Chapter 20
Before my eyes even opened, I could tell something had changed. The pain had faded and my body was no longer numb. My eyes fluttered open, taking in my surroundings as I stretched my arms and legs, happy they were free of their previous bindings.
Unpainted cement walls surrounded me, with one side open, well kind of open. Thick metal bars lined it, caging me in like a dangerous animal. I rolled onto my side. A thin mattress cushioned me from the cement slab it lay on. The room was devoid of any other furniture.
The silence filled the room and I closed my eyes, attempting to grab onto any sound or whisper in the air, but could find nothing. I was alone here.
I pushed myself into a sitting position, running my hands down my bare arms and finding them smooth and unscarred. I was dressed in a pair of white cotton pajama pants and a white tee shirt. I pulled up a pant leg and checked out the damage. Nothing. Someone had filled me up with blood, my thirst had subsided and my veins no longer burned. For that, I was thankful.
I got up, sliding off the mattress and onto the floor. Barefoot, I padded to the cell wall, taking in the long, empty corridor that ran in either direction. I attempted to peer down the corridor and raised my hands to the metal bars to hold on for a better view. As my fingers made contact with the metal there was a loud crack. I flew backwards, skidded across the floor, and slammed head first into the cement slab. My head spun and I attempted to remain conscious. My hands were blackened and crackled with energy. They slowly faded back to their normal color, the charring disappeared. My head quickly healed and the world around me came to a halt.
I heard the creak of hinges somewhere beyond the bars and jumped to my feet. Shoes clicked on the cement floor, growing louder as they approached.
“Ah, my prized possession! Feeling better, it seems?” Steve stood before me, dressed in tight-fitting jeans and an equally tight button down shirt, open at the neck. He was relaxed, shoulders back, and he sported a broad smile on his face. I stood a safe distance from the bars and felt my body settle into a defensive position.
I said nothing. My brain flashed images of the evening’s earlier events. I may not have been feeling the pain, but I hadn’t forgotten. My lip curled and my fangs slid into place.
“Now, now sweetheart, is that any way to treat me? I’ve done everything I could, within reason, to make you more comfortable. Fresh clothes, fresh blood, a place to sleep, those awful stakes removed from your arms and legs…there are lots of reasons to like me.”
I said nothing but hissed, like a lioness held captive.
“Bad manners will get you nowhere, dear Victoria,” he said with a tsk tsk. “Someday, if you promise to be a good girl, I might be able to let you out of your electrified cage, to live with me.” He raised an eyebrow and his eyes slid over my body.
If I’d had any food in me, I might just have thrown up in my mouth.
“You’ll have to kill me first,” I said, fists clenched at my side.
“That just hurts me, right here.” He patted over his heart, where he had injected my blood. “In just a few hours, I’ll be able to test out this blood of yours, see if my experiment is able to create more Daywalkers. Just think, Victoria, thanks to you, I might be able to walk around in the sun for the first time in nine hundred years. I could go to the beach, eat lunch at a sidewalk café in Paris, wear sunglasses for a reason.” He clapped his hands, barely able to contain his glee.
“When we’re sure it works, we can do it the easy way or the hard way. If you don’t want to live with me and enjoy the sumptuous lifestyle which I can promise you,” he chuckled, “then you can stay down here in your little electric cave. And every month, after we’re confident the blood has been in your system long enough, we’ll come down, incapacitate you by any means necessary and withdraw your blood, just like I did earlier tonight.”
The horror of those memories washed over me, my knees shaking. Yet I tried to maintain my composure, not wanting to show any signs of weakness. I had to figure out a way out of here. Drake had to be frantic. He had to know I wouldn’t just disappear on him.
“It’s obvious you have nothing to say,” Steve said with a disappointed frown. “Someone will be down later to feed you. If everything works out, I’ll be spending the day out somewhere, anywhere. If it doesn’t work, well, it could be that I might have to destroy my own creation. I can’t bear the thought of you living with such a wonderful gift as this, a gift I gave you, for which you are anything but grateful. I really hoped you would see it my way Victoria.” He shrugged, turned on his heel and clomped off down the corridor.
I slid onto the mattress and curled up into a ball, pulling my knees to my chest. I had to get out of here.