Aiden Made His Decision

"Aiden, hi. When Angela asked for your phone number, as shocking as it was, I already suspected that Ryan might have his eyes on you. And I was right."

Truthfully, it was not as if she didn't anticipate it. Vampires were beautiful creatures that were made even more beautiful after their transformations.

They had a thing for beautiful human beings.

Just like what she and Serena told Aiden when they took his pictures, the vessel was as important as the blood itself.

And Aiden's pictures turned out to be rather exquisite. That was why Baron Scratchface decided to buy from him although he was completely new in the business.

And since Nick was the one who introduced Aiden to this world, she wanted Aiden to survive until he had enough money. Whenever that would be.

"Listen, Aiden. Ryan Caldwell is a few classes above the elite customers that we ever catered to. Vampires like him do not use to buy blood. They get blood for free before they even open their mouths to ask for it.

I reckon he asked you to sign a contract?"

"Yes, he did."

"Did you read the content?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now you just have to do what he says. If he wants you over for a month, go unless you have a good reason not to. He is not going to harm you. The Caldwells might be ruthless, but they have yet to chuck skeletons out of their basements. Don't be worried. Blood transactions are the same everywhere."

"But, five days..."

At the other end of the line, Nick chuckled.

"Don't be silly. He is not going to drink for five days straight. You would die for sure on the second day, let alone the fifth day."

"..."

Exactly! So why was Nick not at all worried about it?

"Um, is someone going to stand guard for me?"

Aiden could not help but think back at Hans who had such poor control over himself that three vampires were required to prevent him from devouring Aiden.

"No," Nick answered decisively. "You do not have to worry. Ryan Caldwell is not starving for blood. He most likely drinks fresh blood every day, so he won't kill you for fresh blood. Just don't trigger him."

Trigger him?

No one wanted to trigger him, but what would happen if he accidentally did?

The pictures of mutilated bodies that Ryan showed him in his office flashed past his eyes again and he could not help but shiver in fear.

Nevertheless, he already signed the contract. He had to fulfill his part. Aiden sent a confirmation message to Angela and then he went about completing his unfinished business in Riverdale in order to spend the entire winter break at Dominion.

One of them was of course his part-time job with Rosaliá.

When Aiden arrived at her lab that day, she had a wonderful news to share.

"Aiden, guess what!" she exclaimed in excitement. "I got a ticket to go back home this winter break!"

Aiden's lips parted from surprise.

"I... Amazing. So you are leaving soon, Rosa?"

"I am leaving today!"

"..."

Aiden scratched at his head.

"Didn't you say that you have this very important conference to attend in February? We wanted to finish the presentation material during the first week of winter break..."

Rosa grabbed both of Aiden's hands and made puppy eyes at him.

"Please, Aiden," she begged. "I am so sorry, but can you help me sort out the experimental data on your own?"

"..."

Of course he could, but it would take ages to do!

"Pleassseeee," Rosa continued begging. "Look, as soon as you finish renaming and sorting them into the appropriate folders, you can send me the entire thing. And then," she clapped her hands twice, "it's winter break for you."

"Oh, you know what? I will grant you leave for the entire January. I am going to finish the presentation material in Colombia. I am not going to bother you the entire winter break."

Aiden broke into a smile.

"Deal."

Rosaliá left an hour later. As she ran out of the door, she made a lot of promises to bring back some souvenirs and sweets for Aiden once she got back.

Left alone inside the lab, Aiden rolled up his sleeves and got to work.

The experimental data were basically scattered over files and folders. Aiden had to re-arrange them, type them into proper excel sheets, and then sort them according to the date and the experimental conditions.

Thankfully, the classes ended early prior to the winter break. The wise professors recognized from the drowsy and disinterested looks on the students' face that they did not and were not willing to listen to anything other than winter games.

Thus after all classes concluded, Aiden only came to Riverdale to finish the assignments from Rosaliá and participated in the student union's yearly Winter Wonderland Ball.