The two guards who had stayed with me jumped down, one of them motioning for me to hurry over, as the third stayed up front in the brains of the cabin.
Slinking over to my wardens, I kneeled before I descended, which was taken away from me by one of them grabbing me by my arm and tossing me on the muddy ground. They were certainly treating the merchandise awfully bad. But then they knew I’d heal fast enough for no one to notice.
My hands sank into the muddy ground, seizing handfuls of mud into my grasp as I briefly considered throwing the clods at the men. But, I resisted the temptation, knowing it would only be worse for me in the end.
I hefted myself to my feet, straightening and trying to be ready for what they decided to throw at me next. Before I knew it, long chains were wrapped around my wrists, and they connected to my ankles—the burning of the silver that must have been in them, an agony that turned my skin red and raw.
Walking in small steps that the chains allowed, the wardens marched me from the cleared zone of the helipad to the nearby prison.
The sprawling stone structure appeared to be at least three stories in height, with thick mist covering the third floor of the building, surrounded by metal fencing with rolled barbed wire along the top. Every hundred feet or so, singular buildings towered over the prison, with guards inside holding rifles—standing, watching.
The guards led me to a doorway and announced their names before a loud buzz answered them, and a door clicked open. They led me through the entrance, and I swiveled my head to view the door closing on its own. Such marvels here.
As we walked, there was something strange that, at first, I couldn’t put my finger on, but as I glanced around, I noticed the heavy mist—the silence complete, except for a rhythmic pounding. Not like the pounding of a heart, more like the hammering or beating of something against another.
The closer we came to the cold stone building, the more I attempted to slow my footsteps. I was scared out of my mind of what awaited me inside. My body shivered and my breath caught, and I thought I would start choking as dread oozed through my vocal cords, thickening in the back of my throat. Coughing, I bent over, my hands waving in front of me, and then I grasped my throat, unable to bring air into my lungs. I saw sparking lights that began blinding my vision.
“What’s wrong with her?” one of the guards shouted as he clutched me by the back of my neck, shaking me as if I were a rat caught by a cat.
The third guard stalked over to us, and I hoped I would die. Choking on my fear and despair wasn’t my first choice on how to die, but if it would get me out of this situation, I was agreeable.
He grabbed me by my shoulders as blackness edged my vision, my chained hands clawing at my throat. He thrust me on my back and onto the ground, tipping my head back and covering my mouth with his, he blew forcefully into mine. His garlic-tainted breath whooshed down the back of my throat, into my lungs, where I attempted to force his foul-tasting exhale back out, but a knot plugged my airways. He flipped me over onto my front, turning my head to the side, and exerted pressure on my back hard enough for the ball to expel. Gasping in great gulps of fresh air, I leaned on one forearm staring at the glob of grossness that had just come out of me.
“She can’t walk, so carry her in,” he ordered as he manhandled me, grabbing me by my bicep to hold me out to the other men as if I were a doll.
One of the other men grabbed me, tossing me over his shoulder and grumbling his dissatisfaction, while the other two guards stalked toward the prison as I hung like a side of meat, still weak from choking.
Step by step, they prowled closer to the dark sinister goal, where the thumping seemed to have a life of its own. One of the guards stepped up to the heavy, metal double doors that must have stood twenty-feet high from floor to ceiling. Only a very strong man would be able to open them. The guard holding me over his shoulder turned to look behind him, allowing me to see one of the other guards press a button that activated a loud clanging. I could hear it from where we were standing outside. As we waited, my guard glanced around us as if doubting our safety.
All I needed was to escape. Even though I was within the prison fence, I wasn’t within the walls of the prison. I wasn’t inside yet. But how could I, a hundred- and twenty-pound woman, fight against three men over two hundred and fifty pounds each. No way. Especially as weak as I still was, but, my strength was returning fast. I just needed a plan to escape.
Since I had no other choice but to enter this place of despair, I would somehow find a way to leave. There had to be a way out.
Door creaking like an old horror movie my mother showed me as a kid, it moved inward, but only one door opened. Slow like molasses, the door continued to scrape forward until another burly guard was revealed: easily six feet five or six feet six. Where did they find these vampires? They must be breeding them just to be guards. The guard at the door stepped back after giving a nod. We entered, and the man carrying me slid an arm under my belly, only to shove me away from him. He tossed me so far, I fell to my hands and knees,
