5 Breakfast with a Vampire

When he reached where she stood, he walked past her, and she let out a sigh from her lips.

Inciting fear in people was something Theodore loved doing; he basked in the pleasure he got from it.

"Move!" The huge man ordered with a gruff and coarse voice, causing her to reluctantly move her feet.

A tickle of doubt came to settle on her forehead when the man led her to the same room Theodore entered. 'Am I really going to be someone's meal?'

They entered the room, and she saw that it was a dining hall. The guard bowed at Theodore before he was dismissed.

While Theodore took his seat at the head of the table, a maid came to serve him immediately, but he had other plans in mind.

"Leave!" The maid quickly scurried away. "Serve me." His eyes now on Vanessa.

After some time, when she had not made any attempt to come, his eyes flickered from black to red just enough for her to recall where she was now.

"Sit down." He ordered. When she did, he went on to add, "A little company wouldn't hurt."

"Please let me go."

A laugh escaped his lips, one that had a mix of evilness and glee. "You can actually speak! I was beginning to believe that you were mute."

She sent a subtle glare his way. For Vanessa, he was laughing like a maniac.

He continued, "It is not like there are chains holding you back from leaving."

His words were calm and almost believable, but Vanessa didn't move from her seat. For a person who just laughed like a maniac, it felt too easy.

Somehow she have learnt that the easy way wasn't always easy.

Theodore watched the human continue to stay in the same place. He brought a fork of steak to his mouth, and Vanessa, who turned to look at him, saw his fangs.

"Let's start with you telling me what you were doing in my land, forest girl."

As if she had internally decided that death wasn't a problem anymore, she went on to correct his words, "My name is Vanessa, not forest girl."

"I don't see any difference there; answer my question."

A frown came to settle on her forehead, and when he looked at her, she forced herself to say,

"There was a massacre in my town."

He did not bother to ask what happened, as everyone knew what happens during a massacre.

"Sorry for your losses." He said it with an unfeeling tone, making it obvious that he didn't care about who died or lived.

"Why did you save me? What do you want?"

Theodore did not answer her question; instead, he shocked her by saying,

"You are a witch."

Her head quickly snapped around to look at the vampire. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she looked slightly alarmed.

His eyes watched her intently. "Anything else you want to add?"

'How did he know? What gave in?' She thought.

'Everything,' came his curt reply.

'Can he read my thoughts?'

"You ask too many questions."

Though Theodore had directly pointed out that she was a witch, he was only testing the waters. His servant had mentioned to him the massacred town—Mistleville.

The town of Mistleville harbored mostly witches, so it was just a pure guess.

"I'm not always nice, but your subtle obedience has earned you a rare gem." Theodore pushed the bowl of meat toward Vanessa.

Her stomach growled enough to let her know that she was really in need of something to eat. But she shook her head in refusal when she saw the meats, which looked uncooked—and that's because they were only half cooked.

"I will pass."

He hummed in satisfaction after putting another piece of steak in his mouth, as if she was missing something good.

"Aren't you supposed to be chanting out spells so you can escape?"

"I can't chant spells. I appear more human than I'm supposed to be." Her voice held sadness in it.

"Just a witch without abilities," he tsked. "Such a shame."

"That's why you need to let me go, peacefully." She replied desperately, "I won't be of any use to you."

Apart from the need to take revenge, which was slowly seeping into her skin, she wanted to find her brother.

'Stay safe until I come to meet you.' She closed her eyes for a brief second.

"That is up to me to decide, and if you truly are worth nothing, you might as well start thinking about spending your remaining days in the graveyard."

"My brother is out there." She blurted out.

His eyes met hers. "What makes you think I care?"

Her hands clenched into a fist beneath the table.

"The magistrate is here." Ralph came to inform Theodore, who nodded in acknowledgement.

He turned back to look at Vanessa. "Ralph will assign you something to do; let's see what other thing you are good at, apart from amusing me."

Dabbing his lips with a cloth, and stood up, ready to leave.

"Wait! What if I have something worth offering? Can I make a request?"

"You are in no position to negotiate, but, pray tell, what is so worth offering?" Mirth already dancing in his eyes.

Vanessa's eyes moved to where her pouch should be, but she found it empty. And she noticed that her clothes had also been changed.

"The medicine. Where did it go?" She murmured with a frown. Her eyes moved to look at Theodore.

And he could only burst out in a loud guffaw that had Vanessa internally questioning, what was so funny about her situation.

"You must be looking for this." He waved his hand to show a bottle, which she quickly recognized. He threw the bottle for her to catch. "Not intriguing enough." He said and walked away.

She stared at the bottles now in her hands. 'How could he conclude that, without even knowing what it actually does.' She thought with a look of annoyance.

"How is your daughter, Elaine is it?" A wicked glee in his voice as he spoke to the magistrate. "She made papa proud by marrying a nobleman."

The magistrate, who felt uneasy at the king's words, hurried to ask, "My king, have I done something wrong?"

Theodore took a sip of his blood tea before setting it down and looking at the magistrate, who was now troubled.

"Did you?"

The magistrate fell silent as if he were thinking about it, then shook his head in denial.

Theodore did not bother to beat around, and dropped the bean on him, "What are you doing every night instead of carrying out your duties, Briggs?" The magistrate opened his mouth to speak, but Theodore beat him to it. "Fucking every shameless townswomen that open to you."

Briggs' eyes went wide with shock and anxiousness, and it was not due to King's unfiltered words but because he was right.

"Your majesty—"

"I wonder how your loving wife will feel once she finds out."

"Your highness, my men are always on watch."

Theodore gave a hum, as if he agreed. "They must be very skilled." A proud smile played on Briggs' lips. That was until he heard his next words. "For a human to have bypassed them, she must have turned invincible. Don't you think?" a crooked smile on his lips.