Darkness.

It surrounded her a like a serpent, clutching her existence in its hold, ready to sink its teeth inside her flesh any moment. Her eyes dashed around looking for an escape. The darkness was suffocating her. She moved her hands in front of her but they only grasped air. Her eyes couldn't see a thing in this darkness yet she felt someone's eyes fixated on her. Someone was watching her. Her heart started racing.

She ran without a second thought. Her feet took off in no particular direction. Sprinting blindly, she searched desperately for any source of light. A source that could take this darkness away from her. A safe haven where she could finally breathe again.

Her feet stopped when she heard something in the distance. She tried to steady her heavy breathing so she could concentrate better on the distant sound. It sounded something like the clinking of glass.

'Is someone there?' She thought to herself.

It had a steady rythm. Like someone was doing it purposely. Again and again.

She didn't realise her feet had starting walking in that direction, on their own accord, till she saw a dimly lit candle placed on top of a table. That was not what startled her. What took her by surprise, was the man sitting behind the table. A shadow was casted over his face. He held a wine glass in his hand. He would trace its rim with his index finger and then tap it gently. Trace. Tap. Trace. Tap. He kept doing it in the same manner.

She took small steps towards him. 'Do I know him? Why does he feel so familiar?' Thoughts circulated inside her mind as she neared him. She looked at his glass. There was a dark red liquid inside. 'Is that wine?'

Suddenly, his hand stopped mid air. She stood rooted at her spot.

"Welcome, Faith." He looked up, shifting his attention to her. Orange flame were burning in his deep emerald eyes.

"Ares..." The word left her lips breathlessly.

"Lord Ares." He corrected her.

She looked taken aback. "You are no longer a Lord." She said surprising her ownself with the stability in her voice.

He looked at her amused. "My reign didn't end back then. They robbed me of my kingdom. Snatched what was rightfully mine. They took centuries of my life away from me. But they could never erase me from the pages of history," He paused to laugh coldly. It was the most terrifying thing she had ever heard. "I was their Lord and I am your Lord too, Daughter of the Abbot." His thick British accent rolled off his tongue.

'Daughter of...' Her thoughts trailed off as he stared blankly at her. His statement left her confused and hurt. 'What is he saying? Why is he being so cold?'

There was a whoosh of air before she felt a cold presence behind her. The candle illuminated an empty seat now.

Hands circled her waist gently from behind as a chin rested lightly on her shoulder. "Does it bother you that I'm being indifferent to you?" He asked as his hold on her waist tightened.

She sucked in a deep breath. His proximity was affecting the ability of her mind. He nuzzled her neck with the tip of his nose, making her mind go blank. His cold frame embraced her small body in a warm hug. She leaned her back into him, yearning for more of his touch. 'Home.' That was all she could think.

"Careful Amica mea, Demons aren't home to anyone."

She had no idea how long she stayed in his embrace until something dawned on her. She hadn't said that out loud.

She turned around swiftly, putting some distance between them. "What did you say?"

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "Say what?"

"You.. You answered my thought. How did you do that?" She said pointing an accusing finger at him.

"That's one of the advantages of sharing a bond. Or should I say disadvantage?" He shrugged his shoulder carelessly.

"Bond?" She paused for a moment, "What bond? Tell me clearly!"

"We've shared blood, that has established a blood bond between us. Our souls are linked together by an invisible thread. It is the purest of the bonds that bind two creatures together." He said everything like it was no big deal.

"Are you crazy? Why would you do that?" She was getting frantic. Her eyes moved around wildly as she clutched her hair with frustration.

"As much as I'd love to take the blame for it, I won't. I'm tired of being blamed for things I had no control over. You woke up a Vampire who had been starved for centuries. You should be ecstatic your corpse isn't rottening in the basement of my manor. I stopped myself in time before I ended up taking too much blood from your system. When I found you, you were covered with contusions. I was weak yet I fed you my blood to heal your injuries. If I hadn't, you would've died from the impact. I saved you, you thankless woman!" Her eyes grew bigger and bigger as every word left his mouth.

She stood there contemplating her next statement, opening and closing her mouth like a fish. It felt like years before she finally asked a question, "Why did you save me?"

He stared at her intently making her squirm under his hard gaze. "Because you're my beloved."

"Beloved? What does that mean?" She tilted her head to one side.

He smiled dangerously as he started taking slow steps in her direction, enjoying the fear that crossed her eyes. She backed away with every step that he took towards her. She almost lost her balance as her back hit the table behind her. He now towered over her, standing just a few inches away. His breath fanned her face as he grabbed her chin softly to raise her head. "I mean to say that you're mine," He grinned at her, the tip of his fangs reflecting the dim light of the candle for a second, "eternally."

She woke up gasping for air, her chest heaving up and down. The bedsheet wrinkled in her grasp as her hands dug into it. Looking around, startled, she realised she was in her own bedroom. She let out a sigh of relief, passing a hand through her raven locks.

Her cellphone rang making her jump out of fright. She placed a hand at her rapidly beating heart, grabbing her phone, shakily, with the other one.

"Hello." She said shakily.

"Faith? Are you alright?" April sounded worried on the other side.

"Yeah.. I just woke up." She looked at her clock. It was 8AM. She was going to be late for her lecture.

"Thank God! We were so worried. There has been a murder. Two dead bodies were found in the alley behind the local library. You were there last night. I couldn't reach you after that call. I'm so happ-" She tuned out April's voice as she got out of her bed hurriedly to reach her vanity mirror.

The sunlight streaming through the window wasn't much, but it was enough to show the dried blood sticking to side of her face and hair. She backed away in horror. Only one thing stuck in her mind, 'That wasn't a dream.'

The phone slipped out of her hand, crashing to the floor as April's voice stopped calling her name from the other side.