Second chapter, hope you enjoy.


"Nadia? Are you awake?"

I smiled into the sheets of my bedroll and nodded my head.

"I'm awake, silly. How could I sleep next to all of your angst?"

I heard her mutter something in response to my tease and I felt her shift next to me. I turned over to face her and saw her looking up at the stars, her beautiful eyes shining like little suns against the dark blue of the infinite night sky. Her brows were slightly frowned, and her mouth was taught, all clear signs that she was worrying herself again.

"Serana." I whispered into the night. She looked over at me and illuminated me in the dark with her gaze. Her expression was concerned, and I watched her open her mouth a few times in an attempt at using words.

But I knew what her words would be. They would be the same uncertainties she has in herself, as always.

I smiled at her. Then I reached a hand up and lightly touched her cheek, caressing her face. I watched her eyes widen as I kissed her forehead softly, and then turned my eyes to the stars.

"You are not a monster." I stated confidently. I sighed into the night, feeling content lying next to this friend, a friend I trusted with my life. "You are beautiful."

I heard her sniff next to me, and I looked over to see a single tear run down her cheek.


Why can't I feel my hands?

My eyes shot open and I was blinded by light. I blinked a few times and beheld the same grand room. I was lying down on my back, angled diagonally so I was not lying flat but I was not straight up like standing. It seemed that I was strapped to something, and my hands were numb from being strapped above my head. I turned my head to the side and saw Harkon's desk, and beyond that the fireplace, along with my cage in the corner.

My cage.

My eyes widened and I immediately looked for my right arm above me, just to see it properly bandaged with clean linen wrap. After a thought I realized it didn't even hurt.

Not that I wasn't in pain. I am always in pain.

I heard the lock to the door open to my left, and my eyes darted over. Fear begun to crawl into my limbs, freezing them, even though they were already strapped still, and sending a rotten feeling into my stomach.

I just came to, I'm not prepared to see him again…

My eyes widened when I saw a slender arm slowly open the door, and it was followed by the daughter of the man who terrified me.

Serana?

She quietly snuck into the room, carefully closing the door and re-locking it behind her. I watched her sigh deeply, her shoulders rising an inch, before she looked at me over her shoulder and met my eyes with her deep ones.

I had no idea what to do.

Well, I can't exactly do anything in my current state.

She averted her eyes from mine and bowed her head a bit as she made her way towards me quickly, padding on the stone quietly like I knew she could. Her sneaking ability was nowhere near mine, but it was still good.

It felt surreal as I watched her approach me. I never, ever thought this could ever happen again, after thinking she had turned into the monster she feared she was.

I tried moving my limbs, testing my binds and finding that they were strong. I couldn't exactly tell, but I thought I could feel a sting in the crease of my left arm, where they usually administer my magic reducing drug.

Good to know they didn't forget that.

I felt like a sitting duck as she approached me, and she wouldn't meet my eyes. She stopped a few feet away from me, and I shifted in my uncomfortable position.

What are you going to do, Serana?

"I can't feel my hands." I stated abruptly. Her gaze lifted to meet mine, and I saw pain rooted deep in her eyes, along with embarrassment, and frustration.

She strode carefully towards me, and reached her hands out towards my bound hands. I felt her cool fingers brush mine as she untied my bindings, and my arms dropped down to my sides when she released them. I tried to shake them to return the blood flow.

All this time I kept my eyes on hers, trying to read her thoughts, and trying to convince myself she hadn't known I was suffering all of this time.

She moved to the bindings around my waist next, and then to the ones around my legs. As she untied the last of the knots, I slid towards the ground. I tried to catch myself with my feet but my legs weren't strong enough, so I felt myself begin to collapse against the ground when I felt her arms catch me under mine and keep my head from hitting the floor.

I breathed in when I felt her so close to me, and I could tell she was equally scared by the way her hands were shaking. She let me down slowly to the ground, and took a step back. I looked up at her, but her eyes were still averted.

"You could get into trouble for releasing me." I stated softly. She glanced back at me and then glanced at the door. Then her eyes turned angry.

"I can't believe my family would do this. I can't believe they would all lie to me, for so long…" She lowered herself to the floor, kneeling to look at me leveled. I blinked at her.

"Why is my blood so special?" I asked her bluntly, needing to know the reason why I had been tortured for so long. She looked at me curiously, but her eyes still held the never-ending pain and apologetic expression.

"My father says you are something called, 'dragonborn'."

At that word, my eyes widened.

Dragonborn? Like in the legends?

My people, the Nords of Skyrim, always tell stories of powerful dragonborns, who have dragons' blood and can speak in the dragons' tongue.

I lifted an eyebrow.

"That sounds ridiculous. How could he know?" I watched Serana shrug.

"My father is old, Nadia. Really old, older than me. And he knows so much more…"

I closed my eyes and leaned back against the torture rack, already feeling fatigued. My throat was extremely dry from not drinking water or eating any food in a couple days, and it hurt to speak.

"Nadia… I am so sorry…" I heard her voice break. I opened my eyes to see her bright eyes fill with tears. "I am so sorry you have had to go through this, I am so sorry for everything my family has done to you…"

I watched her cover her mouth with her hand to stifle her sob, and her other hand came to grab her stomach.

I assessed my situation. My rag clothing was ripped into shreds, barely covering my skin and offering no protection. My knees and my elbows were as bony as a skeleton's, and the thin skin that covered my deteriorated muscles was bruised all over. The bruise Frank gave me on my chest throbbed every time I breathed in, and I knew my short hair was matted and falling out like a stray dog's.

I also smelled. Like waste, like blood, and like death. I smelled how I was, a dying animal.

This first made me embarrassed to be right next to Serana in this terrible state, but then, it just made me angry. My brows came together.

"I tried for so long to talk to your family. I tried to talk sense into them. I tried not to blame them for being who they were, for feeding on what they have to feed one." My arms shook as I tried to prop myself up. "But they see me as an animal. They treat me like an animal, Serana. They starved me."

I watched her face contort in pain.

"They kept me in a cell and came and took what they wanted from me, like I was a piece of fucking meat."

She bowed her head and began to shake.

"Where were you when I needed you, Serana?! What have you been doing all this time?!"

"I thought you were dead, Nadia!" She sobbed out loud. "My father told me you were gone, my whole family told me you were gone…" She glanced up at me, and met my angry expression with her watery eyes. "He said you came to discover where our hidden base was, to extort us, he told me you were using me for the vampire slayers of dawnguard. I never believed him, but he told me you had attacked him, and he only defended himself…"

I glared at the wall behind her as she reached for one of my hands with her shaking ones. She continued.

"I never believed him, I fought with him for weeks until the rest of my family said the same thing. I believed you all had a terrible misunderstanding, and I had just been helpless…"

Serana continued to look at me with her pleading eyes. Her hands held one of my bony ones.

"I was mourning for you, Nadia… I thought the same thing that happened to my mother happened to you…"

I blinked at her, trying to keep my angry expression up as long as I could. But I wasn't angry anymore. I was just sad. I just wanted to cry with her at the hell that we had been through the last couple months.

Her family is a pile of shit. A pile of shit demons.

I cleared my throat, trying to keep it together.

"So your family kept me for my blood, then." I watched her nod.

"Dragonborn blood is said to taste like a piece of heaven. If you are dragonborn, then your blood would put us into a sort of lusting craze."

I nodded as well. Then I grimaced.

"Yeah. That sounds about right."

My tailbone had begun to hurt after sitting up straight for so long, so I tried to shift a bit. I looked up to see Serana regarding my body with pain in her eyes. There was a part of me that was run by pride that didn't want to ask her for help. And then the logical side realized I needed all the help I could get.

"Do you know where I could get water? Or food?" I asked her, and she looked at me and nodded. I watched determination enter her gaze, and she stood up from me and turned to walk towards the door.

Fear began to creep in.

"Wait!" I called. She stopped and looked back at me. "Wait… I… I don't want, I don't want him to come back and…"

I looked away and clutched my hands into fists, secretly afraid of what her father would do when he came back.

"I will be right back, Nadia. And even though my father is a monster, I don't think he will treat you as the others did."

I looked up at her with doubt in my expression, and was about to hold up my right arm as a response. She continued.

"He is a monster, but he is smart. He knows he needs to make you healthy again to continue having your blood."

Fucking finally someone gets it.

I leaned back against the rack again.

"Well, his definition of healthy might not match mine…" I muttered as Serana continued towards the door. I watched her silently exit the room after glancing at me one last time. I couldn't stop my brain from making a train of thought of what would happen when her father gets back.

What if he gets mad at me not in my binds?

My arms shook and my legs struggled to bend nicely.

He probably knows I wouldn't get far even if I tried to run.

Wondering what my actual limits were, I attempted to move my position from sitting to my knees. I could do that, even if it hurt. I took a deep breath in before struggling to stand up on my feet. I wobbled dangerously, and held onto the rack for support.

Where would I even go?

I looked around and saw the closest thing was Harkon's desk. It was covered in miscellaneous junk, from papers to quills to some sharp things that looked too sharp to be common tools. I took a step towards it, and then another, and eventually made my way the few feet over to the desk and leaned on the table.

The first thing I saw on it made me widen my eyes.

There was a sort of news article or report, that its headline said, 'Dragons Sighted In Skyrim!'.

I tried to read what it said when I heard the door slam loudly, making me jump and causing my heart to skip a beat. My eyes flew up to meet the one pair I dreaded to see, the Lord's himself.

His gaze glared at me with an intense look of disapproval, and I felt fear grip my spine as I stared back.

"What do you think you're doing?" He asked menacingly, and my hands began to shake as I took a step back from his desk. Unfortunately, I could only barely walk forward, but I had no more skills of walking backwards, so I felt my leg give out from under me and I collapsed like a rag doll onto the floor, looking weak.

Well. I am weak.

I glared at the floor.

I will not appear weak.

I struggled to raise my head and meet his eyes. I glared at him. He began to stride towards me.

I watched him approach me all of the way, and he stopped a foot from me. He then kneeled down to get level with me, and I couldn't help but relate it to the last time he knelt to me when I was in the cage over there in the corner.

He reached out, aiming for my right arm that had begun to bleed through its bandages from all of the strain I had caused it, but I scooted away from him, backing myself into a wall. I braced for a tight grip or piercing nails, but he grabbed my arm gently but firmly, and brought it towards him for him to inspect it.

My mind whirled in fear.

"It will not heal if you continue to resist." He stated while looking at my arm, before raising his eyes to meet mine. His close distance unnerved me. "Will you allow me to clean and re-wrap your arm, without flailing and squawking?"

My eyes narrowed and my sarcastic side came out.

"Not likely. An animal is going to fight when starved, and when backed into a corner."

I watched his glowing eyes blink at me. Then the corner of his mouth lifted.

"I guess a new owner must deal with the dog's previous owner's mistakes."

I was about to make a retort when Harkon snapped his fingers and the door opened. I glanced over there as one of the older looking men walked in with a tray. My eyes flew to the tray, not believing what I saw.

A clear glass, filled with a clear liquid, probably water. Along with a plate of something that was steaming. My mouth began to water with water my body couldn't afford to lose, and I looked sideways at Harkon regarding me. The message was clear.

Do as he asks to get food.

I turned to him and held out my arm. I watched his eyes, but I didn't find what I was expecting to find. I expected a smug sense of victory, but instead I found only his look of determination as he rose to his feet. I flinched as he reached down to me, but he gently picked me up and set me on my feet.

It was a weird sensation standing right next to this man of horror. This monster. I am a tall woman, standing at an easy six feet tall. I am not used to looking up to men often. But I had to look up to him as he pointed over at the chair at his desk, directing me towards it. I turned towards it and prepared myself to take a step. I slowly made my way over to the chair, before collapsing into it.

The older man set the tray on the table and proceeded to stare at me. I stared at him back. His stare was a disgusting one, like he was undressing me with his eyes and probably lusting for my blood.

"You may leave." Harkon told him, and the man sort of unfroze and blinked at him before bowing and leaving. I shuddered, still angry I was captive, but glad I was no longer in a cell, able to be at that monster's mercy.

Harkon leaned on the table as he brought out a set of tools and fresh wrap. I watched him closely as he carefully set out his instruments and turned to regard me again. He began to unwrap my bindings, causing me some pain from the amount of blood the wound had procured, but otherwise treating me as carefully as a normal person would.

This sent my nerves on high alert.

When my wound was open to the air, he brought out a damp rag and methodically cleaned the area with skill. The wound had begun to throb again from being touched, but I resisted showing the pain.

It was when he took my arm in both of my hands and brought it closer to his face where I lost my shit.

Yanking my arm away from him and spraying some blood around, I recoiled from the vampire on instinct.

"Oh for fuck's sake, can I go one bloody day without having a single fucking vampire sucking my blood?!" I yelled at him angrily. I was prepared to fight him with all of my strength, which would probably do no more than annoy him.

But I will annoy him like no one before.

He did nothing from my reaction, just continued to lean casually against the table with the fresh linen wrap next to him. His eyes regarded me coldly.

"I was not going to feed from you." He sighed. "I can make my bite cause nothing more than a numbing sensation." He looked at me with his controlled expression. "For your pain."

I blinked at him.

He's not going to feed from me?

"I did this last night when you first cut your arm. You passed out before my numbing could take effect."

My mind whirled. He didn't suck my blood last night?

But I could remember his hungry gaze.

Perhaps he can resist, since he has had so much of my blood already.

I swallowed as he grabbed my arm again. He brought it to his mouth, and it took all of my strength to not flinch or yank it away from him. I felt his fangs slightly puncture my skin, and it stung for a split second before all of the pain in my arm went numb. He removed his mouth from my skin then and ran the damp rag over it one more time before beginning to wrap it up tightly. It was then that I heard the door open once again, and I looked over as I watched Serana slip into the room and see her father holding my arm. Her eyes widened in an instance.

"Father! Please don't hurt h-!" She stopped when she saw he was bandaging my arm. She was carrying a bottle and a loaf of bread that looked extremely tantalizing. I heard Harkon sigh.

"Serana, please do not take the food from the kitchen unless I instruct you to. There is only so much." He scolded her as he finished with my arm. I blinked at their exchange and directed my attention to the hot food that the old creepy man had brought. And the water.

"You are, giving her food?" Serana asked her father hesitantly, and I looked up to see him nod.

"Our prisoner is in a terrible state." He regarded his daughter for a second. "You will bring her meals throughout the day and nourish her back to health."

His gaze looked at me intensely.

"And once she returns to health, you will draw blood from her."

With that he grabbed my arms and lifted me from the seat. I struggled a bit but he managed to carry me over towards the cage in the corner.

"Father!" She exclaimed as I was shoved into the small cage, and I looked over at her not doing anything but watching her father pen me into a cage like a sick dog. Harkon brought the food and the drink over to my cage before he locked the door and looked at his daughter.

I was busy gulping down the water and then shoving pieces of chicken into my mouth.

Serana glared at him, but did nothing as he walked over to her.

"You are now in charge of the dragonborn's health. You will also announce to the rest of the family that no one will be able to feed from her again."

Serana grimaced at her father's words. Then she looked over at me and met my eyes. My eyes said the same thing they always say, that however nice everyone seems to me at the moment, one truth still remains.

That I am still a fucking prisoner. That all my freedom is still all fucking gone.

I watched a hint of determination enter her eyes.

"I cannot sit by as you keep my friend as a prisoner here, father. She is a person, it is wrong! You need to release her!"

I watched Harkon look at his daughter, then look back at me, to back to his daughter.

He raised a hand, covered in sharp rings, and back-handed his daughter so forcefully she staggered back a few steps and cried out in pain.

In a second I was at the bars in my cage screaming insults and threats towards him, until I watched his cold, fiery gaze light upon mine in a message.

His message was clear.

He knew I could take any physical pain he could give me. I've already done it.

But what I couldn't take… Is other people suffering for me.

Other people I care about. Serana… His own daughter

"You fucked up bastard!" I screamed at him as Serana recovered from the beating. She looked over at me with tears in her eyes and her hand holding her bleeding cheek. I could tell this wound hurt more emotionally than physically. Her own father…

"I don't want to have to gag you, young dragonborn. Do not test your luck." He stated menacingly. I glared daggers at him as he walked towards the door, passing by his sobbing daughter on the ground. He glanced back at me once more before leaving.

"You don't need a tongue to provide me with blood for your lifetime."

With that he shut the door, leaving his daughter bleeding, and me in a cage.

I turned my attention to Serana.

"Are you alright?" I asked softly, as she stopped her crying. She met my eyes and nodded before moving over to be closer to me. She leaned against my cage and closed her eyes. I hesitantly raised a hand and touched her shoulder through the cracks in the bars. She looked over at me and conveyed all of her feelings through her deep and unguarded eyes.

"We are both prisoners here…" she stated softly. I blinked and then chuckled.

"How did I end up with the smaller, shittier cage?"

I watched the tiniest of smiles emerge from the depths of her saddened face, and that little bit of light warmed the cold I had felt in my chest for so long.

We are both prisoners here.

Serana got up and walked over to the bottle and the bread she had dropped. She returned to my cage and gave me the food and water through the bars.

We both are weak. One physically, one emotionally.

I let myself give her a smile in thanks for the food before wolfing it down as fast as I could.

But I believe we can help each other become strong again. And perhaps one day, escape from this hellhole.


Thank you for reading :). I am always thankful for suggestions and critiques, it would be wonderful to know what you think.