by Ann Atkins
A loud sigh preceded the annoying click of her heels on the floor as she walked back over to me. I was careful not to move a single muscle, but when I heard another set of footsteps draw closer, I automatically tensed up; I couldn’t help it, but thankfully, no one noticed.
When the sound of his heavy footsteps stopped and the annoying clicking of her heels resumed, I sprang into action and jammed the needle straight into her plump posterior. She reached around and pulled the needle out, looking at it in horror, and that look would’ve been hilarious if I hadn’t been fighting for my life. She reached for me—probably intending to strangle me— but I shoved her backwards, and she fell to the floor with a thud. One down. My chances of subduing David were probably nonexistent, but I sure wasn’t going to make it easy for him.
David, whose back had been turned, whirled around and ran to her side. His eyes hardened when he saw the syringe lying beside her on the floor, and I smiled at him. I knew it would only infuriate him, but that was kind of the point. People driven by rage make stupid mistakes, and the tiniest slip on his part could make all of the difference. If I could somehow manage to take him down too, maybe I could get to the blood, drink it, heal myself, and get Matt and Snowflake out of here.
Unless I was dead, I would never give up! I might’ve wished for death in a few moments of weakness (who wouldn’t), but since that wish had not been granted; I would not stop fighting. And I was doing this for Matt and Snowflake as much as I was for myself. I knew my cooperation would keep them safe for now, but what happened when he no longer needed me? They were a means to an end, and once that end had been accomplished, he would kill them anyway. We were all on death row, and my temporary cooperation was nothing but a stay of execution; I was fighting for all of our lives.
An animalistic sound escaped his throat, and his face contorted into a mask of rage. He stood up and marched toward me, and I used every ounce of will power and endurance I had to fight through the pain and sit up. I grabbed anything and everything sharp I could find and threw them at him, but he dodged them all. He was practically on top of me when I grabbed the metal tray and bashed him in the head with it.
He stumbled backwards, but did not fall, and I managed two more good hits before he ripped it from my hands. He threw it against the far wall, and wrapped the fingers of one hand very tightly around my throat, slamming me back down against the operating table.
He leaned down until his nose was almost touching mine, and growled, “Consider yourself lucky that I still have use of you, little hellcat, but one more stunt like this, and nine lives will not be enough to save you!”
My lungs struggled to draw breath as he constricted my airway, and flecks of spittle hit me in the face.
“Do you understand?” he asked, loosening his grasp so I could speak.
“I’m a little slow,” I croaked. “Maybe you can explain it again after this.”
He looked confused, but before he could respond, I stuck another scalpel deep into the side of his neck. I hadn’t thrown everything at him.
He stumbled backwards and fell to his knees, but much to my dismay, he managed to crawl to a big silver refrigerator and retrieve a vial of blood, quickly gulping it down. He then stumbled to the door and pushed an alarm button as the room filled with armed men.
Nothing I did was good enough, and it wasn’t long until I was restrained once again. He grabbed a syringe from the cabinet and started toward me, but there was nothing I could do, no matter how much I struggled, his army didn’t budge.
When the needle plunged into my arm, I screamed in frustration, but this was different from the other drug. The room began to fade away, along with the people and the sounds and the pain. My last coherent thought—before I faded away—was that he had finally sedated me. I guess torturing me was a lot more trouble than it was worth.
I awoke, hours later, lying on the cot in my cell. My body was nothing but an aching, swelling mass of bruises, stitches, and dried blood. There was a long row of stitches on my lower arm, and I’m guessing that’s where the bone sample was taken from. I was wearing a loose-fitting hospital gown that was also stained with my blood, and I cringed when I realized the gown was stuck to some of my wounds.
My body seemed to be of two minds: I was still extremely groggy from the anesthesia and wanted to sleep, but I was in so much pain that my body simply wouldn’t allow it. I would’ve killed for a fistful of pain pills right now, and I was hoping that my super-fast vampire healing would kick in soon.
I knew magic wasn’t supposed to work down here, but it was normal for my body to heal quickly, and it was involuntary on my part. It wasn’t like I was wielding magic but there was still magic in my blood, and I prayed that it was enough. My eyes could glow and my fangs could lengthen, so why couldn’t my body heal? I just hoped I had a chance to start healing before the next series of experiments began.
The room was completely dark and devoid of crazy people with sharp knives, so I was guessing it was nighttime, but this far underground, I couldn’t be certain. Hopefully, I would at least have until morning, but I knew that still wouldn’t be long enough for my body to repair the damage that had been done.
I hated this weakness! I hated that I had gotten Matt into this mess, and I hated that my love for him was being used against me, but I also knew that no matter how much David threatened his life—that if he wanted the least bit of cooperation from me—he wouldn’t kill him, would he? Matt and Snowflake were the only leverage he had over me and he knew it.
I lay awake for a long time trying to reassure myself that they were both still safe. Would he be willing to kill one of them to gain more control over me? I tried to think like him. They were the best weapons in his arsenal, so I didn’t think he’d kill them just yet—not if he hoped to keep even a modicum of control over me—but he wouldn’t hesitate to hurt them in order to send me a message, and it would be all my fault.
All of these thoughts preyed upon my mind, until I was no longer able to form a coherent thought; I was spent, mentally and physically, and exhaustion finally won out over pain. My eyes fluttered closed but my sleep was restless and fitful. Brief bouts of sleep were better than none at all, though, and I was grateful.
I don’t know what time it was when the lights were flipped on the next morning, but I was instantly alert and fearful. The clicking sound of her heels alerted me to my guest’s identity, and I turned my head to see her carrying a tray of food. My stomach rumbled hungrily. I wasn’t too keen on eating anything that came from them, but then again, I wasn’t too keen on starving to death either.
She unlocked my cage long enough to set the tray of food down, but it was immediately locked back, and she pulled up a chair and sat down outside my cell.
There was a bowl of chunky stuff that might’ve been soup along with a chunk of bread and a glass of water. I was starving but the way she watched me made me nervous; I wouldn’t be surprised if it was full of rat poison.
I knew David still wanted to keep me around for his sick experiments, but I was pretty sure she would boil me in oil if he would let her. There was no mistaking the look in her eyes, she hated me; I just didn’t know why.
“Take it back to the kitchen and tell room service that this is not what I ordered,” I said haughtily. Annoying someone who is crazy and probably wants you dead might not be the best idea, but my snarkiness and sarcasm were the only weapons I had right now, plus there’s the fact that I really am a brat.
“I’m afraid not, dear! I was instructed to make sure that you eat every single bite of that. He wants you to regain your strength before the next series of tests begin,” she said with a wicked smile.
“I don’t have any silverware,” I protested. Trying to hide the shiver of fear that had crept through my body at her words.
“And you’re not going to get any either! Now, eat before I decide you’re not worth the aggravation and incinerate you!”
“Oh, Puh-lease, Sheridan! I know you’re po
wers don’t work down here either, because if they did, you wouldn’t have let me almost sink my fangs into you last night,” I smirked.
She jumped up from her chair causing it to fall over. “Keep talking little girl, and maybe I’ll settle for the old-fashioned way—a little gasoline and matches!”
“Why is it, do you think, that he won’t let you use your powers down here either? Doesn’t he trust you?” I asked sweetly, completely ignoring her threats.
“I don’t have time for this! There are a million other things I’d rather do than feed his pet! Now eat, or I will make sure that boy is beaten again today!”
I instantly sobered. All thoughts of irritating her vanished. I very slowly sat up on the edge of my cot and tried not to show how much pain it caused me.
“What do you mean again?”
She smiled. “I thought that would get your attention. You didn’t think your little tantrum last night would go unpunished, did you?”
My heart sank. What had I done? I had been in so much pain that all I’d wanted was for it to stop, and Matt had paid for it. I hadn’t been thinking rationally, but it was still my fault—all of it was.
“Is he okay?” I asked her.
“Well, he’s alive, if that’s what you mean, but he won’t be for long if you keep acting this way.”
And suddenly, the sight of her sickened me. I wanted her gone, and if eating would accomplish that—then, I would eat.
I scooted off of the cot and slowly walked over to pick up my tray, and then I carried it back and sat down. I picked up the bread and crumbled it into the chunky stuff, eating it with my fingers. It actually wasn’t that bad; it kinda tasted like beef stew, and I ate quickly, so she would go away and leave me to my self-flagellation. I saved the glass of water for last, but I gulped it as quickly as I had the soup, or at least I tried to. After two or three big gulps, I began to choke and I coughed the water right back up. The coughing led to gagging and everything I’d just eaten came right back up as well. I fell to the floor on my hands and knees as my stomach continued to heave. Both my throat and my stomach felt as if they were on fire, and I was shocked when a few wisps of smoke came out of my mouth. I was literally burning from the inside out, and it wasn’t long before I began to cough up blood and bits of charred flesh.
“What … did you—” Those were the only words I could get out before I was seized by another wracking cough.
“Just a little vervain, it won’t kill you, but it looks really painful,” she quipped.
In between bouts of coughing, I managed to pick up the empty bowl and hurl it against the bars where she stood. She backed quickly away and headed for the door, but she paused for a moment before she left.
“Guess I didn’t need the magic or the matches, did I?” And then she was gone.
I lay on the cold, concrete floor for a long time before the burning pain and the barfing up of my own bloody, charred insides finally subsided. Only when the pain was finally gone did I allow myself to cry, but the tears were for Mattie, not me. I wished so badly that I could see him, and I hated myself for getting him into this mess. I deserved every single bad thing that happened to me but he didn’t, and I had to find a way to get him out of here—even if I didn’t make it out of here with him.
And when the door opened hours later, I closed my eyes in resignation, but there was no fear—at least not for myself. Heavy footsteps closed the distance between the door and my cell, and with a loud sigh, I opened my eyes to greet my unwelcome guest. David’s ice-blue eyes stared back at me.
“What’s happened here?” he asked, brusquely.
And judging by the look of bewilderment on his face, the sparkling vervain water had definitely not been his idea.
“You don’t know, do you?” I asked weakly.
“I would not have asked if I did, now would I?”
“It was your crazy witch,” I said with a grimace. My throat was raw, and before I could finish, I coughed up more blood. “She spiked my water with vervain.”
His face looked as dark and threatening as a thundercloud, but he didn’t say another word; he simply turned and walked away, slamming the door on his way out.
After he left, I managed to drag myself back up onto my cot and cover up with my one and only blanket. I was soaked with blood and tears and vomit, but I didn’t care. All I wanted was sleep. I wanted to dream so I could escape this nightmare, and when my eyes finally closed my wish was granted, but it was nothing like I expected, and was most certainly not an escape.
At first, it was like I was standing in a black hole; there was absolutely nothing around me but darkness, but gradually it grew lighter and shapes and people began to materialize.
My heart leapt when I first realized where I was standing, and for a moment I believed I had escaped. I was standing in the dirty, dark cellblock where the good faerie and the unicorns were kept.
As I looked around, I saw Mattie in a cell with the elves and my heart leapt at about the same time that it crumbled. He was lying on the only cot in the cell and he looked really bad. There were cuts and bruises all over his body, one of his eyes was swelled shut, and his lip was busted open. He looked like there was a baseball under the skin on his jaw and one of his arms was twisted at an unusual angle; it was broken.
I ran to his cell with tears streaming down my face and gripped the bars as I called out his name, but he never looked up.
“He can’t hear you, sweetheart,” a soft voice said.
The kind faerie, Ella, looked out at me with pity and concern shining in her deep, blue eyes.
I walked down the hall toward her cell, and I heard a soft whinny. At least Snowflake still looked good, and I smiled as I walked over to run my fingers through his mane.
“Hi, baby, how’re ya doin’? I crooned to him, and then I turned to her. “You brought me here, didn’t you?”
She nodded.
“How come Snowflake sees and hears me when Matt can’t?”
“Unicorns are magical creatures, and your Matt is only human.”
“It’s real, isn’t it?” I asked as I glanced back at Matt.
“Yes, but he will survive. He’s strong,” she reassured me.
“But it’s all my fault,” I said sadly.
Her eyes hardened at my words. “No, it is not! You and I both know who is to blame for all of this, and it most certainly isn’t you. You’re just a child; don’t take all of this upon yourself,” she said kindly.
A small smile touched my lips. “A child, huh? You really don’t look that much older than me.”
A twinkle lit her eyes, and a small smile curved her lips. “I am one-hundred ten years old.”
My mouth dropped open but I remembered to close it when I said, “Okay, you win.”
She laughed.
“Not that I am complaining, but why did you bring me here?”
“So you could see that they’re still alive,” she said, gesturing toward Matt and Snowflake … and so I could see that you were,” she added softly.
“Thank you,” I told her.
“You’re welcome, but that isn’t the only reason why. I wanted to give you some hope. Most every one of these creatures have lent me their strength so that I could do this,” she said excitedly.
And then I caught on. “Oh, my God! It’s magic! Visiting dreams takes a lot of power, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, it does, and we’ve been trying to practice magic for months now, but it hasn’t worked until tonight. It’s because of you, don’t you see? Your mere presence here has strengthened us,” she said excitedly, “and I’m convinced that if you add your powers to ours, we can eventually shatter his magic-blocking spell and set ourselves free. I can already feel it weakening, and you are the key to destroying it and him once and for all.”
I felt a small smile tug at the corners of my mouth as hope blossomed inside my heart and began to grow, but I was also afraid. They were pinning all of their hopes on me, but what if I failed them? I
had already failed Matt, I thought, as I turned to look at him. He had to be suffering and in pain—if I could only get close enough to heal him.
I gasped as a crazy thought crept into my head, and I turned back to Ella. “Is it possible for me to heal him in a dream?”
She looked momentarily startled, but then she smiled. “There’s only one way to find out.”
She called out to one of the female elves, “Rowena, bring the boy closer to the bars.”
I watched as Rowena and one of the male elves lifted him and laid him gently on the floor where I could reach him.
“Can they all see me?” I asked in surprise.
“Yes, because they are all contributing to the spell, but the barrier against our magic is still strong, and I don’t know how much longer I can keep you here. You need to hurry.”
I nodded and quickly walked to Matt’s cell. I got down on my knees before him, and I could already feel the burning as my fangs burst through my gums once again, apparently I’m a fast learner.
I still hated blood, but it didn’t seem to bother me quite as much when I was all vamped out, so with only a little revulsion, I bit into my wrist and pressed it to Matt’s lips.
He groaned and tried to turn his head away, but one of the elves held him still. I watched anxiously for any signs of healing but there were none, and twice I had to reopen the wound in my wrist because it had closed. I was probably giving him more than I could stand to lose in my weakened state, but I didn’t care.
I was starting to get a little woozy so I closed my eyes and leaned against the bars, but they snapped open when I felt a strong hand clamp around my wrist and push it away.
Matt sat up looking furiously at me, and I noticed the swelling in his jaw, his arm, and his eye were gone, but the cuts and bruises remained. “What do you think you’re doing Allie? I’m not worth killing yourself over,” he said angrily.
“I think what you meant to say is thank you,” I said with a watery smile.
He scowled at me. “Thank You, but you’re still stupid for wasting your strength on me,” he replied, but his tone had softened.