Blood Promise (Completed)

Part 13 - A Prisoner

 Hour after hour passed, but Anika still had no explanation which would satisfy her. What was the creature which prowled the grounds at night and how was it related to Shiven? For related they were. Everything was not as it appeared on the surface. All the rumors about evil residing within the walls of the fort, could not be the result of wild imagination. There was some truth to it, and she had to find out that truth for the peace of her mind.

Unable to sleep, she rose and pulled out a bottle of juice from the refrigerator. As she sat drinking from the bottle, she suddenly remembered that she still had the book meant for George in her purse. She had clean forgotten to give it to him. Anyway, he had been in no condition to read it. But she could. Knowing about the history of the fort might help to explain the mysterious happenings taking place inside it.

She looked for her purse, but it was nowhere in her suite. Of course, she must have dropped it in Shiven's quarters when she had gone to meet him. She had to retrieve it from there. It was necessary that she unravel the mystery of the fort before Shiven came back.

Determined now, she put on some warm clothes, slowly opened the door of the suite, just a crack, and peered out. The guard was sitting on a chair, his eyes closed. Cautiously, she stepped out, then stood absolutely still, waiting to see if he woke, but he was clearly, fast asleep. Barefooted, she ran down the passage, glancing behind her back to check if she was being followed, but no footsteps followed her. Instead, the passage lay in darkness, with just a small light glowing like the devil's eye.

No guard stopped her at Shiven's door. She tried it, but it wasn't locked, so she pushed it open and entered the darkened room. She searched for the electric switch but could find none. Taking a deep breath, and clamping down on her rising panic, she looked around her. Her sight had, by then adjusted to the total darkness. She saw a box of matches lying on the table and lit a couple of candles. Picking up a candlestick, she started searching her surroundings. She found her purse lying on the bedroom floor. She must have dropped it there when she had gone in earlier. Picking it up, she looked around the room, opening closets, her fingers working frantically, in the hope of finding the truth about Shiven. She went through the whole of the apartment but could find nothing that could give her a clue about him. Suddenly, a thought struck her. Going up to the refrigerator, she pulled open the door.

What stood inside, almost made her swoon. It was stacked full of pouches, containing a red liquid. She tore open a packet, spilling some of the fluid on the carpeted floor. Bringing it to her nose, she smelled it. It was blood, whether human or animal, she could not say, but blood it was, for it had that faint metallic smell. Bile rose in her throat and a wave of nausea washed over her. What was this blood doing in Shiven's refrigerator? An obvious answer stared her in the face, but she refused to acknowledge it. Doing so would devastate her.

Anika sank down on the floor, heart-wrenching sobs wracking her frame. What had she done, giving herself to a monster? What did that make her? Tormenting thoughts ran inside her mind, fear and revulsion rising within her. A slight noise outside brought her to her senses. She had to leave before anyone discovered her presence in the apartment. God alone knew what her fate would be then.

Slowly, she rose from the floor, shuffling like an old woman. Putting her head out of the door, she checked if anybody was around, but seeing no one, she made her way down the passage to her suite.

The guard was still asleep in his chair, snoring loudly. She entered her suite, breathing a sigh of relief that no one had seen her. A small bedside lamp was on in her bedroom. She shed the jacket and stepped out of the denims, throwing a silken robe around her shoulders, then nearly jumped out of her skin when someone cleared his throat.

Turning with a hand to her heart, she saw him, reclining on the couch opposite the bed.

"Shiven!" She had missed him as he had blended with the shadows. What was he doing here? Wasn't he supposed to be on a trip out of town?

"What....what....are....you doing here?" she croaked. Sweat pooled between her breasts, and her palms became clammy. She found it hard to take the next breath.

"What did you think Anika, that you could look through my apartment and I wouldn't come to know of it? You only had to ask me, dear, and I would have given you a tour myself," he said through his teeth.

Anika felt her knees shake. What was he going to do now? Would he kill her? Would she end up as one of those who had disappeared mysteriously from the fort, never to be heard of again?

He advanced towards her, his eyes glowing in the dim light, and she backed against the wall, her gaze running around her desperately. There was nowhere left to escape.

"Please don't hurt me. I'll leave in the morning......" she pleaded, tears streaming down her face.

"No...." he stretched out a hand, and she flinched back in terror. The room seemed to spin, and blackness swam before her eyes, till she fell into a dead faint.

Anika came around, to find herself lying on her bed. A duvet covered her. Shiven was sitting by her bedside. She tried to scream from the sheer terror of it, but her tongue had become dry and stuck to the roof of her mouth.

Shiven rose and brought a glass of water, offering it to her.

"Drink, Anika. Rest easy, my darling, I'm not going to hurt you," he said, a tender look in his eyes.

Was he telling the truth? Anika wanted to believe him. She would like nothing more than to leave and forget about him. Would he let her do so?

She sat up, and took the glass from him, taking a sip to moisten her lips. He took the glass from her nerveless fingers, placing it back on the bedside table.

"Ask me what you wish to know, Anika. I'll answer as far as I can."

"Are you....are you....just what are you, Shiven?"

"Well, I'm certainly not human, as you have guessed. But I promise you, Anika, I'm not totally the monster that you think I am."

She stared at him. "Vampire?" she whispered, as if speaking the word out loud would bring out the devil in him.

"Yes," he said, his fingers caressing the wound on her neck. "I couldn't help leaving these, but tasting your blood was something I had waited for long, to do."

"What do you want from me?" Anika asked him, her blood running cold at his words.

"I will tell you when the time comes, not before."

"Does that mean I can't leave in the morning?"

"No, my love. You aren't going anywhere, and that's for your own good."

"Tell me, Shiven, am I a prisoner here?"

"Think what you like, Anika, but the fact remains, that I can't let you go."

With that, he bent his head, placing a kiss on her cold lips, and then left the room without a backward glance.