Tattered Roses - Chapter Two

And here's chapter two of Tattered Roses/I'm a Vampire's Slave. And Pregnant?!

To read chapter one, click here.

Chapter Two

I woke up as I was being carelessly thrown over a shoulder. I almost dropped Oliver, but held him tightly to me. I opened my eyes to notice I was being carried by Liam. London was in front of me, “Dad, be careful with her. You’ve already burned her.”

“I bought her, I can treat her how I want.” Liam said in an annoyed tone as he started to walk away from the Jeep and into a house. I cringed slightly at his words. The inside of the house was dimly lit and my eyes were fuzzy, which caused me to not be able to see much. I felt Liam walk up a flight of stairs before he tossed me onto a comfortable bed. I groaned slightly at the force he used to throw me, but I was grateful for the comfortable bed underneath me. I wanted nothing more than to just go back to sleep.

“Liam! Humans are fragile!” I heard a girl say before the overhead light came on, flooding the room and causing me to close my eyes again. I felt a cold hand on both of my shoulders and I opened my eyes to look up at another gorgeous vampire. I hated that I was human and didn’t have any attractive features on me at all. The girl had long blonde layered hair with dark brown roots, pulled up into a pony tail and deep bluish purple eyes. She had black stretchers in her earlobes and a black loop hanging from her septum. She pulled me up to a sitting position and gave me a little smile.

“’Hey, babe’, to you, too.” Liam said as he leaned down and gave the girl a kiss on the cheek. The girl’s smile became bigger and she turned her head and pulled him in for a kiss on the lips. The girl pulled away and looked back at me, “I’m Serena. I hope my husband hasn’t given you a hard time.”

I hid my face in Oliver’s soft fur. I didn’t know what to say. I was completely nervous. Before I knew it, Liam had pulled Oliver from me and back handed me across the face, “You will speak to her.”

“LIAM!” Serena yelled, causing me to jump. Hot tears stung my eyes from the pain. I think I would have preferred being up on that stage right now instead of being at his hands. Serena glared at Liam, “You will not touch her like  that.”

Liam rolled his eyes before walking out of the room and closing the door. Serena sighed and looked over at me, “I’m so sorry. He's not - oh! you’re bleeding.”

Serena pulled me off of the bed and into the conjoining bathroom. She grabbed a black washrag and put it to my lip. I wasn’t as afraid of her as I was Liam. Why did he hate me? I wiped at my eyes, not wanting Serena to see me cry and think me weak. London opened the bathroom door, holding Oliver. She handed him to me and I greedily took him. I never wanted him to leave my arms again. “Dad’s annoyed, what happened?”

“I got onto him for hitting her.” Serena said as she wet the wash cloth and dabbed it back onto my lip. London sighed and pulled herself up onto the black counter. “Is there anything I can get for you?” Serena asked me, concern and worry in her eyes.

I looked up at Serena. I remembered Liam’s comment about my hair. If she can cut hair, I want her to cut it. I nodded, “Can you cut my hair?”

Serena smiled, her fangs showing. I looked down at Oliver, feeling uncomfortable. I looked back up as Serena took my hair out of its braid, “I can, but I don’t want to cut much length off of it. Do you want it done a certain way?”

I shook my head, “I just want it shorter.”

Serena glanced over at London before pulling a vanity stool out from under the black vanity behind her and sitting me on it. She turned me around and ran a brush through my hair. Serena started to cut my hair. I smiled slightly, loving the way it felt. If they did this kind of stuff all the time, I could get used to it. I relaxed. After a while of listening to Serena and London chat while Serena cut my hair, there was a knock at the door. London looked up at the door and smiled at the person.

“Your dad said you were in here.” A familiar voice said. I looked up at the mirror behind London to see the reflection of the young vampire from the auction house. I remembered when I first saw him at the auction house, when Nolan was selling me. Some other vampire was trying to take Oliver from me and take my clothes off. He also made fun of me for crying. The young vampire took me from the mean vampire and did all the tests he needed to do on me. He was really nice to me while the other vampires weren’t. I know my kind is the lowest and we’re here for food and to be slaves, but it means a lot that someone would be nice to me without being forced to. I saw the vampire look at my reflection and he smiled when we made eye contact. I couldn’t help but blush, “Nice job, Mrs. Serena. I like it. I think it suits her.”

“Thank you, Atticus. I heard you were the one to choose her. Is that true?” Serena asked as she finished cutting my hair. Atticus nodded, “Yes, ma’am. When she came to us, she was frightened out of her mind and I didn’t want to see her go to some place terrible and I knew Liam wanted a human girl, so I told London about her. By the way, is Salem back from his party, yet?”

“Nope but he said they were at The Void.” London said as she pulled her white-blonde bangs out of her eyes and looked up at Atticus. Atticus chuckled, “That sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. At least we can be sober chauffeurs if needed.”

Serena stood me up and turned me to look at the mirror, so I could see my newly cut hair. I almost didn't recognize the girl with the chocolate colored eyes staring back at me. My hair made me look decent. Serena had cut several inches off, so my hair ended in the middle of my chest and there were several layers. My hair had always been one length so it was a nice change. And finally, I had side swooping bangs, like both London and Serena. I smiled, overly pleased with her work, “I love it.”

London stood up and examined my hair, “I think the style suits your face and brings out your natural beauty.”

“Agreed.” Atticus said from behind me. I blushed. Compliments weren’t something I had ever received. And I never expected to get any from highly attractive vampires. It was kind of almost like if I told a cow how pretty its spots were, you just don’t compliment your food. Serena started to sweep up the clumps of my black hair off of the floor, “Why don’t the two of you take her to the kitchen? I’m sure she's hungry.”

“Alright, Mom.” London said before walking out of the bathroom. Atticus followed her and I knew I had to follow the both of them. I was afraid to get near Liam again. I grabbed onto Atticus' arm like I did earlier and followed them through the large house. I stayed close to Atticus and held onto his cold arm tightly as I looked around at all the pictures on the walls. Before I knew it, we were at the bottom of a curving staircase and walking into a living room. Liam was sitting on a black leather couch, strumming on a black guitar with a cigarette in his mouth. I moved closer to Atticus and hid behind him. London made a fake coughing sound, "Did you smoke a whole pack?"

Liam rolled his eyes before looking up at London and giving an unamused fake laugh, “Ha. Ha.”

Liam set the guitar beside the couch before standing up and looking at me. I remembered him hitting me earlier and I grabbed onto the back of Atticus’ grey shirt. I didn’t want to be in Liam’s hands again. What if he hit me again? Or burned me? I couldn’t handle that. Atticus reached behind himself, grabbed my arm, and pulled me towards Liam. I quickly wrapped my arms around him and buried my face in his back. Atticus chuckled, making a rumble go through his chest, “Come on, Audrey. I know you think I’m sexy and all, but you don't belong to me. They are going to be the ones to take care of you.”

I remembered hearing London say they got me because I was cute. Isn't that code word for being food? How can I be taken care of if they are going to kill me? I didn’t want to die. I didn’t even want to be fed from. People have said it’s painful to be bitten. Liam chuckled, “She's scared of me.”

Atticus wrapped his arms behind his back and pulled me away from him. I latched onto his arm, terrified Liam would hit me again. Atticus pulled me through the living room and into a large kitchen. It wasn't as big as the one at the auction house. This one looked more homey, even though it was dark. The only light was the one above the stove. I stayed close to Atticus. Have I mentioned I'm afraid of the dark? Well, I am afraid of the dark. It doesn't help that vampires live in the dark more than the light, and that they have night vision so they don't even need lights. I held on to Atticus tighter, as if he could protect me from anything lurking in the dark.

London searched through the cabinets. Were they some of the vampires that didn't eat food and only lived on blood, like my old owner? Atticus tried to sit on a bar-stool but I was too scared to let go of his arm. He gave me a little smile, "No one is going to hurt you. You can let go of me."

I didn't want to let go of him. He made me feel safe. He patted the bar-stool next to him and I quietly let go of his arm and sat beside him. I watched London as she pulled some things out of the cabinets and started to cook. I stayed silent as London and Atticus talked and laughed with each other. It seemed like forever until London was finished cooking. She placed a plate of steaming hot noodles in front of me. I stared at them. It didn't look very appetizing, but it had to be better than what Ramona used to give me. London placed a glass of water in front of me, "Be careful, it's hot."

I nodded, watching as Atticus got up to fix himself a plate. London was beside him, also helping herself to the slimy noodles. I stayed silent as they laughed about something. Atticus set his plate down beside me and instantly started to eat, "Hot, that's hot!"

London rolled her eyes, "Didn't you hear me say it was hot?"

"No. I was busy texting Salem." Atticus replied. London shook her head and scooped some noodles onto her fork before blowing them, to cool them off. I tried to copy her but was having trouble picking the noodles up. Atticus shrugged, "Plus, alfredo is my favorite and I suck at making it."

Is this alfredo? I finally got some noodles on my fork and slurped them quickly before they fell back onto the plate. The slimy stuff on the noodles was hot but it tasted wonderful. This is amazing compared to what Ramona used to give me. I heard a ringing noise and looked up at London. She pulled a cell phone out of her cardigan pocket and looked at the screen before silencing the phone and sliding it back in her pocket with an annoyed sigh, "Zeke just doesn't want to leave me alone."

"Do you want me to talk to him?" Atticus asked.

London shook her head, "Oh yes, my brother's best friend telling off my ex. That just sounds pathetic."

"Well the cheater needs to get it in his head you don't want anything to do with him anymore." Atticus said as he ate his alfredo. I stayed quiet as I ate my hot noodles. Liam came into the room, making me stiffen as we made eye contact. London noticed my discomfort and sent Liam a glare, "Dad!"

"What? I'm not doing anything." Liam said as he leaned against the door frame with his arms folded across his chest. London sighed, "She's scared of you and you know it."

Liam rolled his eyes, "I can't fix it just like that. Serena wanted me to check on her."

"She's doing fine." London said in annoyance towards Liam. Liam chuckled and left the room. We ate in silence, but it wasn't an awkward kind of silence. I was comfortable with them. When we were all finished eating, London placed everyone's plates in the sink and grabbed my wrist before pulling me out of the kitchen.

"Let's find you something cute to wear, and do your makeup. It's the only thing I can think of doing until Salem gets home." London said as she drug me through the house and into a room I assumed belonged to her.