Realm of the Rogues

Chapter LXXXI

I look all around me in panic, trying to gauge where the running is coming from, but my head is pulsing in pain and my ears ringing, making all the sounds echo. I start hyperventilating, as all my senses assault me at once.

Then I'm forcefully grabbed by my arm, making the fingers holding me feel like they are devouring into my flesh. I almost scream, but bite it in, still enough at my senses to know that that would be a very bad idea in these cramped hallways. 

I'm pulled down the hallway as we all run as fast as we can while still being light on our toes. We halt every time the tunnel splits or intersects another, so that Farlan or Alasdair can peek down the new pathway, trying to see if the coast is clear. All I can do is try to be as quiet as possible, as Isobel's nails dig deeper and deeper into my arm as I'm gradually overwhelmed by the assault on my senses mixed with my pain.

We turn left down another hallway, just as identical as all the others, and I start to worry, that we might never find our way out again. I can't tell whether or not the shouts and footsteps are coming closer or not. I stumble and almost fall over a stone on the floor, prompting Isobel to yank me upright again before grasping both of my arms and staring into my eyes with rage.

"You need to get your shit together right now. You were the one insisting we had to do this now, so you need to step up and help us." I hear the fear and worry disguised under the venom in her voice. I blink hard and shake my head, trying to clear it. I do my best to block out the pain and all the sounds, smells and visual impressions, that don't help our cause in any way. I take a sharp breath in and nod curtly to Isobel, who then lets go of my arms, nodding back at me.

I close my eyes and take a huge breath in, trying to smell the blood from earlier. It's fainter now, so I begin to turn around, finding out where the smell is coming from. As I reach 180 degrees, the smell becomes a little stronger, and then I hear a muffled scream again, coming from that way. My eyes shoot open, and I barely have time to signal to the others, before I hurry back down the way we just came. 

We reach a crosssection, and without thinking, I hurry to the right as another strong whiff of blood hits me. But then I'm face to face with another group of vampires. I kick myself mentally for blocking out the sound of running as well. That would have been useful to keep an ear on.

I debate whether to fight them right now or try to run through them since I bet I would be faster. Then that horrible knawing void enters my gut, and I feel like something horrible is about to happen. I don't need any more encouraging than that, as I sprint through the three vampires. Farlan, Isobel and Alasdair will have to deal with them themselves, while I find Dom and hopefully don't run into any more enemies.

I hear shouting from behind me as fighting ensues, but I have no time to look over my shoulder. The muffled yells and screams as well as the smell of blood are becoming more intense for every step. 

A horrible chill runs down my spine, as I almost pass a hidden door to my left. I quickly halt and freeze in front of it, as I almost throw up due to the tight knot in my stomach. My hands are shaking as I slowly brace them against the door and push ever so lightly to it. As a small crack opens up, I'm hit in the face with the stench of blood turned bad and decomposing bodies. But what really makes my hair stand on end is the agonizing and furious screams, muffled by a thick piece of cloth.

I swing the door open and I dare say, that I will never in a thousand years forget the sight I'm met with. Strewn across the cold and damp stone floor are several bodies in various stages of decomposition. Maggots are crawling in and out of numerous open wounds scattering all over their bodies. In the middle of the room stands a single wooden chair with it's back to me, just as I saw in my vision. On it is a figure, that I assume must be Dom, but I can't determine it, as he has a thick linen bag over his head, tightly wrapped with rope around his neck. Several heavy and thick chains are digging so deeply into his body, that I know he must have a number of broken bones due to them. 

His skin has turned almost grey, and from each of his arms runs long dirty tubes, stabbed right into his veins. The end of one of the tubes is carelessly thrown on the floor, a big puddle of blood around the opening, that gradually becomes bigger and bigger, as his blood is drained from him. The other tube is stabbed into the chest of one of the decomposing bodies, replacing Dom's drained body with the filthy and rancid blood of the dead person. 

I can't hold it back anymore, as I throw up violently from the sight in front of me. Tears stream down my face as I run to the chair, ripping out the tubes from his arms, making blood explode from the large holes. I then claw through the linen bag to reveal Dom's face with sunken cheeks and near-lifeless eyes. I sob out both in relief and sorrow at the state of him.

I snap the thick rope around his neck in two, before yanking the cloth gagging him out of his mouth. Two deep gashes run from the sides of his mouth and all the way along his cheek, from where the cloth has been knawing into his skin. I grab either side of his face ever so gently, tilting his head up to face me. His eyes move so slowly as they drift up my face and meet mine. I sob out as he gives me a weak smirk, and then I kiss his forehead long and hard.

"I'm going to get you out," I promise him in a raspy tone, moving on to the chains strapping him down to the chair. I grab on with both hands and pull as hard as I can, finally snapping a link in two, making the chain fall to the ground with a heavy clank. I do the same with the four remaining chains, leaving me with red and blistered fingers, but I don't care. This is nothing compared to Dom's state. I feel sick again, as he peels himself from the chair, and I can see how at least three of his bones stick out underneath his skin, clearly broken and twisted.

"What do you think you are doing?" a voice booms out from the doorway, making me freeze in panic.