It was totally silent when Vlad awoke except for the sounds of his own breathing. The air was a thick wall of black and slightly damp as it floated around him. He tried to sit up, but failed as a sharp pain pounded through his head, probably from all the exposure to sunlight. But where was he now?
As he came more into consciousness, he could feel heavy silver-laced iron shackles cuffed around his wrists and ankles preventing him from moving more than a foot in either direction. As he gathered the strength to sit up, slower this time, they clanked noisily with even the smallest movement. It would alert his captors to his state of consciousness, and that scared him. Who would go through the trouble of capturing him of all people, and why?
Seconds ticked by and nothing happened. Then just as he thought no one would check in on him, he heard footsteps coming agonizingly slowly towards him. They got closer and closer until he thought the person would have to be standing right in front of him. Suddenly a bright light was emanating from a torch held up by a tall, dark man in front of him.
"Well Ollrod, you did good," the man chuckled speaking to a second man, the blonde nord.
Vlad could not think of anything to do so he ignored the presence of the men and stared at a crack in the cold stone floor until a large dark hand cupped underneath his jaw and brought his face upward. Now he stared at the two men, the tanned blonde nord who had spirited him away into the daylight and a darker man with a coarse black beard.
The redguard stared at him from top to bottom like he was inspecting a horse to find any and all defects. He even forced Vlad's jaw open to inspect his teeth, which were pearly white and sharp. Vlad's canine teeth were about an inch longer than the other's and ended in delicately dangerous points. The vampire did not like being held like being inspected like a prize animal and started to growl and struggled to mash his teeth together, despite the other man's firm grip.
The redguard immediately let go of the vampire to avoid Vlad's teeth but retaliated brutally with a crushing punch to Vlad's cheekbone. He lifted the vampire off the ground with one hand and strangled his neck with the other,
"If you try anything like that ever again, I won't hesitate to kill you," growled the dark man at Vlad, who was struggling against the chokehold on his throat, desperate for a breath. Vlad could suddenly breathe again when the hand loosened up a bit and he took as big of breaths as he could without coughing up his lungs.
"What do you want with me?" Vlad finally spat out; his voice was unused and raspy and the words felt awkward on his tongue, a side effect of the solitary style of life in a cave for a seemingly immeasurable amount of time.
"Well, well- it talks!" the redguard exclaimed forcefully, "Do not worry your pretty head too much; as long as you don't act up you won't be punished, but if you so much as look at a member of Dawnguard the wrong way, I will put you down."
Vlad was more than a bit freaked out and slightly confused; why would the famous vampire hunters, who were known for their merciless and brutal methods, suddenly take a live vampire into, what Vlad assumed to be, their fort in the Rift?
Gathered around a hearth in the once mighty fortress of Fort Dawnguard were several rugged men and a woman in a mismatch of leather or plated armor engaged in harsh conversation. A thick husky was sitting on the threadbare rug in front of the fire only moving to lift his head when the talking reached a peak of tension or volume.
"I can't believe Isran would endanger our lives by bringing one of those bloodsuckers into the last vampire free stronghold!" exclaimed the war-torn nord woman. "I can't sleep well at night knowing I'm just a few rooms away from that thing!"
"When he was talking about this, I couldn't help but assume it was just that- just talking. Isran has always had an abundance of ideas he never mentioned again. I just can't believe he didn't tell us he sent Ollrod out to capture a vampire until Ollrod brought it to the doorstep," gruffly replied a large orc dressed in heavy armor and equipped with a menacing double bladed sword.
"He's trying to do something radical since we've been stretched thin lately," replied a shorter red haired man. "The vampires just keep multiplying and people have just giving up fighting; we go out to fight more and more vampires each day and not all of us return."
"It's disgusting to keep the beast chained away, alive, when the person it was is already dead. It's distasteful," the orc growled in response. "Now Isran wants to dress it up and train it like a dog and command it to fight it's own kind. It is a dangerous creature- the best tribute we could ever give to the person it once was it to put it down so it can't hurt anyone."
The red head breton chimed in "Does anyone want to go hunting with me tomorrow? I'm supposed to go kill a deer for it to feed on."
"I'll go with you Celann, but only if I get to be there when you feed it. I want to see it for myself," replied the female nord.
"Then you will be disappointed Ingjard, order was to bring it to Ollrod. Isran is running a tight ship when it comes to the biter. The only people allowed downstairs to see it for now are Ollrod and Isran himself, Celann replied, shifting slowly to stand.
The strong nord woman grumbled and then stood. It was late and the Dawnguard soldiers slowly made their way to the sleeping chambers.
It was some time before the door to his bare stone room was opened. For a while Vlad had entertained the idea that the strange men had forgotten him and that he would waste away until he was nothing but bones but eventually his blond captor had showed. The door creaked open spilling forward light and strange noises and smells Vlad always associated with the light hours.
Vlad also got a whiff of fresh blood and it excited him. His stomach felt empty and could not think of the last time he had eaten. Ollrod had come in with a torch in one hand and a dead young stag in the other.
"Stay back!" the nord called out to him.
He did not. He moved quickly in attempts to steal the deer from the blond but was interrupted when a second man, Isran, entered after the blond and swung a short silver sword at him. Vlad flung himself backwards but not without being cut and burned by the cold silver blade.
"Damn thing!" Isran swore. "You will not eat until you learn to respect my men! You should be thankful we do not intend to kill you, vampire, but that can change quickly if I think you are violent. Ollrod- put the deer outside the door it is not getting fed today.
I brought you here to fight for us. You will be trained as a weapon to kill vampires; if you refuse you will be killed and replaced. There is no shortage of vampires these days and you are not exactly a prize specimen. If you hurt any of my men you will be killed and replaced. If you attempt to run away you will be killed and replaced. There is no future for you aside for the future I have planned for you," finished the redguard, all the while glaring at Vlad.
Vlad hissed and shrunk back into the shadows of his cell.
"You will not resist me!" the redguard shouted and slashed out with a silver plated dagger, cutting Vlad across the cheekbone.
The vampire held still while the redguard sheathed his dagger and drew closer. With one foot he kept Vlad's shackled hands forced against the floor and knelt to manhandle the vampires face. The dark man examined the vampires face and then chuckled sardonically,
"You're already healed from the fist I gave you two days ago. It seems you are not as delicate as you appear." With that he let go of Vlad and left him sitting against the wall and left the room with Ollrod following behind.
Vlad could smell the carcass of the deer, slowly leaking blood. Thinking of eating made him feel thin and weak, his clavicle and hips already protruded out more than they should. His mouth was parched and dry and he could only imagine the feeling of hot blood trickling down his throat.
Vlad had never considered himself a fighter but he would do whatever it took to survive.
The next time Ollrod entered his stone cell alone. Most importantly he had the deer.
Vlad warily kept his eyes focused on Ollrods approaching figure as he moved across the room towards him. When he got close, he threw the deer near Vlad. The carcass landed with a dull thud on the stone and some blood leaked out to pool on the floor.
The vampire could not contain himself; he immediately attached himself to the stag's neck, thick with viscous blood. When he could not suck anymore blood, he began tearing at the meat, taking chunks closest to the bigger arteries. Eventually his consumption began to slow until he could not eat much more. When he finished, he thoroughly licked his fingers and any other places he had smeared blood. Vlad cleaned his face as best as he could but without water he still knew there had to be blood smeared all over his chin.
He could feel Ollrod's eyes on him with an expression between curiosity and horror as he ate the deer.
"Are you finished?" the nord asked. Vlad did not respond but only continued to smack his lips.
After a few seconds the nord grumbled and moved to pick up the remains of the deer. He moved quickly and kept his eyes watching Vlad, who was content in being still. He exited Vlad's chamber and he could hear the metallic clank of a heavy metal bar sliding into place. The darkness enveloped him once again.
Authors Note: I posted this story in 2012 and it's been two years before finally being updated. That's pretty shameful, tbh. Oh well. Please review and tell me how great or awful my story is!