Captive

Chapter 4

Ella

As soon as I wake, I check that yes, my heart is still beating. I realise my hands are now unbound and I push myself up to take in my surroundings. I’m definitely not in the cage in the warehouse anymore. I’m in a bedroom; its furnishings include a huge bed, large flat screen TV, dresser drawers, and a computer. There’s also a walk in robe and an ensuite attached to the room. Basically it looks like a human’s room would have looked pre vampire outbreak. But I’m pretty sure the room doesn’t belong to a human.

I begin to stand up, and that’s when I feel pressure on my left ankle. I look down and see a metal cuff around the bottom of my leg, already rubbing my skin red. Attached to the cuff is a long metal chain that has been very securely hooked into the wall, so I know there’s really no chance of escape. I stand up anyway, my body aching from not using my muscles in God knows how long, and I’m a bit wobbly on my legs. I search the room thoroughly, hoping to find Charlie, but she’s not here. I hope she’s ok.

I go to call out her name, but the bedroom doorknob twists, and I’m caught off guard and fall down with a thud and a squeal. I push myself against the wall and curl up as tightly as possible, bracing myself for whatever monster walks through the door. A gasp of surprise escapes my lips when the vampire isn’t one I’ve seen before. This one is young, maybe around my age, and he’s tall with dark brown hair. He’s looking down at his feet, not seeming to realise I’m here and aware of his presence.

“Who are you?” I demand, finding a tinge of bravery in me. The vampire jumps, his eyes darting to look at me, and his face looks almost as scared as I feel. This gives me another jolt of courage, so I start ranting at him, “Why am I here? Where’s my sister? What are you going to do to us?”

“Quiet!” the vampire says softly but urgently, his hands raised up at me as though he’s pleading. He turns to look at the bedroom door, and moves silently towards it to close it.

I start to feel hysterical. “Quiet?! I’m not going to be quiet until you tell me what I want to know!” I stop to take a breath and go to scream some more, but in a second the vampire is knelt down in front of me, his hand covering my mouth. I didn’t even see him move, he was so much faster than I could have ever imagined. I’m completely terrified now.

Casey

I suddenly realise that I’m in front of her, touching her warm skin. She’s around my age, as far as I can tell. Her skin is a golden tanned colour, her hair light brown and wavy, her hazel eyes stare at me in horror. My movements slow as I breathe in, staring at her neck where I know her blood flows strongly. I swallow hard. A living, breathing, blood circulating human - something I haven't been around in a very long time. Feelings that I'd forgotten about stir just below the surface, and I can't stop the raw longing that claws inside of me.

“Please be quiet,” I breathe almost silently. “Stay quiet, and I’ll tell you what you want to know.” I stare at her anxiously, waiting for her to agree. She nods. I remove my hand from her mouth, and she looks as though she’s going to scream again, but then thinks better of it.

My voice stays in the softest whisper as I talk. “My brother brought you and another girl here for,” I stop and swallow hard again, looking back at my closed bedroom door, “food.”

The girl interrupts, but keeps her voice as low as possible; though I panic Lachlan will still hear her. “The other girl, what does she look like? Where is she? Is she my sister?” Silent tears fall down her cheeks.

I shake my head. “I don’t know, I haven’t seen her.”

This makes her cry even more. I raise my hand to her face and she shrinks back into the wall, as far from me as she can possibly get. I go to pull my hand back, but I have to know. I keep reaching until my fingers touch her cheek, and I collect her tears on them. I bring them up to my face to stare at them, glistening in the dim light on my fingertips. I can smell the salt in them, and then I do something I didn’t expect. I put my fingers up to my lips and lick them. I can taste the salt, the girl’s tears, and I try and remember the last time I would have cried, when I would have tasted my own tears as they fell down my cheeks and onto my lips. I think back to when I was 11, when I came home from school crying to Lachlan, who held me while I told him about these kids at school picking on me. He fixed it for me, made it better.