Lorelai’s POV

I pressed my back against the thick velvet drapery, holding my breath as his footsteps echoed

off the marble floor.

My blood-sucker of a husband was home.

There was no use holding my breath or being afraid. He could sense my fear, and the scent of

my Golden Sanguine had probably filled his nostrils from his first steps through the front door.

‘Where is my wife?’

His voice reverberated through the thick mahogany doors of my bedroom. He never

asks the workers this question. He knows where I always am anyway. Right where he

has left me for the past 7 years.

I could hear hunger through his voice as he asked the question. His meeting had not

gone well, and I was to pay the price for it.

His footsteps grew louder and his thirst for my blood rapidly increased.

‘Why are your clothes still on?’

His voice sent chills down my spine. His deep, dark eyes pierced right through me, just

as they always have every day for the past 7 years of our marriage.

I began undressing. Swiftly.

‘I was just taking this off’

I answered, as I began removing the corset Eliza had helped me loosen earlier.

He would always ask that I leave my petticoats and inner garments on.

His main feeding areas were my collarbones and neck, with enough precision to suck

directly from my veins. Every feeding session was hell.

‘Come here’

I moved forward and he drew me closer to himself. I braced myself for the torture that

would last an hour.

I shut my eyes tight, hoping an hour would feel like 10 minutes. But it never did. It felt

like 10 hours instead.

He wiped the gold drops of my blood around his mouth with the back of his palm and

walked away, the same way he always did after feeding.

No appreciation. No acknowledgement. No words.

‘Eliza.’

I called out from my bedroom. Of course, Lord Vane and I had separate bedrooms. He

would not want my filthy gold blood staining his linen sheets.

Eliza came in prepared as always. In her hands, a kettle of hot water and herbal soaps

and lotions to soothe my bruises.

‘How bad are they today?’

I asked, as I turned my neck side to side for my maid to inspect.

‘Not the worst, miss. Nothing our locally sourced lotion won't fix.’

I undressed completely and walked to my bathroom.

I positioned myself comfortably inside the tub and allowed Eliza pour the hot water into

the cold-water tub I was already in.

This was my method.

I equaled pain with pain.

If Vane could inflict that much pain on me, better still I cause it on myself as well.

Anything to numb the pain of his violent feedings.

‘Do you ever envision life outside of this old mansion?’

I was sure I had asked this question to Eliza a thousand times before.

‘This is life, Miss.’

The same answer. The same flat tone. Every single time I asked.

‘I would be out in the country. Far, far away from Oakhaven. Feeding hay to horses in

stables or milking healthy cows. I would work day and night if it meant I never had to be

confined within these four walls again.’

I had a different imagination everyday.

Some days, I would be a musician. Some, a waitress. Others, sell vegetables in the

local markets.

I would imagine anything to take my mind off this horrifying mansion.

‘Miss, you seem to forget that for people like me, there is not much to expect out of life .’

Eliza said, as she plastered a pitiful smile across her face.

Probably with an attempt to cheer herself up.

‘Hold still, My Lady. You know the rose water tingles on the open wounds.’

Eliza warned before she soothed the deep punctures on the side of my neck with cold

rose water.

It burned and burned.

‘Eliza, watch it!’

I screamed, out of agony and throbbing pain.

‘I’m sorry, Miss. I am so sorry.’

Eliza squeaked, pulling the cloth she used to soothe my wounds away and clutching it

to her apron.

‘I did not mean to cause you harm. It’s just...’

She twitched her mouth from one side to the other, looking down at the wet bathroom

tiles.

‘Just what?’

I hissed, trying to soothe my punctures myself.

‘It’s just... the Lord said all your marks must be clean before the seamstress arrives for

the gala fitting.’

‘What? What gala?’

I asked, eyebrows furrowed, unable to make sense of what she said.

‘Miss, the Oakhaven annual gala in few weeks.’

Here we go again.

Another event to have myself painted in makeup to hide these bruises given to me by

my cruel spouse.

‘Just go easier on my wounds.’

I did not care about the gala. Neither did I care about the seamstress noticing my

bruises.

‘Scrub them till they are soothed, but remember I am human like you and I feel pain the

same way you do. Every day.’

I added.

‘Yes, My lady.’

Eliza replied as she started to gently scrub my punctures.

‘I rather face the pain of scrubbing the injuries away than getting them in the first place.’

I murmured. Loud enough for Eliza to hear.

‘Miss, the walls of this mansion have ears. They listen. You should not say such things.’

I looked at her. Cold and stern. Dead in her eyes.

‘Then let them hear my cries and rescue me from this monster.’

Eliza had finished scrubbing me. I felt as though a layer of my skin had been ripped off

my body.

I stepped out of the bath, as Eliza pat dried my now pale skin with a warm towel.

I stood in front of my dresser mirror, unable to recognize the shadow of my former self I

now saw in the reflection.

‘He has sucked me to my bones.’

I said, examining the bruises on my collar bones, tracing them with my manicured fingernails.