Creatures of The Dark

Chapter V

The hinges of the door creaked; it was enough to startle me from pain-driven sleep but not enough to get me to move. I hated being awake because the pain always found me there. I didn't remember how I had gotten to the room, but the freshness of the pain told me I had only been out for a couple of hours.

My back burned and throbbed. I was sure blood coated my linen shirt, the cot around me too. I wanted to ask who was there, lurking in the darkness, but I couldn't find my voice.

"Lucius," a voice whispered. Relief rushed through me when I realized the voice did not belong to the Dark King. It was short-lived. "Lucius," The voice was sharper now, " Get up, now." Urgency rang in his tone, so unlike the guards that roamed the palace. I turned my head toward the male, the movement lacerated my brutalized spine. His shadow was hulking.

"Please," I begged though I was sure it was intelligible, a moan against my lips. I wouldn't survive another whipping. I couldn't.

The figure hurried toward me, his feet lighter than I would have thought against the stone. I could hardly see in the shadows, but his eyes glistened with intensity. He knelt by my cot, and I flinched away, the action causing another wave of fire to lance down my back. The shaking was back with vengeance now.

"Lucius, please get up," his voice was a soft lie in the darkness. "If you do as I say, no one will ever lay a hand on you." Another trick, another game. I was so damn tired.

"Hurry up," a voice hissed from the hall. Another guard. They were bored, looking for some entertainment.

"Please," I pleaded. The male took hold of my shoulders and hauled me to a seated position as I groaned. I didn't know if he could tell I struggled in his grasp.

The male in the hallway muttered something obscene under his breath before entering the small room. I trembled furiously now, the pain clawing to take me back to that darkness. I could see the male's fiery red hair even in the darkness.

He stood right above me and seethed, "Get up. The king wishes to see you." There were things more powerful than pain, I realized as I stood on shaky feet. Obedience. He had already seen me for the night, my back was proof. I started to doubt if it had been the same day.

The first male shoved something into my hands, clothes I realized as he said, "Change into these, quickly." For the second time that night I slid my shirt off, blood smearing against my ruined back. I didn't think they could see the fresh lashings in the darkness, though it wasn't an uncommon sight down here. I dawned the fresh clothing that hung off my emaciated form.

"Come with us." I followed them out into the torch-lit hallway. The male who had spoken first was large, his broad shoulders stretched against the fabric of the guard uniform. He stood two inches taller than me; his hair fell to his shoulders, black, half tied away from his face. He seemed so familiar, a walking deja vu. The second male was nearly my height, his eyes brighter than his sun-fire hair.

They gestured for me to keep walking, each taking up positions on either side of me. The tension in the air was thick enough to choke. The first turn down the lengthy corridor had my stomach sinking. This wasn't the way to the King's chambers. Even in my hazy state, I knew. My bare feet padded against the stone as we traveled through the castle. We encountered no guards, not a whisper in the empty corridors.

My obedience urged my feet forward at the guards' orders, but something stopped me as I realized they walked towards a set of doors, doors that led outside. I had never been outside the palace's inner walls. I stopped dead in my tracks. My heart was racing, willing my feet to keep going, urging me towards the open sky. They turned towards me, question in their gaze.