“What part of 'I will not drink the potion, I'll die first,' do you not understand, Alexi?” Erik muttered as the lord of the manor left and ignored him completely. I can't drink anything they give me except water, because even if they said it was normal blood, it could have the potion mixed in without my knowledge. On the other hand... if the human will get close enough to me to feed me the vial, this could work in my favor. Even in this state I am stronger than he is. I could kill him, or at least wound him and get a sip of that delicious blood.
Erik laid down back into the bed and considered the idea before trying to read again. The pain in his head was getting worse, making it even harder to focus on the book, and going to sleep felt impossible for the same reason. Finally he gave up and tried to think, but all he could think about was exactly how to trick the human into thinking he was ready to take the potion. There was a cruel irony in all of this, in the sense that before his capture, Erik had not been a vampire supremacist. He only wanted equality with humans, for magicals to be freed from slavery. He held a lot of respect for humans who did not participate in the slave trade. But gradually the bloodlust was causing his natural instincts to take over, gradually making him much more akin to his bloodthirsty ancestors. It was taking more and more concentration to remember that Alexi was a sentient human being, not a source of food. The fact that he personally hated the human for imprisoning him like this did not help matters in the slightest.
~*~*~
Vampires were not sensitive to light in general, just incredibly sensitive to UV radiation. So, though the curtains were closed, the room was brightened by several tasteful lighting fixtures, some of which Joseph had actually installed himself at the behest of previous masters.
Joseph knocked briefly before entering the room with a large tray containing eggs benedict, assorted fruit, orange juice, and milk. His face was completely impassive as he sat the tray down in front of the human before him and removed the plates and glasses, arranging them carefully on the desk. Then he bowed slightly and stood on the other side of the desk waiting to be addressed or dismissed. He silently dreaded the conversation, terrified that it would go back to more instructions regarding the vampire prisoner, who he would have liked to forget entirely.