Chapter 3 PATHETIC LITTLE LIFE OF MINE.

Ezra's pov. 

I peed myself.

I wish I was joking.

One second I was standing there frozen, staring at four faces I had spent a year trying to forget. The next second, warmth spread down my leg and I wanted the floor to swallow me whole.

The rival coach tilted his head. “Are you alright, son?”

I could not speak. My mouth was open but nothing came out. 

My coach turned to look at me. Then he looked down.

His face went through about five different emotions before landing on pure embarrassment.

“Ezra.” His voice was low and very tight. “Get. Out.”

I rushed out of the office. I ran fast with whatever dignity that I had left, which was close to nothing, and I did not look back. 

My dorm room was on the third floor. I took the stairs two at a time, pushed the door open, and went straight for my bag under the bed.

“Whoa.” My roommate Jay looked up from his phone. “What happened to you?”

“Nothing,” I said, quickly and breathless. 

I pulled the bag out and threw it on the bed. Opened the wardrobe.

“Ezra.” he stood up. “What happened?” 

“I said I'm fine.” I grabbed a handful of shirts and shoved them into the bag. “I'm leaving.”

“You what?!” He snapped. “To where?” 

“I have to leave,” I said again, shoving shoes inside the bag. 

“Right now?” 

“Tonight if I can.” I moved to the drawer, and pulled out the small envelope of cash I kept taped behind the drawer. 

“Bro,” Jay laughed. “You just paid your rent last week. And should I remind you how hard you worked for that money?” 

I stopped.

“Dude, you bursted your ass working three shifts to get that money.” 

He was damn right. I struggled for where I was right now. 

I stood still with a handful of socks and thought about everything. 

“What really happened… bully?” He asked. “What got you so worked out?” 

I inhaled deeply, almost in tears. “I've no idea.” 

I looked at him.

He looked back at me, genuinely confused and a little worried.

I slowly put the socks down, and sat on the edge of the bed. “You're right.” 

I nodded. “I've spent everyday the last year rebuilding from scratch. I've built this life on my own. I would not let some measly people take that away from me. And I definitely would not let a group of vampires control my life.” 

“Wait,” he blinked. “Did you just say vampires?” 

I ignored him. 

“You're right, Jay. I'm going to fight my way out of this. I'm not running, and I'm definitely not going back to their coven.” 

“Okay.” He sat back down carefully, like he was handling something fragile. “Are you high?”

“No.” I almost laughed. “What part of this looks like I'm high?” 

“Nothing.” He shook his head, slowly. “It's just that you wanted to pack your whole life into a bag and elope. And you kept talking about vampires.” 

I just realised how that sounded to a human who had no idea what was truly going on in this world. 

“They are in a cult,” I laughed awkwardly. “Some friends I met from a club. I messed up big time, and they were here now.” 

“Who are they?” his brows knitted. “And how can I help?” 

I took a breath. “It's fine. It's not something I can't handle.” 

“Don't worry, brother,” he placed a steady hand on my shoulder. “I'm always here for you.” 

Hold on to that promise, brother. Wait till you meet them, then I'll know if I should believe your words. 

I inhaled deeply, my mind going back to the look on their faces when they saw me. They didn't look shocked, like they knew exactly where I was. 

Anyways, they were already here. Fine. But this was the human world. They had rules here. They couldn't just grab me in front of people. They couldn't feed or fight or do any of the things they did back home without exposing everything.

I had the human world on my side.

They wouldn't touch me here.

I kept saying that to myself as the hours passed.

By midnight, nothing had happened. 

I didn't know why, but I was more restless because the lunatics hadn't come to get me or try to force their way on me. 

Maybe, they don't need me anymore. Maybe, I've been replaced. 

Jay was asleep, snoring lightly with his face half buried in a pillow. I sat on my bed with my back against the wall, a kitchen knife resting on my lap, waiting to slash at the faintest shadow. 

I watched the door, the window. I listened to every sound the building made as it settled.

Nothing.

An hour passed. Then another.

My eyes grew heavy.

Maybe they just wanted to scare me. Maybe seeing my face was enough. Maybe they would finish the tournament and leave and pretend none of this happened.

I almost believed it. 

I reached over to set the knife on the bedside table, when suddenly a hand closed my mouth shut. Cold and firm. 

I was pinned down before I could react, my back flat on the mattress, the knife knocked to the floor. 

“Scream,” a voice said quietly near my ear, “and I'll snap your neck before the sound leaves your throat.”

Dorian. 

I knew his voice. I would know it anywhere. That calm, but unsettling voice that made my skin crawl. 

I didn't scream.

I wanted to. But I couldn't. 

One of the brothers crouched beside Jay's bed, looking at him with pure disgust. 

“Humans,” Riven said quietly, almost to himself. Like the word tasted boring. 

“He sleeps like he has nothing to worry about,” Lucien added.

Caius said nothing. He stood near the window, arms crossed, watching me.

“Please,” I whispered against Dorian's hand. The word came out broken.

Dorian eased his hand back just enough.

“I have to admit,” he said, looking down at me with something close to amusement. “You became something of a story back home. The first human to escape.” He tilted his head. “Not enough for others to try it. But enough to be annoying.”

Riven moved toward Jay.

“Don't,” I said sharply.

He stopped. Looked at me. Then smiled.

“You have no idea what you caused,” Riven said. “Father was furious. Not at you.” He paused. “At us. For letting a blood bank even consider the idea of running.”

“Then take it out on me,” I said. “Leave him alone. He has nothing to do with any of this.”

My voice was loud. But Jay didn't move.

I'm surprised he didn't hear anything. 

“Oh, we are going to take that on you,” Dorian grinned. “We are going to drain every last drop of blood you have in your system.” 

I swallowed hard, blinking to wipe the sweet covering my vision. 

“Please, just let me go,” I cried. 

“We found you,” Dorian said flatly. “You're coming with us. That's the end of that conversation.”

“I'm not going anywhere.” 

Riven reached down and grabbed Jay by the back of the neck, lifting his head from the pillow. 

Jay's eyes flew open. Confusion first. Then terror.

“What the fuck?!” Jay screamed. 

“Let him go, you moron!” I screamed, trying to break free from Dorian's grip, but it was useless. 

“You must care so much about this human,” Riven smiled, darkly. 

“Please, please, let go of him,” I pleaded as Riven brought the scared Jay closer to his face, his mouth ready to dig into his skin. 

“Relax, your friend won't replace you.” Caius mocked. 

“Enough,” Lucien's voice cut through the air. 

Riven's fang went in, but he didn't let Jay go. 

I let out a sigh of relief. But I wasn't really relaxed. 

Lucien crouched to my eye level. “Easy way. Or hard way. Come back with us, quietly, and no one would ever know we were here.”

“And if I don't?”

Dorian pulled me upright, turning me to face Jay. Riven tilted Jay's head back, his fangs appearing. 

“We are not unreasonable,” Dorian said near my ear. “We don't want exposure any more than you do. So decide wisely.” He let a pause sit. “You have twenty four hours.”

Riven whispered some memory loss shit, then dropped Jay and stepped back. He turned to me. “Next time, I'll make sure I leave more than a missing chunk of skin for him to remember us.” 

I swallowed hard. 

Dorian released me. I fell to my knees beside the bed.

“Twenty four hours, Ezra,” Lucien reminded. His voice sounded more like a warning.

And with that, they all disappeared like they weren't here.