"Come on guys, Nathan said she said she'd be gone for a half hour and it's already two thirty in the morning."
Most of the people had been ignoring him and we're about to go to bed but Christina finally gave in.
"Josh, listen I promise if she's not here in the morning we'll start looking around for her OK? In the meantime get some sleep so in case she doesn't come back your ready to be on the look out in the morning."
Josh agreed with her and set out to find a place to sleep on the crowded floor and just chose the reclining green chair with its red swirling designs that he thought was the ugliest thing he had ever seen and one time when he had told Shari she had agreed and said that she had to keep it because she didn't have much choice and when he had asked her why she didn't have a choice she would not elaborate.
Shari stared at the people around her and tried listening to Black Knight, the man who now held her in his arms.
A demon.
What kind of demon, her thoughts wondered as she tried to hold herself upright but he left little room for that.
There was so much heat reflecting off of him she thought.
A demon.
Gosh, vampires and demons.
What else was there.
She closed her eyes in confusion.
"What may we call her?" A young girl with long white hair asked.
He stared at her for a moment contemplating.
"Dark Vampiress."
And than leaning close to Shari he whispered in her ear,
"We all have names here we go by. Like codes. Such as Black Knight, Dark Dealer, and now you, Dark Vampiress. You will never address someone by their real name. It isn't how things happen here, my dear."
She pulled away from his grasp and he tightened his hold keeping her securely under his long arms. She wondered why the secrecy did they all have families who didn't know about this and this was their way of keeping it hidden?
Her head throbbed and she missed her friends. She was afraid and overwhelmed by all that was happening.
She felt so closed in. Like the whole world was dissolving around her and everyones' faces became mixed blurs to her as she whipped out of Black Knights hold and ran to the stairs.
She could hear people yelling and heard something behind her but she kept running right to the circular stairs and started up them two by two and when she had to be two floors up and back to the main entrance she looked in front of her to see a clear see through door that led to the entrance and when she turned the brass knob it was locked.
She was in what seemed to be a tight hall way and for some reason both of the circular stair ways were outside and she was inside.
She heard someone walking slowly up the stairs and turned to stare at Michel. Michel took her wobbling figure and wrapped an arm around her trying to steady her and he pulled open a silver key and turned it in the door knob and it opened and he stepped outside pulling her along with him.
Black Knight came up holding a tall struggling blonde girl and Michel turned Shari to the girl and the exposed neck. She instinctively leaned down and dug her already sharpened canines' into the girls tanned neck.
The blood flowed easily out of the girls punctured vein and Shari was proud of herself to get the vein on the first try. She was drinking from the girl and Michel gently tugged on her shoulders to get her to ease up but she didn't want to.
Michel tugged once more before Black Knight forced him to stop trying to get her to stop. She pulled away and wiped at her blood stained lips and as everything became clearer to her she looked down at the unconscious girl and reached out only to find a feeble pulse awaiting her there and Shari immediately felt horrible.
"Will she live?" She asked addressing the two men who both stared at her for a moment saying nothing.
Michel reached out and placed his two fingers on her neck and after feeling the pulse he nodded slowly.
"I'll take her down stairs." He said to Black Knight barely glancing at Shari.
He nodded and Shari plopped weakly on the plush red carpet. He crouched next to her and smiled.
"Come on, honey. " He said and offered her his hand.
She looked at the door and he placed his fingers under her chin and turned her head so that she was looking into his eyes.
"Sorry, but no luck. The door is always and will always be locked."
She looked into his eyes and felt like falling and only when she started concentrating on the painting behind him did she finally see straight again.
The painting was one of the castle they were in. It was surrounded by a white oak frame and it showed a group of trees behind the castle and on the sides and a long path in front of it leading to a small town.
The town was small and was filled with small brick cottage like houses because the houses were only used for sleeping while the other time they were in the castle. Black Knight owned the town in a sense or the people in the town.
