Prologue
Drip
Drip
Drip
It was the only noise that he could hear.
There was always people moaning or weeping silently in the corners of their cells but today was oddly quiet, the silence weighing heavily on everyone including him as he waited for the drops to touchdown.
He was sixteen today. The fact didn't matter though as he didn't really care anymore and felt more like falling asleep for good.
Chains suddenly rattled him out of his reverie and he dragged his eyes up to watch as one of the guards sprinted over to the other door at the end of the hall, eyes narrowing as he watched the guard speak with the other, their voices hushed and urgent. It was a curious sight and the young man shifted against the bars of his cell and pulled himself to his feet with their help.
Watching the guards sprint over to the other end of the hall and slam the door shut behind them, the young man felt a twinge of wonder pinch his belly as the others in the cells near his shifted as well. In all the months he'd been locked up here, the guards had never been as tense as they had been these past few days. Even the guards at the last place he'd been in hadn't been so uptight and those guards were always glancing over their shoulders and peeking under his bed.
He'd been under watch for years. At first, the rooms he lived in were luxurious and fantastical until the second Great War between the vampires and werewolves started, his lifestyle suddenly changing from that of a prince to the life of a prisoner.
Thoughts straying back to previous memories, his face darkened and he pushed them back, wishing that he could just forget about them.
The door the guards had went through before creaked open quickly and a line of the soldiers filed into the room, two going to each cell and taking out their prisoners. Their grips on the young man's arms were rough and he flinched against their tight fists. Dragging all the prisoners out into the open area of the yard behind the building they were kept in, the guards stood them against the back wall, the young man's feet touching the cold cement of the floor and he shivered.
He watched with narrowed eyes as one of the guards whispered to the man in the business suit who'd just stepped out of the back door, the man who was in charge. His face was grim and the young man somehow knew what was going to happen.
"Sir, are you sure about this?" the guard whispered and the man sighed, fixing his glasses before glancing over at the figures who he'd known ever since they were small.
"We have no other choice," he said solemnly, "they'll be here in a few days and we can't afford to have them fall into their hands. Just get it over with, already."
"Yes, sir," the guard nodded dutifully and took a breath before calling to his troops, "at the ready!"
Their guns came up to aim at the shaking bodies. The business man gave the command to fire at will and left, turning his back to the small line up and moving inside, not bothering to glance up at the dark-haired woman who stood silently inside the building. She watched as the commander said a last few words to the nine who already looked dead against the grey wall before looking away to follow her partner down the hall.
The young man let a sigh fall from his lips before closing his eyes against the sight of his trembling killer and waited for his heart to stop.
"Fire"
In Between the Lines