State your name

I took in a deep breath, trying as much as possible to not freak out. Sure there were stories of girls going missing but most times, it was being summed up to them finding true love or some shit that never really bothered me.

“oh” i said, letting out a shaky breath. “you mentioned that the goddess gave you a weak bride. Is it safe to assume that you have chosen me as your bride then?” i asked, looking up at him.

“hmm” he nodded “i am surprised you are taking this quite well.”

I let out a shaky breath. My parents decided it was best for me to find something to do after high school because they thought it was better if Mika went to school. They were so happy to drain their savings for Mika and dip into the inheritance my grandparents left for me so honestly, if it meant i got to live a comfortable life, then i was not going to complain, i mean, what was the worst that could happen

“is there a way i should have taken it my lord?” i said, bowing down to avoid his gaze.

“hmm” he said, laying the cup at the side stool. “i do believe you should hold this attitude when you see what you are getting yourself into”

I said nothing, the trembling feeling coming back to hit me as he approached me. “i..is there any...thi..ng you ne..ed m… m…my lord?”

He said nothing, taking powerful strides my way. “I need to know what I am getting to if I am going to go with this” he said, gripping my hair rather tightly while he looked me in the eyes. I opened my mouth to speak, but before a sound could come out, he threw my hair to the side, forcing a head to the side, giving him more access to my neck.

I felt my heart race faster than i could ever imagine. Not even when i was about to die did i feel this way.

“just, don’t think of it” he said, gripping my lower back, causing me to gasp before he sunk his teeth into my neck.

Nothing felt right. I felt a stinging pain in my neck, to the gut wrenching feeling that came after the pain, nothing, absolutely nothing felt right.

“p…pl… please…” i begged, my body going into a fight or flight mode as i tried to put some distance between us but he was not having it. He held me close to him like his life depended on it. “let me…. go!!’ i yelled as i felt my body going limp.

“shut up” he said, reattaching his teeth back into my neck. It felt as though he was taking the life out of me and before i knew it, my eyes went heavy.

“hey” he threw me to the side like i was some rag doll. I gasped, struggling to get back up, but fear…

I watched as the man whose skin was as pale as snow had blood dripping down his chin and his eyes were the reddest i had ever seen.

I gulped, the dizzy feeling i experienced earlier fading away as i watched him take a step my way with those fangs coming down from his lips. “you..” i screeched, looking at the man/beast in front of me.

I tried as much as possible to get away as i was still on my knees and hands. “Get away from me!” I yelled as he took another step my way. Finally it hit me.

How he was able to rip of Lauretta’s head, the teeth sinking, i had heard of him, stories my grandmother told me of before she died.

“you a…are.. you… monster” i said, trying to get further away from him but was stopped by the wall with nowhere to run to.

“how hurtful” he said, stepping into the light, allowing me to see him fully before he charged at me…..

**

“so, if i get you, you hurt the human” was the first thing i heard as i tried to open my eyes.

“my lady… i just.. i did not know that… it was all her fault!!” the familiar voice of the monster came to me, forcing me to go still, fear piercing through my body. “she called me a monster, and i… i just wanted to teach h..her a lesson” his voice sounded shaky, causing me to become shocked, he had sounded every way confident before, that sounding this way just felt…

For a split second, i thought it was a different person and was tempted to open my eyes to check ‘i would rather not be too hasty’ i thought to myself, shutting my eyes even tighter.

“no matter your reason!” she cut him off “the Caudly family strictly forbids hurting a human… unless…” her voice broke for a split second, “you dare to go against the crown…” she said, her voice sounding closer and more terrifying.

“i dare not! I would rather…!” suddenly, the room was filled with silence, “you may open your eyes” she said, sounding like she did not have a care in the world. Something in her voice compelled the whole of me to listen, no arguments, not trying to ignore it.

As though my body was being controlled, i opened my eyes, looking around to see that i was in a different place. This definitely did not feel or look like the castle.

“state your name” she said, sitting across the room like she was some sort of royalty. It was in the way she sat, the way she spoke, everything.

“Ad..Advika” i said, trying as much as possible to ignore her gaze and not stammer.

“have you no surname?” i froze at that question. Not because i did not have, o i did have, my family was one of the most popular and dare i say richest, but something about using their surname always made my mother antsy.

She hated it

Once, she pushed me down the stairs when i had told someone my surname, which for some reason, was a crime

“i.. i have no surname.” i said, bowing my head. Twenty three years and i was treated like an outsider, i was sure they did not even care for my disappearance, why was i to claim their name now?

“very well” she nodded, looking at me like i was some sort of weird thing. “you were picked to be a bride” she said, looking at me with a sly smirk “it seems your groom is no more so i would choose one for you” she said, looking at the other side of the floor.

My gaze followed her, causing my mouth to go dry instantly looking at where she was looking.

There, at the corner of the room, was the man… i tried to remember his name for the life of me but i could not. He looked…

Nothing like he looked when he took those powerful strides into the room the first time we met, or the time when he murdered the head maid Lauretta.

There at the corner of the room, he laid in a pool of his own blood, his neck slit visibly and his eyes staring into oblivion.

He was dead.