C a p t u r e d

33: Parasitic

Chapter Thirty-Three- Parasitic

Parasite

1. a person who takes advantage of others without giving any useful or proper return.

2. Ex: Tyson/Xiang Long is a parasite that feeds on turmoil.

Tyson was a kleptomaniac when it came to blood.

Hunting wildly. Grabbing randomly.

Tyson's hunger. His age. His Council seat. His mansion. His underground kingdom. His ease in isolating us.

All of these attributed towards the illusion that he was in control.

Unfortunately our blood wasn't our bargaining piece. He was too strong... Too experienced... As sharp as a fucking knife...

After all this time, I had nothing to hold against him. Knowing his origin story only made it more terrifying.

Someone like me became a kidnapper.

Someone like me sat by idly while innocent people lost their lives.

Someone like me had actually taken lives.

So what, he said they deserved it. Every evil person justified immoral actions to themselves.

That pain was more instantaneous than being tasered. More hopeless than a no-legged runner. Sharper than Ji's bite.

I couldn't risk losing my humanity. I just couldn't risk it. So course I followed his orders. But it was all a façade.

Someone knocked on the front door, and it was Sasha. She wore her long, blond cornrows, tied up in a bun. Her posture was limp and her fangs were out. It was terrifying.

She used her new set of keys (gifted from Tyson) and unlocked the door, eyes wide and gigantic.

I was so startled, I practically threw up. "Where have you been?"

Her bug-eyes were still wide and frenzied. But at least now, her posture was muted.

"Vampire church."

Really? Down here, there was a vampire church? It was so strange to me to think that down here, there were still vampires faithful enough to refrain from being atheist or agnostics.

I filled her in on our fantasies of running away and making potions to stop Tyson, quietly, listening for Aubrey. Then I led her down to the Labyrinth.

Leyla and Natalia leaned over the fire. The flickering conflagration was so hot; it was a bright blue color. The twins wore their hair in matching braids, as if for this occasion only. For once, they didn't wear dresses. They'd borrowed two pairs of Uzair's oversized slacks, so they could sit cross-legged on the floor.

We were sitting in a Chinese-style room off the edge of the Labyrinth. This room was one of the thirty-or-so dead ends. It also served as a makeshift kitchen.

Natalia and Leyla were honestly acting like witches. They giggled over the fireplace, where their metal pot held. I sat kneeling on one of the mats, with my head studying the tapestry on the ceiling. The floor was decked out with elaborate swirling tiles, like it came straight out of a temple.

Nam Ha sat nearby me, tapping her short fingernails on the coffee table. She had her head down. She was hiding something, I could tell.

The room was steaming. We were all essentially boiled crayfish. The sweat leaked down my face.