Chapter Eleven

Professor Whitlock

I didn't see the hand that connected with the side of my face but I certainly felt it as my head hit the wooden headboard and I saw stars. A couple of teeth felt loose and my jaw throbbed but it could have been much worse. Unfortunately the crazy bitch had managed to rip all my clothes off now and was exploring with greedy hands but having no luck.

"Sorry there but he's pretty choosy, like me. You got the wrong guy here."

Her eyes flashed dangerously,

"I could threaten you if it will help. Have sex with me or lose it, I could bite it off."

"Rather that than stick it anywhere else be my guest."

This time she lost her sense of humor altogether and I found myself thrown into a foul pit full of dirty straw and a grate pulled over my head.

"This might give you time to think again. I could be a good friend to you, you're going to need one."

I looked up at her framed against the sunlight,

"I don't need a friend like you and I'm pretty sure The Major found that out eventually."

She stared down at me before she finally stalked off leaving me to my pain and my thoughts. If it was true that The Major had been tied up with this hell cat he must have been extremely screwed up but it might explain why he stayed. The thought of her looking to find me was terrifying enough and we didn't have any history. As I squatted down onto the straw I saw carvings in the otherwise smooth walls. The light was poor but by following the scratch marks with my finger I could just make out what it said.

"Here died Major Jasper Whitlock September 1863 and from his ashes was born The Major."

My God! I was in the same prison my ancestor had been in all those years ago. So at least part of Bella's story had been true, Major Whitlock had been captured by a vampire so chances are he was turned and possibly might still be alive. How strange it would be to meet him face to face. I might have some apologies to make thinking about that paper I wrote. Maybe he hadn't been a coward after all although just because part of Bella's story was true didn't mean he wasn't a coward. Maybe he gave himself up and took the easy path, doing what that psycho bitch wanted rather than fight for his life and freedom, I would withhold my decision on that but if he'd been down here then it had been as punishment and cowards usually avoided that at all cost.

The temperature dropped like a stone after the sun went down and i shivered uncontrollably. Then a light appeared overhead and I saw the guy who had been with Maria when I arrived. He pulled the grating away and peered down,

"You hungry?"

I was sure this was a trick so I said nothing,

"Well, just in case I have something for you. Get used to it, you'll be feeding like this for good soon enough."

I felt something drip onto my upturned face and then the light was obscured and something landed on me with a thud. It took a few seconds to register that it was a body and I dropped it in disgust seeing in the small shaft of moonlight that the head lolled unnaturally as the throat had been cut savagely from ear to ear. The liquid dripping onto my face had been blood and I scrubbed my face with my hands feeling the thick stickiness of the cooling blood. Whoever it was down here with me had only been killed minutes before, the skin was still warm and the blood flowed freely.

I hunched as far away from the body as possible closing my eyes so as not to see those others staring back at me and breathing through my mouth so I didn't smell the slowly coagulating blood. This really was a nightmare yet I was awake, vampires really existed and they had brought me here for some strange reason. From the guy's words they intended to make me one of their own but I had no idea how that worked, how long it would take or how painful it would be but I could imagine. Using a vast knowledge of horror films I'd watched as a teenager and thinking of the very worst of them.

When I was finally freed from my hell at dawn I was frozen and sick with fear but determined not to show it, that would only please my captors. So I was surprised to find a young woman waiting for me and from the look of her she was human like me.

"This way Major."

I followed her automatically trying to tell her that wasn't my name but she just shrugged,

"I have my orders Major. Here, this is your home for now. I will bring you some hot water to clean yourself up and food."

"The keys to this prison and a map would be better."

She ignored my words merely waiting until I went inside before going on her errand.

I waited a few seconds then looked out again but there was no way to escape, scores of men and women were milling around arguing and fighting until I heard a shout and saw Maria's man stride over and start giving orders. Deciding to bide my time I went back inside and found myself in a clean and furnished room, spartan but not uncomfortable. I looked around pulling open drawers and was about to move to the bedroom when the girl came back with a tray of food and a bucket of hot water.

"If you give me your clothes I'll have them washed for you. There are clean ones in the wardrobe."

She looked around her uneasily,

"I hear this was The Major's cabin at one time. You are the first person I've ever seen allowed in here. She keeps it locked most of the time. Even Nathan isn't allowed inside."

With that she looked at me so I stripped off to my underwear which thankfully was unmarked by blood then taking my clothes she nodded and disappeared. Feeling uncomfortable in my boxers with the sex mad Maria around I stripped and washed quickly before looking in the bedroom for fresh clothes and what I found shook me. Hanging in the small closet was a Confederate Army uniform, with the markings of a major on the jacket, right down to boots and hat. All freshly laundered and I knew these were the clothes my ancestor had been wearing when Maria had caught him. They were worn but mended skillfully and as there was nothing else I threw on the pants which fitted perfectly and the boots along with the white shirt rolling the sleeves up. As I pulled the boots up I heard something, the floor of the closet beneath the boots was loose and curious I knelt down and pried it up finding a small space beneath which at first appeared empty but seeing a knot hole in the wooden beam running across beneath the floor I put my finger in and pulled and there was a soft click. Another section of panel had come free and inside, wrapped in oilcloth was what appeared to be a journal.

I pulled it out then replaced the floor board and put the parcel in my pocket just as Maria herself came in without even knocking which I guess shouldn't have surprised me. Looking at me she stopped, smiled, and allowed her eyes to roam freely over me.

"Its hard to believe you aren't my Major Jasper, it gives me the shudders how alike you two are. You look good in his uniform, very sexy. Do you feel better now? The pit is not a pleasant place."

"Neither is having a fresh corpse dumped on top of you."

She raised an eyebrow,

"A corpse? I know nothing of this."

I didn't believe her and she could tell,

"Now Major, let's not quarrel. Why don't you eat?

"Why don't you tell me why I'm here Maria."

She caught her breath,

"My God, you even sound like him. I admit I miss him but I could no longer trust him and he knew his time had come. He ran the night before I was going to have him murdered. How close he came to death yet how he would crave it sometimes. Did you know your ancestor was an empath Jasper?"

"No."

"It is what drove him almost to attempt suicide. Imagine feeling everyone's pain and terror crashing over you, unable to escape it? His very own hell and one there was no escape from. Well you have two choices, join us willingly or unwillingly. I'll give you some time to decide, enjoy your meal, it might be your last as a human."