Taken away, hima [chrysanthemum read aloud TXT] 📗

said. “Is that it…?” I asked. He nodded. “If you don’t mind I want to sleep now…”I said.

He waited for a few seconds unsure of what he should do and then I heard him leaving.

“Hey…good morning…”I waved to Max who was waiting for me in his car. As soon as he saw me get into the car, his face went rigid… “Did you meet Mike…? At night…?”He shrieked. “He stopped by to ask if I would go to the masquerade ball with him….” I said strapping the belt. “And…?” “I said ‘yes’” “After that…?” Max was impatient now. What’s wrong with him…? “He left…” I said.

“I don’t want you to meet him anymore…” He said sternly. “Why…?” “Just do as I say…” He may be my best friend and I know that whatever he does is for my own good but his attitude these days is throwing me insane, if he wants something from me than he must give me the answers…

“Seriously…Max. I don’t know what’s between you and him… but you both are my friends and I can’t lose one for the other…” I said. “He is not good for you…he’ll hurt you…” “Why do you say that… he is nothing but nice to me all these days…”

“Have you ever considered how pale you are being these days…?” “What does that have to do with Mike…?” I shrieked frustrated at him for skipping through conversations. He ran his hands in his hair in frustration.

I unbuckled and slammed the car door shut… Max looked at me dumbfounded. “Go…” I stomped away from him. He ran after me. “Please…Liz. Just try to understand me…I can’t tell you some things… but you need to trust when I say Mike is going to hurt you…” he pleaded. I just ignored him and walked away.

Max tried to talk to me…I just ignored him and kept walking. “Is everything alright?” Mike asked. I shrugged my shoulders…”You stay out of this…It’s none of your business…”Max growled. He squared his shoulders and fixed a threatening glare towards Mike. “Ow! What’s that for?” Mike stumbled a bit back.

Max was never like this…He was never a guy to threaten or bully…the Max I see now is different…It’s like I met his other side now. “It has everything to do with him because I’m his girlfriend and it is his responsibility to watch over me…” I said sternly. Max flinched at my words…he kicked the lockers in frustration and left.

“Girlfriend…?” Mike asked excited. “I’m your friend and I’m girl…so girlfriend…”I said casually. “I thought something else…” he shook his head. I laughed at him.

Three days I ignored Max… I wanted to talk to him and sort out things between us but he didn’t stop badgering me about being away from Mike… Things got even worse at home… Dad lost his job due to his addiction to drinking and it didn’t affect him, he just drank more now… At nights I could hear him wailing and throwing things here and there. I tried talking to him but he wouldn’t listen to me…he would just shut the door on me.

I cried all the time until my throat hurt…I didn’t know how everything would end up… I can’t lose dad… he is the only one for me. Each day I would wait for him but he would never be sober when he returned home…One of his friends would drop him home every day. He would drink until he lost conscious and one of them would bring him home. In the mornings he would shut himself in that room.

I cried saying everything to Mike…He promised that he would talk to the bar owner to not to allow my dad into the bar… Next day I waited patiently thinking that Mike’s plan would work out and dad will come home sober… When I heard a honk… I ran in anticipation to see dad sober but I slumped down as I saw Mike carrying an unconscious dad towards our house.

“What happened…?”I cried…”When the bar owner tried to stop him…he just beat them and stole the wine and they called me complaining about him. I drove by and paid them to stop them from taking legal action on your dad… I found him unconscious on the way…” he said easing him on to the couch.

What the hell was going on with my life…? Why am I still living…? To see this…? Mom…How could you leave me in such a mess…? I cried…It seems that is the only thing that I do these days…
Mike was always with me trying to cheer up…Max threw wary looks at us and if he saw Mike moving any closer to me…he would throw threatening glares at him…Why is he acting so weird…?

I didn’t want to go to the ball when I’m immersed in my own troubles but I promised Mike; I would come and this is a small way of repaying him for all the kindness he had shown to me.

“Hey…I have something for you…”he said as he dropped me at home. He handed me a red cover wrapped gift box. “What’s in it…?” he gestured me to open… My eyes went wide as I saw a red colored fabric in it… “I can’t take this…”I said. “Why not…?”He asked. “Because I can’t repay you…” I said tentatively. “You already did by being my friend and accepting to come to the ball with me…” he said winking… I turned red…He can be such a sweetie sometimes…

I’m not in the mood of pretending that everything is alright with me when it’s not. I hope Mike understands it but I wore the red ball gown not wanting to hurt Mike.

“You look absolutely stunning…”he said. I’m no different this day…I didn’t try to take time to put on some make up but if he thinks I’m still beautiful well... at least he is happy. I thought.

“Do you want to dance…?” he asked as the music rolled on. “I don’t think…”I could see his disappointed face even behind the mask. “Okay…But get me a drink first…” I said smiling. He lit up instantly.

One of the guys in black tux and golden mask that matched his earth brown eyes walked over to me. “You look beautiful…” I instantly recognized the voice. “Thanks…”I said. “Um…I know… that you don’t want to talk to me… but… please don’t go alone anywhere with him…please…” he begged. I was about to ask why but I knew that he wouldn’t answer me anyway.

“Drink…”Mike said and Max left soon after he saw him coming. He took me over to the dance floor. Our bodies swayed to the music… Mike drew me closer with each beat… I could see from the corner of my eye… Max is glaring at him. His face contorted with pain when Mike kissed me lightly…He hurried out of the doors.

Mike closed the distance between us brushing my lips gently… I shivered at his touch and my body tingled all over. “Meet me at the backyard alone…” He whispered into my ears seductively.

He left kissing my knuckles with a secretive wink. As the magic of his lips fazed my mind…I stood there unwilling to move… Max’s words echoed in my mind which woke me up away from the stupor. Should I go…? I shrugged. Why shouldn’t I? It’s not like he is going to bite me. I made my way carefully out of the crowd.

“I’m sorry…” I recognized Lana’s voice…she spilled the drink over me. I glowered at her and left to the wash room.

<Mike’s POV>
I was paralyzed by Liz’s beauty…She looked perfect in the red dress, it hugged her curves…her thick hair fell over her shoulders in waves, her big blue eyes twinkled in spite of the dark circles that showed signs of stress…Her cheeks were flushed pink and her full lips bathed in red which allured him even more. I couldn’t take it anymore…I need to have her.

When I asked for a dance she said no which was a deep blow to my craving her heart but I was soon surprised to listen her saying okay…her gentle touch unleashed the wild animal inside me… her body swayed in perfect harmony with mine... I pulled her closer closing the distance between us; I could feel the warmth of her skin against mine… I noticed her eyes watching someone else and was surprised to see Max watching her every move. I raged with fury…She is mine and I’m going to prove it. I brushed her lips gently knowing that would be enough to set her on fire.

“Meet me at the backyard alone…”I whispered seductively in her ears. She blushed.
I waited impatiently at the backyard…My body groaned with need…my throat burnt with wild fire…When I listened to heels clicking…My eyes turned fiery red and with one swift move I had her in my hands…I kissed her passionately… She giggled. It didn’t sound like her…I removed her mask and was surprised to see Lana staring at me…

She pulled me close and crashed her lips against mine… I complied with her needs for a while and darted my mouth to her neck and teased her for a while kissing it. I pulled out my fangs and sank into her vein drinking eagerly. “You deserve it…you meddling bitch…” I said.

As I drained her out… I smelled the familiar scent of Liz…I turned around to see Liz’s horror struck face.

<Liz’s POV>
I can’t believe that Lana did this to me…I ran into the backyard hoping that I didn’t wait up Mike for a long time. I hurried into the backyard and was surprised to a silhouette of two people…who would it be…? I walked further and was surprised to see Lana in Mike’s arms. I froze in tracks to see them sharing an intimate kiss, Tears welled up in my eyes as I saw Mike intimate with someone else…He’s after all playing with me…I ran towards him hoping I could kill him but I was stopped when I heard the blood curdling scream of Lana.

Mike turned towards me…his eyes were burning red and as soon as he saw me…his face flinched. He let the limp body of Lana fall to the ground…Panic struck my heart… I shivered…I ran away from him as my heart accelerated so fast that I thought it would stop any second.

Mike appeared out of nowhere in front of me…He grabbed my arms tightly that hurt me very much…I screamed in pain… He bent over my neck when the doors burst open and max walked in with a group of other fellow students… Mike let me go and ran into the night. I ran towards Max…He enveloped his arms protectively over me…


Max stayed with me until I felt better, Lana’s cry of pain still reverberated in my mind… I shivered every time I remembered it. How could he kill her like that so brutally? Is he even a human…? My subconscious mind answered ‘no’. I’ve read about this somewhere in book. I searched my mind for that one piece of information. The undead people who drink blood from humans…Vampires…? Damn it, is that what he is? I need to do some research on it.

“Liz…Are you okay…?” Max asked. I nodded,”The police need your statement, do you want to tell them…?” he asked tentatively. “Yes…I will.” “Keep it simple…” Max whispered taking my hands into his and walked me to the police man who was now examining the body.