screeched, jerking away and Draven took my shoulders. “Don’t do that, don’t ever do that!” I started hitting his chest repeatedly but Draven just gripped my upper arms, an unreadable expression growing on his face as I kept punching him harder and harder. It wasn’t a good, expression obviously. He was pissed about something but so was I.
“Draven,” we both stopped to look at Lianna and my eyes widened as I quickly turned away, trying to hide my face that was now full of tears. I didn’t even have a chance to brush them away because of Draven.
“She thinks you don’t stand a chance, hunh?” I thought I heard him say and looked up at him but  Draven was now looking at Lianna as she started walking up to us, a small smile forming on her face. “Well, I kinda wonder how she’d feel about this then.” Draven turned to look at me and I looked at him in confusion. Without warning, he grabbed the side of my neck, swiftly leaning into a rough kiss and I stiffened in my position, my eyes widening in both shock and disbelief.
“Did he just…?

xxx