Page 42 of The Depraved Prince
I feel like I can’t breathe. I’m gasping for air, trying to focus on the moon above them. The stars aren’t normal. They twinkle like they’re moving, flapping their wings like small birds.
This can’t be good. Unless birds are golden and they sparkle, I think I’ve given myself a concussion.
“Miss. Are you okay?” A man with a long red beard asks me.
I try to speak, but my voice doesn’t work. My breath is caught in my throat. Finally, after a long moment of numbness and myvision spins in circles, my ribs scream at me. They got the most damage from the fall.
One of them reaches for my hand, and I take it without hesitation.
I’m able to stand, and I’m face-to-face with strangers. Energy kicks into overdrive, and I find my voice.
“I-I’ve been kidnapped! He’s after me! They’re after me! Can someone please take me back home or to the nearest airport? I don’t have any money on me…I?—”
“What do you mean someone is after you, lady?! Who? Who is after you?” A man with a husky build grabs a hold of my shoulders. His breath is heavily stained with liquor.
I want to shout: a monster. A vampire. A creature of the night. I want to warn them that monsters are real, after all, and out for our blood. But the way they’re already looking at me, I refrain, hold my tongue, and give them the shorter version instead.
“A man and his family! Please help me. You have to help me.” I manage to rasp out, my throat threatening to close up on me. I’m on the verge of tears again, hoping they’ll take the little pieces of nonsense I’m throwing at them and believe me.
“Of course, we’ll help you. Here, come sit down for a second. It looks like you could use a jacket and a nice water bottle.” The bearded man guides me with his hand. I nod and agree faster than I mean to, but I’ll take help where I can get it right now.
The loud music is still blaring, making it hard to hear anything.
He pulls me more into the crowd, and I hold onto the stranger’s hand with no shame. No one seems to notice a girl covered in blood and dirt on her pajamas. Everyone keeps dancing in their witchy, zombie, and skeleton costumes, singing like they’re in their own simulation of entertainment. A bubblethat not even my frantic state could pop and deter them from partying.
Everyone is drunk and happy. Something I didn’t even realize I missed. A life before I knew vampires existed. The things I would do to go back to that. What I would do to have never metHayden Drago.
The crowd is heavy and littered with alcohol, dancing adults, and the smell of cigarettes and funnel cakes.
Finally, the bearded man sits me down near a taco truck on an empty bench. Seconds later, he and his friend surround me. He extends his hand. A water bottle is in his grasp, and I reach for it.
Why isn’t the man moving with urgency? I need to get out of here. I need to find a plane or a vehicle, at the minimum!
“I just want to see a pretty smile on your face. It looks like you've been through hell.”
A small curve of my lips pulls, and he breathes out, satisfied. He lets me take the water bottle from his hand, and I gulp it down so fast that water trickles down at the sides of my mouth as I rehydrate.
I finish the water bottle in less than a minute, and all the while, their eyes are on me, watching me like I'm some wild animal who got caught.
“Is that your blood?” the other man asks as he scratches his cheek.
I nod silently.
“Listen, I’ve got a truck in the parking lot. We can take you home if that's what you want. Where is home for you?”
“Texas.”
“I love Texas. My favorite football team is the Dallas Cowboys.”
“Mine too,” I reply.
“I’m Cal, by the way.” He gives me his hand to shake. The gesture scares me at first, but I give in, trusting him.
“Millie.”
It feels weird to have a normal, friendly conversation again, unlike the usual fighting for my life the past few days.
Suddenly, a loud explosion of gasps erupts from one part of the crowd behind Cal and his friends. They all turn towards the commotion, and the heavy 80s music continues.
