Blood Vengeance [COMPLETED]

Chapter Twenty-one - Unburdened

Half an hour or so after Arthur had left, Selene herself left his apartment. She moved with a sole purpose: to find Xander, and get them both the hell out of Epershand. But with every step she had to fight the urge to look for Arthur instead; her body ached for him in a way that undermined her intellect, her common sense, her survival instinct.

She was too afraid to call out his name, but she retraced her steps to all the places where she had seen him before. She climbed the small spiral staircase up to the upper floor, the belt chafing as she moved; an ever present reminder of Arthur and his perversity.

She stooped under a beam when she reached the narrow corridor lined with the doors with hatches in them that she had looked through before. But this time she didn't open a single one: she had had enough of the place; enough of the torture, the temptation.

She paced back and forth, up and down the corridor, again and again, for what felt like hours. Occasionally a Vampire would enter or exit a room, barely giving her a second glance. Finally, realising Xander was nowhere to be found, she left, retreating back down the stairs.

When she reached the bottom, her eyes on her feet in case she tripped, she ran straight into another person. Their heads clashed with a thump that left her aching, and she pulled away to look at her assailant. She gasped.

"Cecily!"

Cecily looked at her, a puzzled glint in her eyes.

"It's me. Selene."

Cecily gasped. "Selene, Selene? The Selene?" she questioned.

Selene nodded, and Cecily clasped her arms around her and drew her into an embrace.

"What are you doing here?" asked Cecily.

"The same as you I assume. Arthur's prisoner. He bought all the dancers, after the scandal with Hector. They're all here somewhere."

Selene looked her up and down, wondering whether she too wore a belt beneath her dress.

"You're his mistress. His chosen one," stated Selene, unable to resist. She wanted to know what it was like; what he did to her.

Cecily nodded. "Yes."

"Is he cruel?"

"No. But he's very demanding. I have to do exactly as he asks."

"Does he make you wear the belt?" she asked.

"A chastity belt?"

"Yes," said Selene, nodding.

"All the time, when I am not dancing and when he is not with me. I'm used to it now. I barely even notice it."

"Do you enjoy it?"

"What?"

"Being with Arthur."

"To a certain extent. Sometimes it's intensely pleasurable." Her eyes flicked upwards, as though she was remembering something specific. "But it's demeaning, and never my choice. You know; what happens, when it happens et cetera...it's all determined by him. But it's not as bad as I thought it would be."

"Do you have feelings for him?"

"No, Selene. Don't be an idiot. He's a tyrant. An oppressor. I do what I have to to keep him happy; to stay alive. That's all. And if I get a little pleasure out of it, well, it's a bonus."

Selene felt her cheeks burning; it wouldn't just be a duty if she were his mistress, she realised. But she quickly quashed the train of thought, because it would only lead somewhere unhelpful, somewhere dark and shameful, that she didn't want to go.