Stay with me

Chapter 9: Decisions

Sorry for the one day late guys! Here ya go

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Simon felt a churning in his stomach. It was the sound of his stomach fighting against the poisoned blood. And his gut wasn't winning.

He could feel saliva dripping down his chin. It made him feel like an animal. Well, he wasn't technically human now, was he? Or at least he wouldn't be for long. If the blood had already started to affect him it was only a matter of time before it took over completely. Before he changed.

Even though Simon was repulsed by the idea of drinking more of the toxin, he craved it. He remembered this craving, this fascination, from last time. After only a drop of vampire blood, he had been strangely drawn to them. He had found himself wanting more. And now it was happening all over again; but this time Simon didn't think he would be as lucky.

Why was it always Simon? Why was it always him who was captured? The one who all the bad things happened to? He had to admit that his friends had seen some rough times but what could be worse than actually forgetting you're closest friends? Was Simon just that weak that all the monsters just enjoyed tormenting him?

And what was even worse was that Simon didn't know where Izzy was. Hopefully she had gotten back to the institute safely. And hopefully she had had the common sense to stay there. It was too dangerous coming after Simon. He wasn't even worth saving.

*****

Lauren emerged out of the shadows and greeted him with a satisfied smile.

"Ah, hello my favourite prisoner," she said.

"W-what do you want?" Simon had a hard time speaking with his dry throat and struggled to speak around the coughing.

He wondered what Lauren wanted; she wouldn't have come here without a deeper purpose than saying hello.

"We're having a meeting, and you're going to be there," she said.

She laid out the wooden board and unchained Simon. It was almost impossible for him to move; Simons whole body was completely numb, and he wasn't getting any help from Lauren.

He made it to solid ground and was greeted with Laurens bleeding wrist. He dug in greedily.

"Easy, tiger. You get more when we make it to the meeting."

Simon hated being back in the hotel dumort; the memories he had of this place weren't pleasant. And he hated how Lauren could control him like he was her pet. It made him feel sick, but he just couldn't help it. He felt so weak.

He followed her to another dark room where a bunch of other vampires were lurking. Probably ten in total and they all had a malicious look in their eyes that made Simon even more nervous. The room was black and lacked any furnishings. Just cold and steely like the rest of this abandoned hotel.

"Welcome. Let us begin this meeting," Lauren started. "We have a choice to make. Will we either kill the prisoner and leave him dead, kill him and bring him back as a vampire, or leave him alive as our subjugate."

Simon hated all of those options. He didn't want to be their slave, and he didn't want to die or become a vampire again. But maybe Simon deserved this life, he thought. Maybe he deserved all this pain and suffering. I mean, what good had he ever done? He tried to push these thoughts away as the clan stared at him as if they were already plotting his death. Either way, this wouldn't end well for him.

"Raise your hand if you would like to kill the prisoner and he stays dead." Lauren said.

One vampire raised their hand, looked around and noticed he was the only one, then quickly lowered it.

Someone yelled, "He deserves to suffer!"

That left a cold pit in Simons stomach.

"Anyone for killing him and bringing him back?"

Only a few raised their hands. Simon knew where this was going, and he didn't like it one bit.

At last she spoke the dreaded words, "Raise your hand if you would like the prisoner to be our subjugate."

And more than half the rooms hands shot up. There was a sinking feeling in Simons gut as he processed the councils decision.

"There we have it, folks! Simon will be our very own subjugate. You can make him do whatever as long as it's not fatal. And remember to feed him! Can't have a repeat of last time," Lauren announced.

All the eyes in the room turned to Simon and he felt their stares piercing holes into him.

"And let's make things clear. If the prisoner doesn't cooperate, we will hunt down and kill every single one of his loved ones."

"That's against the law. The clave will kill you all," Simon objected. He didn't want these vampires laying a single hand on anyone that he loved.

"That might be true, but they won't be able to catch us on time. Everyone you love will already be gone."

She said it in such a casual voice that it made Simon shiver.

This wasn't good. The vampires basically had the right to torture him and make a fool of him; there was nothing he could do about it.