6 #MY_BLACK_KNIGHT 6
Happen 10 & 11 (VL)
As Produced By SheriffSquinty
Theme: Apprehended & Maliced
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It could have been mere seconds, or it could have been days, before I began to regain consciousness. I floated in the dark place between awake and asleep as I
tried to comprehend what was happening. I dimly registered that my hands and feet were bound and I was lying horizontally on a fairly uncomfortable surface. I could hear voices muddled in the background but I did not have the presence of mind to understand them or even open my eyes. Something nagged at me; something was
wrong, but my mind was too tired to try to figure it out. Groaning slightly, I gave into temptation and returned to the darkness.
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This happened a couple more times before I truly regained consciousness. I
vaguely remembered being dragged on the ground before being propped up and
tied to something. I even thought a needle had been plunged into my neck a second time, although I wasn’t sure. I remembered a sharp burning pain at my wrists, and multiple instances of hushed talking. I wasn’t sure what was real and what was a
dream anymore. My body constantly craved the dark, dreamless sleep, and I gladly sank into it. After awhile, however, the sleep became less peaceful. I began to
register a dull, incessant pain and voices. The agitated voice in my mind became
increasingly agitated, shouting at me to wake up, to fight. My body throbbed and
ached and the darkness behind my eyelids gradually transitioned into a bright light. I truly knew I was awake when I finally opened my eyes and winced; there was a bright fluorescent bulb directly above me.
I made no noise as I finally woke up. Some semblance of caution forced me to hold my tongue. Squinting against the beam of light, I glanced around to take in my
surroundings. I was alone in what looked like a warehouse or storage room,
although it was fairly small. The room was almost completely bare except for a
small table and a couple of chairs set against the corner near the only door. The
door itself looked like it was pulled open from the bottom, somewhat like a garage door.
As forme, I was tied to a chair in the middle of the room. I was currently alone. My wrists were burning, and I realized the pain must have brought me to
consciousness. They were tied behind the chair and as I glanced over my shoulder, I realized why they hurt so badly and I swore.
Silver. The kryptonite of werewolves. Silver sapped our strength and drove a
mental barrier between us and our Wolves, preventing us from shifting and leaving us almost as weak as humans. It even made communication with direct family
members more difficult in human form. As long as it touched me, my wounds would notheal and I would not be able to Shift.
*
As Produced By SheriffSquinty
*
Nobody knew why silver was such a weakness of ours. It had been this way since the first wolves roamed the planet, and as far as I knew, there was noway to
develop a tolerance to it. We were immune to so manythings that caused humans harm, yet they wore silver jewelry on a daily basis. The irony was not lost on me.
My father had said it was best to understand the effects of silver as making our
inner Wolves ill, which isolated them from us, while the skin irritation was more of an allergic reaction.
I tugged at the silver chains that bound me, wincing in pain. I wasn’t going to be
able to break them with my reduced strength. The chains were locked together and one of my kidnappers had the key.
Trying not to panic, I attempted to contact my Wolf. I could still sense her
agitation and her pain, but I could not hear her voice. I could tell she felt the same frustration at the lack of contact, but for now we were stuck. I shuddered, feeling frighteningly alone.
How was I going to get out of here? I wasn’t strong enough to break free. I had no idea how long I had been here; my pack was probably having a heart attack by
now. Had my friends noticed my absence at the club? Was my family searching for me?
Thinking of my family gave me a moment of surprising clarity. The silver created a barrier between my Wolf and I, meaning I couldn’t Shift and converse with the rest of the pack. However, I didn’t need to be in wolf form to converse with my
immediate family or the Alpha.
The problem was, conversing at this great of a distance from them required both
strength and concentration. I’d been in too much pain and too distracted during the battle to contact them, but now it might be possible.
.I had no doubt that they could be trying to communicate with me, but with the silver-induced barriers in my mind, they
were having no luck. If I could just lower my barriers for a few seconds to send a quick message….
It would be difficult. I knew that much. I would have to conserve every last drop of energy I had. Even if I did have enough strength to breakthrough the silver-
induced haze and lower my barriers I would only have a couple of seconds before
my reduced strength gave out. It was definitely not a guaranteed plan, but it was the best I had.
With a glimmer of self-deprecating amusement, I realized that this would be easier if I were Mated to Gabriel. Mates had a bond so strong that the strictly external
touch of silver couldn’t break their mind link. It required a silver bullet or silver in the bloodstream to disrupt that connection. Thinking of Gabriel brought a fresh
rush of pain and I turned my head to the side, gritting my teeth. Did he have any idea where I was?
I did not have time to dwell on these thoughts for I heard footsteps outside, fast approaching. Not knowing how to handle the situation in my unfortunate state, I pushed back the pain in my body and allowed my head to loll to the side, closing my eyes. Perhaps I could catch them off guard or learn something about them if they thought I was asleep. What had they drugged me with, anyways?
Forcing my breathing to be even and relaxed, I kept up my act as I heard a loud, rusty grating sound. The door slid upwards and I heard two distinct sets of
footsteps. I tried to breathe through my nose to better understand what I was up
against, but all I got was a faint whiff. Once again I was struck by the subtlety of a vampire’s scent.
“She’s still asleep?” Came the incredulous voice. I recognized it as the vampire that had bitten me,then later called me a ‘werewolf bitch’.
“I’m not surprised. I gave her enough to kill a vampire.” The voice was calm,
collected, coming from the vampire that had drugged me. I heard the door slide shut again,connecting with the ground with an ominous thud.
“Still, it’s been more than eight hours. It’s nearly sunrise!” I tried not to let my
obvious shock show. Eight hours? Surely someone was searching forme by now. My father would be going out of his mind with worry.
“Yes, the timing of this was most unfortunate. Antonio can’t come meet us here until this evening. He was too far away to make ithere before sunrise.”
So the vampire Antonio didn’t want to travel during the day, then. Was it true vampires were weakened by the sun, then? And what the hell did the vampires want with me?
“I don’t see why we can’t just kill her now,” the first one said, sounding a bit petulant.
“Orders are orders, although we disobeyed them by capturing her so soon. We
weren’t ready yet but we’ll have to make do.” His voice had grown hard. “You two almost f**ked everything up. You’re lucky I was there.”
“It wasn’t our fault! We were just trying to have an evening snack. How could we
have known that werewolves would be nearby? YOU were supposed to be watching her!”
What the hell? Watching me?
The other one hissed. “Silence, Marco. Do not disrespect your elders. Especially when I’m the only reason your neck wasn’t broken.” He sighed irritably. “I was watching the club from the front, I didn’t expect her to go out that way. I didn’t know you two idiots would be munching on a human nearby.”
Marco huffed and there was a moment of silence. “I’ve never met a werewolf. I didn’t think she’d be that strong.”
“You’re too young to be a match for a fully-grown werewolf. Don’t forget that.” I heard the noise of a chair being pulled out as the vampire sat down.
“Can I at least wake her up? She bit Angelo. She deserves some sort of
punishment.” I wondered if my bite had killed Angelo or just wounded him. Knowing my luck, he was still out and looking for blood.
“Be my guest. Just don’t injure her too badly, Antonio wants her in good condition.”
I automatically tensed, my breathing coming out faster than I’d intended. I heard footsteps approach me as Marco neared. I should have known it wouldn’t be that easy. I braced myself for a hit, knowing I had to conserve my energy in order to have any chance at communication. I fervently hoped the vampires didn’t know about my ability to mentally communicate with my family without being in wolf form.
“Rise and shine,” Marco snarled, and I felt a breath of air before the back of his
hand collided with the side of my face. My head snapped to the side and my eyes
opened instantly, fixating on his face as I bared my teeth in a snarl. In the back of my mind I registered the fact that he looked different from yesterday. More human, for lack of a better word. His fangs were no longer visible and his eyes were not
the black pits they had been yesterday. Instead, his pupils had shrunk to make his unnaturally bright green irises visible. I glanced down, noting that he had a clean shirt on. I hoped the wounds I inflicted still hurt like hell.
My cheek stung from the blow and I felt my Wolf’s anger that we were being
attacked in our helpless state. Gritting my teeth, I positioned myself to face Marco. “Good morning, bitch,” Marco snapped. I ignored the insult, shifting my gaze to
examine the vampire that had drugged me. He had white-blond hair and his eyes were blue, unnaturally bright like Marco’s. He had an amused expression on his features as he watched us.
“Look at me when I’m talking to you.” He drew back his hand and slapped me on the other side of my face. Once again my head jerked to the side. I bit my lip to
keep from making any noise aspain lanced through my face. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction.
Growling in irritation, Marco curled his hand into a fist then punched me, part of his fist connecting with the side of my mouth. This time I visibly winced as his punch forced my teeth into my lip. I tasted coppery blood as it filled my mouth. I knew without hearing her that my Wolf was howling her fury at this despicable creature. If I could get free I would tear him to shreds.
*
Hall Of Supernatural Stories
*
I forced myself to take a deep breath. If I was going to get out of here I needed all of my energy. I fervently hoped my pack would find me.
The vampire’s nostrils flared. “I can smell your blood, dog. Good thing it smells disgusting and repulsive. Otherwise I’d make you into breakfast.”
I snorted before I could help myself, knowing it was obviously a bluff. Their boss,
Antonio, needed me for something so I doubt he’d let Marco ‘make me into breakfast’.
My reaction seemed to infuriate him, for in a second Marco was in my face. His hand reached out and grabbed my neck. He began to squeeze, his grip crushing. I could feel bruises forming on my throat as he gripped harder, his face contorted into a snarl. I struggled despite myself, attempting to get air into my lungs.
“Release her!” The blonde vampire demanded, an edge to his voice. Marco paused, his angry eyes still boring into mine. “Marco!” The other vampire barked, and with a growl of reluctance the vampire released my neck. I sucked in the air gratefully, my neck bruised and tender.
“You need to go cool off. Now, before sunrise. Antonio will punish us if she’s too bruised; she’s his leverage, after all.”
I wheezed, trying to catch my breath. Leverage for what? I had a sneaking suspicion, but hoped I was wrong.
The two vampires stared each other down for a moment more before Marco stalked over to the door, tossing me an angry look over his shoulder as he went. “I don’t
see why we have to stay in this place before he gets here.” He muttered darkly as he hauled the door open. “We could just meet him at the mansion.”
“We can’t risk leaving the city. As soon as we get away from all the humans her pack will be able to find her scent and they’ll track us down.”
So did that mean they were looking forme now? I wondered. At least it told me we were still in the city, although I wasn’t sure where. If the vampires kept me here to mask my scent it would make sense if they were closer to downtown where the
population density was higher.
Marco lifted the door to the facility open. It was dark outside, but the sky was
beginning to lighten slightly and I knew sunrise wasn’t faraway. I tried to
inconspicuously observe the surroundings outside. Fortunately there were a few
dim lights outside so I could make out certain details. Directly across from us was another door that looked identical to the one Marco had just opened. From the
quick glance I obtained before he shut the door behind him, I tried to memorize all I could. If I was going to try to contact my father or Alpha Brett later, they would need all the clues they could get. Unless they found me first, which based on my
luck so far was highly unlikely.
As soon as the other vampire left, the blonde one relaxed in his chair and pulled out a phone. He began clicking away on the device, ignoring me completely. Left alone with my new bruises and burning wrists where the silver touched, I finally allowed my mind to wander to Gabriel. I pictured his flawless skin and dark eyes. Trying to get away from thoughts of him had landed mein this mess in the first
place; maybe that was a sign. I thought over our interaction in the clearly and the husky way he had declared me as his.
Was I going to die without ever having touched my Mate? My situation seemed pretty hopeless at the moment. If I wouldn’t have been so pathetic and confused, maybe he would have wanted me. He had been cruel in the past, but my hatred of him had dimmed after meeting these horrid vampires.
My mind wandered in circles like this for quite sometime. I attempted to distract myself from the dull physical pain with thoughts of Gabriel and my family as the minutes trickled by. Another hour passed in silence, then another, and I lost track of time. I had just begun to contemplate my growing hunger when Marco returned. He created quite a racket, throwing up the storage room door and slamming it as
soon as he was inside. Looking out, I realized it was because tendrils of sunlight were beginning to stretch across the sky.
Thankfully, Marco ignored me as he pulled out a chair and sat at the table next to the blonde vampire. He had brought a sack of items with him and he pulled out a book from the sack, facing away from me and promptly beginning to read.