Vincent stood shirtless before a full-length mirror, like a wicked god surveying his altar. He wiped away the streaks of blood from his chest and throat. The girl's blood had dried, spattered across the ridges of his collarbones and smeared across the sculpted lines of his abdomen.
With a final swipe, the last trace of crimson was gone from his mouth, replaced now by a flash of teeth. Beautiful. Terrible.
The predator was tucked back behind a beautiful lie. But his eyes… they still glowed faintly red.
He stared at himself, lips curling in a sneer.
Aeris Vexley. The name slid through his mind.
That girl.
The way she had looked at him.. not just afraid, but defiant. Fragile little thing, she should've cowered, should've begged. Instead, she tried to ward him off like some trembling mortal holding a candle to a storm. She had glared at him like he was the cursed one in her story.
Pathetic, he told himself.
Vincent would've drained her just to hear that bravado crumble. He dropped the towel to the floor, leaning in the mirror, "Defiant little bitch," he muttered. The words should've been contempt, but they tasted like obsession.
"No one interrupts me when I'm feeding." His voice reverberated off obsidian walls, pooling in the corners like leftover hunger. He could still hear the rasp of her breath, feel her skin--hot and human.
Snap.
The air burst in a rush of wildflowers and tinkling chimes. Aldric appeared mid-twirl with the grace of a bored prince at a ball, flicking imaginary dust from the cuff of his embroidered sleeves.
"Really now," Aldric said, gaze sweeping over the bloodied towel on the floor, "do you clean the emotional stench out of this room? Or is brooding just your signature scent these days?"
Vincent didn't even look at him. "Get out."
"Oh no, I just arrived." Aldric strolled in with infuriating ease, hands behind his back, pacing like he owned the place. "Nice ambiance though. Very tortured artist meets post-feeding regret. Did you eat the entire East Wing or just a girl this time?"
Vincent turned, scoffing, "You've got three seconds before I rip your throat out."
Aldric's head tilted, blonde curls catching the light like spun mischief. "Why? Will you feed on me next?" he gasped dramatically, a hand pressed to his heart. "How romantic. But alas, I'm already dead inside."
His eyes darkened, the red behind them pulsing hotter. "You're about to be dead outside too."
"Oh hush." Aldric flicked his wrist dismissively, as though batting away a dull breeze. "I didn't come for round two. Besides, we've already missed the Headmaster's charming little parade of threats. You know, 'Obey the rules, or die screaming'—very on brand."
Vincent turned back to the mirror, wiping a faint smear from his cheek. "I don't show up to circuses especially when half the performers reek of desperation."
"Well, lucky for you," Aldric smirked, hopping onto a velvet chaise with far too much flair, "the moon's rising, and it's time for the House Selections."
Vincent didn't answer.
"Still thinking about the girl, aren't you?" Aldric said, tapping a finger to his lip.
His shoulders tensed. "I'm thinking about tearing her to pieces."
Aldric arched a brow, the picture of nonchalance. "Mm. That doesn't sound obsessive at all." He yawned, reclining further into the velvet chaise. "But she was interesting, wasn't she? All cold fury and trembling pride. You really scared the soul out of her."
Vincent finally turned, his eyes twin coals beneath winter-dark lashes. The look he gave Aldric could flay flesh. "She interrupted me while I was feeding, I should've bled her dry."
"And yet…" Aldric's lips quirked with fae amusement. "you didn't." His grin deepened. "Shame. You're going soft."
"I'll make her life a nightmare here," Vincent growled, stepping closer to the window where the moonlight painted his bare skin. "She'll beg to go back to whatever pathetic human school spat her out."
"Well, I like her," Aldric declared, with a sigh that dripped dramatic flair. "She's new, mysterious, and beautifully broken. Like a little porcelain storm just begging to be dropped."
"You'd flirt with a corpse if it had decent cheekbones."
"I have," Aldric replied without hesitation. "But this one..she's different. Mortal, yes. Fragile, yes. But there's something under her skin. Either way, I wouldn't mind her in House Sylveryn. We could use someone like her."
"You won't get her." Vincent growled, glancing back over his shoulders.
"Oh?" Aldric hopped off the chaise, sauntering across the marble floor like a cat approaching a wounded hound. "Why? Planning to keep her like a pet? Or just stalk her through the halls until she cries?"
"Back off, Aldric." His voice dipped into something deadly, "She's not yours to play with."
Aldric stopped a pace away, eyes narrowing just slightly. "Possessive," he murmured. "How charmingly un-vampiric of you."
A slow smile unfurled on the fae's lips, sly and knowing. "You're right. She's not mine." He tilted his head, curls falling into his eyes. "But she's not yours either."
With another spark of magic and the scent of wildflowers, Aldric disappeared. The air still hummed with the remnants of his mocking laughter.
Vincent's thoughts returned to Aeris Vexley. The smell of her. The fury in her eyes.
He didn't understand her and he hated what he didn't understand. Especially when it stared back at him without fear.