Realm of the Rogues

Chapter XXXIX

I quickly pull my hand to myself and stare at Dom with a bit of fear, suddenly very aware of the pulse in my throat. I swallow uncomfortably and lean slowly away from him and against the car door. At that moment Dom rips his eyes from me and back on the road while gripping the wheel so hard, that his knuckles turn white. He clears his throat,

"Sorry, I need to pull over and find something to eat," he says in a clipped voice and with a distant stare, before pulling into the side. At the same moment that he puts the car in park, he is gone, only leaving the door hanging open on its hinges. Suddenly I feel very cold and alone. I look around the car and see that we are practically in the middle of nowhere. On the left side of the car is a forest, but on my side are only green planes stretching as far as the eye can see.

I reach over the driver seat to close the door, not wanting to catch a cold, but also not liking the feeling of vulnerability the open door gives me. I don't get far, however, as my wrist is grabbed forcefully by a pair of cold fingers, just before I get to grasp the door. I yelp in surprise, begging to the Gods, that is just Dom, but quickly losing all hope. 

I feel the urge to scream bubble up in me, but before I get to act on my impulses, I am being dragged out backward through the passenger door by another person. Quickly they force a ball of cloth into my mouth, rendering me mere human, since I can no longer scream. Whoever is grasping me from behind then pulls me to the back of the car and slams my upper body down onto the trunk. They twist my arms to my back and force them up against my shoulder blades, causing me to tear up in pain as they almost dislocate my shoulders.

I writhe against the grip and try to kick the person behind me, but that only entices them to further push my arms up which forces me to stop resisting. The man who had grabbed my wrist then moves into my view, and I immediately know, that he is a vampire, as he sports a menacing grin, showing off his fangs, and his eyes pierce me with their shinning red color. He swings the keys to the car around his finger before catching them and stuffing them into his pocket. He squats down in front of me and tucks a lock of my hair behind my ear. I just close my eyes hard and pray that he won't hurt me.

Before I can register it, he stands up with impossible speed, tucks his bottom lip into his mouth, and whistles. From behind him, two men emerge from the forest with Dom in an armlock between them. He too is fighting against his captors, but succeeding little more than me. 

"Bruno, let the fuck go of me before I snap your neck," I can hear him threaten one of his captors, as they approach us. The man on his left just shakes his head in what looks to be disappointment.

"Look Domhnall, I don't want to do this either, but you are transporting a forbidden creature. We have to take you in. You know the protocol," the man I assume to be Bruno answers in a surprisingly soft tone.

"Fuck the protocol!" Dom seethes back and spits on Bruno's shoes. Bruno just sighs and continues walking.

"We secured the banshee," the man standing in front of me yells to Dom's captors. At this moment Dom's eyes fly up and meet mine. In them, I see fear and worry, as they scan over my body, probably checking whether or not I have suffered any injuries. I shake my head at him and notice him ease up a bit.

"Don't hurt her," Dom demands as they are now standing together with us.

"If you promise not to hurt her, then we agree to come with you. As a matter of fact, we were already on our way to speak with the council," Dom continues in a stern voice.

"Yeah, yeah," the guy in front of me says, giving me the vibe, that he is the leader amongst the four.

"Save your words for the council when we get there. I'm sure they are eager to hear whatever tale you have this time," he continues and waves his hand in front of him, clearly showing us that he doesn't care. He then signals with two fingers for the other three men to follow him as he suddenly disappears. I brace myself as the man behind me throws me over his shoulder, and then he zooms away as well, forcing all contents of my stomach to be pushed up towards my mouth. 

Luckily it is not too long before I am thrown off his shoulder and onto rock tiles. I can't hold the contents down anymore and throw up, right there on the floor and then proceed to wipe my mouth off in the back of my hand. I slowly turn around to get to my feet, all the while scanning my surroundings. I feel a gust of wind on my left followed by the sound of Dom.

"Alright get the fuck off of me now, I can stand myself!". He pushes the two guys off of him, as they place him next to me, and then pulls on his vest to straighten it before brushing his hands through his wind-blown hair. While doing so he looks around and spots me, still on the floor, but on my way up. He quickly comes to my aid, grabs my hand with one of his, and puts his other hand under my arm for support. I give him a grateful look and a small smile.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" he asks me in a low voice while running his gaze all over me looking for injuries.

"I'm okay, but my shoulders hurt," I answer while putting my hand up to caress my right shoulder, which is very sore from the struggle with the man, who had held me. At the confession, his eyes suddenly turn from a warm worried gaze to one of pure rage as he stares pins into the four men, who now stand a couple of steps behind us. I feel Dom's hands on my upper arms, both there to protect me, but also to keep him back from lunging at the guys' throats.

"Take your seats," a loud voice booms out over us, instantly chilling my blood. I slowly turn my gaze back in front of me, only to find seven very menacingly looking vampires, clad in big and intricately detailed dark robes. They are all sitting on big gothic thrones, with the one in the middle being the biggest. The man on that looks much older than all the others and is clearly the one with the most authority as he booms again,

"Bow."