SPELLBOUND

Zanya jerked strongly at the feel of his mouth on her skin. And the very first thing she did was… she punched him. Hard. 

A thud echoed in the dark hall. Angry, Zanya created a ball of light to light up the place. She could not even see one foot in front of her. Her face was turned into a fierce and scowling mask of unhappiness. How dare this vampire behave this way! Why does he keep on making her rage like this?! She was not going to let him get away with it this time! She has given him chances time and again and she only felt that he kept taking things for granted. Enough was enough!

Prepared to beat him up into a pulp, Zanya walked up and stood before him before looking down to observe the vampire. But her scowl slowly faded at the sight of him breathless and slumped over, on the floor, as if he could barely move. His shoulders were moving up and down in large movements as he tried to pull in air into his lungs with much difficulty. He was somehow having trouble drawing in breath.

Creasing her brows, Zanya bent over. "Vampire…" she called out and Leon continued panting laboriously. His skin was damp and clammy with sweat. 

"Out!" his voice suddenly echoed loudly. Zanya could tell he had used whatever little strength he had to shout that out. After that shout, he was panting even harder than before.

Leon felt his body going numb. This was the very first time he had felt like this. This thirst and hunger were just inexplicable. He had never thought it could actually drive him completely senseless. Never did he think he would suffer this want so badly as a half-blooded vampire.

A couple of hours ago, all the elite vampires started to feel their hunger and thirst, all except him. Being a half blood, he could bear his thirst for blood far longer than anyone else. So, he was the only one who stayed back in the city while his comrades went out to hunt and sate their hunger. 

Because all vampires and humans had fled the city as the war was being fought, the vampires could not find anyone who will be able to supply them blood. The vampires and humans they had rescued were either children or wounded and weak. Therefore, the men had decided to go on a hunt as they knew they cannot be asking for each other's blood either due to the majority of them having already lost quite the amount of blood as well because of the battle. 

Someone had to stay back as their representative to be there just in case the prince or the princess came looking for them. So, it had fallen to Leon to stay back as he could still hold back his hunger. His comrades told him that they would come back soon with something for him as well. 

But two hours had passed since they told him that and they had yet to return. Leon could only deduce that the animals had probably ran off from the nearby forests due to the beasts that arrived. He could only think that they must have needed to go further away to hunt and that was why they were taking longer than expected. 

It would not be a problem for him to wait a little longer if he had not let those children drink from him. There were three children who were just too hungry that they had started to be in pain so Leon could only give them his blood, thinking that his supply would come very soon anyway. But hours had come and gone and yet his food supply did not seem to be coming.

Hence, he was reduced into this mess. He needed blood now but there was no one whom he could ask. So, he had gone to hide out in this hall in the hopes of keeping himself away from the children. He thought that he could wait it out here and endure his hunger until his comrades return with his food. However, he did not count of Zanya coming to find him and seeing him in this condition. Because he did not expect it, the sweet scent of her blood had sent him into a frenzy, and he had lost control for a while and had pounced on her. Thankfully, her punch had knocked some sense back into him.

"Get out! I'm… leave…" he said between his pants, not quite making much sense. This girl's arrival was totally unexpected. Why did she have to come here? 

"You… you need blood…" her voice echoed. She was not moving away to leave at all. 

She could not bear to walk away. It was strange as she thought to herself, but she could not make herself leave. Well, she thought that he was already so weak. So, she did not need to feel threatened. The proof was that he could not even managed to dodge her earlier punch and she did not even use magic to boost her hit and he actually tumbled to the ground with that one hit from her. She was well aware of the extent of this vampire's capability. In normal circumstances, there would be no way one punch from her could bring him down.

"Yes. I… my comrades will come soon… so leave now…" he murmured. "Or else, I can't..." 

Instead of walking away, Zanya squatted before him instead. A tinge of concern flashed in her forest green eyes. 

"You don't look alright at all. Are you sure you can wait for them?" Zanya was very well aware of the needs of the vampires. These creatures need blood to survive and thirsting for an extended time period could be fatal to them. She had seen vampires who had lost their minds due to extreme hunger before.. Though she did not know if something had changed in them after thousands of years, Zanya could see in Leon's condition that nothing had changed.