The Infected

Jaden let her go and asked her to leave his office.

Zuri recovered from what had just happened and was immediately filled with anger. She stormed out of his office, slamming the door behind her.

"How will I work with this rude and mean vampire?" Zuri muttered.

She hated him already.

He didn't have to do what he did to her and without her consent for that matter. She was already here in Transmere as an offering so why did he have to mark her? Zuri hated the fact that she was where she had no say— she was where she had become a slave that had no right. Now, she was a property that belonged to a blood-sucking vampire.

As Zuri stormed off from the Prince's office, she was met by some people that stood by the hallway. She was so upset that she didn't want to notice them and was about to walk past them, even though she didn't know where she was headed.

"Zuri," one of the people stopped her by stepping in front of her. The rest of them watched and surrounded Zuri. They stood in such an eerie manner and it made Zuri uncomfortable but she was too upset to be scared at that moment.

Zuri looked around. Was this another attack? Was it time to take her to that restaurant to feed on her? Prince Jaden had said she belonged to him so what was this about?

"Yes, what is the problem now?" Zuri asked with a frown on her face as she rubbed against the site of Jaden's bite.

"There is no problem at all. We are to take you to the servant's quarters and get you changed into your working uniform. Please follow us."

Zuri calmed a little when she noticed that these were humans. However, they looked malnourished, pale, and overly slim. Zuri knew that these ones must be blood bags for some of the vampires here. She felt sorry for them. They seemed like they had lost all hope and their countenance was gloomy — their faces were void of emotion and they looked like walking corpses.

Zuri followed them and they showed her where she would be staying and gave her the uniform that had been specially made for her as Prince Jaden's personal assistant.

Unbeknownst to Zuri, the humans that had shown her where she would be staying were all green with envy. Why was Zuri's case different? Why wasn't she a blood bag — a meal for these creatures — like they were? Why was she the one that was selected to work personally for the Prince?

They talked behind her back after she was summoned by Prince Jaden for the tea that he liked to drink every night, or 'morning', to these vampires. They slept during the day and the night was when they worked.

"His Highness usually has his tea around this time," one of them said to Zuri after she had gotten changed. "From now on, you'll be in charge of bringing His Highness his refreshments."

Grudgingly, Zuri prepared the tea and was now taking it to the Prince. Her stomach was in knots as she thought about facing the prince again but what choice did she have?

None!

She cornered into the hallway that led to Prince Jaden's office when she was dragged into a corner with such force and speed that her breath hitched in her throat.

The teacup and tray that she had been holding fell to the floor with a clattering sound that echoed throughout the hallway. Everywhere spun and then her eyes landed on the person, no, the vampire that had pulled her violently into that dark corner. He snarled and Zuri let out a deafening shriek.

The vampire growled and opened his mouth wide open as he cocked his head to the side so that he could bite into her neck. Zuri kicked him in the groin but it seemed not to have made an impact. He was bent on feeding her. His eyes were black— there was no sclera, the white of a normal person's eyes. It was as if he had obsidian orbs in his eye sockets.

Zuri continued to struggle but it was clear that her struggles and fights were proving futile. He was way stronger than she was and had saliva coming out of his mouth like a wild animal that had not fed in a while and had just found its prey.

Her mind and instincts kept telling her to scream and keep screaming. She was not going to be easy prey for this man-eater— this bloodsucker.

Suddenly, the wild vampire was off her in an instant and she watched him fly to the other end of the hallway. He crashed into a stone statue that had stood there before its demise. However, the impact seemingly had no effect on him. He merely stood up and shook his head as he tried to clear the effect of the crash. Then, he snarled at the person that had interrupted his meal.

Zuri's eyes followed the wild vampire's gaze and saw that it had been Prince Jaden that had manhandled the vampire.

The wild vampire hesitated but the next minute snarled at Jaden. It seemed like he had recognized the prince for a split second then had lost all reasoning as he slipped back into his blind blood lust. He had a feature that Zuri had not seen on the others: green saliva streamed down the corners of his mouth as he bared his fangs at the prince.

Even when Prince Jaden and Prince Kane had been at head butts with each other, she had not seen any sign of green spittle talk, much less the amount of saliva that she saw pouring out of this rabid vampire's mouth.

Jaden noticed it too. His brows creased for a second then his facial expression became serious.

For a moment there, the prince looked like he was worried about something and Zuri wondered what it was. She guessed that it must have something to do with the vampire that had attacked her.

"Move back, Zuri. This vampire is infected," Prince Jaden said without a glance at her.

She didn't waste a second. Zuri took several steps backward and stood in a corner of the walls that lined the hallway. She put her head out so that she could peep at what was about to happen between the infected vampire and the prince.

'What did it mean for a vampire to be infected? What could infect a vampire?' Zuri wondered.

She would have to ask the prince later. Zuri was thankful that the prince had come to her rescue and the anger that she felt towards him earlier began to dissipate that very instant. Zuri was grateful. She was so close to being bitten and fed on by an infected vampire.

"What a nuisance," the prince murmured under his breath. His glint hardened before he dashed forward. He seemed irritated at the sight of the vampire in front of him.

In a flash, Jaden decapitated the vampire.

He had moved so quickly that Zuri hadn't even caught sight of what had happened before it ended. All that Zuri saw was the infected vampire's head floating in the air before finding its destination on the floor with a thud.