An Eerie Stillness

It was him.

The first time she saw him was on that cliff.

He was staring at the moon. She thought he would jump but clearly, he was just there to see the view.

She could clearly remember seeing the moonlight dance on his pale skin, casting a silvery sheen on his flawless complexion.

Eve lowered her gaze. For a few seconds, she thought the Prince stared at her, but she could have been wrong. She convinced herself that he just wanted to check the women, the humans that could be the vampire's next meal.

After the Prince made his grand entrance and took his seat, the other vampires followed suit, settling into their places with reverence.

However, the chatter never came back.

The silence that followed after the Prince's arrival was deafening.

"Lift your heads," a silky deep voice spoke. Eve, along with the rest of the women complied without batting their eyes.

She quickly realized that the one who spoke was the Prince.

She watched as the man got up and walked towards them.

She swallowed.

Is he going to reveal that she… she could use magic?

Eve's heart started to beat faster.

If the Prince would reveal her identity then… the vampires would surely think she was some spy sent by Ronaldo. She would only have one ending.

Death.

She cannot have that option.

But what would she do?

She waited for him to pass by.

She held her breath, hoping that he would keep walking as he assessed each woman's appearance like he was browsing for livestock at a market.

Her heart sank as he watched him scrutinize each woman's appearance as if he was evaluating them. He would stop and linger for a few seconds before moving on to the next woman.

Eve never believed in any of the gods, but at that time she could not help but pray to anyone who would listen to her.

She prayed that he would not come to a halt in front of her, that he would ignore her.

Soon, she found herself holding her breath, dreading the possibility of her ending.

She had not even started yet. She still had so many things left to do.

Eve swallowed as he stood in front of her.

She quickly realized that he was even taller up close.

She lowered her gaze and stared at his neck instead of directly meeting his gaze. She was tempted to do so, but she did not want to gather any more unwanted attention.

"Look at me," he ordered in a soft velvety voice.

Eve complied without showing an iota of hesitation. To everyone else, she was just a woman who wanted to gain the Prince's attention. She was a nobody.

Almost immediately, she found herself drawn to the man's blue piercing eyes.

The Prince was dressed in a sleek dark suit that subtly outlined his lean yet muscular physique. Suddenly, an urge to get closer ran through her body.

She immediately contained herself.

Whatever it was that the vampire was doing to her was clearly working as she could not seem to take her eyes off him.

She could not shake off the feeling that he was staring at her soul instead of just this body's physical appearance.

How is that even possible?

A vampire should not be able to do that.

However, his unwavering, almost knowing gaze, did not stop her from assuming that he might be different. Perhaps, he was even more powerful than Lucius, or the King of Imperion himself.

She swallowed her nonexistent saliva.

The intensity of his gaze was making her uncomfortable, it was making her feel exposed, vulnerable, and yet strangely intrigued.

Eve did not like that.

Luckily, the Prince finally decided to move on.

'You owe me' she heard a voice inside her head.

Almost immediately, Eve froze. She lowered her face as she tried to calm her racing heart.

Did he just… speak inside her head?

Wouldn't that mean that he was even more powerful than Lucius?

Only high-ranking vampires could do that. She had heard that only the King of Vampires could actually speak inside someone's mind.

Her heart clenched with panic, and a rush of adrenaline surged through her veins as she tried to untangle the meaning of his words.

She owed him?

Did that mean he was not going to expose her? Did that mean… he was going to let her join the competition without any complications?

Eve could not understand it.

This man knew that she could use magic. She could easily kill a vampire by burning them or using other spells to incapacitate them.

Killing her while she was weak would be better for him.

What was he thinking?

Eve's hands balled up into tight fists, her nails digging into her palms.

The current situation was making her feel both confused and helpless and she did not like that!

Not long after, the Prince finally finished looking into them. He went back to his seat and called out one of his servants. A man wearing the same clothing as Casimir, the vampire who asked Eve about the food and wine, approached the Prince and listened to his instructions.

"I will call the names of the women that will be staying." The man spoke. "Abigail, Sarah, Emily, Anne, Trinity, Clara, Louisa, Vanessa…." The man called out more names but not Eve's. "The rest of you may go back to your rooms."

Without saying a word, Eve and the others started walking out of the hall.

"What do you think will happen to them?" a woman near Eve asked another woman.

"What do you think will happen to humans surrounded by vampires?" the woman answered.

"Does that mean they will die?"

"That or one of those vampires will take them in."

"Are you saying that the Prince picked them so they could…" Willow, who was walking in front of Eve asked. "So they could drink their blood?"

This time, the woman shrugged and said nothing.

An eerie stillness settled over the surroundings, dampening even the faintest sounds of their footsteps as they continued walking away.

....

I have a few chapters in stock. I am working on building more! I prepared so much for world-building for Eve's and Rosie's world. I am excited! Thank you for your support. Please add it to your library and maybe add some reviews. This is going to help the novel. :D

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