Rasmus walked toward isabelle's room.
He heard a scream from her room, and that set him on fire.
I hope she's safe, he thought, fear gripping him.
He didn't know why, but hearing that scream which was probably from Isabelle felt like a knife had been passed through his chest.
His eyes flickered from blue to crimson, constantly as if at war.
"Calm down, Rasmus," he said, trying to keep his eyes blue… to maintain his sanity.
His eyes stayed blue for about two seconds, then another thought invaded his mind.
That scream… it reminds me of the day I lost Elara, he thought, his irises becoming the color of blood.
Forget, Rasmus. Forget, he screamed internally.
He took a break from the fast, panicked pace he had been walking.
He tried to calm himself.
Think of the sea… the calm waves of the sea, he told himself.
He could imagine it—the calm rippling of its waves, peaceful… without worry.
Ocean blue slowly covered the crimson until his eyes were completely blue again.
He continued his walk and soon reached the door to Isabelle's room.
He walked in hesitantly, without knocking, and observed the room.
Isabelle wore a shirt, but had a shocked, disgusted expression on her face.
The whole of her lower thigh and a bit of her upper thigh was exposed, fair and teasing.
He exhaled at the sight. He couldn't help but notice it.
'Beautifully provocative,' he thought.
His eyes left Isabelle and turned to the left.
Two young people of the opposite sex held each other intimately, their hands touching all the wrong places.
They looked at Rasmus, shock and fear evident on their faces.
"Scott," he said.
The guy looked at him, a pleading look on his pale face.
He turned toward the lady.
"Jasmine. What the fuck are you two doing here together, touching each other?" Rasmus said, a bit dazed.
Jasmine turned away, avoiding his eyes, her face full of fear… and shame.
"Leave. This instant. Both of you to the order room." His voice boomed, his hand pointing toward the door.
They knew the order room.
As faithful servants of the masked prince, they knew the order room.
It was where the masked prince tortured criminals until they confessed and either died… or lived.
Scott shivered and shook in fear. A liquid dripped down his trousers.
The stench of urine filled the air.
"Phew!" Jasmine said, pushing Scott away.
Scott left the room whimpering, shaking like someone freezing from cold.
As Jasmine left, her eyes met Rasmus's. No expression showed on her face just blank.
Rasmus turned back to Isabelle.
"Those guys, they—"
Rasmus interrupted.
"Sorry for the inconvenience. Your phone will be returned to you soon. Someone will come to pick you up."
He walked toward the door, leaving Isabelle speechless, her heart pounding.
As he was about to walk out, he turned to face her.
"And wear shorts or something. Your legs look tempting, bare like that," he said.
He turned back and left the room.
He walked down the stairs—nothing in his head but pure rage.
'Scott and Jasmine?Having an intimate relationship? How is that even possible?' he thought.
He trusted Scott. He was his servant—a loyal one, or so he thought.
Scott was one of the only people totally loyal to the masked prince. Not out of duty to the vampire court, but someone willing to stay by him even if he became an enemy of that court.
Someone willing to give up his life for him, no matter what.
Scott betrayed him by sleeping with his feeder.
Jasmine.
Jasmine was Rasmus's feeder. His personal blood bank. Rasmus owned her body and blood until her contract was fulfilled.
It was taboo in the vampire world for a feeder to have an intimate relationship with any vampire who wasn't their master.
A crime punishable by death.
They were only allowed to breed with fellow feeders, to ensure the continuity of their bloodline.
'Scott must die. He slept with my feeder,' Rasmus thought.
'And Jasmine... she must pay. She dared to be intimate with another man who is not me,' he boiled inside.
He headed for the order room.
The basement level of his house.
This was his personal house—a place he stayed whenever he wasn't attending to royal duties at the Constantine mansion.
The basement was his personal torture room where he killed, punished, and did other dirty acts.
He soon reached the basement, descending the spiral staircase.
The door slid open with a whir after a retina scan.
The basement stretched into a long hallway, mostly open space used for training and sparring by his men.
To the side, behind a small glass door, many people gathered—mostly pale vampires and a few feeders.
Rasmus moved toward the door slowly, calmly, a sadistic smile on his face.
He entered.
Scott and Jasmine were tied to huge bars with silver chains.
Scott's skin was red as he groaned in pain—the silver slowly burning into his flesh.
Jasmine stood motionless, no expression on her face.
As soon as Rasmus entered, a seat was brought to him.
He sat and looked up to face the two traitors.
"Scott, why did you do this?" he asked calmly, his expression stoic.
Scott looked at Rasmus, anger in his eyes, but said nothing.
He turned toward Jasmine.
"Jasmine. Why?" he asked her, his tone a bit softer.
Jasmine looked at him.
"Why not?" she replied.
Rasmus's eyes flashed crimson. In an instant, he moved from where he sat—a twisting sound was heard and a head rolled.
Blood spurted all over his face. He licked his lips and wiped the blood from his eyes.
Looking down, Scott's head rolled—his face expressionless, showing no remorse even in death.
He turned to Jasmine, his crimson eyes burning, his face twisting with fury beneath the mask.
With his supernatural strength, he pulled Jasmine from the silver bars, the chains still dangling from her hands.
He opened his mouth. His fangs were visible gleaming dangerously, catching the twinkle of tempered sunlight through the glass window.
Sunlight usually burned vampires to ashes, particularly the ultraviolet rays.
But the vampire court had developed a way to temper sunlight inside certain places—blocking UV rays. Since then, every wealthy vampire had installed the technology in their homes.
Rasmus dug his fangs into Jasmine's skin. The metallic scent of blood filled the air.
The heightened senses of the vampires in the room picked it up.
Their eyes turned red as they struggled to control the urge to feed.
Blood dripped down Jasmine's neck as she screamed in pain.
'So good, Rasmus thought,' his body shivering from the euphoria.
Jasmine's eyes slowly closed. She had lost too much blood and lost consciousness.
After feeding for over ten seconds, he threw her almost-lifeless body to the ground.
He turned to the vampires and feeders.
"That's the consequence of going against me."
He walked out.
When he reached the door, he turned.
"You." He pointed at someone.
"Take that human girl upstairs home. Return her phone to her."
He faced forward and left.
Just before stepping fully out, he turned once more.
"One more thing… knock before entering a room. Or you'll end up like Scott."