Rosangela: The Runaway Princess (Book #2)

“Mariana?” I called her name, but she didn’t answer.

“Mariana?” I called again, but she still made no reply.

I edged a little closer to her. “Come on, Mariana, wake up now! It’s not funny!” I snapped at her.

I was certain that Mariana must be playing tricks on me because it wouldn’t be possible for a half-blood vampire like me to hurt an elder vampire like her.

I expected Mariana to get up and snap a reply to me, but she neither woke up nor gave a response.

Finally, I knelt down on the floor beside Mariana and shook her violently by the shoulders, trying to wake her up. “Mariana, wake up! Please, please wake up!”

I panicked when Mariana didn’t want to open her eyes yet.

“Oh no! It seems that she’s not faking it,” I thought.

“I’m sorry I hurt you, Mariana. I didn’t mean to,” I said remorsefully.

“What shall I do now?” I mused.

I was at a loss what to do next. Part of me wanted to run as far as possible and leave Mariana behind before someone caught me red-handed here. But the other part of me felt sorry for her and had an overwhelming desire to help her.

“I must ask for help now!” I finally decided.

Jumping to my feet, I ran down the hallway, screaming for help. My scream brought the maids and guards running. A crowd soon gathered round me.

“What’s the matter, Angela?” one of them asked me.

“Ma—Ma—Mariana,” I stammered.

“What’s wrong with Mariana?” the other inquired.

“Follow me please!”

I returned to Mariana’s place with the guards and maids following closely behind.

“Tha—that’s Mariana!” I pointed my trembling finger in her direction.

Everyone was visibly shocked at the sight of Mariana who was lying unconscious on the floor with blood oozed out of the wound on her head.

“Gosh, what’s happened to Mrs. Mariana?” a maid enquired in astonishment.

“I don’t know what happened to her. While I was on my way to the bathroom, I found her lying unconscious on the floor,” I lied.

I despised myself for being so cowardly and not admitting my mistake. But if they all found out that I was the one who had injured Mariana, I would be in trouble.

“Is she dead?” a guard asked bluntly.

I blanched when I heard what he said. “Oh God, have I killed Mariana?”

Xavier’s Point of View:

After Angela left, I couldn’t concentrate with the meeting anymore. My mind was completely occupied by my new pet. She told me that she wouldn’t be long, but apparently it took much longer than I’d expected.

"Where is she going? She ought to be here by now. But why hasn’t she turned up yet?" I was wondering.

Anxiety began to possess me. And suddenly, I had a foreboding feeling that something was up.

“What if she gets lost in this huge castle, or even worse, what if she is attacked by some random vampire?” I thought apprehensively.

Quickly, I dismissed the thought with a firm shake of my head. “No! Don’t be so negative, Xavier! Your pet will be all right,” I convinced myself.

I tried to focus my attention back to the meeting again. However, I couldn’t get that annoying girl out of my head, and I also couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something wrong.

A scream suddenly broke the silence of the night. My heart missed a beat when I recognized the voice as Angela’s.

“No, no, no, it can’t be Angela’s voice. I must be hearing things because I’m worried about her,” I thought.

“I thought I heard a scream,” one of the delegates blurted.

“I heard it too,” another delegate said.

My eyes dilated in surprise. “So I really heard Angela screaming? It’s all not only in my imagination?”

“Excuse me for a moment,” I said, springing to my feet, and lastly, I left the meeting room in a rush.

I didn’t know where the scream came from, so I just walked along the corridor until I came to an abrupt halt when I saw a small crowd had gathered in the opposite side of the corridor.

All of a sudden, I had a horrible sinking feeling that something terrible had befallen Angela. Thus, without wasting time, I darted across the long corridor to see what happened.