The Vampire King's Abused Human Mate

Chapter 4

Trinity

I couldn’t think. How long had I been here? He had told his servants to take me down to this dark place. I hadn’t seen even a glint of red light or torch light since they’d brought me down here.

Something clinked in the dark. I turned sharply, startled by the sound.

The door opened, and light flooded in, burning my eyes. I squinted and covered my eyes, wondering who it was. I didn’t recognize the person, but my heart filled with hope as she came towards me.

He had to have realized his mistake. Had my pleas reached him? How long would it take to go home?

I got up just enough, a little dizzy from the time since I’d last eaten or drunk anything.

Then, she shoved me back to the ground. I twisted as she kneeled over me, and someone else came to restrain me.

“Let me go!” I cried.

A sharp, hot pain cut through my palm as I screamed. I felt dizzy, feeling the blood leave me. I shuddered and tried not to cry at the pain. Then, she wrapped something tight around the wound, and the two dropped me to the ground.

I lay there and looked up. The woman passed a cup to the other as she wiped the knife she had in her hand off on a spare rag. It dripped with blood.

My blood.

“Next time, I will not be gentle,” she said calmly.

“Gentle?” I asked. “You’re insane. How was that gentle? When are you letting me go?”

She sneered and flashed her sharp teeth. Her male companion laughed.

“You aren’t leaving this place,” he said. “And be glad. I hear you humans aren’t nearly as gentle with your chattel.”

Chattel? My heart clenched with fear. Was he telling me that I was food?

My jaw trembled as I thought back to the dinner party. The people on the table, the warm metallic taste of it, the thing that had broken my resolve to just play along—all of it.

Food. Blood. Vampire. I felt sick. I felt dizzy and cold. I couldn’t handle this. This had to be a dream. A nightmare. I’d fallen asleep watching a horror movie again, but as hard as I tried to believe that. I couldn’t feel that.

I opened my eyes and looked up at the two of them still there, still watching me with some strange interest and sick fascination. Had they never seen a human before, or were they looking for something in my face to help them differentiate me from the woman that man longed for?

“At least we feed our chattel,” I said, glaring up at them. “And we’re a bit more efficient at the harvesting process.”

He smirked. “You produce more blood alive, and you don’t need food to live.”

“I need water.”

He chuckled. “Not before our master gets tired of your blood. Then, you’ll see how efficient we are.”

This man seemed to enjoy this part of the job. There was something wrong with him. Some deep grudge that I couldn’t figure out or guess at.

They sneered at me one last time before leaving and closing the door behind them, plunging me into darkness again. There was a way out of here. I knew that. I just didn’t know how I was going to get there.

I touched my hand, hissing at the ache there. It was a terrible bandage job, but I didn’t dare try to remove it or re-wrap it in the dark. Part of me hoped it got infected and they would be forced to either kill me or treat me properly.

A bigger part of me had a feeling that was exactly what would happen and how I would die here. They had no plans to treat me any better or any more gently than they were right now.

My stomach churned. I didn’t want to die here.

I couldn’t die here. I had a whole life. A boyfriend, a mom, and a dad, school and work. How would my parents make it without me? Would anyone look for me?

Sooner than I had imagined, the door opened again. It was the same man with a different woman. I didn’t even bother to fight, but I observed them, curled in the corner of the room. It couldn’t have been long. I couldn’t believe that it had been given the state of my hand when they’d returned. He stood back, watching me. Almost daring me to fight so he would have a reason to grab me.

I didn’t even flinch when she unwrapped my hand and made another cut, staring at him. His eyes narrowed at me with a challenge.

I said nothing and soon she was done collecting the cup of blood. The bandage was changed, but it was still poorly done. Then, they left me in darkness again.

Would I start making the day by how many cuts in my hand? Would they start on my other hand? My feet?

They weren’t cutting any major arteries for a reason. They needed me alive to be food for as long as possible.

But there was nothing in me that said this was how I’d allow myself to die.

I stood on shaky legs. With one hand on the wall, I walked around the perimeter of the room to get a sense of how big it was and how far from the door I was.

The room was a little bigger than a small bedroom. Maybe a little smaller. There were no windows. The walls were made out of smooth stone, and the door was air and light-tight.

I frowned at that. How was I breathing if there wasn’t some sort of vent in the room? With my hurt hand, I couldn’t try to climb the wall, but there was something just out of reach near the door. It felt smooth, like metal, and I could feel what I thought was a bolt of some sort on the edge of it.

Was it a vent or a barred window?

Maybe there were windows, and the outside was just darkness.

Maybe I was underground.

Was it possible that I’d been taken to those caves that I had come through when he kidnapped me?

That didn’t seem right. If anything, I was likely beneath the castle.

I sat back down, trying to think through the problem and conserve my energy.

The next time they came, I was in a different position from before. I could see down the hallway to where someone was standing. They added another wound to my hand.

After that, I started listening to the movements of my captors. I thought I heard a faint scream down the hall, but the one thing I didn’t hear was the click of a lock.

Did that mean these doors weren’t locked? I didn’t hear the movement of the guard down the hall either.

The next time, I was on the other side of the room, just behind the door. I didn’t make a move, and the man looked down at me with a sneer.

“You seem to be getting up a lot these days.”

Days. It had been days since I’d been brought down here. Through the space between the door, I saw hinges. They looked metallic. Squinting through the light as she made a new cut in my other hand, squeezing and massaging to get a full cup, I leaned back against the stone wall and tried to see anything I could. The other side was a dead end, but there were no lights out there by torches.

Did that mean they couldn’t see in the dark?

What reason would they have for torches otherwise?

The door creaked closed, and I slipped the edge of my dress beneath the door as it closed. I listened and listened for the click of a lock, but all I heard was their footsteps going away from me.

This had to be the key to my salvation.

I worked the edge of the dress towards the other side of the door until it caught the corner of the door and pulled. The fabric didn’t creak or break. The door didn’t even groan as it opened, just a sliver enough to spill light into the room.

I could see the guard at the end of the hallway and realized that it was just a suit of armor.

Was there anyone down here beside me?

How far could I go with this plan?

What would happen if I got caught?

Death? I supposed so, but at the rate, they were draining my blood and not feeding me, I didn’t think death was my biggest problem.

I waited and waited and waited, watching and listening to the movements.

There was nothing.

There was no one.

And finally, the torch burned out.

I heard movement from above. Quickly, I pulled the skirts of my dress together and lay on the ground. My heart was pounding. This couldn’t go on much longer.

I’d make my escape this time.