Chapter 16: Everything Evil

I couldn't tell if I was awake. I blinked a few times, shaking away the last remaining effects of the sedative that the cloth must have been soaked in. I quickly realized that it made no difference whether my eyes were open or closed; wherever I was there was no light. I sat up slowly and passed my hand in front of my face, but nothing. I may as well have been blind. My whole body ached; the floor beneath me was a cold, hard stone. I wondered how long I'd been out. I attempted to stand up, but decided against it when my head started swimming. I opted for crawling instead. I moved slowly, trying to feel out this dark prison. After what seemed like an eternity I found a wall, just as cold and rough as the floor. I followed it until I had found another. It was an easy guess that I was in some sort of cell, and without any light the odds of finding an exit were minimal.

Then it occurred to me that I might not be alone. Vampires didn't need light to see like humans, did they? Lestat never said anything about that. Still, I had no interest in finding out. I curled up in the corner and hugged my knees, looking around and getting more and more terrified with every passing second. It was so quiet. I was doing everything I possibly could to keep myself calm, but the desire to just start screaming madly was growing. I really was in a horror movie. I tried to think of other things to stay in control. If I ever got out of this it was definitely going to become a short story. Focus on that.

With my sense of time completely distorted I had no idea how long I'd been huddled in that corner when I finally heard a sound. It was a scraping that seemed to be coming from the wall opposite me. A bar of yellow light swept across the floor as the door opened. I had to squint and shield my face; my deprived eyes couldn't handle the sudden flood of bright that filled the room. I could just barely make out two figures coming towards me. Once again I found myself helpless. I pressed myself against the wall wishing I could sink right into it, but the first figure dragged me up from the ground while the second forced a bag over my head.

They said nothing, to each other or me. My eyes were thankful for the reprieve but the rest of me was freaking out. I tried struggling again, but they had no difficulty keeping me in check. We started walking, or more like they started walking and I was doing my best to keep up, alternately jogging and tripping. I banged my shins hard on a staircase; I couldn't help but cry out, but still no response from my captors. I focused on trying to remember the way we were going: up stairs, long hallway, turn right, long hallway, left, hallway, right, stairs; I could swear they were just walking me around to confuse me.

Finally we stopped. Doors opened and we moved forward. Now I was met with a cacophony of sound. All the voices, male and female, sinister laughs and whispers; my knees buckled with terror. My captors were full on dragging me now; I couldn't get back on my feet, my legs had lost their will to work. It was like walking a gauntlet; I was being pushed headlong into the lion's den. I heard them whisper my name along with Lestat's. How could they know my name? Who were these people?

Suddenly my captors shoved me down onto my knees and pulled the bag from off my head. I was met with a sight that I will never forget. The room was gargantuan…and ancient looking; candles and antique furniture, deep burgundies and blacks. Then of course there were the vampires. I was surrounded completely. They gazed at me with black eyes standing or lounging around what seemed like a preordained circle that I now sat in the center of. I felt like I could actually see the bloodlust in their eyes as they stared. Then (as always) a voice from behind me:

"She's the one, we brought her just like you asked."

It was that ass, Phillip. I turned around, and sure enough, he must have been one of the people that dragged me into this hellhole. But whom was he addressing? I turned back the way I'd been dropped and was met with the sight of a new vampire, one far more imposing than any of the others. He was tall and handsome (as is common to their kind, I knew too well), but his eyes and demeanor spoke of the most horrible of things. He looked at me and I felt like I might shrivel and die right on the spot. I could see why he was the leader of this group.

He moved towards me and I instinctively moved back, only to be blocked by a pair of legs. He made a quick hand motion and the legs grabbed me by the back of my shirt and pulled me up on my feet.

"C'mon now love, be a good girl for the master."

Phillip again. I tried to get an elbow into his solar plexus but failed miserably and ended up in another bear hug.

"See, I told you she was a pistol."

The man smiled. It was downright evil. He grabbed my chin in his hand and forced me to look at him. I wanted to spit in his face.

"So you're Lestat's little pet, eh?" he drawled.

I doubted he was expecting an answer so I kept my mouth shut and continued to do my own part glaring daggers.

"What, nothing to say?" Lestat was beginning to look like a petty delinquent next to this guy.

"Well, I suppose we must allow our friend Lestat one thing; he has managed to maintain his taste." He looked me up and down and licked his lips. I started to shiver; this couldn't be happening!

Momentary nerve came. "What do you want?" I said in the bravest voice I could muster.

"Oh ho! So she can talk! Isn't that sweet. How does it feel, my dear, to be the only rabbit in a den of wolves?"

"Shitty," my nerve was growing, "Now what the hell do you want?"

"You were quite right Phillip, she does have a mouth on her. I'm sure we can cure her of that in no time." The look on his face said he was being quite serious. I was in deep shit here; the growing fear in my chest was making me revert to the lowest form of angry discourse.

"Listen, assface, you can't just drag people off the street and lock them up as you please. Now let me go."

That pissed him off. He hit me, backhand right across the cheek. The pain was incredible; I was so stunned I couldn't make a sound.

"You listen to me now, Evie, no one speaks to me that way – especially a pathetic human."

My face burned, but there was nothing I could do. I probably would have said something else to anger him but he beat me to the punch.

"You're in my house now, and you'll do as you're told. I'm sure you can guess the consequences for misbehavior, but I suppose I should give you a demonstration just in case." He smiled fully and his fangs gleamed in the candlelight.

Phillip loosed one of my arms and despite my best efforts the man laid his cold hands on my wrist and pried my fist open. It was a shot for shot replay of the previous whenever, but I knew this time there would be no stopping. He brought my hand to his face, eyes on me to make sure I was watching. I'd stopped breathing completely. He considered the back of my hand for a second, then turned it over and bit straight into the flesh of my palm. I squeaked as his fangs dug into my flesh. He took a mouthful, or so I guessed, and smiled again, eyes closed.

"So very sweet…" He looked at me viciously again, "I am truly going to enjoy this."

For the first time in my life, I fainted.