“Draven, I don’t remember, I swear.” I said for the millionth time tonight and he simply narrowed his eyes at me, his eyebrows slightly raising up at my response, which supposedly was a “lie” to him. 
“That bracelet, take it off.” He ordered and I slightly frowned at him before looking at the bracelet in confusion. Why was he getting so worked up over this dumb thing? He's been asking me about this bracelet the whole day and guess he finally snapped tonight.
“Why?” I questioned and I heard Draven hiss before shooting me a glare, clearly annoyed by the fact that I was “questioning” his all mighty highness.
“It’s not just any bracelet, Adriana. It contains an herb called Vervain and it protects you from getting compelled,” he spilled finally, turning to look at me and I could feel my eyes widen in disbelief. “But I suppose you already knew that when you received it, didn’t you doll face?” He accused in an irritated tone and I shook my head in protest, sitting up on my bed.
“I swear-”
“Either way, I want you to take it off.” He muttered, cutting me off and I pressed my lips into a thin line before stretching my hands towards him and mumbling the words “Take it”. I heard Draven sigh in frustration and I looked up at him as he furrowed his eyebrows even tighter which kind of bothered me because I was only following his command so I see no reason why he has to act this annoyed. 
“Don’t you think I would if I could?” he slightly raised his voice and I blinked in confusion before it hit me. So wait, he can’t take it off by force?
“I’ll give it,” I said, touching the bracelet and biting my bottom lip hesitantly. “In exchange for my necklace.” I finished and I watched Draven slightly flinch at my words before he reached into his pockets, taking out my necklace and tangling it in-between his fingers.
“Fine.” He said and within seconds, I slipped off the bracelet, handing it to Draven and was about to take my necklace when Draven clutched my cheeks, his face leaning closer to meet my gaze. “Next time, don’t expect a bargain.” He said coldly, releasing his grip and throwing the necklace on the bed as I exhaled deeply. Close call.
That night, I tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. With another deep sigh, I threw off my blanket and jumped off the bed before sneaking out of my room. Why can’t I just go to sleep tonight?
“Maybe I can grab something to eat.” I mumbled to myself before walking through the hallway but it wasn’t long before Finn appeared in front of me, interrupting my little plans. I gasped and was about to take a step back when he grabbed my waist, jerking me closer towards him, causing me to squeal. 
“What do you want?” I asked, looking up to meet his brown eyes before placing a hand firmly on his chest, just to make sure that he couldn’t lean any more closer than he already was. 
“Where’re you wondering about, sweetheart?” he asked and I went silent for a few seconds before smacking my lips together in annoyance.
“I’m going to eat.” I responded, giving him a small push and he untangled his hand before brushing a hand through his straight, brown hair, a small smirk forming on his lips. “What?” I questioned and he leaned against the wall, his smirk deepening at my question. Talk about creepy.
“Ah, so you’re going to join us tonight?” he asked, taking a step forward and fear rushed through my face as I shook my head. “Why not?” he asked, taking a few more steps forward and out of instinct, I took not one, but five steps back before bumping against the wall. Bad move, because the next thing I knew, Finn had me trapped between his hands that were now placed on either side of my neck and I held back the urge to scream. I knew it was no use.
“I’m just hungry, Finn…” I mustered up the courage to say and he leaned his face closer, his minty breath fanning against my lips as I tried to find a way to slip past him.
“So am I.” he mumbled weakly and I was about to say something when a familiar voice interrupted us, causing Finn to take a step back almost instantly.
“Adriana, come here.” Vincent repeated and I quickly rushed up to him, glancing back at Finn, who was now giving us a serious look. I've got to give some points for Vincent, he’s always saving my ass from situations like these. I straddled next to him, struggling to even my heart beats and Vincent cleared his throat as we reached downstairs.
“It’s so dark in here.” I stated, looking around the dark surrounding and sighed in relief when I noticed the dim light above us.
“Why aren’t you asleep?” Vincent questioned, turning around and giving me a serious look. “It’s not safe.” He added and I groaned before sitting down on the last step of the stairs.
“I couldn’t. I don’t know why,” I responded and Vincent sat down next to me, his blue eyes gleaming inside the darkness and I tried my best to avoid eye-contact. “Can I ask you something?” I asked and he nodded, turning to face me.
“Shoot.” He said shortly and I smiled a little.
“Draven, why is everyone so scared of him?” I asked and Vincent chuckled softly before reaching into his pockets to pick something.
“He’s not as dangerous as some people assume him to be,” he responded, taking out a small injection filled with red liquid and I stared at it in surprise. “But that’s the kind of image he prefers to have.” Vincent said, rolling up his sleeves and I was about to say something when he pierced the needle through his skin, causing me to gasp.
“What are you doing?” I asked and he simply injected the liquid before pulling the needle away.
“Blood.” He mumbled with a smile and I stared at him, confusion written all over my face now.
“This way I won’t have to feed on the humans.” He said and I gave him a look of doubt. A vampire injecting blood rather than feeding on humans? Get real.

"How? I thought vampires were strong, how is the needle able to penetrate your skin?" I asked and he grunted softly before giving me a small smile.

"The injection is laced with Vervain" he replied shortly, rolling down his sleeves and I nodded slowly.
“Right, okay,” I mumbled, rubbing my hands together nervously. “Has Draven ever killed anyone before…?” I asked out of the blue and Vincent scratched the back of his hair, causing my heart to skip a beat.
“He was very close to,” with these words, my hands started to tremble and I gulped softly. Okay, new rule Adriana, never piss off Draven Cruz. “He only resorts to violence if it involves us. He’s only fought back to protect us so far.” Vincent continued and I landed my gaze back on the ground. So why was he treating me so badly?
“He hates me, doesn’t he?” I asked softly and I heard him chuckle again before shaking his head in pity. 
“You’ve not really been behaving well lately so what’d you expect?” he asked with a grin and I narrowed my eyes at him.
“I didn’t come here on my own free will, Vincent. What would you have done in my position?” I asked, my tone turning all serious and low and I watched his expression turn blank within seconds. 
“I wouldn’t know now, would I?” he asked, suddenly turning all cold and I scoffed before turning away.
“You don’t even want to hear me out because you know I’m right and anyone in their right minds wouldn’t go along to any of this.” I grimaced and he gave me another look before reaching up to pinch my cheeks.
“Sorry.” He smiled but somehow I was able to see through his lie. His smile was forced, fake, not genuine, call it whatever you want, it was definitely anything but sincere.
“About Draven-” I started to say when Vincent interrupted me.
“I can only say this,” he said, standing up and I looked up at him. “Don’t piss him off, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill you if he wanted to.” Vincent finished, turning around and I was about to bombard him with questions when he disappeared out of my sight.
“Vincent?!” I started calling, shooting up from my position but gave up when I realized he left. With a pounding heart, I was about to go back up to my room when I heard Rihanna’s voice, screaming through the mansion, causing me to freeze in my position, my heart almost ripping out of my chest. Ignore it, it’s just feeding time Adriana-
Another painful scream interrupted my thoughts and before I could even think straight, I found myself running towards the dining room, which I assumed was where the screams were echoing from.
As soon as I entered the room, my jaws dropped open as I stared at Draven, who was now digging himself inside her neck and I watched Rihanna cry out in pain, the color on her face draining away as he continued sucking her blood.
“It hurts…” I heard her barely choke out and I wanted to run but my feet refused to move any further. Do something, anything!
“Stop…” I choked out and I watched Draven stop to look at me, his eyes meeting mine for only a few seconds before he tightened the grip around her shoulders from behind.
“Draven…” Rihanna’s voice was barely audible now and I watched her skin getting paler within seconds, causing me to bolt up to Draven and ripping his hands away from her body. Her lump body dropped on the floor and I was about to snap at him when two large hands grabbed my shoulders tightly. Before I could even realize what was going on, my back was slammed to the nearest wall and I cried out in pain as I looked up to face Draven, his eyes filling with tons of emotions at once. 
“You could’ve killed her so I-” I started to explain myself but stopped when he glared at me with so much hatred, I started to tremble.
“Who the fuck do you think you are?!” he spat, leaning his face so close to mine, I could literally feel his hot, minty breath fanning against my lips.
“She could’ve died!” I started to defend myself, a sudden burst of desperation blowing up inside of me but I knew it wasn't going to last long because tears were already starting to glisten in my eyes and I swallowed in another whimper.
“Does she look dead to you?!” he asked, releasing his grip and pointing at Rihanna who was now getting up, her hand clutching the side of her neck as the blood started dripping down her neck and onto her dress.
“You were hurting her-”
“She asked for it, she begged for it, why the hell do you have to get involved?!” he raised his voice and I looked at Rihanna, who gave me a rather displeased look before turning away. “If you can’t even offer yourself to us, why-”
“If she truly wanted it, she wouldn’t be screaming out in so much pain!” I snapped with the last ounce of courage I had and gasped when Draven grasped my wrists before yanking me closer to him.
“I tried to be nice to you, I really did, Adriana.” He started through gritted teeth, his eyes growing a shade darker and I tried to hold myself together. “I didn’t feed on you or let my brother’s force themselves on you. I’ve let you pull your dumb fucking stunts for the past week and tried to be lenient with you but maybe it’s about time I stop playing nice.” As soon as those last words slipped through his mouth, the tears that I bottled up, rolled down my face and I jerked my hand away, the anger I’ve been holding in for too long suddenly bursting out. After all, I had nothing to lose, he was probably going to kill me now anyways. And lenient? Was he frikken joking right now?
“I don’t fucking care! I hate it here anyways, so kill me! Kill me and get it over with!” I screamed, taking a step forward and pounding on his chest repeatedly. “You plan to kill us all anyways, so why bother waiting around?! And since when were you ever lenient?!” I screamed even louder and was about to hit him again when he grabbed both my wrists before jerking me closer, a soft growl escaping through his lips and I swallowed the lump in my throat, my gaze landing on the floor helplessly.
“Like I said, killing you would be too easy.” His tone turned surprisingly soft and I looked up at him with hatred and anger.
“Then I’ll do the job myself!” I blabbered out, not really meaning to say that. It’s not like I was actually going to kill myself but I had to counter back with something and being the lame person I am, this was the best comeback I could come up with it. I watched Draven flinch slightly before narrowing his eyes at me, as if he was doubting my words. 
“It’ll still be a win for me,” He suddenly said, inching himself even closer, so close that I could feel the heat radiating off his body now. “You can try to end your life but I’ll definitely bring you back, doll face,” he grinned, fixating his cold eyes into my brown ones and mentally scoffed at his words. He’s powerful, I’ll admit that. But he can’t bring back the dead. “I’ll bring you back as a vampire.” He finished and my eyes widened as I tried to take in his words.
“Wh-what do you mea-”
“How ironic. Turning into the one thing you despise the most,” his smirk grew wider, releasing his grip and my whole body started to feel numb as I came to realize what he meant.
“Should we try it?”