Blood and Tears - Grumbo Vampire AU

Chapter 21: Hopeless

Mumbo woke up during a rather bumpy and rough ride in the back of a prisoner carriage, his head resting against the wooden floorboards of the wagon. He groaned at the splitting feeling of his head, weighed down by the net that was wrapped around his body. He couldn't move much, especially with how weak the silver made him feel.

"You up?" Ex asked, his voice rather bleak and defeated. Mumbo gave another painful groan as his response.

"These nets limit our powers and strength," TFC grumbled as he tried to fight against the trap that kept him bound. "If we could get out of this—"

"Yeah, but we can't. Even if we did, the bars of this cage are made of silver. We're still trapped." Ex snapped rather harshly, making Mumbo wince in pain at the noise.

He struggled to sit upright, being worn down at the net that kept him trapped. The two other vampires were being kept in the same cage as he was, the three wrapped and secured in their respective nets. Mumbo tried to look between the bars, though it appeared that there was a tarp covering the cage to prevent sunlight from leaking in.

Looking to TFC helplessly, Mumbo spoke up. "What do we do now?"

"I...don't know." He muttered a bit, slowly shaking his head while staring off into space.

Mumbo looked around through the darkness, trying to spot something that could possibly get them out of this mess. He frowned, as nothing seemed to catch his eye. "How long have I been out..?" The vampire asked, looking towards the other monsters for answers.

"Two or three hours." Ex responded with a huff, shutting his eyes to try and shut out the problem at hand.

The road was bumpy and rough, making it difficult for Mumbo to think straight. His mind was racing at the fact they had been caught, and not only caught. But they had been caught so easily, the king and his guards had managed to take down the three vampires in a mere matter of moments.

He could feel his skin burning at the silver beads, whenever his hand or face would accidentally brush up against the net, causing his skin to bubble and smoke. If he hadn't lost consciousness already, the sensation would've probably caused him to pass out completely. As it stood though, all he could do was endure the pain as he waited for the carriage to come to a stop.

Since he spent most of the ride unconscious, it wasn't long until they carriage began to slow its pace down, eventually coming to a complete halt. Someone lifted the tarp, preventing any light from burning the three as they opened the cage doors and stepped inside.

Xisuma pulled out his silver blade, walking over to Ex and kneeling beside the vampire. "The all powerful monster, now nothing more than a prisoner." He taunted, dragging the blade against Ex's cheek. The skin blackened like char and bubbled up, as if it were being burned, though the vampire refused to give X the satisfaction of wincing.

"What do you even want with us?" Ex spat out, his lips pulled back in an ugly snarl as he glared at the hunter.

"If it were up to me, I'd drive a stake through your heart." Xisuma said as he stood up, dragging a gloved finger along the tip of the blade. "But the king wants you three alive."

"I don't even know why you hate me," The vampire rolled his eyes. "What, you're mad about that little scar I gave you? Because you attacked me first!"

The hunter grit his teeth, raising his blade and slashing it down. He stabbed the dagger just inches away from Ex, right in the wooden floorboards. X looked into his eyes as he pulled his weapon from the ground. "You killed him. My grandfather."

Ex thought for a minute, studying the bits of Xisuma's face that he could see. "Wow," He muttered a bit. "You have his eyes. I can't believe I never noticed."