Dylan the Vampire Slayer

Chapter 7 - Clawing at Freedom

“Well, do you see her?” Elliott asked.

Peering down into the dimly lit cavern, Dylan strained her eyes to catch a glimpse of any sort of movement.  She saw the corner of a dirty striped blanket and the edge of a wooden table top with a metal frame, but not Violet.  Her eyes glanced over the rickety ladder next to her and the slayer contemplated how to get down to the cave below and maintain an element of surprise.  If the man who abducted Violet was as dangerous as the slayer thought, she would need all the help in the theatrics department she could get.

“Dylan,” Elliott said.

“Shut the hell up,” the slayer replied.

Elliott clamped his mouth closed in protest.  He wanted to tell Dylan what he really thought of her, but now was not the time.  There were so many thoughts and words racing through his mind and he could barely control his urge to jump down the tunnel and see what the situation was himself.  But he knew that would only cause more problems than it would solve.  For the time being, Elliott had to remain in waiting.

“Go back to the car,” Dylan said as she pointed at the entrance of the cavern.

“No, she’s my friend and I’m going down there,” Elliott replied as he pointed down into the cave below.

“Listen to me,” the slayer said as her grabbed Elliott’s shirt with a balled fist.

“I’m not being a bitch on a power trip here.  I’m a bitch who doesn’t want to watch some plant-tripping gardener beat you to death,” Dylan continued.

“Look, I can…” Elliott started to urge underneath a hushed breath, but as his eyes locked with Dylan’s dead stare, he knew it would be no use. 

Pivoting on his heels, he turned and started walking to the entrance of the cave system.  He stuffed his sweaty fists into the front pockets of his jeans as the moonlight that filled the grassy knoll outside the cavern brightened his vision with each step.

“Seriously,” Dylan whispered underneath her breath as she turned back to the tunnel.

As soon as the last syllable slipped from her lips, the slayer’s whole body tensed in shock as the large hand with rough, chaffed skin and dirty fingernails grasped her long, thin neck.  Dylan gasped as her airway crushingly closed and she brought her hands up to the man in overalls wrist and tried to pull herself free.  With one swift heave, the force of the man’s strength brought the slayer downward, head over feet, into the cave where he stood.

A searing pain jolted through her back and legs as Dylan landed against the bumpy and uneven cave floor.  The man released his grip from the slayer’s throat and started descending the ladder he perched upon.  Dylan rolled onto her side and hastily looked around the new, dim area she found herself in.  Her eyes lingered on the enormous plant system crawling along the walls and the intricate watering and lighting system built to sustain the organisms.

Lifting the slayer by her shoulders, the man in overalls brought Dylan to her feet.  He was built like a linebacker with a muscular torso and thick arms that easily overpowered any of his victims.  Towering over Dylan at six and a half feet tall, the slayer was minuscule compared to the giant.  She looked over his face and did not know whether his appearance was more shocking or grotesque.  The skin of his face held a waxy film and the once tiny sprouts of new plant life grew into full fledge vines dangling from his pores.

“What the fu…” the slayer said under her breath as she started into the smooth jade green iris of his eyes.

The man in overalls thrust his head forward and struck Dylan’s face in a jaw clenching headbutt.  She cried out in pain as she stumbled back and landed in a seated position with her back against the well in the center of the cave.  Her vision blurred and hazed as the room started to spin around her.  The sound of the man’s heavy boots grew louder with each step and the dark shadow looming over her drew closer and closer as the slayer’s vision started to clear.