Three days have passed. Darcia did not show up even once, but I always had food in front of the door. The knock on the door was meant to alert me, so I'd know that she already placed it on the floor. I was too scared to go downstairs, so I stayed the whole time in this room, reading books and making an escape plan.

I need to expose her, which means that I need to call Stacey today and tell her everything. She will inform Mr. Elwood about it, and he'll come to save me from this hell. The idea was born in my mind when I was taking a bath yesterday. The water is pretty loud when you let it run. So if I open the water tap in the bathtub and the sink, it doesn't sound suspicious. She will think I'm just simply taking a bath.

I woke up early because my anxiety kicked in. If her hearing is stronger and she can hear my voice even when the water is running, I don't have the slightest chance to get out of here. I'm trying to be optimistic about this whole situation because that's the only thing I can do to stay in the right mind. I'll sound extremely ridiculous, and Stacey may not believe me, but at least I need to try.

I cannot give up this time. I need to fight for my life. I only have one chance with this plan. "It's time..." I thought. I took the phone from the suitcase and went to the bathroom. Immediately locked the door and opened the water tap. I felt drops of sweat on my forehead, and my hands were getting more slippery.

I turned on the phone and clicked on the contacts. Her name was the only name in my contacts. I sat under the sink and clicked on her name. I put the phone next to my ear and prayed she would pick it up.

*peep - peep - peep

"Tali??"

"Oh my god, Stacey-." I stuttered with tears running down my cheeks.

"You don't know how glad I'm to hear your voice right now," I whispered.

"Oh bestie, I feel the same way, but why are you whispering? Is something wrong?" Stacey asked.

"Everything is wrong - uhhh I-I don't even know where to start. We don't have much time left." I warned her.

"Tali, just breathe, okay? I can't understand you very well. You need to speak louder!"

"Stacey, this place and her are not what it seems like. She is not a hu-"

The bathroom door slowly opened with a scraping sound. Darcia's face went blank. No sign of movement or emotion. Her bloody eyes didn't even blink once. It was hard to figure out what she was thinking, but I somehow knew that she was going to kill me at this very moment. Her cold stare made me terrified even more.

I stood up from the ground with the phone still in my hand. I dropped it and ran for my life out of the bathroom. Went down the stairs, running as fast as I could. My legs started to burn after a while and I knew that if I stopped running I would be dead.

One last step before me, I tripped. Bad luck was stuck to my feet the whole time. I could see her feet right in front of my eyes. Lying on the ground, I realized I should never have complained about not being adopted. Now I'm lying between life and death. I could see the front door in front of me. If only I hadn't tripped. I could be out of this house by now. "Well, now it's time to die for the second time." I thought.

With all her strength, she lifted me and pushed me against the wall. She had her hand around my neck, and I could feel less and less oxygen. I tried to push her hand away, but I was getting weaker. She suddenly took both of my hands and pressed them against the wall above my head. Her gaze looked darker and darker. She got closer to my body and pressed her whole weight on me to hold me more in place. I knew what was coming.

She opened her mouth, and all I could see were her sharp fangs shining at me. She bored my hands into the wall, even angrier. In a second she dug her fangs into my neck. This time it felt more passionate, with much more hatred.

I tried to scream, but my vision was getting blurry and everything looked dark. The pain that I was in was excruciating. Like an unstoppable stabbing into your throat. It felt like a few minutes had passed before she stopped. It was longer than the last time, which meant I had less blood in my system. Maybe almost none.

She moved her knee in between my thighs and leaned her whole face onto my neck. Touched my hips with both of her hands to secure me more. I felt her cold breath against my neck. My heart started pounding, but for completely different reasons. I felt a weird tickling in my stomach that I had never experienced before.

"Oh no- why-" Darcia mumbled under her breath in a low voice. I couldn't see the light of it. Her tone of voice nearly sounded ashamed. I badly wanted to know what was going through her head. If she hated me that much, why would she make food these past three days? If she doesn't care about my health at all, why then? Is it truly just about my blood, or is there more to it?

Darcia threw me on her arm and sprinted into her room. She then laid me on the bed and slowly crawled on me. It was her old self again, unfortunately. The one that no one can stop. I could see her madness behind her eyes.

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"I tried to be civil with you, but you're incapable of making me fucking mad for even one day," she groaned in a low voice with no facial expression.

"Your death is around the corner, sweetheart." She tilted my chin and forced me to look at her. I laughed, "I don't think so. You could've killed me today, but you didn't." I reminded her.

"So, you concluded that I wouldn't kill you right now?" She chuckled. "You disappeared for three days but still gave me food? Not the mention what happened in the bathroom-"

She pushed my chin even more forward that few it started to hurt. "Tell me, what happened in the bathroom?" she quietly asked.

I felt my insides burning like never before. I couldn't bear it any longer. "For you, it's all just a game, huh?" I looked into her eyes more intensively. "Of course, you are such a genius. Should I clap for you?" She giggled.

"I don't understand your behavior at all." My brows drew together. "I'm under no obligation to make sense to you." Her eyes darkened; her hands pushed mine above my head.

"Why did you touch me in the bathroom three days ago? Today you bore your face on my neck. Why did you do that?" I asked.

She quickly raised her eyebrows, stood up, and readjusted her clothes. Her confused face made me even more furious. Now she's trying to act all innocent like she doesn't even know what I'm talking about.

"Don't go away! I want answers. You fucking owed them to me," I sat down and grabbed her hand. It was bold of me to try to stop a vampire, but if I don't ask her now, when will I?

"Oh darling, I don't owe you anything!" Darcia shouted, and her hand escaped from mine. My anger got so big, I wasn't thinking straight. It blinded my whole mind. The last logical brain cells I had left after today were gone. I pulled her onto the bed and immediately sat down on her hips. Even though I'm still terrified of her, I needed to face her. I'm so tired of her filthy games.

Having her under me was making me feel powerful. I finally won this time, but what's the next move? This only worked because she was not expecting it. Such a reckless decision.

Her pitch-black hair complimented her pale skin. Her cherry big lips smirked at me, knowing how my heart pounded. So fucking fast when I realized what I just have done. I've survived two times already. Will I be lucky for the third time?

"Aren't you a bit naughty?" Darcia smiled and gently tucked my hair behind my ear. "Is this your way of seducing people?" She asked.

"What-" I didn't know how to respond to her. I was left speechless, and her smirk was making it even harder. "Just breathe." I thought to myself.

Darcia sat down with me still on her lap, my legs apart. Her hands captured my lower back so I wouldn't fall to the ground.

"W-What are you doing?" I shuttered. Her face was so close to mine, her hands pushed me even closer to her than I already was. Our eye level was finally at the same height. "You - frustrate me incredibly," she said under her breath. I never thought I would hear those words from her. Perhaps she killed me, and this is not real after all.

She went with her fingers into my hair and stroked it. I wanted her to continue, but her plans were different. Darcia pulled my hair and looked into my eyes. "Maybe I underestimated you after all," she admitted.

She let go of my hair and pushed me aside on the bed. She instantly left the room, leaving me confused like she always does.

"What was that?" I covered my face with my hands.

Darcia's pov

I ran off, but in her mind, I was the one who won this. I did not run off because of what happened between us. I'm not afraid of her games. If she likes to play it this weird way, I can as well.

The way her thighs were pressed against me made me pull her even closer to me. This girl is messing with my mind, and I don't like it one bit.

I've never had needs like this. To touch someone for other reasons than to feed on them. I honestly don't know what made me do such a thing. I cannot explain or describe the feeling I had when she got closer to me. Even if I knew the answers to my recent behavior, I wouldn't tell her a thing. Why is she searching for something that simply isn't there?

I drank from her for a second time already, and she still tried to pull tricks on me. Doesn't she realize what am I? The things I could do to her for this behavior are countless. I was pretty sure she was scared of me, but after today, I need to change my morals towards her so she can realize who she's messing with.

When those three days passed, I tried to occupy myself with other things. For instance, I change the oil in my car even though I'm not going anywhere soon. On the last day, I went upstairs to give her the food, but I heard her talking very quietly. When I opened the bathroom door, I felt fire travel through my entire body.

If she revealed my true identity to someone in the orphanage, it would be over for me. Even if I were to escape this town, there's still a chance that my family's spies are hiding somewhere, waiting for me to show up.

People would for sure believe it because they all despise me and suspect me of every satanic or witch-related stuff. No human tried to go near my house. That's how bad my reputation is here. I took it as a compliment. For them to think I'm working with the devil is pleasing. I'd say I'm much worse than what they're saying about me.

After today, I decided I'll keep Talia until she dies. It's not like I would free her alive. Legally, she's my daughter, so I'm not holding her here hostage. But this is her punishment because of what she has done. Is it selfish of me to want just her blood? I cook for her every day; she lives in such a big house and has amazing company, me.

When the night came, I decided to check on her. She's so unpredictable, honestly. When I walked inside the room, she was already asleep. With her hands above her head, hair inside her mouth, and loud snoring.

I went to take a closer look at her. Standing right beside her. I could kill her right now in this very moment, and all of the problems I have with her would disappear. I would go back to hunting humans, and my life would get boring again.

Killing her might be better for me, but I want to keep her alive as long as I can. She was right; I could've killed her, but I didn't. There's something behind her eyes every time our eyes meet that makes me not capable of hurting her.

I wish someone would tell me what it means to feel those things. To give me a proper answer. Maybe I softened because she's a girl. Somewhere deep inside, I pity her because I pitied my younger self.

The dead self.