My heart thudded against my rib cage. They were keeping me? Widening my eyes, I stared at the man in front of me. He was serious. Dead serious. I had no choice in the matter. It's like a I was piece in their game, a pawn.
"A life with us is better than no life at all..." I was in danger if I decided against it. That much is obvious. These monsters, they are truly evil. They are the predators and I'm the prey, a toy for them to pass the time. At any moment I could end up like the others before me. Cold and dead, left lying on the floor like another rock on the road. Like taking a human life didn't matter. To them it probably didn't. I was just the little human girl, someone who they doubted could even carry her own weight. Saved-in a shallow sense of the word- by only two very strong opinions, both of which could change at any time.
I was helpless and-to just about everyone in this room- worthless. A waste of space. An incompetent little human girl that wasn't worth the air she breathed.
How had I not noticed? Why had I denied that small part of me that warned me that Heidi was bad news? I hadn't even noticed their eyes. Shuddering in disgust at the mere thought. The color of the blood they drained from the bodies of their victims. The dark crimson pools staring at us hungrily. Which was so obvious now that I looked back at it. I had been stupid, oblivious. Without my mother their to hold my hand and guide me, I had failed to protect myself, not even remembering a simple rule. The rule to not talk to strangers, and definitely not take an offer they give. Just assuming that things couldn't get worse. Which something years worth of watching horror movies had strongly opposed, and because of that I was stuck in this deadly situation.
"Demetri." My captor commanded out across the room. "Show Emilia to her room."
A tall blonde man stepped away from the crowd, face emotionless. His eyes held cool indifference as he looked at me. A cold hand firmly gripped my upper arm, pulling me out of the room. I didn't even try to escape his grasp as he dragged me down a now sinister looking hallway. He was handsome, they all were. Staring at him I couldn't help but bask in the beauty. He had a strong jaw and aristocratic features. I could tell-even under his clothes- his body was made of lean muscle.
"What are you?" I blurted out.
He didn't even take a sideways glance at me. Instead he chose to smile devilishly, still facing forward. "I'm sure you've already come to the conclusion."
It was true, but I could hardly think of it without wanting to break down into a mess of emotions. "Maybe, but it would be nice to have it verified," My voice was barely a whisper. I'm sure that he could hear me, especially by the slightly annoyed look on his face. It was clear that these people were abnormal, it would be stupid of me to underestimate them in any way, shape, or form.
Demetri chuckled darkly in response before stopping in front of a tall oak door. "You'll be staying here." After the words left his mouth, he turned around and left abruptly. I shouldn't say left, I should say disappeared.
"That's it?" I called after him. "I'm just supposed to sit here and wait?" I got no answer in reply to my question. Leaving me to my own thoughts. With the time I had, I obviously began to think of a way to escape.
Stepping inside the room, I made sure to lock the door behind me. Unfortunately, this seemed to be one of the only rooms in this entire castle with no windows. I thought back to my friend Amy, she had been known to get into trouble and was the polar opposite of me. The goody-two-shoes, dedicated dancer. She was notorious for staying out all night partying and making it to lessons in the nick of time. If she wasn't out doing something I would never dream of doing, she was sneaking out to do those things.
It's actually very surprising that we were friends at all.
Time to act like Amy.. I looked around the room hoping for a source of inspiration. Anything to spark my master plan of escape. It was just an ordinary, very well decorated, room. The floors were made of dark wood and the walls were covered in elaborately designed wallpaper made of golden swirls. White old fashioned furniture placed about the room accordingly. Two bedside tables and a vanity filled to the brim with expensive perfumes and powders. In the middle of the room sat a large bed covered in fluffy down pillows. The closet was no use either. It was practically empty save some old boxes filled with decades old footwear.
Then there was the bathroom.
Thankfully, despite the castle's very old appearance, it was equipped with indoor plumbing. Turning the shower on, I ignored my appearance which I was sure would make any sane person scream and quickly left. If this all worked out the way I had planned I would be able to get out of the castle and into a public place before anybody caught on. It would just be a matter of timin-
"What are you doing?"
Shit, seriously?
I turned around nonchalantly. Best not to act like I was escaping, I'd be dead. Literally, I added as an after thought. Stepping away from the now closed bedroom door and into the hallway, I faced the charming voice. Some guy, one who I would guess is my age-perhaps a year or two older- was staring at me with his eyes narrowed. They seemed to look right through me, making my stomach churn in discomfort. He was tall, at least seven inches taller than me, with shaggy chestnut hair and a boyish face. He was incredibly good looking. Intimidating, but good looking.
"What do you mean, what am I doing?" I asked him, widening my eyes and shooting him my most innocent and confused expression.
He stepped closer until I was back against the door I had just came from. His full lips turning up into an expression of extreme distaste. I heard the doorknob behind me turn and used my own momentum against me, letting me stumble into the room. "Just remember this, little human." His velvety voice slipping into a deceptively neutral tone. "If you run, we will find you."
With that, he closed the door and locked it with an ominous 'click'.
My chest tightened, I am helpless. I am two steps behind everyone and it doesn't look as though I'll be catching up anytime soon.
I would still keep trying. If anything, I'm persistent. Never really one to give up on anything and I don't plan on starting now. After dodging all of these bullets in the last few days I might as well try and save myself. Giving up now would just be ridiculous. For now though I think it's best that I try and plan things through. I had been caught the second I left the room, which had to set some sort of record on the suck scale.
"Oh, and Emilia." His voice traveling through the door. My name was filled with such, disgust, I didn't believe it possible. "I would wash up if I were you, you are filthy."
I frowned before turning to the mirror on the vanity curiously. Filthy? What was he talking abou-
Oh. That was what he was talking about.
Oh.
I was covered in blood. My once pristine white shirt was now deep crimson and hard in certain areas. Hair matted down with the coppery scented liquid. I suddenly felt sick. I looked like something that had stepped out of a horror movie, which, now that I think that, I basically had. Suddenly everything seemed blurrier and the room seemed smaller. People had died, and I was covered with the exact reason they had been killed in the first place. Blood. Something I had hated ever since I had seen the sight of my mother's death. The pavement had been covered in it and the sheer amount of it let you know that she hadn't even made it to the hospital. In my state of shock I hadn't even truly realized what had happened, I had been scared but not terrified, upset but not traumatized. But this... this was evidence slapping me in the face. They were all gone and I was trapped in this place with the monsters responsible.
I ran to the bathroom and began to wretch, tears streaming down my face. My throat burned. Everything that had happened sickened me and surviving it made me feel dirty. Like I cheated death himself. Quickly stripping off my clothes, I ran into the shower, scrubbing furiously at my skin in the blistering heat of the water. I wanted it gone, every shred of evidence of the transpired events. I wanted to wake up tomorrow somewhere different. Anywhere with no memory of what had happened. Today must've been a nightmare because things like this don't happen. Things like this don't exist in real life, things like this aren't real.
I began to sob, the copious amounts of soap and water doing nothing for me. I would forever be covered in the blood of their victims no matter what I did. No matter how many times I scrubbed at my skin, no matter how clean I was to the untrained eye. I was covered in death, surrounded by the misconception of life. Forever to see the world for what a hell it was.
I was tainted.
A/N: Thank you to all of you that have read and reviewed this story so far! I'd also like to thank SugarCoatTheTruth for being an awesome beta. Next chapter will really introduce all of the important characters and you'll get to see Emilia interact with people more, so I'm really excited for that!:) The next chapter should be finished and posted in four to five days!
~whenallisright~
