Enslaved

by Kim Faulks

  "You shouldn't have run..."

  The torment of Tristan's shrill screams haunted her to a breakdown as she clutched at the vampire, begging with what she had left, which wasn't a great deal. "No, let her go! LET HER..."

  His silence caused her to tremble, imagining what was happening at that moment. She didn't have to imagine for long as the sound of their footsteps and cries increased until they stopped behind her. A thump sounded next to her and she turned as the body of Tristan fell near Kaige's feet, his head bloody, but at least he was alive and breathing.

  She scrambled towards Tristan. Her knees dug into the soft cold earth, which the sun had yet to warm. He moaned, rolling on his side, his eyes blinking, trying to focus on her. One pupil was wide, filling the entire brown of his eye until it met the white. The other pupil looked normal, but she knew enough to know that he was beyond any help she could give. He reached out blindly towards her, digging his fingers into her shoulders and pulling her close. "Save my wife and boy."

  He turned to look at them, and she followed his gaze, his one good eye drilling the image of them into his memory as Kaige commanded, "Kill him."

  His death played out in the screams and torment on their faces as they watched Tristan being torn apart behind her. Alicia grabbed hold of Luke, covering his ears with her hands and holding his face hard into her body, trying her best to shield him from witnessing the murder of his father.

  Tristan's screams died away as the wet smacking sounds of his body being ripped apart behind her ended his life. It was more than she could bear and she covered her ears with her hands, ending the sound, but not the image of Alicia's agony, until something changed, her eyes glazing over and turning away, as though she too died in that moment.

  Her emotions shut down, one by one, forcing her to live by pure animation, no thought, no feeling. Just neurons moving muscle, moving bone as she stood on shaking legs. "Let them go. Leave them now. Kaige and I will return with you."

  She forced herself to stand in front of the vampire, her tears dried up and her face slack as though no life filled her. She had become as cold and dead as what stood before her.

  "I thought that by forcing you to live with me would be enough to keep you. It looks like I was wrong."

  Kaige's lips moved, but Natalie couldn't understand the words that she spoke. The details of her capture hadn't been mentioned until this moment. Her words felt numb to Natalie, so long had she waited for the reasons why she was taken and none had been given. Instead she was left to analyze every relationship she ever had, knowing that someone had wanted her gone. But that thought seemed so utterly meaningless now that it wasn't just her life that was held in the balance.

  "You weren't wrong. It is enough for me, Kaige. Please, take me back. Leave them and we can go back together. I can make you happy."

  The vampire shook her head, her long brown hair floating around her body as it moved. "Liar... It isn't enough. I thought you would break, after all those months chained up, screaming, begging, until silence claimed you."

  Natalie didn't understand what the vampire was saying, the words sounding hollow and empty. "I don't understand, Kaige. Why was I taken?"

  "Because I wanted you, don't you understand that?" she spat, every word hammering into her. "Because... you... belong... to... me."

  "I do belong to you. I am yours, it's okay, I'm all yours." To her the words were as dead as she felt inside, but she had to somehow make her believe. She lifted her hand towards her cheek, sweeping the backs of her shaking fingers along the cold surface as she stepped closer, praying that this would work - it was all she had left.

  She closed her eyes at the last moment their lips touched, blocking the sting of satisfaction that reflected in her eyes. She pulled the vampire closer to her, pushing their bodies together, their breasts flat against each other's as she held on tightly. She felt Kaige's body slacken, relaxing as the kiss deepened. No matter how hard Natalie keep her feelings locked down, she couldn't stop her body from responding. Kaige's body felt hard against her as the immortal pushed against her, grinding their bodies until the friction started an inferno inside of her.

  It was working. Kaige's desire for her overrode anything else as the speed in which she turned her around so that she could press harder against her swept her hair across her face. Her hands caressed her body, cupping her breasts between them, sculpting them as she circled her nipples with her thumb as she moaned into her mouth. She waited, letting the vampire take what she wanted until the vampire's fondling became insistent, pulling her towards the track that would lead them away.

  She allowed herself to be led, keeping the heat alive between them until they had almost made it past the others. Kaige held on to her tight, her eyes glinting as her tongue snaked across her lower lip. Then she spoke, her gaze drilling into Natalie.

  "Kill the woman first and then the child."

  Chapter 12

  She drew breath to scream and was hit in the face, the hot sting of a slap filling her open mouth and covering her eyes. She inhaled and choked. Coughing she spat on to the ground before her. It was blood.

  A lot of blood.

  She wiped her face, clearing her vision with her hand, the scream bubbling to the surface inside her throat and wished she hadn't.

  Amongst the horde of ravaging animals she could see what was left of Alicia, bloody and torn open, her entrails jiggling white and pink around her, as they ripped and tore into her body. Her panic had nowhere to go. Festering inside, it was rotting her from the inside out and she knew she was falling apart. She was a breath away from her mind snapping as she could do nothing as she watched the wolves stalk towards the boy, their hungry eyes devouring him before they even drew blood.

  Her body trembled, her legs shaking as did her head as they surrounded him. Five massive Werewolves encircled him, their snapping jaws dangerously close to his face. A face that stared at the remnants of his mother, now strewn around him as each Were took their fill.

  She bent and picked up the only weapon she had, a rock, the edges sharp and not anywhere near as solid as she hoped. But it would have to do. Knowing she was as good as dead she took off at a run, hurtling herself at the nearest fur covered body.

  The rock disintegrated in her hand as she smashed it across the head of the snarling black wolf, the one she knew was the alpha of the pack. She wound her body around the bristling fur as she held on while it spun, massive jaws snapping and grazing her side. It was all she could do not to be thrown from his back, the muscles rippled underneath her as the sinewy body whipped left, then right.

  The other wolves circled them, snapping at her as she came near. Their claws scratched her back and one grazed her thigh before she was torn away from their massive jaws. She didn't dare look where she wanted to. She could hear what was happening and that was bad enough. The image of what was happening would only break her concentration and end up getting her killed. All she could do was to focus on one creature at a time, and trying not to think about how long her luck was going to hold.

  She could feel the bones in her back crunch, knowing it wouldn't be long before she was dead, one way or another. She struggled to not only hold on, but to keep from being torn in half as her body whipped backwards and forwards. But she held on, gripping the massive animal with her thighs and arms. It wasn't the fear of her own death that spurned her on. No, it was the boy. She could hear Luke crying, his pain was a whirlpool, pulling her under so that she lost herself and everything else around her. She had to do something.

  Her thighs gripped the wolf's body with a steel grip. She dug in her heels, steadying her body upright while she reached over the front of the massive head, feeling the hard bristles of his hackles under her fingers, her focus on not falling as she fought against the creature. Tearing hot pain ripped across her back and she knew talon-like nails shredded her flesh. She screamed, grabbing hold of the fur as the pain racked her. With no weapons, this was all that she could think to do. She tens
ed her fingers, pushing as the soft viscous orbs of his eyes gave way, allowing her fingers to delve into the soft tissue of his brain. The animal underneath her howled, the piercing cry bringing silence around them as the others watched the alpha shudder in his final moments and collapse to his death.

  She rode the beast down to the ground, rolling to the side and getting quickly to her feet, the pain of her ankle still jarring her movements. The rest of the pack moved in quickly, surrounding her on all sides with their heads lowered as they issued deep growls. She had nothing left, no magic tricks left in her box of wonders, all that was left was her grand finale.

  The thought of death didn't trouble her as it had while she stood shackled in the darkness. Instead she felt a sense of relief as she watched the beasts before her. Would she go down? Yes. It was almost unavoidable now. But, this time she would choose how it ended and this thought alone settled something so innate inside of her that she could feel her soul sigh with relief.

  No longer was she the outside layer of her soul. A name, nor physical description bothered her. No, this melted away as though it had never been important in the first place and she was left with a presence of her own being, a shining light in the darkness in which she had been held even after they had taken her from the dungeon. There was nothing left to tie her to that being. And for these moments she just was.

  She couldn't remember when she had felt so alive, as she did at that moment, no longer bound by the past, or the future. It was this moment, this wondrous second that she lived. She closed her eyes, relishing the breeze that blew across her face, sharing the scent of the grassed moor as the morning rays of the sun warmed her. In that moment she was aware of everything, this very second in time when everything stood still, just for her and when she opened her eyes she was ready...ready for what was to come.

  Chapter 13

  Barred teeth and silver eyes encircled her now, as she stood over the body of their Alpha, her fingers still slick with the viscous liquid of his eyes and frontal lobe. She could just see Luke behind the wolves. His little body lay on the ground and at first she thought she was too late, that he had been killed while she fought the Alpha. But then he moved, his hand slowly making his way towards his face until he slid his thumb inside his mouth.

  If she could feel her heart beat then she knew it would have been stopped in that moment, the sight of this child reduced to infancy before her. But she could neither feel her heart nor worry as a blur of movement came for her from the right.

  "Stop," said Kaige, her cold eyes moving from Natalie to the wolf that advanced towards her.

  "Kill me," said Natalie, daring the vampire to end this once and for all.

  The blur in which the vampire moved was unseen to her human eyes as she felt her body bowed back by the pull of her head. Her fangs curled back as she spat, "I intend to do just that. But not after you watch the child go first."

  She held Natalie's head firmly in her grasp as she gave the go ahead. No screams ended his last moments, only a plaintive cry as he cried out for a mother that would never come to him again... then nothing but the squelching sound of tearing flesh as his tiny body was torn limb-from-limb.

  She had closed her eyes at the last moment, ending her own sight but not the sounds as the light of her being dulled, and her spirit died.

  "Open your eyes Natalie."

  Her hair tore from her scalp as she was thrown around.

  "Open your eyes and look at me. Look at the one who shall own you. "

  She opened her eyes, the vision blurred and contorted as the skin on her face pulled as she whispered, "Never."

  "You belong to me, in body... and now in existence."

  She felt the sharp needles pierce her throat and a horrifying sound in her ears. She opened her mouth but no words came, only the sickening sound of her blood meeting the exhalation of her lungs. Kaige looked down at her and she realized why her words no longer came, as Kaige held her throat between her teeth. The vampire let her fall, her limbs no longer functioning and she crumbled where she stood. Her head bounced on the ground and the air was forced from the hole in her neck, splattering her own blood into her face.

  She was dying... and as her blood pooled around her face she felt oddly at peace. There was no more to be done and nothing left to say. The thumping of her heart was the only thing she heard as it tried to force her blood from her open throat and onto the ground before her.

  Her world grayed as the thumping of her heart slowed, catching on a beat then pounding again. Her vision darkened and she felt something push into her, forcing her jaw wide. But she cared not, nothing else could be done to her, she was heading for something better.

  She was wrong.

  Chapter 14

  A tunnel led her away from her body. No longer bound to this earth she moved quickly, sensing an urgency that she couldn't quite understand.

  She wanted to look back at herself, filled with a sense of abandonment for what was, and what might have been in her life. But when she turned to look back she saw nothing but a smoldering cavern that ate away the floor on which she stood.

  There was nothing left, nothing she could go back to. The only thing left was to move forward as the floor beneath her feet trembled, crumbling away underneath her.

  This felt like neither heaven, nor hell as her feet fell away into the pit underneath her.

  Hurry, she heard someone say. Then a cry as a male's voice echoed back from some remnant of her past. Oh Dear God, what did they do to you?

  She should know that voice, but she couldn't concentrate on that now, for she had her own problems, bigger problems as she lost her footing and fell. The heat from the lava burned her, stinging against her skin as she scrambled upwards, pulling her body forward until she scrambled to her feet once again.

  Natalie! someone cried around her. Is she alive? Please...please be alive. She felt sorry for this male as his anguish played out in surround sound around her and she would have liked to whisper something in return, some kind word to ease his suffering. But all she could do was to concentrate on her steps before her as she lengthened her stride.

  Help her vampire...do something

  The faster she ran the faster the tunnel fell away, and with a tremble of terror that wracked her body, she knew she was next. Come on, she urged herself run faster. She pushed the muscles in her legs until they screamed with the effort, heading where, she didn't know.

  It was getting hotter, too hot and she prayed that whatever lay ahead for her was better than being burned alive. Voices called out around her, voices she knew she should listen to, but fear was the only thing that ruled her now, that and the sound of the breaking floor behind her.

  She's burning up...she's too hot. This change isn't normal. I don't know what's wrong...

  Too hot, those words screamed at her. But, she surged forward, pistoning her legs and arms, flying through the blackness to where she didn't know. But it was better than being burned alive. This is hell, she told herself. This is your hell, echoed through her mind. She could see something ahead, a fork in the tunnel, one leading left one leading right. I'm not going to make it. "Yes you are," she growled, screaming with a fury that reached out before her, paving the way ahead.

  What in the hell...?

  She didn't want to listen to those voices, didn't want to think about anything else but that point in the tunnel that sharpened before her. Left or right, she couldn't decide. Left felt like it dropped away to nothing, a black hole of existence that filled her with a dread she didn't question. Right it would be, if she could make it...if...she...could...just…

  That one thought was all she had left and she was almost there, she sucked in the burning air around her as she lengthened her stride, reaching out to her salvation as the floor gave way.

  Get back Malik, oh dear God, said the stereo voice around her.... STAND BACK SHE'S ABOUT TO...

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