A Tool

"The same thing he did to you. Your father let your mother sleep."

Calixto clenched his fist. "And you seem to think that it was some kind of mercy."

Love sighed deeply, then gazed at Iris who was staring blankly at the wall. She knew that the girl was listening to their conversation. She could not understand why Calixto took her with him and let her listen to their talk about family matters.

She could smell the flower scent from Iris's blood. She knew she came from the same bloodline that Calixto's father kept in the mansion but it was not enough to trust her. In actuality, it was more reason not to trust her. For her blood could make any rational vampire weak!

"It is a form of mercy! Your mother ignited a rebellion that caused the death of our kind and family members!" She hissed at her cousin and glared at the girl that seemed to turn into a statue. "Get out!" She snapped at her.

Iris flinched when she heard the anger in Love's voice. She glanced at Calixto was sitting on the armchair, unmoving.

"Uh," she cleared her throat to get Calixto's attention. She wanted to smack the back of his head for he was not doing anything. She didn't want to be here, listening to their conversation especially when his cousin wasn't hiding her dislike towards her.

"You can step out of the room but don't go too far."

Finally, Calixto spoke up. Iris sighed with relief and quickly turned around and dashed to the door. She felt like she needed the air to breathe. The moment she stepped out of the room, she turned to her left and dragged a chair to the balcony railing.

She deposited herself to the chair, sighing loudly. She took in the night breeze, clearing her chest that appeared to forget how to breathe properly because of Calixto's cousin. Now that she was outside, she wondered what they were talking about. She heard plenty enough to know that Calixto slept under the stairs of his basement mansion because of his father. And from what she heard from Love, Calixto's mother was also in a state of deep slumber. And none of them wanted it but his father—that man with silver hair that she had met and who tied her on a chair made it happen without Calixto's permission. And from what she heard from Love, the same thing was done to Calixto's mother.

She stared at the moonless sky, feeling the cool night breeze, and wondered how can a vampire be put into a deep slumber against his or her will.

If Monette were here, she would have a field day with all of this information. But not her. She was curious, yes, but she didn't really care about it. She had nothing to do with Calixto's family drama. She had no family of her own and she was nothing but a meal for Calixto.

He could deal with his own drama. As far as she was concerned, she just needed to earn money, so that she could do what she wanted. She opened her backpack and took out the new computer that Calixto gave her. Being his meal wasn't so bad. Her blood stayed new because it was being taken at a regular interval and every now and then, Calixto would give her something nice, like for example this new laptop that she was using.

It wasn't bad of a deal.

Meanwhile, back in the room where Iris left, Calixto and Love were staring at each other as though they were seizing who was the strongest between them. The words that Love said about her ability to take down Calixto without breaking a sweat left a bitter taste in his mouth.

"Why do you trust her?" Love broke the silence first. She exhaled a deep breath, relaxed her shoulders, and leaned back on her chair.

Calixto did the same, arching his brow in question.

"I mean, her family was the cause of your demise."

Calixto stapled his hands together in his stomach and fell into deep thoughts. 'Why indeed,' he asked himself. The moment he was awakened, he knew that Iris was the descendant of Fleur—the woman who betrayed her. They even tasted the same, and yet, like a bee, he was drawn to Iris—to her blood.

He could blame his father for not letting him drink other blood than the one from Fleur's bloodline, but then, he had already found out where his family was and he could return to them—his father promised him that. But why he still could not trust his father's words. Was it because of the words that Fleur said on the last night that they were together. But then, Fleur was a liar. She lied to him right on his face.

He heaved a deep breath and tightened his hands on his stomach. After sleeping for five hundred years, he didn't know who he could trust. He had no idea what had happened after his father forced him to sleep by poisoning him with the blood of the woman he loved.

"Her family was the tool. They had been the sword but we both know who was wielding the sword," he said in a cold tone of voice.

Love averted her eyes. She knew and understood what was happening with Calixto. "But this is a different world from our past," she said the thoughts that were running in her head. "Whether you like it or not, you have to learn how to survive in this world."

He scoffed and straightened his back. "Is that why you are all over the internet. Is that why you plastered your face for everyone to see on those social media platforms? Is that how it is to live in this new world?" He asked with sarcasm.

"It is dangerous as it was in the past for our kind, Calixto. But we can no longer hide under the basement of our mansion. There are more effective ways to hide in this world."

"The same way that there are more effective ways to kill our kind in this world."