Chapter 1

“Please! Don’t kill me! I got a wife and kid!”, the thug exclaimed as he raised his hand to shield himself.

She stepped closer to him slowly like an apex predator,” Say that to the dozens of kids you murdered”.She said before she could kill him. Sirens buzzed in the dead and silent alleys, that was her time to run away as quickly as possible. Of course, she covered her face with a mask as any vigilante would, but that was not enough. There was a witness to what she had done.

He chuckled as he stated,” My dear little kitten… you smell so different and unique. I need you, you’re valuable.”He started to drool as he tracked the scent of the cut that was on her opened wound.

Zoey entered through her bedroom window and hoped that her father will not find her in such a state. After all, he didn’t know about her secret job.

“Why are you dressed like that and why are you coming back home through your bedroom window Zoey?”, her father questioned her in the darkest corner of the room.

“O-oh, dad! Why are you up so late?” she exclaimed as she tried to avoid his questions.

“Answer my questions first, Zoey. You’ve been coming home late recently. Are you seeing someone that I don’t know about?”

Zoey sighed in amusement.” Of course not dad! I would tell you if I ever meet someone.”, she stated as they hugged.

“Then what are you hiding from me, Zoey? You know what my line of work is, and you know that it is dangerous for you to sneak out of the house at 11 in the night!”, he yelled at her.

“Dad, I’m not sixteen anymore! You have to start trusting me and putting more faith in me. I know how to take care of myself dad…I’m twenty-four.”, Zoey stated.

“Zoey, I don’t care what the hell you do, but you just follow one rule. Never leave the house from ten in the night to five in the morning.”, he said as he slammed the door after leaving.

She sighed as she fell onto the bed. Zoey started to dress into her house clothes until she saw a wound on her arm.” Shit.”, she muttered under her breath. She closed her window quickly and started to dress her wound.

She turned around quickly as she felt a presence near her.” Who’s there!?”, she exclaimed but no response, she thought maybe it was in her mind since she was already sleepy from a long day. She sighed as she got ready for bed.” Mom…I miss you so much. I wish you were here.”, she muttered as she slowly fell off to sleep.

Earlier on

“Sir, you got a meeting scheduled with the shareholders at 9:30 sharp, and since there is no stock of the blood wine in your cellar, shall I order more and where shall I order it this time for you?”, his assistant, Damion queried.

A deep, rough voice answered saying,” Order it from City X and make sure it is exactly from the 1530’s.”He folded his muscular arms and looked outside the car window to see something strange.” What the hell…stop the damn car right now!”, he exclaimed. He got out of the car running and leaving the driver and Damion in shock.

“What was all that about? Oh no…Shit…He is going to get late for the meeting!”, Damion shouted as he got out of the car but Alexander was long gone.”Damn it!”

Alexander Griffin, the one man that City Y won’t dare to mess with, Alex owns everything in this city. One word and you’re gone.No one, absolutely no one can move him or do anything to him. He’s cold and expressionless.

“What was that smell? It has such a different fragrance.’, he questioned himself as he started to spy on what was happening in an alleyway.

“Please! Don’t kill me! I got a wife and kid!”, the thug exclaimed as he raised his hand to shield himself.

A person with a mask on, stepped closer to him slowly like an apex predator,” Say that to the dozens of kids you murdered”.She said before she could kill him. Sirens buzzed in the dead and silent alleys, that was her queue to start running. 

Alex chuckled as he stated,” My dear little kitten… you smell so different and unique. I need you, you’re valuable.”He started to drool as he tracked the scent of the cut that was on her opened wound and started to run away too.

He took out his phone to dial a number and they picked up.” Where are you Mr.Griffin?You are going to be late for the meeting!”, Damion stated in distress.

“Damion, I have something to do urgently. Cancel the rest of my appointments for today.”

He ended up tracking this vigilante to their house just to find out that it was a thin, delicate and pale girl who looked so beautiful, He could not believe his eyes that someone petite can kill someone. She wasn’t for the game of war, and he knew that well enough. He watched her from the building opposite as she entered her house through her room window. He chuckled at her childishness but was more focused on who was in the house since she entered that way. He saw the light turn on as soon as she entered, and there was an old man she called father, his hearing was quite well.

He picked up his phone to see Damion calling him, he didn’t wait for Damion to talk, instead, he talked first.” Is the wine ready as yet?”, Alex questioned.

“It will be ready at 2 a.m. in three days' time.”, Damion replied.

“Get it ready faster Damion.”, he demanded as he started to walk away from her house into the car where his driver waited for him using a tracker. The driver opened the door,” I am sorry sir, I had to track you down to make sure that you were okay.”

Alex waved a hand to his driver as he entered his car.”Oh, and Damion, I got some homework for you, give me information about a name such as Zoey Smith.”

And he cut the call.

“Take me to the wine cellar house, Mac.”, he commanded the driver.

“On it sir.”, Mac replied.

In The Morning

‘Ring, ring…Ring, ring…’, the alarm continued as Zoey’s eyes adjusted to the morning sun that made its presence well-known. She put it off and slowly got out of bed. Zoey did her usual, brush her teeth, bathe, dress up, and add a little touch of eyeliner and lip balm. She tied her charcoal black hair into a messy bun and left breakfast for her dad. She never knew what her dad worked as because he’d never tell but all she knew was that he worked for a philanthropist organization or something like that.

“Perfect.”, she muttered under her breath as she winked at the mirror.”Just another ordinary day at work.”

She worked in a small Cafe called The Cafe Aroma. It was easy money but overall it was known for the strong aroma that ended up leaving with the customers.No one knew the owner of the Cafe, but one thing for sure…It was always the best and its aroma stays forever.

“Hey Lily, how was your weekend?”, Zoey exclaimed as she entered the shop. Lily was always her best friend from high school.

“Hi, hon~It was perfect! I went camping with my boyfriend, it was so amazing and lovely. What about you?”, Lily said as she grabbed Zoey into a tight hug. 

“Ah, usual as usual if you know what I mean”, Zoey chuckled as she hugged her back.

“Girls, don’t forget we are still in our work environment. Get ready, our shift starts in 5 minutes.”, the manager said.

Zoey and Lily both spoke in uniform as they said, “Understood sir.”

Meanwhile

He sat down on his chair as he tasted each wine and none was according to his liking. All he could think about was the frail little girl and her beautiful scent. She was beautiful. She was everything he needs and must have.

“You seem off…did something happen boss?”, Damion questioned.

“Last night…I met someone beautifully strange…”, he said as he was making an origami flower.

“Well, who was it?”, Damion asked in curiosity.

“Someone you were supposed to search up. Do you have her information as yet?”, Alex asked with his dead-eye stare.

“Y-yes…Zoey Smith,age- 24,female,blood type-”

“I didn’t ask for her damn information in that way, give me her background.”, Alex snapped at Damion agitated but Damion was amused by this side of his boss.

“Okay, so her mother passed away when she was 15 years old. From the time Miss Smith was born, her dad has been working for a philanthropy organization and his title in it is somewhat classified. Miss Smith has been working for Cafe Aroma for five and a half years, her record is clean and good.”, Damion spoke.

“Strange…”,Alex stated as he finished off his origami work and gave it to Mac, his driver to keep.” Back to the wine, it all tastes like shit. They are either too dry or too weak or sour. This is not the same blood I am looking for! Find the damn blood of 1530’s. I don’t care how you get it but get the job done properly or don’t come back.”, Alex shouted at the staff and flipped over the table that had the bottles of wine on it and he stormed out of the wine cellar with Damion on his side.

All Damion could do was keep quiet and follow Alex. The rest of Alex’s day was the same old usual, busy. He had meetings with shareholders to attend to, a new foundation plan, and the blood of the 1530s.

The blood Alex was looking for was impossible to just find like that. It was rare. The blood of a queen of a small country was taken by a vampire and it was Alex’s father. It was up to Alex to feed himself by finding the sacred blood that his father had hidden.

The Next Day At The Cafe

“Hey, Zoey! You didn’t tell me you have a boyfriend! Girl, your hottie is waiting for you at the counter!”, Lily exclaimed in excitement.

“Wait, slow down Lily, what are you talking about?”, Zoey asked in confusion.

Instead Lily didn’t answer, she just pushed Zoey in this man’s direction. Zoey looked like a weak prey that was about to be attacked by its predator. Lily gave her one last strong push straight into the man’s arms. All Zoey could feel was her heart pounding and her warm hands placed on his chest. His deep black hair shone beautifully under the sun’s direction. He had the steadiest breathing and his arms that held Zoey in place were a comfort to her.

“H-hi…”, she broke the ice with her stuttering. He found it cute but he kept a neutral look on his face.

“I’m guessing that you’re Zoey Smith?”, he asked gently while retracting his hands and pulling her closer while holding her waist as he whispered in her ear.

“Is there somewhere more private where we can talk?”,he asked in an icy tone.

She felt chills down her spine listening to the tone that changed within seconds. She knew this was it. She was in trouble.

“Sure.”