Game of Vampires: A Reverse Harem Serial (Part Four)
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Seraphine glared at Theresa. “We’ve got what we wanted out of you anyway. Within the hour you will transform and be blessed with Davorin blood. Your soul will belong to us for an eternity.”
She tossed her hair and turned to exit the room.
Lafayette turned and helped Theresa back to her feet. “She’s just blowing off steam.”
“Totally,” Theresa said. “She means well.”
“In her way,” Lafayette mused, “I suppose she does.”
CHAPTER TEN
Theresa followed Seraphine and Lafayette out through the archway and out along the purple carpet and down the steps passing the library entrance. It was only at this point that Theresa realized that the only credible explanation for Seraphine’s sudden appearance was that she must have gone back to the harem shortly after she and Lafayette had uncovered the trapdoor and went through the portal. Now that was another vampire lord who knew about the teleportation system. Soon it would be all of them. The only way out for Moldark was to figure out which of the other lords wished him peace and who wished him harm. And then deal with it accordingly. Still, Theresa knew he would not be pleased to find himself in that position…
The corridor veered around to the right and they went down a few more three step series spread out along the pathway ahead. There were more cabinets and paintings and all manner of vile decoration, littered about the castle. At least it’s clean, Theresa thought to herself before realizing that it was slaves of the Davorin who were to thank for that, rather than the twins themselves.
“This could have all been yours,” Seraphine was saying as they ventured through. “All you had to do was treat us right. Show us respect. But oh no. You with your hidden agendas…”
She pushed open a door on the right and a cold draft breezed through the corridor.
Seraphine glared at them, before pressing on.
Theresa found herself at the top of a flight of stairs, spiraling both up and down. Seraphine naturally, headed in the latter direction.
“Where’s Cyprian?” Theresa asked as they made their way down. “He’s normally attached to your waist.”
“I suspect he’s still having his standoff with Harland,” Seraphine answered. “As you may or may not know he’s taken a rather arousing interest in that friend of yours. It shouldn’t take too much coin for Harland to come around to our way of seeing things.”
“So you took it on yourself to follow me then?”
“And it was worth it too. That is a nifty little contraption in the back of our library, isn’t it? I must remember to thank Lord Fane for installing it. I wonder when he was going to surprise us.”
“I’ll tell you right now, Seraphine,” Lafayette said. “You won’t want to come anywhere near my kingdom using that thing.”
“And why is that?” Seraphine beamed. “Aren’t we all friends now? Aren’t I giving you what you want?”
“We’ll see,” Lafayette said gruffly.
Once they reached the bottom of the steps Seraphine unlocked a wooden door and the three of them entered a dark and rocky cavern. Seraphine took a torch burning a purple flame from the wall and handed it to Lafayette, who then handed it to Theresa.
“Don’t go dropping that thing,” Seraphine said icily. “We vampires can catch awful easily.”
Lafayette swallowed uncomfortably. “Yes. Don’t drop it.”
“I won’t,” Theresa said. “But you better play nice. Both of you.”
She’d meant that with a hint of jokiness but apparently it was lost on them.
Seraphine unlocked another door facing them and they moved further through the cavern. Where the dungeon under Lord Fane’s Keep had initially seemed black and nightmarish – that place seemed like a walk in sunlight compared to the dank and disgusting atmosphere that filled this area.
There were rows of cramped cells stacked on top of one another, reaching up as high as Theresa could see. Prisoners could be heard talking amongst themselves, scuffling about, some of them crying. They moved across the floor towards the far end where a cell comprised with reinforced steel had been sectioned out away from the others. There were no bars, only a small flap at the lower part of the door, presumably to place in food.
Seraphine keyed in some buttons on a contraption next to the door, and Theresa heard a lock snapping back, accompanied by the activation of an electric banner. The door slid open and the three of them piled into the cramped space.
As she guessed, a forcefield separated them from the prisoner who was on the floor at the other end of the cell, facing down.
“Portia,” Seraphine said. “Portia, wake up. You have visitors.”
Theresa looked across as the figure removed long strands of dirty hair away from her eyes. Her skin had a greenish tinge to it. Her teeth were yellow and broken.
Portia was around thirty years old.
“What do you want?” she whispered.
“We need your help. Your cousin in the blue caves sent us.”
Portia grinned. “Did she? How is she?”
“Well, she wants you to lift the curse.”
“That’s rather peripheral to our main objective,” Lafayette interrupted. “We need you to come with us at once to restore life into Princess Emberlynn who has been recently murdered. Lord Fane has been looking after the body, presumably assisting with his own magic.”
“Alright,” Portia said. “I’ll do as you ask.”
“Glad to hear it,” Lafayette said. He looked behind him searching for Seraphine. “Can we get this barrier down?”
“I’m working on it,” Seraphine said fumbling about the panel outside the cell.
And that’s about when Theresa suddenly had an alarming thought.
She turned to Lafayette her eyes wide with terror.
“Oh no,” he whispered.
They both turned back to Seraphine at the same time.
“WAIT –”
The door slammed shut and the lock snapped into place.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Theresa immediately rushed at the door, pounding on it with her fist, yelling for Seraphine to come back.
Before long, a hand fell on her shoulder.
She turned with her flaming purple torch to cast light on Lafayette whose face was grave with defeat. As though he had already given up.
“She has to come back!” Theresa shrieked. “She can’t leave us here!”
“Try telling her that,” Lafayette said motioning to the Necromancer.
Portia put a hand to the wall behind her and gradually made her way off the floor. Since the door being closed, the barrier had also come down. They were now at each other’s mercy.
“I don’t suppose you could use magic to…” Theresa began.
“Who? Me?” Portia replied. “If I could break that door down do you think I’d still be here?”
“Oh crap,” Theresa said. She turned to Lafayette. “You know, I don’t see a toilet in here. How do we –”
“They hose the cells down once a week,” Portia explained. “The waste winds up in a drain somewhere.”
“And I suppose they hosed you down today then?” Lafayette asked.
“That would be correct.”
“If we don’t get out of here now,” Theresa said, “things are going to get very messy in here soon.”
“All right, let’s not talk crazy,” Lafayette said. He walked up to the door and banged his fist against it. Felt around. “Seems pretty tight. How often do they open that door just out of curiosity?”
“You mean apart from hosing the place down?” Portia replied. “Well, not often. And when it opens you better be behind the barrier or that’s when the pain really starts –”
“We’re not staying in here for a week,” Theresa argued. “That’s crazy talk. Lafayette. You must be able to open the door.”
“I’m thinking about it,” Lafayette said. “I’ll let you know when something comes.”
“Is this torch of any use?” Theresa ask
ed. “Can’t one of you use it to melt the locks or something?”
“We could try,” Lafayette said.
“Well here.” She handed him the torch.
Lafayette moved his open palm over the door. Searching for the hollow point.
He stopped when he thought he’d found it, and bent down on his knees. He lowered the torch against the door. Glanced back. “Can you help at all?”
Portia walked over. She uttered some mystical words and waved her fingers towards the flame.
Theresa watched as it began to seem into the cracks beneath the door. They waited breathlessly as the searing metal began to heat up.
“Is it working?” Theresa asked anxiously.
“I don’t know,” Lafayette said.
There was a snap.
He looked back at her, grinning. “Well, I’m feeling better about this –”
Suddenly a large flash of water showered through the room as a sprinkler in the ceiling was activated. The torch was consequentially snuffed out.
CHAPTER TWELVE
The room fell silent, draped in darkness. Theresa’s mouth fell open. “Um…”
She felt Lafayette’s presence lift from the floor.
“I could have told you that was going to happen,” Portia snickered.
The distinguished torch fell from Lafayette’s hands and he began to press himself against the door. “Rargh.”
“Alright, there’s no need to –” Theresa began.
Lafayette forced his shoulder into the door.
Theresa stepped back, wincing.
Boom… Boom…
Boom…
“Almost,” Lafayette seethed.
Boom.
“Should I –?” Theresa began.
“Stay back, woman.”
Boom… Boom…
“The door’s too strong for you,” Portia remarked.
Boom…
Panting for breath, Lafayette took a proper step back. “It’s okay,” he said. “It’s alright.”
“Is it really?” Theresa asked.
“We – we got some progress with one of the locks breaking. The other must be weak. I only need to –”
He ran at the door again.
BOOM –
“AARGH!” Lafayette screamed in agony.
Bang – Bang – Bang –
With his fist –
“Fuck you bitch! You think you can keep me in here! I’m a fucking overlord, how dare you!”
Boom…
Lafayette fell against the door. Theresa heard his body slump to the floor in exhaustion.
“We were almost there,” Lafayette whispered. “I was almost able to…”
Hope sank in Theresa’s gut.
She climbed down to the ground also. Sat against the wall.
Tried to think of something.
Some way.
Some idea.
Something else than what they already had.
“Don’t worry,” Portia said. “You’ll get out eventually. Once Moldark’s taken the seven kingdoms. He’ll come for you. He won’t allow you to rot when he loves you.”
“What do you know about Moldark’s affections?” Lafayette snapped.
“I was talking to Theresa, you fool,” Portia snapped back. “No one’s coming for you, Lafayette. Even among your closest of friends, no one cares for you.”
“And who cares for you, Necromancer? Who lives in today’s world that wishes to see you anything but dead?”
“I suppose now that’s something we have in common,” Portia murmured.
A few more minutes passed.
Theresa staring into nothing but black.
Almost as though she could fall asleep.
As if her whole life could end here.
As if she’d reached her final chapter.
She blinked a few more times. Her eyes about to close for good.
And then almost without warning, the entire room was visible to her.
And her skin was deathly cold.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
What happens in a person’s mind when they think, when they remember, when they imagine – it’s often inexplicable. You can’t take that mind and lay it on the table for others to see. If you could, people could probably understand each other easier. They could understand themselves.
A cluttered mind, a mind rich with anxiety and nervousness would externally appear as a fog. Sure enough there would be different shades to the mist. Different colors. But the difference between a cluttered mind and a mind that’s clear, can often go unnoticed.
Until the slate is wiped clean.
Theresa rose from her place on the ground, her eyes shifting from Portia to Lafayette to the door itself. She moved her feet and stood in front of it. Reached out and touched its surface.
She ran the tips of her fingers along it at first. Then let her palm press in. She tightened up her shoulder and positioned it by the door. Then she nudged it.
Boom.
Lafayette looked up.
Theresa tensed her muscles. Held them in focus for a few seconds.
Then hit the door again.
Boom!
“What are you doing?” Lafayette muttered.
Theresa gritted her teeth. Again she went.
Again. And again.
Boom… Boom… Boom –
“Enough,” Lafayette said standing. “You’re going to hurt yourself.”
He put his hand to her arm and she knocked it away with so much force he fell into the wall behind him.
“What the –”
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!
Theresa stepped away from the door her shoulder throbbing.
They were close. She knew it.
“You need to help me,” she told Lafayette. “We’ll go at the same time.”
“What’s happened to –”
“Come on,” Theresa hissed at him. “On three. Okay? One… Two…”
Boom!
“Go with me!” she scolded.
Boom-boom!
“Again!”
BOOM-boom!
“Harder!”
BOOM-BOOM!
The lock broke open and Theresa put her hand to the door forcing it to slide open. The light outside the cell wasn’t much better, but she didn’t need it. She could see exactly where she was.
“Well done,” Portia said behind them. “I’m impressed.”
“Watch your tongue, Necromancer,” Lafayette scolded her. Then he turned to Theresa. “Should I lead the way?”
“No,” Theresa said marching forward. “Allow me.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Hair wet and face dripping, Theresa stormed through the dungeon. When she came to the next locked door she single-handedly broke its wooden frame to bits before kicking the rest off its hinges. She didn’t look back, following the path out of the cavern into the spiraling staircase, leading back to the castle. She hurried up it without tiring. Without needing to catch her breath. If anything, her strength was only increasing.
They moved through the door leading out to the carpeted passageway they had visited previously and Theresa began retracing their steps first to the right, then to the left, and straight ahead over the series of three step stairs.
As they came to the library, passing all the atrocious cabinets, Seraphine’s high pitched voice could be heard at the end of the hall. She was deep in conversation with at least one other individual.
“…siding with Moldark is the quickest way to furthering our ascent to power, I agree… But even on his own, Moldark is still the greatest obstacle we’ll face to complete domination over the lands…”
“Would it be so bad to be under his rule, I wonder. Do we really need it all?”
“How do you think he’ll react when he learns of our treatment of his human muse? Do you really think he’ll forgive us? Or will he just wait until our backs are turned and take us out and take our house as his?”
“What is your solution then?”
“And after Moldark’s gone? What then?”
“We go after Lafayette. Then Harland. And whoever else is –”
Seraphine was cut off as Theresa and her companions stormed into the room of statues to find both of the Davorin twins sitting with one another on the floor.
“What’s this?” Seraphine cried, getting off Cyprian’s lap. “You are afflicted! You are OURS!”
“Actually, I’d already been bitten before you got to me,” Theresa said. “But nice try.”
“You let them escape!” Cyprian growled getting up. “The Necromancer too!”
“I threw them in the cell together,” Seraphine muttered. “I thought it would hold them.”
“You stupid, ugly fool,” Cyprian raged.
“Shut the fuck up,” Seraphine snarled back at him.
“Hey love birds,” Theresa barked. “Are you ready?”
The twins looked at each other. Grinned ear to ear.
“I guess that’s a yes!” Theresa said and ran at them.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Gravity. Invisible forces pulling objects to ground. Some creatures were gifted with the powers of flight, but never humans – not without assistance. Both of them straight ahead – both the vampires were using their super-abilities to levitate and potentially evade Theresa’s crushing assault. Normally, on some other night, in some other world, this would have proven enough to give them the upper-hand. But as Theresa ran towards them, she felt the ground at her feet begin to fall away. As though its physical body was becoming transparent. To the look of horror on the twins’ faces as she approached, there could be only one explanation for this.
Gravity had hold of her no longer.
Her face twisted with fury Theresa’s left fist smashed into Cyprian’s stomach, while right arm struck Seraphine across the face.
The three of them fell, the most unseated being Cyprian completely hit the ground on his side, rolling away.