Chapter 4

My mind did a lot of racing in stressful situations, and being told that I would have to interact with people who would then try to kill me was some of the worst stress that I thought I was ever going to go through.

Kydro, as it turned out, wasn’t exactly ‘stressful,’ since our picnic was absolutely okay, and then he took me around the castle and showed me his favorite painting, which was of a beautiful-looking meadow. I went to bed in my gilded cage that night wondering if all the Runners were going to be as easy to be around as Kydro was.

“Are you thinking too hard, lovely?”

I was, of course, incorrect. The sultry, creepy voice brought me out of my hopeful stupor and right back into reality, where I now had to deal with a man that kept giving me looks that just made me straight-up uncomfortable.

This man had said, as soon as I walked into the room the guards had brought me into, said, “My name is Killian Renwick. What’s your name, sweetness?” and I immediately realized that I was in for a very bad time.

That wasn’t to say Killian wasn’t attractive - he was definitely objectively handsome, though of course I wasn’t feeling much since I wasn’t attracted to men at all, but even if I were, his alien-looking eyes with red iris and black sclera would turn me off all the same.

Every single time we made eye contact, I would get a chill up my spine and try to look away, and Killian would immediately notice and give me a smug smirk that I wanted to slap right off his face.

“I never think too hard,” I said, “I just think.”

“And that takes a lot of effort, it seems.”

I had to give the man credit, he had some good clapbacks. I glared daggers into the man as his smirk returned, but I said nothing else.

“Well, as much as I love watching your beautiful face,” said Killian, “I believe this is the point where I have to bring you somewhere so we can... spend some time together?” Killian winked at me when he said that.

“Ew.”

That was all I had to say to him. Killian said nothing in response and simply took my hand instead. I gasped when I felt his skin; it was ice cold and clammy, like I was holding the hand of a corpse.

“Am I just that enticing?” Killian asked, then he clutched my hand before I could pull away.

“No, you’re just cold as death!” I said, “What the hell?!”

“Ah, you’re not aware of my species?” Killian asked. When I shook my head, he smiled, showing off those fangs of his again, and said, “Well my sweetness, I am a vampire.”

In retrospect, I should have figured it out by that point, but somehow my brain just didn’t make the connection until Killian confirmed it.

I think he was expecting me to be shocked, or try to deny what he was. instead, I just shrugged and said, “Oh,” which caused him to look a little surprised.

“Well, that’s not what I expected,” said Killian, “But hey, little reaction is still a reaction, wouldn’t you say?”

I said nothing, just glared. The bloodsucker had gotten on my last nerve and I just wanted the day to end so I wouldn’t have to deal with him anymore. Killian smiled at me again.

“So, you’re familiar with vampires, sweetness?” Killian asked, “They exist where you come from?”

“Not really,” I said, “Where I come from, they’re fictional.”

“Well, your world sounds boring,” said Killian, “What is there that you have in your world for fun?”

“The internet.” I said, reveling in Killian’s confused look.

“What’s that?” he asked.

“You think I’m gonna tell you?” I said, “Use your imagination. Trust me, you’ll never figure out what the hell I’m talking about.”

Killian grunted and tried to play it off, but the frustrated look on his face was sweet, and was definitely going to be my happy place for the rest of the day. That small victory was quickly overshadowed when we got out into the fresh air.

“Wait, you can just be out in the sunlight?” I asked.

“Of course I can,” said Killian, “Why couldn’t I be?”

“You don’t… burn? Or even sparkle?” I asked.

“Why would I…” Killian seemed utterly confused by what I was saying, which was another small victory for me, but still a victory.

“Either way, whatever you suppose my kind does,” said Killian, taking my hand and pulling me into the castle hallway, “I have to bring you somewhere, and I know just the place where we can go.”

“And where is that?” I asked.

Killian turned back to give me his trademarked smug grin, exaggeratedly shrug his shoulders, and said, “You’ll see it when you see it.”

I rolled my eyes and allowed the man to lead me, trying to play off like I didn’t care what he wanted to do. Instead, my mind started wandering off to other things, like what exactly I was gonna be in for when the Requiem Run began. The goal for this man was to kill me, and he was a vampire. I didn’t know how an actual vampire worked in this world - after all, he seemed confused when I mentioned burning in the daylight - but I had a pretty good idea that he could sniff me out like a dog, which wasn’t good for me.

Kydro was a big tough guy, which was already bad news for me, but at least he seemed to feel a little bad about the fact that he had to hunt me down and kill me. This guy, Killian, didn’t seem like he cared at all about that fact. Hell, he was probably looking forward to it.

Killian led me out of the castle through a different door, a single small one that went straight out into the woods.

“Don’t try to run away,” said Killian, “I’ll catch you, and I’ll have to report it to the guards. They don’t like runaways.”

“I’ve been told.” I said, “I’m not gonna try anything, promise.”

“I’ll hold you to it, sweetness.” Killian’s little pet names were starting to get on my nerves, but I figured it would just be a waste of time to tell him off. Hell, it’d probably make him call me that name more, just so he could piss me off.

“Why did we go out a backdoor anyway?” I asked as I tried to blow the man’s head up with my mind. Unfortunately, it didn’t work, and Killian just smiled again.

“Well, I have a lot of… supporters,” said Killian, “And they really don’t like the maidens, jealousy and all that.”

“I could take some lovestruck wet-for-bloodsucker housewives.” I muttered under my breath. I wasn’t entirely sure if Killian caught what I said, since I was behind him and couldn’t see his face anymore. Either way, I at least had the opportunity to admire some of the twisty trees, which were so alien to me they were amazing.

I started wondering about more of the nature that this world had, and how different it was going to be from Earth, from what I had seen. I made a mental note to keep an eye out for other plants and things I didn’t recognize, when I blurted something out.

“Is that a Queen’s Tansy?” I asked, pointing to a large tree that was just off the path; it was in a clearing, circled by other trees, but noticeably separate from them. Killian glanced in the direction that I was pointing, then he slowed down.

“It sure is,” he said, “I remember that tree, I planted it myself.”

“Really?” I asked.

“Yes, me and the Empress…” Killian spoke in a wistful manner, like he was thinking back to a better time. Then, he gently shook his head like he was clearing his thoughts and said, “You’ve done your research on our world, huh? Unless you have Queen’s Tansies where you come from?”

“Uh, no,” I said, “I just… knew.”

My mind went blank when I said that, because it was true. I had no idea about tree types in my own world, much less in this world, but I was able to identify a certain type of tree in this world like it was no big deal. Something felt wrong with my brain, but I couldn’t place what it was, and it was starting to scare me.

“We’re here!” Killian’s voice sent me back to reality, and it took me a moment to realize where exactly we were; at the shore of a creek with rushing blue water.

“Wow.” I said, taking in all the nature smells, “I like this place.”

“I do too.” said Killian, “It’s just so peaceful, isn’t it?”

“It is.” I couldn’t help but agree. I wasn’t much of an outdoor person ever, but I loved being able to stand by a creek and take it all in, the smells, the looks, the sounds…

It took me a second to realize that the sound I thought was the creek, was actually Killian’s nose sniffing my neck as he stood against my back. As soon as I realized what the vampire was doing, I shrieked and tried to pull away.

I made it about three steps away before Killian grabbed my hand and pushed me into a big tree, pinning me between the tree and himself. I tried to fight him off, but Killian was too strong for me, holding my right wrist in a vice grip over my left arm in front of my chest, preventing me from moving my arms, or moving much at all.

“Let me smell.” Killian’s voice was a low growl, like he was trying to hold himself back from something. For the first time since I realized he was a vampire, Killian had actually scared the crap out of me, and I froze.

“You are the most delicious maiden I’ve ever smelled,” Killian said, “If it weren’t for the Requiem Run being in three days, I’d drink you dry right here and now.”

“Get off me!” I yelled, shoving against the man with all of my might with my own body. Killian barely budged, just went in a little deeper and sniffed the back of my neck. I shrieked and brought my knee up, successfully connecting with his groin.

Killian grunted and leaned off his grip for a bit, but it was enough for me to shove him forward, off his balance, and off of me. I stumbled a little and collapsed next to the river, brushing my hand against the water and slipping in the mud.

“Hey, hold on!” Killian yelled, “Be careful with the river, it could suck -“

Before Killian could finish his sentence, The mud beneath me slid me straight into the water. I shrieked, next thing I knew I was ripped away, underwater and unsure of which way was up. I thrusted my hands out, trying to break to the surface as my shriek when I fell in had taken out most of my air.

I could barely see through the muddy river water, just brown with occasional underwater plants. I tried to swim, but the rip of the water was throwing me all over the place. I was starting to see colors in the corner of my vision, running out of air.

Just when I thought I was going to have to suck in water and deal with the consequences, my left wrist was roughly grabbed and my head finally broke the surface, allowing me to suck in a big breath of air and splash in the water.

“Stop fighting me for Krasslon’s sake!” I heard a shout, but I continued to thrash until I was finally pulled free from the water and was on fully dry dirt a ways away, coughing for air. I looked up, and Killian’s worried face greeted me.

“Are you okay?” Killian asked, “Did you take in any water?”

“No… no, I don’t think so,” I said, coughing a little more, “… Thank you.”

“I… I thought…” Killian genuinely looked concerned, like he thought I was going to drown or something. That worry quickly went away and was replaced with that trademarked smug grin of his that I hated so much.

“Good thing you didn’t drown,” said Killian, “It’s supposed to be my job to kill you, not this river. Why don’t we get you back to the castle so we can get you all dried up?”

God, I wanted to slap that awful smirk off of his face, but I managed to keep myself composed enough to just nod and allow the man to lead me back to the castle. I really hoped that meeting these jerks could only go up from here.