sorry for the wait. who knew it would be harder to update in the summertime rather then the school year. ugh. i blame work. i'll try to be better.

Chapter 16:

I woke up, my arms and ankles tied to the wooden chair I was sitting on, with a massive throbbing headache; one of those headaches that throbs in your ears, only making the pain worse. I groaned as I mentally assessed my damages. Whatever was tying my hands and feet against the chair was burning them, creating blisters, and whenever I moved it caused an excruciating stinging sensation, like razors digging into my skin, so I tried to stay as motionless as possible.

Now that my vampire eyes could see plenty well in the dark I could see that I was still in Cashile's shirt, thankfully it covered past my underwear, but since I was sitting, it was a close call. My pale bare thighs were practically glowing in the darkness.

I let my head hang on the back of the chair, the wicker seat groaning. Where am I? Why am I here? Where is 'here'?

I carefully looked around, making sure not to move my wrists or ankles too much. I was in some sort of room with metal walls. That's strange. Why are the walls metal? One thing was for sure; whoever has me here doesn't want me out. In front of me, a little to the right, was a stairway that led up to more darkness. I thought about screaming for help, but decided against it once I remembered who took me.

Seth.

I know he did this. I remember seeing his face right before I was knocked out. Just the thought of him made me struggle against my restraints. I wanted to get out and fight him, and punch him, preferably in the lower region. As I tugged on my wrists, it caused me more pain than I ever could have imagined. It was the kind of pain that made it hard to breathe. I felt like I was going to throw up. Curse my new ability to feel and sense everything better.

I quickly gave up struggling and waited for the stinging to fade, but it didn't; I could still feel a cutting sensation. I let my head drop, hairs falling in front of my face.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" I heard a voice say. I instantly recognized it. The way it sliced through the darkness and slithered toward me. It was the same voice that threatened to violate me and suck me dry.

I clenched my jaw together in a growl. "Let me go," I threatened between my fangs.

Seth chuckled darkly. "I don't think so."

I struggled some more, Seth's presence pushing me over the edge. Once again, pain found my wrists and ankles, overwhelming me with horrible misery. I let out a scream that was part torment, part frustration. Seeing me in this sort of agony only made the wicked grin on Seth's face grow.

"It's no use; struggling only makes it worse." His evocative, dark eyes hinted that he gained pleasure from my pain. I hate his eyes. The way they always considered me to be one of his play toys. The way they always implied his sadistic, provocative thoughts.

"Makes what worse?" I spat.

"Oil of vitriol," the words slithered off of his tongue.

I huffed out air in irritation and rolled my eyes. "What the hell is that?"

"It's more commonly known as Sulfuric Acid. It's a funny thing about vampires," he paused to walk closer to me "no matter how badly you hurt them, they will always heal, but they will always feel the pain. Humans, however, die easily; too easily." He smiled. "Good thing you're not human anymore."

I snapped my teeth at him, causing him to step back—only for a second—to regain his composure. "The acid corrodes your skin," Seth continued to explain proudly, even though I didn't want him to. "Not only does it chemically burn your skin, but it also literally burns your skin—the same way fire would."

As Seth explained about the acid, the pain grew because I was thinking about it. I tried to keep reminding myself: don't think about it. Don't think about it and the pain will go away. Think of a way you can get out of this instead.

"You know what the best part is?" Seth continued. "Every time you struggle, it triggers the acid to make an even more concentrated form." He laughed darkly. "The more you try to escape, the worse your pain will be."

"Why are you doing this to me?" I tried to keep my voice low and controlled to hide my panic and pain.

"Simple, to get to Cashile." Seth squatted down to my level and grabbed my jaw. "You are the key. As long as I have you, I have the advantage over him. As long as I have you, I can find out what he has been keeping from the entire compound."

"I'm never going to tell you." I laughed.

"Oh, I know you won't tell me, but as soon as your precious Cashile finds out that you're missing, he'll do anything to get you back."

"You're willing to do all of this just to get his secret." I could hear the words in my head: you fool, the answer is right in front of you.

"I'm willing to do anything to get his secret." He gripped my thigh, pulling the chair and me closer to him. His upper lip curled in a feral smile.

"Why is it so important to you anyway?"

"He has power, a lot of it. I've tried for years to get him to work with us, but he always refuses. If I find out how he got so powerful, I won't need him, and I can build my own army using that knowledge. Nothing will be able to defeat us. Vampires are the apex predators, but no one seems to recognize that, especially those wolves. As soon as Cashile shares his secret with me, vampires can rule how we were destined to."

Seth wants vampires to rule over the sectors? Don't they already do that? Yes, they do. That's why Viktor and Cashile are looking for a way to end the sectors, so we can all live in peace again. "If you think the wolves and humans are just going to sit back and let vampires take over, you're crazier than I thought."

"I know they'll retaliate, which is why I need Cashile's power. Right now, it's too hard to defeat werewolves in a fistfight, but using Cashile's power, we can fight them off, and we can kill them. " Seth cocked his head to the side and his dark gaze fell on mine. "Do you know what happens when a werewolf is bitten by a vampire?"

"No," I replied, trying to keep an uninterested tone.

"It poisons the werewolf. An infection starts in the area where they were bitten and spreads in the blood stream until it reaches the nervous system. That's where the fun begins. The wolf starts a fever, starts to hallucinate, causing paranoia, they're delirious, unable to sleep or think straight. Any sound, any movement can induce an attack. Their death is slow and terrifying, usually weeks long."

The way Seth was describing it was disturbing. He knew a lot, almost too much, almost like he's seen it himself. I guess it shouldn't surprise me that he would do something like that. He's a heartless being that only wants power and destruction.

Seth continued to talk. "Your brother is a wolf, correct?" I glowered at Seth—if looks could kill... He laughed at me. "Ohhh. You are a big bad vampire now aren't you, with your red eyes."

"You'll never get away with this." I threatened.

Seth started walking away into the darkness and only returned when he had a bucket. In his pale hand he had a pair of thick gloves, which he put on. He stuck his hand in the clear liquid and sped over to me. In his hand was a strip of cloth, soaking from whatever liquid was in the bucket. Standing behind me, he wrapped the cloth around my mouth and I instantly felt burning pain. I tried to scream, but it only came out as a muffled howl.

I tried to calm myself down by slowing my breathing down, but every breath I took felt like I was inhaling razors. Whatever acid Seth had said he used on my restraints was also on this cloth and I was breathing in the agonizing fumes. I shrieked, yelped, and hollered until I felt tears run down my face. I let him get to me. I'm broken. I'm weak.

My thoughts became hazy and jumbled as I was losing consciousness. I could feel the deep sleep pulling me away. He was right, all of this wouldn't kill me, at least not immediately. I could feel my body getting weaker and weaker.

Seth grabbed my jaw just as he was about to leave, careful not to touch the acidic cloth. My eyes kept fluttering shut. "I think I have a pretty good advantage over Cashile. I do have everything he wants." After that he left the room and I passed out.

. . .

A persistent tapping awaked me on my shoulder. "Allison?" a soft voice asked.

The only thing I could do was moan in response as I tried to regain my vision. Whoever was talking to me—or whomever I imagined was talking to me—started untangling the cloth that was wrapped around my mouth, ultimately unwrapping it. As they peeled the cloth away, it felt like they were taking my skin with it. I let out an awful groan that sounded something like a dying animal.

"I'm sorry, Allison. I know it hurts. It's almost over." The voice said. It wasn't male; it was a woman, definitely not Seth. Whoever it was, was speaking softly and tenderly, like they didn't want to hurt me. The soothing voice reminded me of my mother. I automatically closed my eyes and started tearing up at the thought of her being here.

"Mom?" I asked the voice. My vision was still clearing but I could make out a silhouette. "Mom?" I asked again, dazed.

"Honey," the voice started and I was filled with memories, but something was off about them; they didn't feel like they were mine, they felt like they were someone else's, yet, they were vivid in my mind.

I remembered her singing the human lullaby to me as I fell asleep in my bed, her running her fingers through my hair as she bathed me, her reading me a story as I fell asleep. The memories seemed real, but I knew they weren't. My mother never read me stories, not because she didn't care, but because we couldn't afford them. All of the stories that were told were oral, not from a book, and this memory was definitely reading. That's strange, I thought. Where are these memories coming from?

As my thoughts cleared, so did my vision. I looked at the woman squatting in front of my chair, cleaning a towel in a blue plastic pale. She raised the towel out of the liquid and lifted it to my face. I winced, expecting the liquid to burn, expecting it to be acid, but it wasn't, it was warm water. Relief washed over me like a summer rain and I sighed. "Joan," I said weakly.

Joan's grey and black hair was tied back into a lose bun and pieces were falling out. She was wearing brown skirt and a deep blue shirt. "Shhh." She whispered. "You are very weak. No need wasting your energy on speaking."

Naturally, I refused her orders. "Where are we?"

"I don't know. Seth took me and forced me down here while you were passed out." Joan explained as she continued to gently clean my wounds.

"This can't be good." I gathered enough strength to sit up slightly. Joan had finished cleaning my face and started to try and free me from my restraints. "Be careful," I said. "There's acid on them that will burn you."

I could hear her chuckle slightly. "Allison, how do you think I managed those years in the vampire compound before Cashile came along. I may look old and frail, but I can still take care of myself." As she spoke I could hear a cutting noise on the ropes. Seconds later, my hands and ankles were free. Joan flashed the small blade before me and gave me a devious smile before she stuffed it under her skirt.

I looked at my wrists. Of course, they were a gruesome sight. It seemed like I was wearing crimson bracelets. The skin around the burns was blistered and peeling away. I sucked in air in a panicky cry. I'll never forget what he did.

Now that the acid wasn't constantly eating away at my wrists, they started to heal. It was amazing. Piece by piece, my skin came closer together, closing the bloody wound. My skin turned a strange pink color and looked similar to a scar. After the scar tissue healed, my wrists were back to normal. It didn't even look like anything happened. I looked at my ankles; they were perfectly normal as well.

Despite my physical wounds healing, I felt extremely weak, and hungry. At that moment, when I realized my hunger, I knew why Seth had sent Joan down here, without restraints. He knew I would break free some way or another.

"Are you okay?" Joan asked, snapping me out of my daze.

"I'm fine," I lied as I tried to get up to search for a way out of this place. If I was left in here with Joan much longer, I might do something I would regret.

As soon as a stood up from the chair, I collapsed to my knees, Joan kneeled by my side. "You're very weak. You need blood."

"No," I pushed her wrist away. If I started, I knew I wouldn't be able to stop. I'm to new to this. My hunger overwhelmed me and controlled every aspect of my being. I thought about the first day of training, when Cashile set out those platters of food in front of us. I thought control was hard then…

"Allison," she grabbed my face so that I focused on her and her only. "I am not a weak human. You need strength. You need to find a way out, and find a way to Cashile. Seth cannot learn about Cashile's past. You need to stop him, and in order to do that, you need blood."

"I-I can't. What about you? I can't hurt you. I'll never forgive myself." I shook my head.

"You won't. I trust you." Joan looked at me the same way my mother did. Her eyes had so much faith in them I though I was going to cry.

My first experience with blood was exciting and left me wanting more. Cashile said it had taken him weeks to get used to drinking blood, before he could feed live. I thought differently. I want blood. I like it.

I took a deep breath and her wrist, paused, and bit down. Her warm blood rushed into my mouth. This was different than drinking from the blood packet; I didn't have to try. Her blood flowed into my mouth and I gladly drank it. I could feel myself getting stronger—just like before—but this time it energized me more than ever. Her blood was fresh and pulsing with life; it almost made me forget I had to stop.

Reluctantly, I let go of her wrist and retracted my fangs. It's amazing how just that little amount of blood helped so much. I bet that it would have taken several blood bags to make me feel the way I feel now. I felt brand new, like a whole new person.

I ripped the hem of my shirt and wrapped it around Joan's wrist to stop any further bleeding. "Okay," I said out loud. "let's see if we can find a way out of this place."

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