Chapter 20: Chapter 20

[Nivera’s POV]

Something was going on in the house, but Lucien wouldn’t tell me what it was. I was really disturbed and although I had tried to believe that Mrs Phil had just said what she said due to her mental illness, I had a feeling that there might be more to it.

I tossed and turned in my bed, but was unable to sleep. The lights were off and I had closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep, and even went as far as faking a snore when Lucien had come to bid me goodnight.

Perhaps, a glass of milk would help me fall asleep, but he had forbidden me from coming downstairs in the meantime. According to him, there was a kind of renovation going on and since it was a surprise, he didn’t want me to ruin it by seeing it before it was complete. I didn’t fully believe him, but I pretended to.

Just as I was about to turn on the lights and keep myself busy by reading a book, I heard footsteps… they were steady, loud and clear. It came from the room on the far end of the floor; Lucien’s room. He was heading downstairs, but why was he doing so by this time?

His footsteps stopped right in front of my door and I shut my eyes instantly in case he wanted to come in to check up on me. There was an eerie and unnerving silence for a few moments, then he resumed walking till his footsteps faded into the darkness.

At first, there was nothing and I thought he was probably just eating popcorn and watching TV, but then, just seconds later, I heard a noise. My frail sense of hearing as an Omega could tell the sound had either come from the study or the basement. I wasn’t too sure about what it was, other than it was loud and abrupt.

I listened in, and soon heard snarling, growling and hissing. My heart nearly jumped out of my chest in fear and I trembled as I laid in bed, hugging the sheets closer to my chest to keep me from falling apart.

The next thing I heard was a sound that sounded more like a struggle, and the throwing of an item. When I concentrated and listened closer, a scream which was muffled penetrated through my eardrums.

What if… What if Lucien was holding someone captive and feeding on the person’s blood against their will, because in all honestly, that was what it sounded like. I pinched myself and shook my head. No, I had to stop thinking that Lucien was the bad guy all the time. He might be a big powerful vampire, but perhaps, he was the one in danger.

Ever since we heard the knock on the door the day before, he had been acting kind of strange. Was he being threatened? Could he be in danger? This was someone that had saved my life and taken me in. Instead of thinking the worst of him, perhaps, this was the one time he needed my help and I needed to offer it to him.

Therefore, I mustered up courage and climbed out of my bed, walking gently so as not to make a noise. I heaved a sigh as I grabbed a pair of scissors from my dresser and stepped out of the room, then shut the door quietly behind me.

I stared into the dark hallway which was usually brightened by fluorescent lights and fiddled with the hem of my nightgown. I braced myself, then began to tiptoe all the way downstairs. With each step I took, I could hear the muffled screams even louder and my heart was pounding with immense fear, hoping that Lucien was not in danger, and if he wasn’t, I also hoped he wasn’t doing anything that would make me despise him.

When I got to the foot of the stairs, I listened. There was nothing. I tiptoed into the living room in the darkness, frightened by something I wasn’t even sure of yet.

Lucien was nowhere in sight, and I was wondering if he had probably stepped out and I had just been hearing things when suddenly, I heard a clatter and a rough struggle. I shook with fear and turned towards the direction where it had come from, but my sensory abilities were confused as the sound echoed in all areas of the house, so I couldn’t exactly pinpoint where the clatter sound had come from.

I was going towards the basement trying to keep my breathing steady and not make a sound when all of a sudden, a tall dark figure appeared in front of me and before I could say a word, his hand was around my neck, almost choking me to death.

I tapped on the hand as I struggled for life. “Let… let me go,” I managed to say with tears streaming down my eyes.

He pushed me against the wall and lifted me above the ground, so I was now dangling from the air. I was terribly scared and I wished I had just stayed up in my room.

“I warned you not to leave your bedroom unless I said otherwise!” he thundered.

“Lu… Lucien?” To say I was shocked would be an understatement of how I felt at that very moment. I was beyond shocked; I was disappointed and I felt betrayed.

He snapped his fingers and the lights came on. Seeing him even more clearly hurt me more than I had expected. I had trusted him with my life, and just like that, he had made me regret it. Celeste was right. There was more to life than meets the eye.

“I warned you!” he screamed.

His eyes, a burning red flame gazed deeply into my eyes. His hands were covered in blood and a few drops trickled down his mouth.

“I… I am sorry. I won’t go against your words again,” I promised.

“Of course, you won’t. I’ll end your life if you do,” he said, and with that, he lessened the grip his hand had over my neck and I dropped to the ground like a piece of thin clothing.

My body ached all over and I could barely move as he bent to where I laid on my stomach, broken and weak.

He lifted my chin and made me meet his eyes; they no longer shone red.

“I… I’m sorry,” he said, shaking his head like he couldn’t believe what he had just done. He held me in his arms and held me close to him. I was so scared… so scared that I wanted to run away, but I couldn’t because of how weak I was.

With tears in his eyes, he looked deep into my eyes. “You’ll forget about what happened here tonight. You’ll only remember falling asleep after having dinner,” he said to me.

A drop of tear fell from my eyes as he kept on looking at me pitifully, with so much regret.

“Goodnight, Nivera,” he said.

“Goodnight, Lucien,” I told him, and slowly, my eyes drifted off to sleep.

Somewhere around the corner were the small stairs that led to the basement; the very place where the noise had come from, and although Lucien thought he had probably solved it all through compulsion, the truth was that nothing stayed hidden for too long.