90. Surprise For You!

One month later. Clarice was having breakfast in the dining room, tears rolling down her cheeks when Demetria joined her. She felt sad and utterly hopeless in her current situation. Her heart was breaking inside. She struggled with her mental health. She thought she would die of heartbreak and loneliness anytime soon. She did not bother to hide the tears in her eyes. She wanted the world to see how lonely and terrible her life turned out after she became Demetria's unwilling captive. "Why are you crying, dear?" Demetria asked casually, picking up a cookie and starting munching on it. She could already feel the drama unfolding in Clarice's eyes. To her, she was just a blood feeder, but sometimes she couldn't help it. She wanted to help Clarice in her own little way. Clarice looked at her and sadly replied, "I miss my husband and son so much!" She blurted in despair, an avalanche of tears sprang from her eyes. She couldn't hide the suffering she felt inside. She wished she could move Demetria's cold heart with her tears. Demetria stopped eating the cookie and put it on the plate. "Oh dear, why are you still sad? This place is perfect. I have already given you everything you need, starting with the food you want to eat and all the material things you need for yourself. What else do you want?" she asked. "All you give me doesn't give me happiness. I want to go home to my family! I want to be reunited with them!" Clarice yelled angrily in utter frustration, desperate to make the vampire listen to her plea. Demetria sighed in annoyance. "You want to be reunited with your family? Alright, I'll bring them here so you can be happy," she said, rising to her feet. Clarice looked at her incredulously. "No! That's not what I mean! Don't bring them here! Release me so I can return to my family safely!" she shouted furiously. Her frustrated loud voice vibrated inside the dining room. Demetria eyed her captive in disdain and snapped at her. "Control your voice! I don't give you the right to raise your voice above me. You have forgotten that I saved your life! Without me, you would already be dead! So learn to respect the person who saved your life!" she chastised her. Clarice sobbed hysterically. Her appetite for food was already long gone. "I feel so sad and miserable here. You might as well kill me!" She cried in despair. Demetria sighed. "What is it that you really want? You want your family? I can give them to you anytime. Just say yes and I'll do it. Don't insist on your way, because I always do things my way and no one can change that. Just be grateful that I'm being lenient with you and I tolerate your tantrums. If I'm like other vampires, you died a long time ago. So don't ever push my bottom line. I can't be kind to you all the time," she warned. Clarice bit her lip, forcing herself not to cry anymore. Demetria has good and bad sides. Her outburst might trigger her bad side, and she might die before she can leave this place. She still has this burning desire to reunite with her family one day. The question remains, how can she escape her overly possessive captor? Demetria was pleased when Clarice finally stopped crying. "I like it better when you don't have tantrums. This place is quiet and peaceful if you don't raise your voice. We can stay this way for eternity," she muses. Clarice glared at her. "This is the life you want for yourself, but how about me?" "This is also the life you want, right? Peaceful life, safe from bad people and no problems with anything. Why can't you be satisfied?" Demetria asked irritably. Clarice shakes her head in distress. No matter what she says or does, her captor will never understand her feelings. In Demetria's eyes she is just a nobody and her words don't have value. Demetria has always been the master between the two of them, and she must obey her rules because she was saved by her. She will never win in their arguments. "Why don't you answer my question, Clarice?" Demetria snapped, annoyed that she had asked a question and yet Clarice pretended that she didn't hear it. It's like an act of defiance, infuriating her further. Clarice was forced to answer. "Yeah, your life here is peaceful and safe, but I prefer the life I have with my family back home." Demetria shrugged. "Whatever, you can't leave this place anyway. As for my offer of your family relocating here, it still stands so you won't label me as a cruel master." Clarice looked at her hard. "I wish I knew what's going on with my family right now," she said fervently. "I wish I could talk to my husband and son and tell them that I'm still alive, and I will return home soon," she said and resumed eating the food on her plate, ignoring her cruel master. Demetria rolled her eyes. "That's one thing I don't understand about you, dear. I have given you the chance to be reunited with your family, but you adamantly refused my offer. You are impossible! You are making me crazy!" Clarice sighed, annoyed that Demetria still refused to understand her reason until now. "I don't want you to bring my family here, because they will also become your prisoners. I don't want them to suffer and become restless, and one day they will jump towards death out of desperation. I don't want any of that to happen and that is one thing you don't understand because you are never in my shoes!" she said sharply. Demetria was shaking her head in exasperation. "I can't understand you! You are hard to understand!" "You are too! You are hard to understand!" Clarice retaliated. They had a staring match that lasted for a few minutes. Demetria stood up abruptly. "Since you are muddleheaded, I will bring your husband and son here so you will truly understand what you really want!" Demetria left the dining room in the blink of an eye. "WTF?" Clarice was shocked, shaken to the core. What the hell? Does Demetria really mean it? Kidnapping her husband and son and bringing them here without her consent? Stunned, she closed her eyes. Her heart beats faster in her rib cage. That impulsive vampire is playing a mind game with her again! Demetria has the upper hand. She is a powerful vampire, and she was just an ordinary wolf. Why on earth have their paths crossed? She was having a hard time dealing with Demetria's infuriating and impulsive nature. Why is she making her life so damn complicated? Why? Just when she thought she was done crying, tears filled her eyes and she began sobbing hard again. Feelings of torment and extreme distress filled her heart, suffocating her. She suffered too much emotional and mental distress in Demetria's place. She wished she could return to her old life and resume where she left off. She wishes the cruise holiday had never happened at all. If only she could turn back time, she would never embark on that cruise ship holiday that caused her a never-ending nightmare. The cruise ship trip is one thing she wants to erase from her life. But it's too late for that. She is now in a difficult situation that she can't get out of. Her bad luck has no end. She stood up and gathered the dirty dishes and brought them to the sink in the kitchen. Her tears were still rolling down her face while she was washing dirty dishes. She bit her lower lip in utter hopelessness. Life must go on no matter what! After finishing her chores in the kitchen, she went outside the house and stared at the horizon, watching seagulls fly above the surface of the water to catch some fish. The tranquil atmosphere around her was like a warm blanket, filling her heart and mind with calmness. This place is perfect for relaxing and meditating. Too bad she is not here to enjoy those things and appreciate their essence. She's here because she was imprisoned against her will! The irony of her situation is too much to bear for her weary mind. She's going crazy every time she thinks about her situation. She sat on the chair and let peace and solitude wash over her, blanketing her soul with a false sense of safety and security. She closed her eyes, calming her turbulent emotions. She was desperately hoping Demetria was just joking out of anger. She knew deep inside that Demetria wouldn't bring her family here without her consent! But what if Demetria does it? What is she going to do when she sees her husband and son in front of her? Would she accept the gift? Or will she beg Demetria to return her family to their home where they truly belong? Which is which? Agonizing hours passed by. Lunchtime came and Demetria still hadn't returned. She started worrying. The whole afternoon passed like a blur, still no sign of Demetria. She became increasingly tense and agitated. She knew Demetria too well. She loves playing with her emotions. This time she tortured her with intense anticipation. The evening came and Clarice's endless waiting had finally ended. Demetria entered the house, looking every inch like the queen of darkness, a dark cape flowing behind her back. Clarice stood up in anticipation, feeling relieved and at the same time disappointed that Demetria hadn't brought her husband and son with her upon her return. "I have good news for you, dear!" Demetria gushed in delight, clapping her hands in glee. "The good news is waiting for you outside! Go and see them!" Oh, no! Clarice's eyes widened in shock and surprise. Her heart was overflowing with happiness. She rushed outside to see the good news.