"Like hell it is," Alessandro's fury knew no boundaries at this point. He paced about furiously at the words Anec had uttered not long before. First his daughter got bitten by a monstrous creature, and now that same creature wanted to adopt her as his little juice bag.
He knew had no choice though. She would become one of them if he took too long being this indecisive.
"How long must she stay with you?" He asked the very calm vampire who had only been watching his every reaction.
"For as long as she needs to, until a cure is made for her."
Alessandro looked at his daughter who gave him a long disagreeing stare. She was mumbling something inaudible, tears welling up in her eyes. It was obvious she'd rather turn than be left alone with the vampire.
"I won't harm her," Anec said patiently.
"You already did." He looked at Anec one last time before finally- reluctantly - nodding his approval.
Next thing Anec knew, the girl was screaming bitterly. Words were exchanged, angry fits were thrown, and Alessandro was doing his very best to calm her down. After what seemed like hours to Anec, the girl had finally been soothed into a calmer frame of mind. Alessandro had her cheeks cupped in his hands, whispering something fatherly. It made Anec snort as he thought of his own father. How the hell was he going to explain to an even more gruesome being that he would be harboring a human for weeks? With a painful goodbye from his daughter, Alessandro gave a final nod to the vampire. Anec didn't wait, in seconds the vampire and the girl were in the underworld. She tried as much as she could, but she did not comprehend how they had teleported there within seconds.
Dark clouds hovered over them with threats of a thunder storm. The streets of the underworld seemed still and void of life in every aspect. The trees were stunted and withered, the street lights flickered weakly and the howling wind haunted Gabriella's ears. Something about this place seemed strangely familiar. It looked almost like a parallel world to the one she had come from. Anec wanted to tell her that they weren't exactly under the world like the way he had made them believe. No, this place was nothing but an empty realm for the soulless.
Anec kept his gaze cold and distant, and she knew it was a pretentious act. He was only troubled by the guilt he felt. He had not spoken a word to her since- since the night they had been together, and he had lost control. The truth was, she didn't even want him to speak words now. As they walked, Anec guiding her path through deadened thickets, she wondered if they were the only ones around. The dark underworld wasn't the only thing she studied, her eyes stayed glued on Anec from the small distance they shared. She watched his dark curls of his hair become ruffled by the wind. He had removed his hat somewhere along the way, and she couldn't help herself. His eyes, now narrowed from the dusty cold, were brighter than anybody's she had ever known. His Jaw twitched slightly, with his lips pursed in tight hesitance.
"The only living things here… are already dead," he said, as if reading her mind.
"Like you," she said bluntly.
He was a lot older than her, but a hundred and fifty year age gap could mean nothing to her. She on the other hand was a little over her twenties.
"Who knew I'd ever be one of the undead?" The thought came from nowhere.
Anec's arm stretched forward to open the barred gates that led somewhere unseen. There was a straight tarred pathway that seemed to go on forever. Gabriella could see a tall dark object out in the distance and she thought she was looking at a castle.
"Don't tell me you have moats and dungeons in there?" She grimaced at the thought.
"And coffins too" Anec smirked.
It wasn't a castle, but with every intricate detailing of the architecture, it could have been one all the same. Gabriella stared with wide eyes at the gigantic grey building. A thought came to her mind for the first time and she cursed herself for only just realising it.
"How many vampires are here?"
"Enough to kill you, but you're already dead so that's good for you," he shrugged and opened the large double doors leading to the inside of the house.
The lights were really dim inside, so much so that Gabriella had to squint her eyes to see where she was going. An ornamental antique fell onto the thick crimson carpet, shattering to pieces as she bumped the table next to a wall.
"Please try to be quiet," Instructed Anec.
But it was too late for discretion.
"Why? What's the point of hiding any further?" The question came from somewhere in the dark, and one could tell by the tone of Luce Vasery that he was the least bit happy.
"Father" Anec sighed as the lights came on over Luce's grim face. Gabriella stared at Luce and then back at Anec.
"Why have you chosen to disobey me?" Luce questioned very calmly that it terrified Gabriella.
"Come on dad, when has An ever not disobeyed you?" Vince, Anec's younger brother, laughed from somewhere in the room.
"And you brought the enemy with you!" Luce continued.
Gabi's jaw dropped in offence at the morbid description of her.
"I can explain- "
"I told you before, the world above is no place for people like us. Yet you never listen, do you?"
"This is much more complicated than you think"
"He needs to find a cure for the one he loves" Liza, Anec's other sibling, said from nowhere.
There was a quick glance between Anec and Gabriella. The girl felt something, she pushed it away. It was probably the bite.
Anec's father looked at him in shock as realization set in. He couldn't have been more disappointed and triggered at the same time.
"You're in love with the human?"
"I feel slightly displeased with the way he speaks of me," Gabriella commented disapprovingly.
"Best to shut up for now," Liza warned Gabriella as she moved closer to her.
The retort stung and Liza's scrutiny made her feel even less confident in the moment. The orange haired vixen did a thorough checking as she turned about, sizing up the human and sniffing the last scents of Gabi's humanism.
"Mmh, I can taste you already," Liza said with a rising hunger.
"Stay away from her," Anec said sharply.
"Oh, come on brother. Remember when we used to p
lay with our food just before eating it?"
"What?!" Gabriella immediately backed away.