Blood Rose: Ch. 7
The hotel was in ruins, and so was every other building around for as far as I could see. Some parts were even on fire, blazing the way through the night. I gulped back my terror and sadness as I began to search through the mess of bodies that lay in heaps everywhere I stepped.
I came across Grandpa’s body first, and a stabbing feeling in my chest hollowed out my heart as the tears fell over his pale and stiff corpse.
After a while, I stood up and began the search again. I didn’t know what I was looking for exactly. Confirmation that my family was gone? Hope that there could be survivors?
I found my cousins next near the staircase, holding onto each other with frightened looks frozen on their faces. Their throats were also torn, and their blood had no doubt been completely drained from their bodies. I caressed their pale, frozen faces, unable to control the tears that wouldn’t stop falling from my face.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered to them before standing up and continuing on.
I found Finn and Griffen in the pool, face down, floating, their heads barely attached to their bodies…
“Grace, love,” I heard Jay’s voice and felt a hand on my shoulder.
I blinked, and sat up with a gasp as I realized everything I’d seen had just been a terrible nightmare. I looked around. The walls looked like I was still in a cave, but this was more like a room. I was lying on a couch. Jay was squatting beside me, a look of concern on his face. Behind him stood two women. One of them had very light, long wavy brown hair, glittering silver eyes, skin so pale it appeared to glow, and a tall, lithe frame that was nearly engulfed by the baggy, brown shirt-dress she was wearing. She looked like she could be a model.
The other girl had messy, blonde hair that was so light it was almost white, falling just past her shoulders. She also had very bright, yellow-green eyes, milky white skin, and a slender, muscled frame that was shown off by the crop top and short jean shorts she was wearing. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and she didn’t look happy to see me.
“You shouldn’t have brought her here,” the white haired girl said. “She’s clearly terrified.”
“This is bloody ridiculous, Jay,” the model-like girl said in a lilting British accent. “You can’t expect us to be okay with this.”
“Now, ladies, there’s no need to be jealous,” Jay said.
“Where…where am I?” I croaked.
The two women exchanged eye-rolling glances.
“My apologies, love. You’re in the main quarters now. In my office,” Jay said. “These two ladies here are my finest advisors, Iris and Keira.”
Iris was the white-haired one, and Keira the other. They both looked like I was a bug that needed to be squashed. I shivered.
“Seriously, Jay, what is she doing here?” Iris asked.
“She’s a Blood Rose. We need her,” Jay answered.
Keira scoffed. “You can’t be serious. There’s no way she’s a Blood Rose.”
“Yeah, how can you be so sure?” Iris asked. “She doesn’t look special to me.”
“I can feel it,” Jay said.
They both rolled their eyes again.
“You and your feelings,” Iris said.
“Have they ever been wrong?” Jay asked.
The girls exchanged glances. Keira sighed.
“Suppose you’re right, Jay. Why haven’t you turned her yet? She’s of no use to us as a mortal.” Keira said.
My eyes widened in horror. I wasn’t ready to become a vampire. No way. I didn’t think I would ever be ready. I couldn’t be a monster.
“She just lost her entire family. Have some compassion ladies. She’ll join us in time.” He gave me a soft, sympathetic smile. “I apologize for their brusqueness. It’s been a few centuries since either of them have been human.”
Iris snorted. “And thank goodness for that!”
Jay turned a harsh gaze in her direction. “Ladies, if you have nothing kind to say, I must insist that you leave. I asked you here to help, not hinder the progress of our mission. So if you won’t be helpful here, why don’t you go to the London base and help them prepare for an attack?”
“It would be my pleasure,” Keira said.
“Gladly,” Iris agreed. “Have fun with your new toy.”
Then, in a movement so quick I barely caught it, the girls vanished from the room.
I was alone with a vampire again.
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