Disclaimer: duh.
Is it just me, or does the new rating system suck? I hate it. I sent in a complaint. I think the old way was better and a lot less confusing. Anyone feel the same? Anyways, on with the story!
January 19
I followed Jonas and the other Death Dealers down to the dungeon, Dante by my side. He was looking rather nervous, which I thought was strange. He always seemed calm and collected. I tried to inconspicuously catch John's attention, but he was not looking my way. He was busy talking with the other Dealers of Marcus' coven. As we entered the dungeon, the first thing I noticed was that it wasn't underground. The trial had been held several floors above the ground I realized. The 'dungeons' was a large spacious stone room, with pens against the wall, meant to hold some animal. I noticed that the bars were made of silver. So, instead of going down deep, we had gone down and to the east, towards the sun rise. I noticed a large plate covering a circular hole in the ceiling. Directly beneath the hole was a post, to which Jonas was tied.
He had been stripped to his waist, his hands tied above his head and his feet shackled to the ground. The ropes stretched his body upright, taunt. Most of the Death Dealers, me included, were shunted over to the side of the room, to watch and observe. A burly vampire stepped up to Jonas, looking at him disgustedly. He picked up a knife and held it at Jonas' chest, putting a light pressure on the blade, which pierced the skin slightly, drawing a drop of blood.
"Who ordered you to attack your fellow comrades?" The burly vampire began his questioning. "Well? Answer me!" Jonas remained silent. The vampire, whose named turned out to be Dai, leaned forward and wrenched Jonas' fangs out of his mouth. John leaned over to me and told me that this was an ultimate offense towards Jonas. Dai dug the knife into Jonas' skin and jerked it downwards, leaving a bloody trail. He stopped when he got to the stomach, and watched as the skin grew back together. I could see Jonas' bleeding mouth closed tight against any sound.
"Well?" Silence. Dai jerked the knife upwards, and thrust it into the skin beneath the jaw. Blood poured from the newest wounds. "Answer me. Who ordered you to kill the Death Dealers?" Jonas refrained from answering again, receiving a hard smack on his jaw, ripping open the newly made slice. Dai threw the bloody knife back on a tray, pulling out instead a whip with sharp metal spikes on the end.
"WHO ORDERED THE ATTACKS?" Dai thundered. His only response was an icy glare. Dai reared back and let the whip fly. It whistled through the air, landing with the deep wrench of metal slicing through skin. Jonas' head flew back, and he whimpered pitifully. Dai yanked the whip roughly, ripping Jonas' back to shreds.
"Da-" he cried, before snapping his jaw back together.
"Da- who?" Dai reopened the huge rent in his jaw.
"Daaaaan-" he cried out again, only to muffle the word. It was a name, we were sure of that.
Dai went back to flogging Jonas. It was horrible to watch. Jonas was losing blood fast and his wounds were not healing. Bruises were raised on his skin, only to beaten again. He began to swell, and the puffy skin was ripped open, blood and puss pouring out. The leather strips drug slowly through the open skin and muscles, leaving deep and bloody furrows. I felt slightly sick at the sight.
"Conspiracy! With lycans!" Jonas finally screamed out, unable to take the pain any longer. John gasped audibly at that, and started shout with the other vampires about the covenant. Dante was unnaturally silent, his pale skin an unhealthy shade of light gray.
Satisfied at the moment, Dai stopped the torture, motioning for a low ranking vampire to give Jonas blood, healing the wound on his back, a pink new skin covering his frame. "What are they going to do with him now?" I asked John, as Dante was less than willing to answer.
"They heal the wounds to make room for more torture. When they get all the information they can get, he will be placed in a cell until the next morning, where he will be burned to death by the sun. We will have to watch, as will the other Death Dealers, so we know what will happen to us if we go down the same path."
The torture soon enough began again, after everyone had refreshed themselves with goblets of fresh blood from the livestock raised at the castle. Dai's methods of torture were getting more brutal every minute. While we were having our supper, a great fire had been built up, the roaring flames white hot and filling the dungeon with an odd glow, making it seem unreal and nightmare like. Dai pulled a poker out of the end, glowing a bright cheerful red. Smoke curled from the tip. Dai smacked Jonas with it, who let out a scream of pure pain, unable to contain himself.
After several burnt body parts later, Jonas' will crumbled, him choking out a name that surprised us all.
After several burnt body parts later, Jonas' will crumbled, him choking out a name that surprised us all. "D-d-d-ante! From Vik-or's cov'n."
Everyone sat still for a moment and turned towards Dante. The fear in his eyes confirming his actions. Several vampires grabbed him. He put up a wild fight, and soon everything was in disarray, mini-fights erupting all over the place. John and I began arguing with several of the other members of both covens, voicing our opinions on the matters.
CLANG! Viktor threw his sword at the wall, his blade slicing through the metal like butter. "SILENCE!" he roared. All fights and arguments died down and everyone stilled. "Take down that one," he pointed towards Jonas, "and put him in a cell. Take that one," Dante was pointed a this time, "and press him for information." Everyone hurried to do his orders. Viktor pulled John and I out of the fray. "Go with the Death Dealers and follow Jonas to his cell. You will be his guards." We nodded, obeying his orders.
We followed the small procession down many flights of stairs, the air getting colder and damp as we went down. The head Dealer, Mark, pulled down torches so we could see easier and to dispel the cold.
Jonas was flung unceremoniously into a bare cell. The ground was wet and slippery with water and ice cold. There was no rug or cot, only the stone walls and bars running parallel and horizontal across the opening. Jonas had almost no clothes. The few he had on to maintain his modesty were ripped to shreds and would offer no protection against the elements.
Dried blood and crusty scabs littered his back, some healing slowly and the others remaining open. I felt sorry for him, until I remember what the lycans did to my family. They ripped them open and killed them, splattering their guts and gore over the ceiling and walls, blood blooming out from their corpses. All empathy for Jonas left me then, and I felt a stirring hate for Dante as well. And to think that I actually liked him. I resolved then and there that I would never develop any feeling for any man, vampire, human, or lycan. I would remain focused on the war and nothing else. No silly infatuations would cloud my reasoning.
We remained down there the rest of the night. We were allowed to sleep when two other guards took our place. I crashed onto the small bed in my room, ignoring the sounds from the room next to me. I slept, dreaming of the day I lost my humanity.
I was woken up in a few hours by John knocking on my door. He greeted me and we walked down together with several of our Death Dealers towards the dungeon where Jonas was tortured. "Did Dante give any information?"
"No, he didn't know anything. His orders were written on a piece of paper and given to him under his door in his room." I mused on this as we walked down.
"That has to mean that there is another betrayer at Ordoghaz," I said slowly, "because there hasn't been any visitors lately." The rest of the Death Dealers talked quietly to themselves, thinking the same thing.
We entered the dungeons, taking the seats we took earlier that night. Jonas and Dante were tied up to the pole, back to back. Viktor walked out to stand beside them. "Death Dealers of these two covens: These two vampires have been judged, and found guilty of treason, breaking the covenant, and conspiracy with lycans. They are to be put to death by burning alive from the morning sun." Viktor's emotions were cold and distant, like he was remembering something else in some other time.
We filed out of the dungeon, leaving the two inside to themselves. As I left, I saw Soren tug a large wheel, rusted and stiff from no use. The hole in the ceiling slowly opened, letting moonlight fall softly into the room. That was the last thing I saw as I left Marcus' castle to never return there again.
phoenixoftheknight- sorry about the paint fumes! hang in there!