The curse of the claim

"I'm Diana…"

"No way" my eyes widened in disbelief "that day at the truck…"

"What truck?" she chuckled

"Then why did you say bumping unto people was kinda my thing?"

" My brother, he's talkative"

Now everything snapped and connected into place. Them being twins explained a lot of things, the attraction and lack of, the cold attitude and the cherry one. They resembled physically but they were poles different.

But what if she was just lying?"

"You still don't believe me?" she asked

"Yeah, I might need more than just words"

She sighed as she took out her phone. She scrolled for a while before showing me a picture. It was a family picture, which I could tell from the presence of two older looking couple and three kids. One was a tall boy and the other two were red-haired girls.

"That's the only picture of us that I have"

"Wow"

"So I guess you know that…vampires exist" I whispered

"Do you need a ride?"

"Sure" I darted the landlady and her grandkids a look "they'll be fine, I guess"

We took a detour around FiendVille

"They attacked you?" she asked

"The club that I worked in, I saw them with my own eyes, fangs, insane strength and the way they moved, they could actually outrun bullets"

"The Vamps club, that's their haven"

Her eyes scanned my neck then my arms

"Why do you guys keep doing that?" I asked, "Everyone I've met does this weird thing …acting like doctors and shit"

"Were you bitten?" she asked,

"No"

I followed her gaze to my arm

"I cut myself in that altercation" I added

"Weird" she frowned

"What is weird?"

"The fact that you are still alive and not one of them"

"I would actually be dead if it wasn't for the boss' ex-girlfriend. She protected me even though every vampire in there looked at me like I was a nice meal. "

"She claimed you" she said in a disheartened voice

"How did you…"

"I just do"

"You said it like it was a bad thing" I said "is it?"

"You are hers now" she immediately hit the brakes and made a sharp U-turn "I shouldn't even be seen with you"

"Why?"

"When a vampire claims you, you become a property. No one else should be seen with the claimed, especially not with a person like me. Furthermore, Angela is the daughter to their head"

"What? And how did you know it was Angela who claimed me?"

"I've been around longer than you to know everyone"

"Why was Ramon acting respectful to Cara?" I quizzed

"She outranks him"

"She's a vampire? " I almost shrieked

"No" Diana scoffed "absolutely not"

"Then who is she? Who are you?"

Diana slowed the vehicle as we reached at the motel.

"Get off" she ordered

I was speechless as to the sudden change of events. If I ever knew what being claimed meant, I would have never let the ship sail. But I felt that it was a bit unfair

"What about the…the drink?" I hesitated

"Consider it settled" she sighed, her eyes facing away from me

"Okay" I said then prepared to get off "see you around, I guess"

"No, you won't" I heard the reply almost immediately

I felt like I had been stabbed with a blunt knife, right in my heart. I was new in town and I didn't know how it worked with all its rules. It seemed like I had already chosen a side unknowingly, a side that I was terrified of. Apparently, I was now a property of a vampire.

I noticed that Diana regarded me with a blank gaze before she drove off. Something about her look assured me that she was dead pan serious about her last statement, I really wasn't going to see her.

But I wasn't willing to give up that easily. I wasn't just going to allow myself to be claimed like a piece of property, I had a right over my own body. I decided that even if it meant my death, I would die a free guy, not owned by anybody. Whether the claim was a life sentence or a death sentence, I would undo it no matter the cost. One of the main reasons I was happy to get out of the Juvenile Correctional Facility was to be free, free of tyranny and repression. If I continued to let fate and people dictate how I should live my life, I would end up in a place worse than the jail.

And thus at eight pm at night, I went to the Vamps club.

I was met with a different and unusual view upon arrival. The club's parking lot was littered with a number of expensive black SUV's and other posh looking cars. That wasn't the only unusual thing, the entrance and the surrounding areas were secured to the max. Lots of black suited men armed with large guns and some swords, stood guard. It was like a dignitary of some sort had visited the club hence the heightened security.

However, the big guns and the vigilant guards weren't enough to scare me off nor make me re-evaluate my resolution. I wasn't stopped by any of the guards on my way to the entrance, some of them even barely glanced at me. It was weird considering that I was a human, and they looked like vampires.

The two guards by the entrance regarded me with amused expressions when I approached them. Finally the reaction I anticipated.

"I'm suddenly hungry" one said

The other guard laughed.

"What business do you have here?" he asked in a mocking tone

"None of your business" I braced myself and said

"I was just being courteous" the guard said "no one is allowed in here, fuck off"

"I'm here to see Angela"

"She's not in here… but I can take you where she is" he smirked, the edges of his fangs glinting brighter than a glass edge would

"Okay, I'll just come another time" I turned back

"Who said you could leave?" his voice stopped me on my tracks. With a sudden flash and a rush of wind, he was already in front of me, bloodthirsty eyes staring down at me

"I said I could take you to her"

"I suppose she is behind the club, or in the parking lot?" I asked "or maybe somewhere dark where you could suck every ounce of my blood"

The guard chuckled lightly "you read my mind"

"I'm John Steward, Angela claimed me" I said

The guard's smirk froze then receded. "She did? Well I didn't get a fuckin memo"

His hand grabbed my arm, tightly and unbendingly. He took a deep sniff of a spot beside my neck,

"I don't see any mark, and you smell clean"he smiled "so you're either lying or…"

"Angela" I shouted

"What?" the guard frowned

"Vampires have perfect hearing, if she is in there then she heard me call her name"

To be honest, I wasn't sure if she was in there or not, but it was a chance I was willing to take.

"Just be done already" the other guard grumbled.

I closed my eyes as his fangs elongated