Dawn of the Elements - Book 4: Future Rewritten

Chapter Seven: The Vampire and His Niece

Melody's eyes began fluttering open, as water dripped onto her face, waking her up. Looking at her surroundings, she found that she was in what looked like a jail cell. Struggling to stand, she found that her hands were in handcuffs. She had a tube stuck in her left arm, with blood flowing from it.

Looking down, she discovered that she was naked, which disturbed her a bit. Only two of her aunts, and her brother had seen her naked, her brother seeing her naked by accident. As she tried to find something to cover herself with, she heard a voice from the shadows, hissing with every word.

"Beautiful, like your mother, yet troublesome like your father." A figure stepped out from the shadows, only revealing everything but the top half of his face. Melody watched as her captor's wide, twisted mouth curled into a long fanged smile.

"I recognize your face." The teen said, trying to move as far away from the figure as possible. As she struggled, the figure pulled a lever on the wall. Melody screamed as blood left her arm, travelling up the tube, and into a glass under a pour spout. The figure picked up the glass, and took a sip.

"You know, I never got to taste your father's blood during my last life." The figure stepped into the light, given off by a lone torch on the wall. Melody had a look of horror stretch onto her face, as her Uncle Caius gazed upon her. "He killed me before I had the chance. But I must say, his would taste sour compared to the sweetness of yours."

"He'll beat you, Uncle Caius!" Melody screamed, watching Caius recoil a bit. "Just like he always does!" When she said this, the Vampire Prince began laughing hysterically, which caught the weakened girl off guard.

"You're from the future, dearest Melody." Caius said, getting closer to the vulnerable teen before him. "My sister hasn't given birth to you yet. And yet, you of all people should know that he doesn't always beat me. He's dead in the future, while I rule as I should've always done."

"Then why not kill me?" The frightened girl asked. "Set the future in stone. By keeping me alive, you risk losing everything." To this statement, Caius laughed. "Unless you plan on using me to break him."

"I've tried for four years to break the Crimson Dragon." Caius said, clear annoyance in his voice. "I've come close countless times. He's even died by my command. And even then, he still came back. It's my thought, that with your pretty little life in harms way, he will come to terms with surrender."

Caius took another drink from his glass, emptying it. "Get used to this feeling, Melody." He pulled the lever again, which made her blood flow again. She screamed, as she watched her Uncle's glass fill up again. "You'll be feeling it quite often."

A lone female vampire entered the holding cell. "Lord Caius, The Horned King has arrived." She hissed, a smirk on her face. Caius turned his head to face her, a smile sat upon his distorted face.

"Ready my niece for the meeting." He said, smugly. "I'll need refreshments during the negotiations, and I sure Silver would love to see how we've been keeping his beloved daughter."

"The Horned King?" Melody asked, scared. "My father fully embraced the dragon inside him?" She struggled, trying to stand. "Why would be do that? He knows his transformation is connected to..." she cut herself off, slowly realizing her father's plan.

"Quiet, Sweet Melody." Caius said, slapping the girl. As she fell to the floor, he chuckled. "Your father has no weapon, and no powers. He has no choice but to accept my terms." With this, Melody chuckled weakly.

"My father is smarter then you give him credit for, Uncle Caius." She said, clearly weakening. "He'll have a plan. He always does." Caius didn't like this outburst, and stormed out of the cell, heading for the conference room.

"Stupid Silver, and his stupid perfect life!" The Vampire Prince shouted into an empty hallway. "He's been living the life of luxury, the life I was supposed to have! Well I'll show him! I'll show them all!"

He came to a stop at a large set of double doors. "Time to make my future a reality." He opened the door, to find Silver sitting in a chair, at the end of a long wooden table.

"Silver, I see you accepted my invitation." The Vampire Prince addressed his most hated enemy smugly. "Not that I gave you much choice in the matter." He smirked, then had a puzzling look creep onto his face. "How did you even get here?"

"That's for me to know, and for you to find out, Caius." Silver stated. The Master of Fire smirked, as he saw the puzzled look grow. "I doubt you'll figure it out. Without me telling you, that is."

Caius then saw the dampening cuffs in the King's wrists. "You can't reach The Blood Cross here, and with those cuffs dampening your powers, I finally have you right where I want you."

The Prince of Darkness sits at the other end of the table. "I'd say I'd prepared refreshments, but since we don't usually have Normalite food, I hope you don't mind if I partake."

He snapped his fingers, and a female vampire walked in wheeling a cart. It had a valved pour spout, with a tube sticking from the back. The cart had a chain attached to the back, twisted with the tube. Dragged behind the cart, chained to the cart was a naked teenage girl, with black and purple hair.

"Father!" Melody shouted, struggling with her cuffs when she saw him. "Don't do it! I'm not worth it!" The pyromancer screamed, as the female vampire turned the valve, and crimson blood flowed from her arm, through the tube, and out the pour spout, into a glass underneath.

The female vampire handed the glass to Caius, who thanked her. "Caius, you bastard!" Silver shouted, rushing over to his daughter, who shuttered from the cold, damp room. "She's your niece! How could you do something this twisted!?"

"She's alive, just as I promised." Caius smirked, taking a drink. "Besides, what possibly gave you the idea that I'd do something like that to her? I do have some tact left, Silver. By draining her blood, and keeping her here, weakened, vulnerable, and drained of her strength will make negotiations faster." He rested his arms in the table. "Now, time to make the future happen."