Chapter Ten
I was lying on the dirtiest bed ever. I jumped up with anger and confusion. I looked around the small space. I was standing on a cement floor that was cracking. The small dirty bed I had woken up on was shoved in a corner. A bug crawled near my foot, and I stood still as I watched it escape my cell. Lucky. A small light was lit in the hallway and sent a shadowed light into the cell. Dust collected itself in the corners. I didn't want to touch anything in the cell. I stood with my arms hugging myself.
Revenge. Fear ran through my body at the thoughts of the condition he was in the last time I saw him. I looked down at my hands to see them free of blood. The ring still wrapped around my finger. A loud creaking and echo made my head snap up. I heard the echoing of footsteps closing in on my direction. With hurried motions, I shoved the ring in my pocket afraid they might take it from me.
"Blair Swanson." I glanced up to meet the eyes of the person who had called my name. His eyes were silver and watched me with a hint of anger. I glanced down toward his shirt which had the guard symbol. His brown hair was cut short.
"Yes?" I answered in a voice that made me feel small.
"I am here to read you your notice," he announced.
"Ummm… where's Revenge?" I asked. His eyes brushed over me, and then shifted down to the piece of paper he held in his hands.
"Blair Swanson, you have been charged with the escape penalty, killing a vampire, injuring a vampire, and trespassing on grounds. The consequence of the escape penalty is death. The consequence of killing a vampire is death. The consequence of injuring a vampire is-"
"I can handle this situation," Zane's commanding voice spilled into the room. My heart shifted in my chest at the thoughts of the last time I saw him. I took small steps forward and brought myself closer to the edge of the cell to see what was going on. My arm brushed against the metal bar as I peered out of the cell. The guard looked toward Zane with a confused expression but didn't question his presence. Zane held out his hand, and with one last glance at me the guard handed over the piece of paper. As the piece of paper hit Zane's hand, Zane stepped forward towards me. I glanced at the gray ground not wanting to face him. The screeching of the guard exiting the door brought my eyes up only inches from Zane's. His smooth face was flawless, and I saw the tension in his bright blue eyes. His fingertips reached through the bars and brushed against the skin on my cheek.
"My human, you never seem to stay out of trouble." His voice seemed stiff. His fingertips dropped from my face, and he scanned the paper he held tightly in his hands.
"Zane," I said with a worried tone to my voice that was much softer than usual. His eyes flickered up from the piece of paper and to my face.
"Yes?"
"What's happening?" I asked with a very nervous and worried voice. He stayed quiet as his blue eyes searched my face as if waiting to find something.
"The knife in Fade's back was only in half way. You threw that knife. Did you not?" he asked as he watched my reaction.
"Yes. I did…but-" I started to explain what had happened, but he cut me off.
"There is no excuse for a human's actions. You have done what you did. There is no taking it back or redeeming yourself."
"I was trying to help Revenge! Zane you've got to listen to me. Fade was trying to take me, and Revenge started to stop him and-"
"One of my best members on my team has been killed, and one of my members is severely injured and his current state or wellbeing doesn't help him. I can only hope that he will wake up." Zane looked at me with a furious glance.
"Please tell me he's alright," I pleaded as my heart sank.
"He isn't dead, but he hasn't woken up. Why must you involve me in all of your affairs?" Zane looked at me. Anger skipped across his eyes. A faint red grew behind the blue of his eyes.
"Zane, something's going on. I don't know what it is, but you've got to get me out of here." He stood still and stared at me. Then with a small smile he laughed.
"I cannot do that right now, even if I do not like you behind those bars," he said without a break in his voice. I grew still.
"What do you mean you can't? We-"
"Well there's your problem, my human. There is no we."
"You need to listen to what I have to say, Zane. You're not listening."
"Nothing you say is going to help your case. You have killed one of my kind. " His angry blue eyes stared into my cell. His hand reached through the bars and ran down my face slowly. I glanced away from him and toward the ground.
"And that is why," he added as his hand came under my chin and jerked my eyes toward his once again, "I will leave you right now." He dropped my face and took a step back.
"I trusted you!" I shouted with tears starting to build in my eyes. I was helpless. He always seemed to appear when I needed him to, and that made me believe he was trust worthy. I had been mistaken.
"I warned you not to trust me," he said between his clenched teeth.
"When did you do that?" I asked as a tear fell onto my pale cheek.
"When I said that I sometimes cannot make the choices that my heart wants, I have to follow what is expected of me." His hand moved up as if he was going to wipe away my tear, but then it retreated back to his side.
"Well that wasn't a warning at all," I pushed the words past my lips with my anger growing. I wiped my tears away.
"How basic do you need the warning to be?"
"How about 'Hey, my human, do not trust me.'" I turned around after I said those words and faced the back of the cell. My arms crossed over my chest. This wasn't my end. I wasn't going to die. I was determined. Revenge needed me, and I still had to help the humans who don't have a voice.
"That impersonation doesn't suit me well." His voice was surprisingly low.
"From your eyes perhaps." I looked toward the back wall as I tried to keep the tears from falling. Him not helping me hurt. It felt like pressure was collecting itself on my chest and pushing me down.
"Wait…" I said as a sudden thought struck me. "Aren't there trials?" Hope filled me. I remembered when those vampires broke into The Court of Radiance and they had a trial. Then I could explain what happened and they'd know that I just wanted to help Revenge!
"Not for humans." His answer was straightforward and cold. My hope dissolved. My hands curled around the cold metal bars of the cell.
"Zane, please." I didn't know what exactly I was saying please to. I just needed him to help me. My green eyes pleaded with his bright blue ones. His eyes broke contact with mine. I sighed in defeat as I leaned my forehead against the bars. He took a step toward my cell and his lips brushed against mine in a quick soft kiss. It sent a shiver through me. I glanced at him startled and with my heart beating fast. He was mine, and he was leaving me to die. My eyes hit the cement ground wishing I could've backed out of that kiss and slapped him.
"Thank you for making me feel just the littlest things," he said. And then he whispered lowly,
"My human, be patient." With that, Zane turned his back on me and began to walk out of the hall. His words confused me. Be patient? For what?
"Zane! Stop! Don't leave me like this!" I begged only because I knew he was my only chance. Only the echoing of his receding footsteps answered my pleading as he disappeared from sight. I took panicked breaths as I leaned against the cement wall. I slid down with my hands on each side of my head and a growing head ache. I thought I had Zane figured out. I was wrong about him.
"Life is so short. You're a vampire so you may not really understand what it's like, but trust me." A guard was standing a few cells away from mine, and I went on and on with my rambling. The whole thing about me receiving the death penalty didn't feel real. I was in denial.
"I've been gone from home for like…A long time. I lose track when I'm here. Anyways, that means my brothers make their own lunches for school now, and they use their own alarm clocks cuz I can't be there to wake them up in the mornings. I guess it's about time though that Jason starts to learn that since he's nineteen and in college," I sighed and was about to continue to the guard who never moved or spoke back, but the creaking of the door opening took my attention.
The steady clicking of heels made its way to me, and my eyebrows knit together in confusion. Who could that be? The guard that I had been talking to bowed his head. I glanced up to see who it was.
"Blair." Her soft pink lips smiled at me and her brown curls spiraled down her shoulders. I barely recognized her. She was the woman who had been standing and talking to Zane after a meeting the day Revenge took me to see my mom. She wasn't wearing her tiara like she had been before, and she wasn't in a dress.
"Um, hi?" I said as I took in her nice clothes and flawless face.
"You have caused a lot of trouble." Her lips fell a little into a frown.
"It's hard not to when everyone's trying to kill each other," I answered quickly. She smiled faintly and took a few steps closer to the cell I was in.
"You are so very interesting in the way you talk to me. Do you have any idea as to who I am?" Her voice was like fluid when she talked. I stared at her for a while trying to figure it out.
"Someone important?" I guessed. Her laugh greeted me.
"Guard, give me the keys." I stared at the guard who was locked in place with a confused look on his face.
"Keys," she said again after he didn't respond to her. He nodded his head.
"Yes, Princess," he answered as he stepped forward to hand her the keys. She plucked them from his hands quickly. She turned back toward my cell. Her brilliant silver eyes glanced at me.
"You have ruined so many of my plans before. I do wish that you allow this one to run smoothly." She found a key and entered it into my cell. I heard the click of the key falling into place to open the lock. I tried to figure out what she was doing and couldn't.
"Princess, I don't think that this is a-" The guard began to protest.
"Shut up!" the princess yelled at the guard as she turned toward him with her hand out. A loud smack echoed in the hall, and I flinched away. I watched the guard look up from the ground. His once perfect face was streaked with blood lines on his cheek. I winced and wished I could somehow help him. He was listening to my stories without yelling at me. It made me like the guard a little.
"Do not question my actions," she said as she calmed. The guard stepped farther away with his head bowed toward the ground. The princess opened the door to my cell with a loud screech.
"Blair, stay in your cell in that exact spot," she commanded as I itched to take a step forward and out of the cell. The door was open, but the option was still closed. I watched the princess reach her manicured fingers into her pocket and pull out a sleek black cell phone. Her back turned from me as she dialed a number and walked away toward the back of the hall. She only spoke one word into the phone.
"Now." Her voice sounded strong and sure. The echoing of her heels started to fade as she started to leave with my cell door still open. The guard glanced over at me, and I shrugged. At the end of the hall the light flickered off. I felt my heart drop. The light next to it shut off. The guard's eyes watched with confusion. I had a slight idea of what was happening. Someone broke in, or this was an attempt to get me out, but why would the princess involve herself in something like breaking me out? The lights all started to shut off, and it wasn't long before the whole hall was completely dark.
Suddenly, there was a grunt and the sound of a sword. I heard a body fall to the ground. I backed into a wall to press myself against; it made me feel safer. I held my breath thinking that it would hide me better.
"Blair," the unfamiliar male voice was deep and sounded confident. "Come with me." His face was shadowed in the darkness. His hand collapsed over mine and engulfed it. He pulled me out of the cell.
"Did you kill the guard?" I asked him with a gasp. He didn't answer. I was dragged along. I wasn't going to complain that much seeing that he was getting me out of my death sentence. Wait…was he?
"Where are we going?" I added as I tried to adjust to the darkness. I stumbled along as he pulled me.
"Don't speak," the guy said as he tugged me forward.
"I'm not going to let you drag me into a death trap, so tell me right now where-" My talking was brought to a stop as the back of his hand made contact with my face with a slap.
"Don't speak," he whispered again. I brought my hand up to cradle my now injured cheek. I tasted blood. A loud beeping swept through the room. It was the alarm. Someone broke into The Court of Radiance. This vampire tugging my hand could be anyone. I didn't know if he was good or bad, but he was getting me out of the prison cell. I didn't know what to do. I let him pull me while I decided.
"Here is the back exit. The car is waiting right there," the fluid voice of the princess entered my ears. I flinched at the closeness. It was so dark; I couldn't even see my hand in front of my face. I was blind to what was happening.
"Thank you, Kalia," the guy roughly holding my hand said.
"Goodbye, Sin," the princess said as we slipped through a door. The night's heavy wind slapped against the injured side of my face making me wince. Rain drops splattered onto the pajamas I was still wearing, and struck the ground hard. Lightning flashed in the sky, and thunder roared into my ears. It was a bad storm.
Through the darkness, I spotted a sleek black car. The guy dragging me now known as Sin made his way toward it. I began to get very nervous. A bad feeling hit my stomach.
"Where are you taking me!" I shouted to compete with the storm. I needed to know if it was a good or bad destination.
"You don't know how to shut up." He turned toward me, and a dark smile spread onto his pale face. His black hair was buzz cut, and the rain collected in his hair in little drops. His dark blue eyes stared at me, and I gasped in surprise. He had blue eyes… that could only mean that he was half human like Zane was.
"My name's Sin, and I was the lucky one chosen to take you to The Court of Shadows." As soon as the words past his lips, I pulled away from his hold.
"Blair, get in the car." I refused to and tried to get away with all the energy I had. It wasn't much nor was it enough.
"Gladly, you leave me no choice." His fist came forward and pain sprung from the right side of my face from his hit. Darkness fell toward me, and I collapsed onto the muddy rain soaked ground dazed.
Hello there! I hope you all aren't going too crazy over Zane's actions :0 Ahhhh, The Court of Shadows! Thank you to all you reviewers out there! Seriously, I really appreciate your support! And thank you to all of those who favorite and story alert! :D I would love to hear your thoughts or criticisms. I hope you all have a great rest of the week! ( I have 3 tests this week and a big paper due! :( )
Yensidtlaw- hello! Haha, I know I mixed things up with that last chapter! Well, she's not in The Court of Radiance prison anymore, but who knows about The Court of Shadows… Thank you for your review!
vampires lover forever- Hi! Thank you for reviewing!
yusagi710- Hello there! Thank you! I have a feeling Zane might have a lot more scenes in the future :D haha so don't get too upset :) Thanks for reviewing!
Tamika- haha! Glad you enjoyed Zane's boldness :D Thank you for reviewing!
AlexandraSterling41- Hello! Well, this chapter shows what Zane does to Blair :/ Thanks for taking time to review!
DJShayShayxx - Hello there! :D Still no sign of Revenge doing well, but at least he is alive. If you didn't know what to say to Zane about him being half human and having love for Blair… I bet this chapter startled you. Yay! You're all set to rescue Blair haha. Thank you, as always, for your review! I always love them :)
Guest- Yeah! That was a long time of not updating for me! Ahaha! You had me cracking up while I was reading. I don't know why I had to have Blair pull away… well I do, but it was a hard thing to do myself :D Yeah, I don't know what was up with Torture :/ he's moody all the time though. Thank you for reviewing!
SPRING BREAK NEXT WEEK! WHOA! :D