Forever Alone... Or Not

Chapter 28

3rd Person

Michael and Sariha walked in a line down the complete cement hall. Despite already being so deep underground, there were a few more flights of stairs they had to climb down. They were quite steep and Michael thought of how the stairs resembled his heartbeat at the moment.

His human heart, the thing that differentiated him from Nicco, was erratic. Drop. Thump. Another drop. Thump. He almost fell down a few stairs. It didn't help that the frozen, nipping air made his legs go stiff.

Michael surprised himself. It wasn't feeding Nicco that he was nervous about. In fact, he wanted to. As an apology for getting him locked up. For causing this whole dilemma, all the god-forsaken drama. He wanted to apologize for being his blood bond.

Instead, he was nervous about seeing what kind of condition Nicco was in. He was starved, and in jail of all places. Cold, hard, abusive jail. A vampire jail at that.

It wasn't just his physical condition that he was concerned about. There is mental and emotional conditions to worry about as well. Nicco has already had such a fucked up life, and Michael sure as hell wasn't making it any better. To him, at least.

Sariha, on the other hand, was focused on the case. Contemplating the choices, obviously, the guaranteed deal was appealing. But it was so lazy. Like they were giving in to Estelle and Domingo's wishes. Which was the worst part of it all. They were the biggest cunts on Earth. They're already spoiled stupid. Why couldn't they just let it go?

Sariha, although she loved the challenge, this was her friend's life on the line. Well, more like her girlfriend's brother, or her best friend's boyfriend. Either way, he meant a lot to the people she cared about, so in extension she cared about him. And she couldn't live with herself if this went awry as it would destroy Bethany and Michael's lives.

The two were sandwiched between two others. Vampires, presumably. They were fairly similar in stature. They were bland, yet intimidating. Brown hair, brown eyes, an olive-y skin tone. Nothing stood out other than the Vladimir Puttin glare they both wore. Both hoped they wouldn't try anything.

The hall they were walking through smoothly expanded larger. Then they started passing gated enclosures. Cells. A few were occupied. Whether they were alive or not, they couldn't tell. Well, Sariha could. Some had heartbeats, she could hear them.

Those were the human prisoners. Some still had flowing blood, and rising chests, those were the Vampires. Others were stagnant. Those were the corpses.

The smell was pungent. It stuck to the inside of their nostrils. Michael swore he could taste it too, somehow. It was invading and overpowering his senses. Irony, yet extremely acidic and sour. Like a crab apple.

Hearing a sudden clack of metal, Michael jumped. Looking back he realized it was just the guard pulling out a large ring of keys. Along with the keys, he pulled out a thick pair of leather gloves.

Nearing the end of the hallways, the guard from behind instructed them to stand off to the side. Now with the gloves on, he unlocked the last cell door on the left.

"Avoid the bars, they're enchanted." The Guard instructed with a voice that resembled the hiss of a snake. Or like a cat, with its hackles raised.

Michael couldn't see Nicco from where he stood. But he could see the puddles. Could smell them too. His body buzzed as he basically ran into the room. Bypassing the guards and even Bethany he analyzed the room. Not too far from the puddles of blood and vomit, Nicco lay supine. The unconscious man seemingly slept, yet the green to his skin hinted otherwise.

Taken aback at seeing the man in such a state, Michael paused, mouth agape. Jesus fucking Christ, he thought. A hand went to his chest feeling incredible pain at seeing Nicco like this. I need to fix this! Was his next thought.