by Avery Duncan
His smile turned malicious.
Jamie fell limply to the bed, arms too shaky to hold herself up. The door slammed behind the tall bald man as he left, the jarring sound making her tremble even more.
A cloud seemed to have lifted from her mind. Disoriented and confused, she struggled to push away the thick presence within her mind. The bed was soft, puffy, under her hands. She grasped the edge, dragging herself fully into it with shuddering arms.
Jamie curled into a ball. Sniffled. Hiccupped. Then burst into tears as helplessness overwhelmed her. What had they done? She was as weak as a kitten, the smallest exertion of strength making her tremble from the effort. The fog was lifting more rapidly, her mind comprehending more, but it didn’t help that everything was blurry.
She sobbed, hands curling into fists over the thick duvet as she looked over the room they were keeping her in. It was pleasant in itself, but with the windows barred it seemed like a prison more than anything. A chilling breeze wafted into the room, sliding down her spine. Jamie attempted to reach for a pillow, something, anything to give her warmth.
It was too heavy.
She cried out in helpless frustration, eyes closing against another round of tears.
The room around her was immaculate, elegant, completely the opposite of what she could remember of the outside of the house. A royal blue carpet met with creamy walls, the duvet an intricate design of the same colors. A large vanity was on the other side of the bed, a plush chair placed regally in front of it. Staring at the large pieces of furniture around her, she felt like she had been brought back in time, Victorian era or something close to it.
She suffered a chill as another gust of wind blew over her. Shivering, Jamie rose to her feet unsteadily. She was momentarily glad she had dressed for comfort. As a daring thought occurred to her, she knew that scaling the side of the building would be so much harder in slacks.
Her feet were bare, only a thick pair of Jordan socks that would serve for grip. Panic was forcing her to do this, making her think irrational things. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized that the situation was irrational and closed her eyes, using the hair band around her wrist to tie her hair behind her head.
Jamie forced the fog completely out of her mind, pure desperation the only way that she accomplished the feat. She looked at the long curtains, billowing in the wind. The soft rasp, the howling of the wind, the possibility of freedom; Jamie shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself.
Her mother had often taken her rock climbing, skiing, running, hiking. It had been an accomplishing past time, had never left her bored. One thing that her mother had prided herself was keeping them both fit and healthy. Being active with her daughter had been the only way that they had gotten an ounce of peace from her father. The fighting, the arguing... Jamie averted her eyes from the window.
When Chris had come along, she had thought it would be over.
She made a small sound in the back of her throat, shaking her head at her stupidity.
Jamie made her way to the window, unsure. The bars were thick, but so was the spacing between them. Feeling her gut rise to her throat, bile rose in her throat at her lack of strength and what she had to do to get free. Fear pumped through her, but with the knowledge that she had a chance, Jamie began to ready herself.
The bars were about a third of a foot apart. Rusted iron, clearly old and rough from weather, they were an inch thick. She bit her lip, peering out of the window in estimation. The harsh wind slapped her in the face, tendrils of hair that had fallen out of the pony tail whipping at her reddening cheeks.
Jamie paled when she looked down. Climbing a mountain had been easy, fun, enjoyable to both her and her mother. They hadn’t been afraid that they could fall, because there had always been some type of slope. But now, as she stared down the side of the building, Jamie felt her stomach roil.
Jamie straightened her shoulders. Looking at the door would make her lose her courage, so she barely spared it a glance and began praying instead.
Sliding through the bars wasn’t as hard as she had thought it would be. She was fit, thin, and very flexible. When she was just on the side, the very edge, her heart plummeted to her stomach. A strong gust of wind almost pushed her back inside of the room, but her hands clenched tightly around the bar as her foot slowly lowered, praying that she found a ledge within the stone wall. The large stones were not placed perfectly together, some protruding from the wall and others not.
Like some sort of horrible vampire movie, the windows all around the house had ledges, lit with candles from the other rooms or torches on the outside. The sun was starting to set. Through her panic, she realized just how late it was getting. Her stomach churned, hands turning numb from the tight grip she had on the bar.
It would be horrifying, the climb down the building. Nothing would be around her waist, she wouldn’t have a harness on, and the walls would be cold and slick. The closer she got to escaping, to actually scaling the imposing wall, the more she realized that she would rather die than stay in the castle. The memory of the crimson eyes, their ruthless smile, the horrid remarks... Her head shook, forcing the thoughts from her brain as she slid completely through the bars and started down.
Her hand was just on the ledge, a soft cry emerging from her throat when another thrust of wind had her body slamming against the frozen wall of the building. Her fingers, already numb, felt like they were breaking.
“No, you bitch!”
She looked up.
Froze.
And started screeching as furious red eyes melted with hers, thin manacled hands grasping her own. Jamie tried to pull away, tried to get her foot on a solid ledge. The demented man — creature — pulled her up, despite her struggles. Her heart was pounding, panic resonating through her, his nails stabbing into her wrists. The soft trickle of blood registered in her mind before she was yanked half-way into the room.
Her screams rang within the high-walled room, and she yanked, shoving with her feet against the wall. Jamie forgot about the high drop, the fact that she could die if she fell, about everything except escaping. Her mind went blank, desperation coursing through her.
The hands loosened. Jamie gasped, the furious roar of the man that had been clutching her arms so tightly penetrating her mind. The world seemed to freeze, her heart stopping in her chest.
Her foot slipped from the ledge, losing the desperate grip that she had held on with. Her hands, so cold and numb, were not quick enough to grab for the ledge or even one of the bars.
The regal room, holding such terrifying creatures, disappeared from her view. Instead, it was replaced with the sky, then the trees, the blur of them barely dawning on her traumatized mind. And then the first branch slapped her, caught her.
Jamie would have cried out, had her breath not left her body. Instead, it was a soundless scream of pain. Her body blazed with pain, but till she reached out her hand to take hold of it. Her grip slipped and she knew she was going to fall again.
The next tree seemed to stab her. Bile rose in her throat at the high drop, at the pain. Her face was turning numb, the cold picking her ears. She helplessly grasped for the branch again, holding herself still, praying that if she didn’t move, she wouldn’t fall anymore.
But she did. The ground didn’t bother to cushion her fall. She cursed, panted, holding her shoulder. What she felt right now... A soft sob escaped her pale lips, the pain radiating through her body taking the color away. She shuddered, convulsing as the white hot pain fought with the cold numbness.
A roar sounded through the forest.
Jamie looked up, eyes wide, tears glistening in their pale blue depths. She had to get up, she had to get away, she had to...
How was she still alive?
Her chest shuddered with sobs, but she dragged herself to her feet. The forestry around her howled, screaming at her, talking to her. Wind rushed around her, the chill in her feet spreading up her legs and into her core. She shi
vered, the socks already getting soaked.
Jamie leaned on the tree next to her. She looked around her. She heard another shout and began to run.
Jamie ran so fast, so hard, that she thought her legs would break. She ran until her legs bled. Until her body pounded with bruises and stitches that ran up her sides. The wind, working with her, almost made her lose her footing. The snow, rising in a wintry dance, swirled around her, blinding her path. Shudders wracked her body, but she forced herself to move on. Jamie ducked under trees that wished to grab her, and jumped over fallen branches. The threat of animals was nonexistent. Wolves, let alone anything that ate flesh, would not inhabit such an active town. Men hunted, construction was going on. No animal in their right mind would stick around that long, and she was grateful.
Until she heard the pounding of feet behind her. Jamie’s heart jumped to her throat, foot slipping. “Fuck!” she cried, and then hurriedly shoved a hand over her mouth to muffle the sound. Her face paled even more, the cold settling in her bones with a daunting speed.
The sound of men barging through the forest made her duck into the closest thing to hide, a fallen branch. Almost twice her size, she knew it would hide her form and possibly cover her.
Snow was the only blanket she had, the only source of protection against the men that were coming after her. The sound of ragged breathing sounded dangerously close. She trembled, fisting her hands in her lap, curling into a tighter ball. The smaller she felt, the better.
“Where did she go?” a rough voice asked, then the sound of crunching. Snow, she suspected when the sound of footsteps got closer to her ear than she would have liked.
“Swear she was here... Bitch tried to run away from our masters,” another snarled in anger. She froze, eyes wide in her small face.
A sick chuckle rang through the forest, and the first man spoke again. “Bet master wouldn’t mind if we took a small bite out of her, since we had to go through all of this trouble to get her,” he said, considering. She could just imagine the leer.
“Take turns,” the other replied. Then his voice turned soft, the subtle sadistic ring not lost on Jamie, who had tears streaming down her cheeks. She held in the sob that wanted to burst from her throat, panic rising even sharper within her. “Come out, come out, wherever you are...”
“Master is waiting for you!” the first said, trying to make light. But even Jamie, in her terror, knew that there was nothing “light” or “happy” about the situation. She turned her mouth into her shoulder, stifling a cry.
Silence.
“Did you hear that?” the second spoke, softly. A large foot slammed down near her head. Jamie froze, an unknown feeling coursing through her. If they took her, she thought, eyes wild, she would kill them, or at the very least attack them.
She refused to go down without a fight. Jamie remembered her mother enrolling her in martial art classes. She had reluctantly gone, but only for a week. The work-outs, the training, the fact that they were teaching her how to hurt someone had been gruelling.
Jamie had quit the moment she had been instructed to hit her trainer.
Now, she desperately wished that she had taken the class — maybe now she wouldn’t be in this situation. Her stomach convulsed, bile rising in her throat as the other man’s foot came into view, a dark boot with mud and snow caked to the bottom. She shrank away.
Snap.
The next movements were in a rush, Jamie barely knowing what was happening. A large hand clamped over her arm. A scream built in her throat. Twigs stabbed into her back as she was dragged out from under the branch.
“Shut up, you stupid bitch!” the bald one snarled, a hand curling over her mouth, thumbs digging under her cheek bones. A soundless scream emitted from her throat, back arching as she struggled to get out of his tight grip.
She stomped her foot on his boot, wishing that it had hurt him. With no heels or shoes on, the move had been painless for him. Frantically, she thought of what to do. She bit into his palm, dropped down low, dug her elbow into his groin, and watched fleetingly as he fell to his knees. Triumph ran through her, a second before shock as another thick arm wrapped around her chest. She tried to do the same thing before, but he was prepared. He took his hand from her mouth, wrapped it around her neck, and pressed his thumb into the part under her chin.
She ignored the pain, the ache settling in her shoulder and jaw. Jamie clawed at his face, glad that Chris had always complained about how inelegant her hand looked without long nails. She dragged her nails down his face, listening with mute pleasure as he grunted, dropping his hold on her neck.
Jamie twisted around, and using the momentum of the movement, drove her knee into his groin. “Whore,” he coughed with pain, his hand lashing out to grasp her pony tail. Jamie’s eyes widened. Her eyes stung as he yanked on her hair, dragging her back to his side.
She grasped his wrist, letting into his insistent pulls, a keening whimper escaping her throat. “Let go!” she cried out helplessly, adrenaline racing through her. It made her stronger, made her feel braver. Jamie looked at the man, trying to find a way to get out of his hold. For a moment, she inanely pictured doing a ninja flip, then taking his face out with her foot. She grunted, bringing up her knee. Like she was flexible enough to do that. The man holding her hair looked at her slack jawed as he realized what she was about to do.
Feeling no mercy, fearless, and completely in control now, she drove her foot into his face. She could not only hear the crunch of bone, but she felt it. Later, she knew she would regret it, feel guilty at having hurt someone, but now her mind was solely focused on escaping. She dragged in a deep breath as his hand fell from her hair. His big body fell to the ground, next to the withering man on the floor next to him.
He started to rise, his bald head gleaming with sweat. She stared at him in horror for all of two seconds before sprinting away from him.
That is, until a bony hand wrapped around her throat. The surprising strength in his grip held her immobile as she was wrenched back. Jamie saw the disapproving eyes of her captor, their crimson depths gleaming with the promise of retribution.
Of course, her mind whispered dryly, despite the dire situation, that would be the last thing she saw before her body went limp and her eyes slid closed.
“Brother, she is more of a nuisance than I thought she would be,” Auro snapped as the girl fell limply to the ground. He watched with disinterest as the thump echoed around them, the sound mixing with the groans of their men.
“Should a woman be able to fight like that?” Lyne asked curiously, peering down at the girl like she was a new creature completely. His brother’s thin hand reached out to touch her curiously, but Auro grabbed it. He thought of Amena, of his brother’s weakness that had led to their destruction and immortal lives. Anger flared deep within him as he saw a flame light his brother’s eyes.
Keeping Lyne near him, he looked down at the pale beauty on the ground. Ivan was staggering to his feet, his hands cupping himself in a disgraceful act. Ignoring the pale look of his face, he gestured to the woman and sneered. “Take her.” Auro didn’t see the man’s lips curl, and wouldn’t have cared.
The sounds of grunts came from behind Auro’s turned back. They started towards the house, their long coats floating eerily behind them. Ivan stared at them as they left, then turned to his partner, who was out cold. He almost left her there, wanting to choose his partner over the girl, but knew he couldn’t displease his master.
He carried the girl back, following behind his softly murmuring masters.
“Putting the enchantment over her would be useless. The minute she touches Talon, it will disappear and she will panic,” Lyne said, taking Auro’s arm in his own as they walked.
“Yes, but it will make it easier for us to get her down there. Surely you don’t want a fighting and biting female on our hands?” he asked, lips tightening.
Lyne shrugged, looking around them with mild distaste. “Whatever gives us our power and
revenge, brother. Tonight, I will help her dress and get ready for Talon. I want this to go as smoothly as possible, you see. Possibly, if we can make her look enticing to even a man like Talon, we might just get our power tonight.”
His smile was sick, the sadistic pleasure showing even in his eyes. Auro smiled proudly. It slowly dimmed as a thought occurred to him. “I shall dress her and prepare her. You can cook us a lovely meal,” he said with false pleasantry. As Lyne started to deny him with a shake of his head. Auro unconsciously tightened his arm around his brothers. “I wish to taste a morsel only you could cook so well.”
The look in Lyne’s eye gave away that he hadn’t noticed the small grit to Auro’s teeth. A haughty smile covered his face, and a prompt nod was his reply. “I shall do as you wish, brother. Would you care to dine after or before the show?” he asked, his pace quickening.
Auro smiled, considering. The threat of his brother becoming attached to another female avoided, he felt lighter at heart. “Before, dear one. I will prepare her while you cook, and she will sit beside us. We must keep a close eye on her, and also make her aware of what she has to do tonight.”
“I have already led her thoughts in the right direction, but I agree that an explanation would make her more willing. I doubt that Talon will willingly take a female. Perhaps if we tell her why we need this to be done, she will be more accepting.”
Auro agreed. A simple female would not object to the wishes of her masters.
“No.”
Jamie saw the blank expressions on their faces before the shock and surprise registered. The outburst had even shocked herself, but she refrained from letting it show. The cold denial of what she had told them rang through the room.
“No?” the twin on the left asked dimly, eyes drawn over her face. The one on the right looked at her with a cool regard, the only thing that was making her fidget.