Their voices grewlouder, as did the echo of their footsteps.
“Do not be so naive,Jonathan. Our kind have never trusted each other, but since Markorevealed his plan ... these last ten years have beendifferent.”
I glanced at Elle.“What are they on about?”
She hopped off theplatform and stopped by my side. “Beats me, but since they’retalking about you, I would say you’re involved in something prettybig.”
The distinct sound ofchains filled the hallway right before the door to my cell waspushed open. Constance was the first to walk into my room, followedclosely by two males, one of which held a long silver chain in hisgloved hands, two thick shackles hanging from each end.
“Time to go already?”I looked at Constance.
“No time like thepresent, as the saying goes.”
The other male movedcloser, pulling gloves onto his large hands. In quick succession,he gripped each of the padlocks attached to each strip of metalholding me place, and with a whine and sharp tug, broke each one,throwing them to the floor as he went. He pulled open each strap,and as soon as my ankles were released, my body slumped like a sackof potatoes to the floor.
“You really want tobring him?” asked the male who had just released me from mybindings.
“He has been locked upfor days. You know the silver particles in the restraints canweaken our kind even if they have been fed, which he has,”Constance replied. “He will be fine in a few minutes.”
“Well, we are notwaiting for him to recuperate.” The male, who I had to presume wasJonathan, caught my arms in his gloved grip and pulled me up as ifI weighed nothing. With me sagged against his chest, he gripped myarms and held them out before me so the other male was able to cuffme.
The thick metal sat onmy skin, and within an instant, the hot prick of a thousand needlesbit into my wrists as the silver laced inside got to work. Igritted my teeth, fighting past the burning pain, ignoring as therank scent of singed flesh fluttered in the air.
“Be strong,Than.” Elle moved beside the chain master. “The pain willsubside in a minute. Y’need t’focus on walking so that you can getout of here, so man up.”
I scowled at her asthe male Vampire finished locking my ankle cuffs. With a tug on thechain to check I was secure, he led me out of my prison cell. Itripped over my feet, my shoulder landing right into the rusty,metal-panelled wall of the hall. The lighting strip hummed aboveus, and even though it wasn’t the brightest light, it still smartedmy eyes.
“Move.” Jonathanyanked me off the wall and shoved me forward.
I kept my eyesdowncast, focused on the dirty concrete floor, waiting for my eyesto adjust to the light.
“This place is soquiet.”
I shifted my gaze tothe pair of green Converse walking in step beside me, her footfallsmaking no sound, not like the three Vampires I was currently with,but she was right. Apart from their footfalls, the place was deadlysilent. In all the time I had been here, there had always beensigns of habitation, subtle background noises.
Blinking, I lifted myhead as the male led me through a set of double doors. Theunderlying hint of musty damp still lingered in the atmosphere, buteven the air didn’t smell the same. We turned left, and Constance’searlier questions suddenly made sense.
“What thehell?”
Large black patchesstained the walls and floor of the corridor we moved down. Strangesilver weapons lay abandoned on the ground.
“You sure you do notremember hearing our kind being butchered?” Constance asked frombehind me.
“So that’s what theblack stuff is, Vampire blood?”
Shouldn’t you knowthat? I angled a look at Elle.
“I only know whatyou know, remember?”
Well, whatever it is,it smells vile.
“Last thing I rememberis being in that white room,” I replied to the she-devil.
“What could havedone this?”
Beats me.
My guard stopped as wereached a large door at the end of the corridor with a singlewindow. He hit a red button, and the door rolled open to reveal arickety cage, which he stepped into, pulling me right along withhim, before shoving me into the left corner so Constance andJonathan could step inside also. Picking up a yellow remote thatwas on the end of a long black wire, he flipped the switch. Thedoor slid shut. The cage rattled then started to ascend.
“Well, this is ahuge health and safety risk,” Elle commented, eyeing the top ofthe cage.
After a moment, themakeshift elevator came to a grinding halt. Jonathan rolled thedoor open and stepped out into the small scruffy room, followed byConstance. My guard stepped out before me, giving the chain a firmtug. My gaze clocked bricks and ivy before I was pulled out of thesingle door and into the great outdoors.
It was magnificent. Myeyes couldn’t absorb enough. Everything was so alive and lush. Theair felt cool and soft against my skin, but the caress remainedonly skin deep. I didn’t feel a tremble as the chill surely shouldhave gone straight through to my bones, nor did I feel the urge todrink in the fresh air. I’d been locked up for ... weeks surely. Ishould want to breathe, to refill myself, and yet, despite howwonderful it was to be back outside, my body felt empty.Dead.
“Move.” My guardtugged on the chain, pulling me away from the odd little buildingnestled away in the vast forest that surrounded us.
“Did you geteverything?” Constance asked two Vampires leaning against a nearbypine.
“Everything we could,”replied the female who held a box filled with papers.
“Well, that will haveto do.”
“Let us get out ofhere,” Jonathan interjected, taking the lead on our ‘escaperoute.’
The two Vampires fellin step behind me as we followed.
The undergrowth of theforest was dry and brittle against my bare feet, but it felt likeHeaven to have grass sliding between my toes, and the dry scratchof earth. I mindlessly continued to follow the Vampire in front ofme who had a strong grip on the chain wrapped in his glovedhand.
“Now’s yourchance.” Elle appeared beside me, walking backward.
For what?
“Toescape.”
I snorted. “How do yousuppose I do that?”
“Silence.” The Vampireleading me snapped his head round and glared, bringing to myattention that I
