The wind flapped my hair around. Wind was the consequence of fast running, for without this fast running, the night would be completely still. An owl hooted in a tree near me as I flew by, but I could barely hear it. My mind was fixed on finding a way into the palace to save Zoe, while all of my senses were put to work on getting there in a timely manner.
The speck appeared on the horizon. It was no more than a black dot, but I could sense it…the evil it creates, and the despair it expels. The dot was rapidly growing in size. My mind went on over drive thinking of the all the possible ways to get in. I drew up a layout of the palace in my mind and found the best way in. I knew it well, taking frequent trips out of the palace whenever I needed to escaped to constant deeds the guards that retrieved me from my room every morning had for me to probe.
Most of the guards doubled as torturers, always returning with a fresh new torture story. They loved it all; the screaming, the whimpering and crying, the cries to ‘just let me die’, the blood, and the involuntary withering and squirming.
I was never on for the torturing, because I always knew that mostly the innocent had to suffer while the guilty get to watch. There were times when I was brought to tears over the agony of a blameless person. In times like those there was only one place to go…a place where nobody’s deeds could invade my mind.
I would lay there in the dark, dreary, place, but I would never feel sad, for that was the one place I could be at complete peace.
I walked up to the spot I had always snuck in and out of. The dark hole was glistening with the morning dew. I searched over my shoulder to see if anyone was around. In the surrounding area there was not even one person, (or vampire for that matter), to be seen in any direction. I took the plunge.
I went spiraling down the dark hole that always brought back memories of a movie that I loved when I was a human…Alice and Wonderland. The darkness surrounded me, not even letting me see even my hand in front of my face. My head was starting to hurt because of the sudden rush of blood, and I knew I was almost to the end of the bottomless pit.
My arms stretched out to slow the landing, and my feet prepared to endure the excruciating pain that would surly come once I have hit the bottom.
Hard, cold floor was suddenly beneath me, and a dreadful, throbbing ache that monetarily took over every part of my body, was upon me. It subsided quickly and I prepared to keep moving.
“Oh no, don’t go,” I heard a deep voice command behind me. The sound was followed by laughter and shuffling of many feet.
Unexpectedly they were all upon me; grabbing my legs, arms, head, feet, fingers, and face. There was at least ten, and they had done this before. They are very efficient at what they do; I just wondered how they knew where I would be. One of them pulled my head back and another one punched my face…hard. I could feel the swelling, and my vision was suddenly constricting since black spots were appearing. The spots were covering everything until I could see no more. My gut got punched sharply as I drifted off to the land of imaginations and creativity.
A gentle awakening was not what my capturers had in mind. I was pushed off a high surface and fell heavily to the floorboards. My eyes flashed open and I took the defense stance. There were only five now, but still way too many for me to try to attack.
I relaxed my position, hoping that they won’t attack me. They didn’t attack physically, but it was just as bad. Their minds were filled with stories they wanted to tell me. They were deafening and they were demanding me to listen…and weep.
Whoever had set up this raiding party up knew me well. They knew where to find me and they knew my power. They knew who I was with, and that I loved her. Every man they sent to imprison me had witnessed or tortured my beloved.
I saw her hanging from the ceiling in many uncomfortable positions. I saw her being whipped till her back was so bloody it didn’t even resemble a back anymore. I saw her painfully familiar face in a frightened, but forever determined mode. It was being encased in a coffin. I saw the coffin being closed and then pushed into a furnace, where she would no doubt be sweating her life away in an excruciatingly small box. I saw her being tied down on a table and branded with a poker that was glowing with fiery fury. Through all this she screamed and yelled but never gave in.
“Will you let us change her?” They would ask again and again, sometimes whispered in her ear, sometimes shouted above the roaring flames. She whimpered and cried, but the only word she ever said was plain and simple and right to the point…never.
Somehow it hurt even worse to hear her say this, because I knew that she would be going through the same things to save me.
“You’re wrong you know.” A voice was suddenly behind me, startling me, for I had everything focused on the guard’s memories. I tried to turn, but found myself unable to move. “She is safe. She has just gotten up and has been arranged to meet Cyrena, but I don’t know what will happen there.” The strange man walked in front of me. He was an evil looking vampire…more evil than I was comfortable with. The wickedness was like a theme, featured in every aspect of his body.
His thin eyebrows angled down in a natural sneer. The colors of his eyes were the same as black pearls, and his short hair shared the same shade. His jaw was sharp and pointed as was his nose. Together they created a hawk-like appearance. My mind flickered in recognition.
“Jarvis,” I managed to spit out through my uncontrollable sneer. He grabbed my chin in his stern grip, but I shook my face free of having to be touched by him. Pain throbbed through my cheek and I realized that he had just slapped me. I snarled, for I was still unable to move.
“You will pay for your disrespect,” he laughed mercilessly. He nodded to his men, and they dragged my paralyzed body down a system of networking tunnels.
They were not careful to not harm me; in fact they made sure that they did harm me on the way through the viciously small passageways. I didn’t even try begging with the guards to let me go, because it was clear that they were controlled by Jarvis. Jarvis on the other hand was also controlled by someone. I could tell by the way he had looked into my eyes. I could see that they were not filled with hatred or vengeance, but with a loyalty so great he would be willing to kill me in order to please his master. I wondered who that master was.
We had arrived. As I surveyed the area I was surprised. I had expected to see the same set up as all the other torture chambers: table, furnace, chains, and other equipment that was commonly used for tormenting the innocent. Instead, there was just a chair, which was stuck to the ground with chains on it, and a rather large hole in the wall. The gaping hole looked like it had once had a vent on it, but the vent was torn off and placed elsewhere.
They dragged me to where the chair was and started locking the chains. Jarvis had strolled in behind them, and realizing that my paralyzed state was over I turned my head and looked him the eye. I wanted to know who his master was, that is all I wanted to know. I skillfully sifted through all the deeds he has ever done and found the one I was looking for.
I had the same view of Jarvis, so I only saw what he did, and at the moment all I saw was the floor. Realizing that I was kneeling down and my supernatural sight wouldn’t help much I tuned my ears in and hear a soft, musical voice that was filled with excitement.
“They got her…yes! Now he will come and save her, the fool. I know he will come, he won’t be able to leave someone as good as her.”
I didn’t need to look up to see who was talking; I would know that voice anywhere. That voice haunted my every childhood memory. He was the worst big brother anyone could ever have…Rajaka. The voice that had seemed so musical before suddenly seemed to obtain a sharp edge.
“I want you to get him Jarvis. I know where he will go; he always thought nobody knew his way to get out…ha. I always knew when he was going to leave; it was always when his feelings were tortured by the ones who were really suffering.”
“But why am I telling you this…go now. I want you to capture him and make him watch her…that is all. You can leave now.”
I tore my eyes away from Jarvis, feeling sorry for him. He was being controlled by my villainous brother. Rajaka was very good at that, as he could control anyone’s emotions around him. He probably has been governing the palace all along. I was the only one who knew about his power…he had never even told Cyrena, our adopted mother. She just knew that Rajaka was a good fighter; she never took into account that he could put fear deep into the heart of his enemies, making them too afraid to properly fight him. I was the only one who had ever beat him, and that was because he knew that I understood the reason for his winning and could spill his secrete whenever I wanted to, so he never tried to control my emotions.
Even though I was a better fighter and had beaten him, I still took the left-handed seat beside Cyrena, because I caused too much trouble. I was always letting the prisoners go, because it hurt me too much to see them have to bear a burden that they shouldn’t have to. She didn’t dare take me off her court though, for I knew every dreadful and disloyal thing she had during her rule as sovereign queen.
They were finished strapping me in the chair, and I wondered why they needed that, for if the orders were true then I would get to see Zoe. And I was certainly not going to fight that.
Through the hole I saw a familiar room. I had spent many boring hours there…the throne room. I noticed that Cyrena was looking excited; she was most likely anticipating seeing the one who had escaped her highly trained guards. Rajaka’s seat on the right was empty, and I was not surprised for he was always late to meetings and such. On her right sat Oliver. I remembered him from the many times he had tried to beat me out of my spot next to Cyrena. He was a powerful vampire, but I was always better. I guessed that he must have finally gotten the position he had dreamed for when I ran off. He was looking bored, probably wondering why he had wanted this boring job in the first place…it was no honor…it was a cleverly designed form of torture.
The colossal, golden doors opened to reveal the next “case”.
She was wearing tattered clothes, her back was dripping in her own blood, she had deep, dark circles under her eyes, and her crimson hair was long and untangled. But still through all that, she was still the prettiest vampire I had ever seen. Her eyes were filled with awe with the magnificence of the room she had just been thrown in, and it suddenly made her look innocent and vulnerable, but I knew how strong willed, vicious, menacing, and seductive she could be. She was the farthest thing from helpless, but they didn’t know that. As a great mortal once said, “It is better to seem helpless than to be helpless.”
Oliver shot up into his seat in full alert when Zoe stumbled in.
I tried to scan her deeds to see what had happened to her on her way here, but I found I couldn’t. Confused and thinking that it was just her mind doing its strange workings again, I tried to see the guards deeds… nothing. I tried again…still nothing. I figured they had some kind of shield on the hole or something. I resorted to listen with my regular hearing, but found that it was hard to hear, but I could catch the gist of what they were talking about.
Cyrena was giving Zoe a new name, one of her favorite games. I saw her throw her hands up.
“Keeva,” was all I heard her say. I scanned my memory of name meanings. Keeva means beauty, I remembered. It fit her perfectly. I had to hand it to Cyrena; she was really good at making up names.
I remembered when she had renamed me. She was mad at me, because I had let three prisoners escape, so she named me Hiram, meaning ‘your brother is exalted’. She had renamed my brother Rajaka, meaning ‘radiant prince’. I hadn’t really minded the meaning of the name, for a lot of people have no idea what it means, and did like the way it felt on my tongue when I said it.
I seemed that Keeva was having the same thoughts as I did, because she was mouthing the new name to herself and smiled.
As quick as thought, I saw a new expression flash across her face before returning to what it was before. I had spent a lot of time studying all her expressions, so even though nobody else knew, I could read her face like an easy child’s book. She was confused, annoyed, and slightly uncomfortable, and I saw her eyes quickly flash to Oliver before returning her gaze to Cyrena.
Oliver was in obvious discomfort. He was starting to grip the chair tightly and was focused on only Keeva. Nothing could break his stare. I knew he was trying to probe Keeva’s mind and I had the urge to go and stand between them, to guard her from him. Then I noticed that he wasn’t making in progress, because from his intense concentration, I made the presumption that she should be in major discomfort right now, but she was clearly not feeling anything but a small inconvenience.
Cyrena had noticed too, but she was talking to Keeva again. She said something about how she had escaped them, but had willingly returned to pay her dues. I stiffened in my chair and a growl involuntarily ripped through my chest, because I had heard that line before, I knew what was coming next.
Keeva, on the other hand, seemed to have no idea what was going on, and was completely absorbed with Oliver, who now looked like he would readily die right now on his own free will.
Keeva’s eyes closed then opened suddenly, and her piercing gaze was terrifying. Her stunning eyes were swimming with color as they had when we had faced Samuel, only more so this time. Her glare was alarmingly beautiful and almost evil at the same time.
Oliver was trashing around, screaming in an unknown pain. He was out of his chair now, rolling around on the floor, and Keeva’s gaze never left him. It was a frightening scene, but I couldn’t take eyes away from her. She seemed to be glowing on the inside and it was traveling outward. Everyone in the room was staring at her in all her glory.
I noticed Rajaka had snuck in and was leaning against a pillar as if he had been there the whole time.
Everyone stayed in that position for a long time, too afraid to move. The only noise was coming from Oliver who seemed to be oblivious to anything other than the pain.
With a loud gasp, Keeva came back into our world. All the fury was gone from her eyes and they were once again a dazzling green. Nobody could talk, but Rajaka got over it the fastest and started clapping. She spun around to find the noise and her face showed joy and happiness, but then was confused, and then surprised. All of these emotions happened in less than a second.
I hoped that her first emotion was for me, since Rajaka and I looked a lot alike, seeing as we are brothers. I hoped she thought it was me before realizing it was someone else.
Rajaka was going up to his seat and when he was settled in the comfortable chair, (unlike mine), he said something about a good show. Rajaka was making Cyrena feel more comfortable and when she looked better she introduced them. I also caught that Cyrena wanted Keeva to become a member of her court.
Well, at least she will be safe, but I don’t like her spending so much time with Rajaka.
Rajaka was trying not to smile, but I knew that look in his eyes. It was lust, desire, and affection all mixed up into one playful look. I was suddenly furious at him, how dare he even think of my girl like that, but it was clear that Rajaka wasn’t thinking of anyone but himself.