i know i know could it take me any longer to write the chapter. Sorry! don't hate me. i promise i'll keep working on the next one but with the holidays it's going to be a million for all the reviews!
I could feel the pain coming from the room before I saw it. I could feel what the prisoners had felt, slowly dying unremembered. I blocked out the Touch and slowly opened the door.
Ash was locked in a cage, surrounded by bullet proof, three inch thick glass. The power was coming off of him in waves, pure strength and will. I could taste it in the air. Hesitantly I took a step forward. Ash's predator gaze followed me. Every cell in my body told me to run, that I was the mouse and he the cat. But I needed to know who he was. I needed to know what would happen to Graves. I took a finally step to the glass, wondering if it could stop him from killing me.
"What's your name?" I asked softly, knowing he'd hear me. He stared at me confused, as if he couldn't understand the importance of a name, an identity.
"I don't…" he whispered, his voice broken from disuse. "I don't remember." A piece of my heart broke, that this Broken man before me had lost everything, including his name. How could I fear him? He wasn't a monster, he was a victim. I slowly opened the door. Ash stared back at me watching my every move, as if at any moment I would disappear.
"Then why don't we just stick with Ash for now." I said giving him a weak smile. He tried to smile back but it just looked like he was in pain. I couldn't help but feel sadness over the loss of a friendship. Things had changed. He was no longer a werewolfen unable to talk, but a person standing before me.
"You look smaller." He said suddenly, breaking the silence.
"What?"
"You look smaller, shorter, then you did when I was a…"
"Wolf?" I finished for him. He gave me an impish grin at the pure strangeness of our situation. For a moment I felt a connection between us again. And I knew I hadn't lost Ash completely.
"Ash I know…" But I didn't get to finish because just then the tower door crashed open and sound pounding footsteps filled the room.
Ash reacted so fast I didn't even see him. Before I knew it he had picked me and put me in the far corner, away from the door. Before I could tell him that they were friends, the door exploded open, flying off its hinges and skidding across the ground. In the doorway stood Christophe and my Guard, their fangs bared. I guess they had noticed I'd left.
"Wait, just calm down!" But my plea fell on deaf ears as the room filled with snarls and growls. Ash and Christophe glared at each other, instant enemies. I knew they were seconds away from tearing each other apart. And after seeing Ash move in his human form, I didn't know who would win.
"Stop!" I yelled, desperate to keep the situation under control.
That's when I heard the soft pop of a dart gun, as Christophe shot Ash inhumanly fast. Ash crashed to the ground, unconscious but alive. I stared at the figure on the ground, scars from knifes and bullets had left their mark on his skin. Even with the werewulfen healing, this man had come close to death too many times. He looked Broken.
"What hell do you think you're doing?" I screamed at Christophe, rage coursing in my veins.
"What do you think you're doing?" Chris yelled back. "I told you to stay with the Guard! Or have you learned nothing from Anna?"
"I am not my mother, Christophe." I hissed cold fury in my eyes. "Don't mistake me for her." The instant I said it I knew it was true. That despite everything Christophe still saw me as Elizabeth's daughter. Christophe's mouth opened and closed like a fish gasping for breath.
"I'm just trying to keep you safe, Dru." He whispered finally. I sighed.
"I know. But I have to find Graves, I have to save him. And this is the only way." I said casting a glance at Ash.
"You can't trust him, Dru." Chistophe said seeing my look. "He tried to kill you!"
"You shouldn't have shot him." I said walking away without a backwards glance.
I could hear footsteps as the Guard followed me, an ever present Shadow.
I was in a prison. The cold, dark cell seemed to swallow the light, the hope. I blew air into my hands in a sad attempt to warm them. I could hear rats scampering about in search of food. I pulled my feet in to keep them from nibbling on my bare toes. Faintly the sound of voices reached my ears. I leaned in closer in the store walls.
"She's so close! We could do it now. What's the difference of a few months?" gasped a whiney voice.
"You know difference." hissed a man, followed by the unmistakable sound of flesh meeting fist. "It must be right before she blooms. Only then will I have enough power and only then will you have your taste. And if you dare take even a sip of her blood, I will skin you alive."
A few months? I had a few month till they drained every drop. Could I escape in time?
I woke up in a panic. Desperately I clawed at the lamp. I had to know I wasn't back there in that dark cell. The lamp fell to the ground with a crash. I muttered a string of curses just as Benjamin shoved the door open. The hallway light lit up my room. I gasped for breath my eyes darting around the room trying to make sure it was real.
"Dru what is it? What's wrong?" shouted Benjamin.
"I…I don't know." I said confused. What had I seen? Was this my future? Trapped in a cell waiting for the day when they drained my dry. Or was it something else?
"It's nothing." I said my hand automatically going to my mother's locket. It was so hot it burned my hand.