Chapter 05
I had seen humans fight — adrenaline fuelling their muscles, their breaths quickening with each attack, their strikes brutal and poised. But I'd never seen one vampire fight another, and as I stood behind the two of them, blood pumping through my chest so fast I thought my heart would burst out of my ribcage, I felt a mixture of naked fear and a certain awe, as if I would have loved to see them spar.
There was tension in the air as Lucien stepped forward and I thought I might pass out from how heavy the air felt to breathe. Elias' spread his legs apart, readying himself, and, even though it was low, I heard him growl. But then, Lucien stopped in his tracks. He smiled, in a way that showed that he clearly was underestimating Elias.
"Come on now, brother," Lucien said, his voice patronizing. "I just want to see who your new pet is. I mean no harm."
"Brother?" I thought to myself. "So they're brothers."
Elias' relaxed a bit, but not completely. The tension lessened, and the air felt easier to breathe.
"I know you, Lucien," Elias said. "I do. You see a pretty young thing like this one, and you start thinking about all the wild things you can do to her, as if the girls at your disposal are not enough. But this one, she's mine. She's my fucking pet!"
"Ohh, please," Lucien said, and even though I couldn't see his hooded eyes, I imagined him rolling them. "I'm more than satisfied with the girls I have. Besides, don't forget your place. I give you this leeway because you're my brother. Step aside let me examine her."
And just like that, Elias shifted, leaving me face to face with Lucien. He walked towards me, in measured steps and for the first time, I really saw his face. The resemblance between him and his brother was striking, enough that they almost looked like twins. But I concluded that Lucien, who had hair as black as midnight, was handsome.
"What's your name?" He asked me, his voice cold.
"Amara," I managed to say. But just as I uttered the word, something happened. His eyes widened and his neck bent sideways, in a way that was obvious that it was uncontrollable. He bent double, growling in pain and I watched confused.
"Lucien?" Elias said, his tone coloured with concern. "Are you good?"
He straightened up and stared at me, his eyes still wide, fury burning through them.
"Amara!" He thundered and then he reached for my throat with cold hands. "I'll ask you again, you little bitch, who are you?"
He lifted me from the floor and I struggled to breathe. I kicked my legs in the air and felt the life leaving me. I could hear Elias asking Lucien to put me down, but Lucien would not budge.
"Put her down, goddamit!" Elias yelled and Lucien let me drop to the ground. I drew breath into my lungs, coughing and sputtering. My body trembled violently and I felt such a weakness in my bones that I could hardly sit up.
"What the fuck was that?" Elias asked.
"I don't know," Lucien said. "But there's something wrong with her. This girl, there's something about her, something foreboding and ominous, and I don't like it."
He almost sounded afraid.
"Ohh, please, Lucien!" Elias said. "Something foreboding? For fuck's sake she's a human being. Look at her, she's weak and puny. There's nothing in the world she can possibly do."
"You don't understand," Lucien said defensively. "I've seen things."
"Of course you have," Lucien said. "You know what, I know what this is. This is just you trying to fuck with me. You want her for yourself, don't you?"
"You can have her," Lucien said. "She's rather gangly. I'd rather be voluntarily celibate than do anything with her."
Elias ignored his brother's retort and reached for me. "Come on now. Get on your feet." I struggled to my feet and saw that Lucien was still looking at me. His eyes were calmer now, and he looked curious.
"Take your pet and leave me be!" Lucien said, turning around.
"The pleasure is ours, believe me," Elias said, and with a nod of his head, he signalled for me to follow him out.
"Not the most pleasant welcome, eh?" He said as he walked. I trailed behind him, not just because I was spent, but also because he walked with such quick, loping steps. I struggled to keep up. The hall was long and endless, rooms branching off on either side, chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. I thought it was majestic, but I had no time for observation.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
He stopped in his tracks and turned to face me. There was a deadness in his eyes that sent terror running down my spine. I clenched my teeth, afraid he would do to me what his brother had done.
"You don't speak unless spoken to," he said, his voice icy. "Am I clear?"
I nodded like an obedient child.
"Good," he said, smiling a little. "I'm taking you to the quarters with the other humans where you will stay."
He continued walking, his steps even faster, as if he knew what a punishment it was to me. My legs felt like they would buckle and I would fall on the polished floor of the hall. My head spun and when I tried to swallow, my throat was so dry, I could feel my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth.
I thought about how much my life had changed in an instant. I had wanted to leave Master Valeth, to avoid being captured by vampires, and now here I was, in the palace of vampires. I would have cried, but I was too weak for tears.
Elias stopped again. He turned to his left, facing a door. I looked at the door and saw that it was different from the others I had seen. This door — with its intricate design — seemed more regal than all the others.
"This here is my room," Elias said to me. "I'm showing it to you because I might order you to come here. And I might do that very soon. So don't forget, okay?"
But he didn't wait for me to answer and he kept walking. We reached the end of the hall, or so it seemed, and a large door, which opened even without him touching it, opened up to a a large courtyard. There were a border of people, humans like me, engaged in a range of activities from washing to polishing. There had been noisy chatter before, but as the door opened up, the place became deathly silent. I could hear myself breathe. Everyone bowed as soon as they recognised Elias, and I just stood there as they ran their questioning eyes over me.
"You have someone new!" Elias announced, grabbing me by the shoulder and lightly shoving me into the way. "Give her a place to sleep. Show her where to have her bath, and maybe give her something to eat."
I walked into the courtyard, wondering what would happen next.
"You're to meet up with me in my room in the next one hour," Elias said behind me. "And let it be one hour. I hate delays."
And with that he left, and the door shut behind him. Almost immediately, everyone went back to what they were doing, completely ignoring me. The noise resumed and I felt lost. I looked around, hoping someone would come to my rescue, but no one minded me.
"Hello there," someone said, cutting into my thoughts. I turned around and saw a middle-aged woman wearing a bright smile, so bright I smiled back when I spoke to her.
"Hello," I said.
"You look puzzled," she said. "But don't worry. It's going to be fine."
I looked around, in a sceptical manner, almost to say, "is it, though?" and she chuckled.
"Ohh, don't worry, it'll be fine, I promise," she said. "We're all humans here, and as such, we see ourselves as family. Come on, I'll show you where you'll stay."
She held my hand as she led me on. The courtyard wasn't as glamorous as where the vampires stayed. It was bland and colourless, and it filled with such a sadness that I almost wept for everyone in it.
"First of all, my name is Yvette," the lady said. "I'm the head of the maids, and I run things down here, at least to a certain extent. What's your name?"
"Amara," I said timidly.
"Amara," she said. "That's a beautiful name. Don't worry, Amara, you'll fit right in."
I looked from one drably dressed servant to another and thought, "of course I'll do well here. I'm a servant. This is the only life I've ever known."
She took me to the hostels and opened the doors. The place was muggy, even though it was clean. The walls were lined with bunk beds and people's belongings, and even though there was nobody around, it looked crowded.
"This is for the ladies," Yvette said, waving her arm around. "This is where we all sleep after a hard day's work. There should be an empty bed somewhere at the back."
She moved towards the back, past the bunk beds and I followed in tow.
"Ahh, yes!" She said, pointing to some bunk beds that were seemingly occupied by no one.
"You can have one of them, Amara," she said. "There's a bathroom out front where you can wash your body. I'm going to leave you now to take all of this in."
She rubbed my arm and left the room. I sat down on one of the beds and buried my head in my hands, trying to soothe the ache that was ripping through my head. Just then, I heard whimpering. I looked to my side, alert, and saw a figure curled up in the corner. At first it didn't look like a human, but when I observed further, I saw that it was a human.
"Hello?" I called. "Are you okay?"
I got up and walked towards her, crouching before her curled figure. There was something familiar about her, and when I cleared the hair from her face, I saw that it was the same girl who bad been in Lucien's room. I wondered when she must have made it to the quarters. She looked at me with wild eyes, as if I were the cause of her misfortune.
"Ohh," I said. "It's you. Are you okay?"
"Do I look okay to you?" She answered in a tremulous voice.
"I'm sorry," I said. "I'm just ... I'm Amara."
I tried to smile, but she just stared at me.
"I see Elias has taken some interest in you," she said, her voice only a whisper. "You have no idea what mess you're in. His brother is an animal, but he's even worse."
With each word she said, my heart pounded; she seemed to spell doom over me. I straightened up, and closed my eyes. I saw a brief vision — chains, blood, the fiendish howl of a vampire. I opened my eyes and staggered backwards, almost falling to the cold, concrete ground. The girl in the corner let out a short, sharp laughter.
Just then, I heard someone come in. When I looked up, I saw it was Gerald, one of the guards who had brought me and the other prisoners to Crimson Palace.
"Master Elias demands your presence in his chambers!" He said. "You're to come with me now."
"But ... I haven't even had my bath," I protested as he grabbed my hand. "It's not up to an hour yet."
"Tell that to Master Elias," he said, clutching me close to his body, and with dizzying speed, he sped walked out of the room, into the courtyard, into the hall, up to Elias's bedroom. He opened it and dropped me inside. I lay on the floor, shaken from the velocity of our movement, disoriented.
"Are you ready for me?" A voice said. When I raised my head, I saw Elias naked, his body pale and muscular. In one hand, he hand a flagella, and in the other hand, there were manacles. I gasped.