The Tribrid

Chapter Seven

           Shifting back into human form, Devorah rummaged through the pile of clothes that Sarah provided for her, finding under garments, a long sleeve gray shirt, and black fleece pants. The clothes hugged her body as she continued to shuffle through everything. She found a large blanket that could be used as a mattress if she folded it up a few times. Underneath a few more sets of clothes lay a solid gray blanket that mimicked the material of her pants.

Deciding to initiate the first few steps into organizing the chaos that was her life, Devorah separated and folded the clothes into their respectable pair. The room was completely bare, with nowhere to place her clothes, so she moved them to one corner of the room instead. Returning to the remaining items sprawled on the water damaged floor, she carefully folded the thick blanket into a makeshift mattress and moved it to the corner furthest from the door.

          Gently sitting down on the makeshift mattress, it wasn't the most comfortable, but it was an upgrade from her previous situation in a cell. A little spark of hope filled her body with hopes that she could somehow manipulate Lina into obtaining the things she needed to survive and escape this kingdom one day. Her mind knew that Lina seemed to be weaving her in a web to take advantage of what she is, but her heart desperately needed her parents and Victoria to be alive once more. But how would Lina construct that plan if black magic is forbidden?

           Devorah was so deep in thought that she didn't realize she was now lying down on the handmade mattress. The muscles in her body began relaxing, almost like a melting sensation the longer she laid there. Her eyelids began drooping at how weak she still felt from the lack of nutrients, but she imagined that a nice rest would help regain stored energy, if she had any left.

          The sound of her fragile bedroom door slamming open caused Devorah to jerk her body to an upright position, her heart pounding so hard in her chest that it seemed to cause her eyesight to blur for a moment.

          "Your dinner is ready," Dave explained as he motioned for Sarah to enter the bedroom. A silver tray balanced on her left arm while she held a silver pitcher in her right hand. "Come out when you're done Sarah," Dave instructed as he sauntered out of the room, eyeing Devorah as he shut the door behind him.

          Devorah heard a lock from the outside as the guards locked the two girls in. Sarah seemed extremely nervous and cautious as she began shaking once the sound of the door locking filled her ears, trapping her inside the room. Setting the tray and pitcher on the floor, she pulled a small placemat out of her back pocket and unfolded it carefully, avoiding eye contact with Devorah. Smoothing out the piece of fabric, Sarah began uncovering the food on the tray. The smell wafted into Devorah's nose, causing her mouth to instantly water.

          "I prepared chicken, potatoes, carrots, and biscuits. There is water in the pitcher. I hope that is ok," Sarah quietly spoke, intertwining her hands together as she stood up.

          "That sounds amazing actually, thank you," Devorah replied as she moved slowly towards the tray of food on the floor, as she didn't want to frighten Sarah with how ravenous she felt just staring at the food.

          "Do you need anything else?" Sarah now hung her head and kept her eyes glued to the floor.

          Even though Devorah's abilities needed time to resurface after being dormant for so many years, her senses still caught on to the fact that Sarah was frightened by her and being trapped in the same small space with her. "I don't believe so. Thank you for all your help."

          Nodding her head quickly, Sarah retreated to the door and knocked three times. The vampire guards opened the door and Sarah quickly escaped the room, the door being slammed behind her, and the lock turned. Devorah positioned herself as she sat on the floor as her eyes devoured the food on the plate. At least Lina kept this promise, along with the clothes. Reaching for the chicken, she hesitated as she brought it to her nose to breath in the lovely smell. A part of her remained cautious on whether the food has been poisoned. The other part of her knew that if she didn't eat, she would die of starvation.

           Bringing the food to her mouth, she bit down in the juiciness of the chicken, and began chewing frantically. Each bite was better than the last as she cleared the tray in less than ten minutes. Her body already felt a little stronger as she drank the water at an incredible speed. When she was done, she stopped for a breath because she held her breath the entire time she ate and drank. Letting out a sigh of satisfaction, she wiped any food from her face and made sure to put everything on the tray to help Sarah out when she returned for the items.

          Resuming a standing position at a quicker rate with a little more strength she gained from the nutrients, she made her way to her little blanket mattress after grabbing the soft fleece blanket to drape over her body. The material reminded her of a blanket that her mother used to tuck her in at night with. Gripping it a little tighter, she held onto the little bit of hope that maybe she would see them again one day, if she played her cards correctly. Lying down once more, her eyes fell captive to the heaviness as she drifted off to sleep.

          "Devorah, you must find the Vampire King, King Draven, at the South Kingdom if you are ever held captive by Lina. He will provide protection and a roof over your precious little head, ok?" Victoria stared into young Devorah's eyes as she reviewed the plan if the two of them were discovered.

          "Why can't we just go now?" Devorah questioned, very confused due to her age. The dark circles under her eyes indicated that she lacked sleep since the incident.

          "I promised your parents and King Draven that he would be a last resort, even though he protested my decision. I'm hoping that this cloaking spell won't wear off."

          Devorah began tearing up at the thought of being caught by Lina. The woman terrified her, and she was afraid that she would suffer the same fate as her parents.

          "Sweetheart, please don't cry. We will be ok," Victoria attempted to comfort the now sobbing little girl, bringing her close to her body to offer reassurance that she wouldn't let Lina capture the little one.

          Devorah's eyes snapped open to escape the nightmare and realized she left the dim light on in her room. Rubbing her eyes gently, she began shaking her head slightly to knock the memory out of her groggy mind. After turning the light switch off, she carefully tiptoed her way back to her bed.

          As she lied awake, afraid to fall captive to sleep, she placed her hands about a foot away from her face to see if her night vision her wolf possessed would kick in. She could barely make out the outline of her hands. The night vision should allow her to see everything in her surroundings at full capacity, but she still had a long way to go before her abilities were normal.

          Letting out a breath of defeat, she rolled onto her right side and pulled the fleece blanket up to the bottom of her nose as she noticed the temperature dropped drastically from earlier. Her wolf side typically thrived in cold weather, but she had to be patient as she regained everything she lost many years ago.