Sorry this isn't just one chapter it's three but with good reason, if you read the first chapter then you will understand why I didn't just want to put the one in there ;) hope you enjoy
Melanie
Melanie walked down George Street, she like walking but god she got bored easily, so walking down the same street to school five days a week really didn't start the day on a high note. Her school wasn't far from where she lived so the walk wasn't too painful.
The Australian Autumn breeze tousled her long, dark, brown hair and she ran her fingers through it trying to tame the tendrils of loose curls.
She checked her phone, it was 8:45 already, she was going to be late, as usual and she was going to get a lecture, as usual.
She turned onto the street her school sat on, it stood out like a sore thumb, the town being rustic and pretty while the school was a modern barred prison. Well Melanie thought of it that way anyway with its barred windows and strict rules the place could have been a low security prison. Melanie never cared much for rules anyway, they restricted the mind, restricted what you were capable of so she ignored most of them.
She scuffed her red All-Stars on the curb as she passed the alleyway, the alleyway always gave her goosebumps she hated it, she always had the feeling she was in danger when she passed it, even in the car.
An arm wrapped around her waist and a hand clamped over her mouth, Melanie kicked and struggled but her attacker dragged her into the gloom of the alley.
He pushed her up against a colour-bond fence one hand still clamped over her mouth, the other moved up to her throat. He was young, relatively handsome and skinny with matted black hair and allot of scars.
"Now lovely," he said with an English accent "You're not going to make a sound or you're going to lose that pretty little head of yours, OK?"
She nodded and he moved his hand away from her mouth and she screamed as loud as she could, the sound echoing all around her.
The English man drew his hand back and hit her in the jaw, she whimpered and tears sprang into her eyes as the taste of blood leaked into her mouth.
"I warned you, didn't I?" he snarled
The young man let go of her throat and she slid down the fence and buried her face in her hands forcing herself not to cry. Mustering up all her strength and bravery she sprang up, the English man making a grab for her but she instinctively put her knee up and he ran into it then she kicked out sending him sprawling and sprinted up the alley as fast as she could.
He cursed her a few times and she heard his heavy feet as he ran after her. Melanie allowed herself a glance back, the English man was holding a knife and was gaining, fast.
"Crap," Melanie muttered as she forced her legs to move faster even though every muscle in her body was screaming at her to stop and take a break.
She made it to the end of the alley and skidded to a halt breathing heavily. A black van had pulled up infront of her, after a moment the door opened and three men stepped out all dressed in impeccably fine suits. They gave Melanie the creeps.
The English man ran up behind her and wrapped his arm around her throat but she didn't struggle, her eyes were fixed on the men from the van.
"I've got her!" the English man shouted a little too loudly in Melanie's ear making her wince
"I can see that," said the man in the middle of the three he had a strong Irish accent "but unfortunately we will not be needing your services anymore."
"What?" the English man spluttered releasing Melanie and backing down the alley "You... you can't!"
The man in the middle raised his hand and the young English man stopped in his tracks. For a moment nothing happened, he dropped to the ground shrieking then started shaking, his screams intensifying with every passing moment filling Melanie's head.
His eyes bulged and then his skin split as though his bones were growing too big for his body and blood seeped out of the ever-growing gashes. She heard bones crack and his body ruptured, his fractured bones sticking out of his skin.
Melanie's gaped in horror not able to take her eyes off the dead man.
"Now little one," said the man in the middle dragging Melanie's attention back to him "What shall we do with you?"
The man on the left suddenly disappeared, Melanie sensed someone behind her and whipped around. The man smiled a cruel smile and plunged a syringe into her arm.
Melanie moaned slightly as her vision clouded over and she staggered backwards before her legs buckled and she collapsed on the ground.
At about 5am
Valkyrie was woken by a tapping at her window she sat up, swung her legs out of bed and tip-toed over to her window pulling her singlet down as she went. She peered out of her window, into the early morning light and saw nothing whatsoever, she frowned and came to the conclusion that it was probably her dream. Suddenly her window swung open and Valkyrie was yanked out by her arm, she braced herself for the encounter with the ground but jolted to a stop just above her sister's bedroom window she frowned and looked up.
A pretty woman with glinting hazel eyes and tousled blonde hair that hung loosely around her face grinned down at her. She was crouched on the wall, somewhat like a spiderman dressed in leather.
Valkyrie sighed "Tanith," she said quietly "was that really necessary? You could've just tapped on my window and I would've let you through."
"Where's the fun in that?" Tanith replied
Valkyrie glared.
Tanith swung Valkyrie up so she could grab the window with one hand and then let go of her and climbed into the window. Valkyrie stayed there for a moment letting the cool, pure night air fill her with calm but her screaming muscles interrupted her little moment.
"Get your butt in here," Tanith called down to her
Valkyrie used the air to push her up to the window and then climbed through herself.
"Be quiet," she whispered "My parents will think I have a boy in here."
"Do I sound like a boy?" Tanith asked seemingly offended
"Well," Valkyrie said turning away to grab her black clothes
She heard Tanith mutter something under her breath, while she pulled the black clothes the right way in. "Close your eyes," she said to Tanith as she started pulling off her top
Tanith shut them "Come on Val, I've seen you naked before."
"You're my best friend not my boyfriend, you shouldn't be seeing me naked." She replied pulling her pants on
"Well I'm pretty sure we've all seen you half naked before, I mean with you getting your top ripped to shreds on a regular basis."
"Yes, but I've always had a bra on underneath and can we stop talking about who's seen me naked, it's slightly uncomfortable."
"Ok then," Tanith paused searching for a subject "What do girls normally talk about?"
"Boys, makeup, clothes, hair, gossip"
"We usually talk about hitting people," Tanith said "Does that make us weird?"
Valkyrie rolled her eyes and pulled on her top "You're weird, all done you can look now."
Tanith opened her eyes and grinned "Can we go now? I have a surprise for you."
Valkyrie nodded and Tanith ran to the window and dropped down, "Ow," Valkyrie heard from below and looked out the window. Tanith was standing there brushing herself off, Valkyrie jumped out and she landed softly on the ground.
"I swear that bush has it in for me," Tanith told her as they walked towards Tanith's bike
Valkyrie laughed "I guess if someone jumped on me I would want to hurt them too."
Tanith stuck her tongue out and pulled on her bike helmet before she swung her leg over the bike Valkyrie did the same and Tanith started the bike.
The Dungeon
Melanie's eyes opened slowly, her head ached like she'd been hit by a baseball bat and her nose was filled with a foul smell. She tried moving but her whole body ached and she just moaned pathetically.
"Well, well look who's awake." Said a man's voice from out of her line of sight.
Melanie tried to turn her neck but her body refused to make any other than the smallest movements so she slumped further down the wall.
The man hummed a tune and walked around in-front of Melanie.
It was one of the men from the van, the middle one, he wore another fine suit and he stared at her like one might stare at a dying animal.
"Do you know why you're here?" he asked
"I guess that means you can't speak yet." He said after she didn't reply "Let us test this theory, shall we?"
He held up his hand and pain shot through Melanie's body, her back arched in pain and she opened her mouth to scream but nothing came out.
"Ah yes," he said clapping his hands together "Marcus was right! I'm afraid I owe him some money now, you see we made a bet as to whether or not you would be able to speak when you first woke up."
There was a long silence between the two, not that Melanie could start a conversation anyway and the man seemed to be lost in thought staring out what Melanie figured was a small window above her head.
The man eventually spoke "Are you able to move yet?" He asked arching an eyebrow
Melanie's neck still ached but she decided to try and wiggle her fingers, after about fifteen seconds of concentration she moved her middle finger. Silently rejoicing she attempted to move the rest of them and soon after that her whole body loosened up and she stretched out before surveying the area.
Above her, as she guessed, was a small window with bars on it, to her left was a door and to her right was a small, mouldy, wooden chair that she guessed the man had been sitting on. All around her was grime and mould, the floor was covered in what looked like the same stuff that grew in a dirty fish tank, the stone walls highly resembled the floor.
She tried standing but her arm was chained to the wall and she slipped in the muck.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you!" Said the man "You're chained to the wall."
"No shit" She replied and she gasped at the sound of her voice
"Look who's talking!" cooed the man "Well I best be on my way, official duties and all and now we've found you things are going to change drastically around here, very much so."
"What does it have to do with me?"
"It is all to do with you, my dear, everything that's about to happen is all because of you."
"What does it have to do with me!" she cried again "I'm chained to a wall in a filthy basement-"
"Dungeon" he corrected
"Dungeon then! I don't care, tell me what's happening!"
"Well, aren't you being a tad pushy? Considering the fact I could shoot you through the head right now if I wanted to and no-one would be any wiser but if you insist" he said "Hundreds and hundreds of years ago your ancestor killed some of the most almighty and powerful creatures, the Malstrus, the rest they drove away into the depths of the cruel underworld to serve the rest of their existence. There were four men and one woman who completed this sinful task, two of the four men were assassinated eight months later and the other two grew old and died peacefully although they both had children somewhere down the track their blood line ceased to exist. Now the woman she lived in the shadows avoiding all the limelight offered to her, unlike the men, her blood line continued until today and you, my lovely are the product of that."
"What about the last hundred generations of my family? Why couldn't you use them?"
"Because your blood has to be just right and we had to track you down"
"And what exactly do you plan to do with me?"
"We're going to kill you."
"How delightful" she muttered
"Then we're going to use your blood to resurrect our gods and then we will live alongside them while non-believers perish."
"I'm guessing people are going to have something to say about it"
"Yes they probably will, but we have lived in the shadows for so long they will have forgotten the threat we pose and will not have us being monitored by the Sanctuaries around the world although your disappearance has lead to one agent getting a little too close for comfort so we've moved you a few times."
"What? This is absurd, can I just go home? Please?"
"I'm afraid you can't." And with that he strode over to the door and walked out
Melanie stared at the mouldy wall in front of her before her and a lump rose in her throat, she tried to force it down but she failed and it came back up and, for the first time since she was little, she let out a loud cry and tears rolled down her cheeks, not caring how loud her sobs were or if anyone could hear them.