The dark, underground catacomb stank of mold and wet, stagnant air. Metal keys clanked and a heavy door creaked open, sliding painfully across the uneven rock floor.
"You will stay here," a low, grating voice said.
The door shut with a bang, trapping them in the dark, cold, dank emptiness. Bucky could barely see anything other than dim, grey shapes. He rubbed his eyes and blinked. It did not improve his vision. He could feel Bella's smooth arm around him and he could hear Shuri's breathing nearby and that comforted him.
"The London Underground is darker than I remembered," he said with a yawn. He could hear Shuri beginning to stir and whimper.
"Eeeee! Wapi taa? Ni baridi sana!" Shuri said. She sat upright and huddled closer to Bucky's good arm. Bella removed as many of her layers as she could and wrapped them on her equatorial friend who had already begun to shiver.
"We aren't in London anymore," Bella said with a sigh. "We are in Volterra, Italy."
"Italy? How the…." Bucky began.
"What!?" Shuri shouted.
"We've been kidnapped. Some mazimwi set up the explosions as a distraction and then shot you both with sedatives. They used you both as leverage to get us into a van and then an airplane. You've been out for awhile."
Bucky jumped to his feet and began to pace. "Why?" he asked.
"The Volturi, the kings of the mazimwi, heard about my shield. I don't know how. They also knew I would be in London and set a trap for us. They want me to join their guard. If I agree, they let you live. If I don't, they kill you both."
"Not much of an invitation," Bucky said.
"Well, he…Aro that is, the creepy leader, he said it's an invitation that I'm free to accept or refuse. However, you both know too much and the consequence of that is death. He's willing to magnanimously overlook your infraction if I make the right decision. He offered me better accommodations as well, but I'd have to leave you both alone here."
"Ah, that's my girl! You'd rather be with me in prison than without me in a castle!" Bucky said and nudged her. He could faintly see her smile.
"I'm sorry to have brought this on us," she said. "I've never been as scared as when I saw you both unconscious, lying on the ground, surrounded by mazimwi. There were too many for me to take them all and I thought I'd lost you both."
"Don't worry, babe. We'll figure this one out," he said, pausing to pull his wife into his arms. "We are all safe for now." She nuzzled into his shoulder and he could feel her relax. Bucky was even more thankful now for T'Challa's wedding gift. The silvery vibranium arm reached out and brought Shuri nearer to both of them.
"Well, this is not what I mean when I said I wanted to see Italy," Shuri said. "I mean, I guess this is surely ancient and historical, but 'look at me, I've been arrested by bloodthirsty vampires' is hardly Facebook worthy. Now, a picture of me blowing a kiss at Michelangelo's sexy David, that's selfie worthy."
"Shuri, if we all get out of this in one piece, I will personally make sure that selfie happens," Bucky said. "Bella, have your superpower senses picked up on anything that the rest of us have missed?"
"Kidogo sana. They have left us to ourselves for the time being. This cell is huge. It is larger than the council room and we are entirely underground in some kind of catacomb. I have picked up old tracks of both mazimwi and humans. Also, I do not think we are entirely alone. I keep hearing what sounds like a low groan coming from somewhere."
"Ugh! This had better not be like that scene in Star Wars where the trash monster jumps up and tries to eat us," Shuri said.
"Shuri, everything in this place wants to eat you," Bucky said, with a grin.
"Bucky, not helping," Bella said, slapping him on the shoulder.
"You're right, my heart. We could try to break down the door and make a run for it."
"Unlikely. The door is designed to hold vampires. Besides, the noise would give us away. It'd hardly be a subtle escape and we need to aim for subtlety here."
Footsteps haunted the passage outside their cell over the next few hours. A gloved hand carelessly threw a basin of thin gruel and two cups of water through a slot in the wall for the humans. Bucky and Shuri took turns napping. But no voices or visitors disturbed the otherwise oppressive isolation.
"I'm gonna explore a bit more," Bella said and Bucky could hear her light footsteps echoing off what he could only assume were high, cavernous ceilings.
"I hear that sound again," she said as she rounded another corner. "I'm going to check it out."
"Do you want help?"
"Nah. Stick close to Shuri. If it's another zimwi, I want her behind you."
"You got it, babe."
Bucky wrapped Shuri in his metal arm and turned her towards to rock wall to shield her from view. Bella walked back across the cavern and vanished into the darkness.
"Excuse me," she said.
Bucky could not hear a response. He edged around the wall of the cell, keeping Shuri close until he could finally see Bella's form emerge. She stooped over what appeared to be a body huddled in a tight ball, arms curled around its knees.
"Can you hear me? Do you understand me?" she said again and this time she laid a hand on the shuddering figure's back. The shudders instantly stilled and the figure slowly uncurled, like a cat waking from a nap.
The figure stood and turned towards her. Ragged clothes hung off a male body in muddy tatters, pale skin peeking through worn edges. The odor emanating from his unwashed body hinted at an extended season of neglect. He stood nearly a foot taller than Bella, slowly turned towards her, and lifted his head. Wild hair sprang out of his head like dandelions in a field.
She stared, her eyes growing wide in an uneasy fear that Bucky rarely ever saw her wear. The figure still did not speak, nor was there a spark of any coherent understanding.
"Hello? My name is Bella. What is your name?" she asked, attempting to stretch out her hand to greet the figure.
The dark eyes flicked up to her face and traveled down her body, suddenly lit with interest. He threw himself at her feet and began to kiss her feet and caress her ankles.
"Excuse me?" she said, trying to extricate herself from his embrace but found him stuck as securely as an octopus. "Who are you and what are you doing?"
He didn't answer, instead he held her even tighter, as if his heart would break if she moved an inch away from him. Bella stood uncomfortably, the figure wrapped around her feet like a toddler wrapped around the legs of his mother. Dry, tear less wails rent from the unkempt, fetid frame.
"Bella, what's going on?" Bucky asked. "Did you make it cry?"
"Ummm, I'm not sure. He's, umm, kissing my feet and he won't let go."
"No!" Shuri said, trying to peek around Bucky's arm to see. She started to snicker. "I take it back. Maybe this is Facebook worthy."
"Yeah, this is awkward," Bucky said, tentatively releasing Shuri.
"Yah think?" Bella said, trying unsuccessfully to regain possession of her appendages.
As the wails turned into sad whimpers, the figure began to speak in a raspy, rusty voice.
"Bella, don't leave me. Don't leave me again."
Oooooo
Translations:
Wapi taa? Ni baridi sana!: where's the light? It's very cold.
Kidogo sana: very little
*I fixed some typos...I keep writing wazimwi instead of mazimwi and have to go back to fix it. Swahili noun class problems. In my head, the word should be in a different noun class than it is. I'm going to make sure I fix the previous chapters, too.
