IHasCupQuake Is A Vampire?

Chapter 22

Kat

Matt leads me through the abandoned warehouse, where small cages hold crying, begging, screaming prisoners. I can see they look malnourished and weary, on the brink of going crazy or dying.

"The ground floor is where we keep our prisoners." Matt says. "We torture them regularly and when they lose their sanity, we turn them into vampires and they join us."

I look down at the floor, and try not to listen. The worst part of being a hearer is hearing their desperate thoughts inside my head. Mercy, mercy, they beg.

"If the voices are bothering you, just cut them out." Matt says, when he sees me start to reach up to cup my hands over my ears, "Otherwise you'll never enjoy being here."

I say nothing. I don't want to enjoy being here, but I take a deep breath and block out the voices. Slowly they start to fade, until I hear only the normal sounds around me. I sigh in relief.

We keep walking, and Matt points to a window with a metal door next to it. "That's where we torture our prisoners."

I look inside, and see multiple people being tortured. A man being dunked into a bath of thick, red blood, a woman screaming as strong chemicals are poured onto her hand. I gulp.

"Mario isn't being tortured like this...right?" I ask.

"Mario?" Matt looks confused, "Oh, right, your adoptive dad. No, torture is only for disobedient prisoners. The last time we tortured him was a week ago when we exposed him to extreme temperatures."

I nod and keep walking. No matter how much this sickens me, I can't let it show or let it get to me. I need to find a way out soon.

We go up a set of stairs to an office overlooking the warehouse.

"And this is where your father works." Matt says, and pushes open a peeling light blue door. Ian sits on an office chair, his feet on the desk and reading a newspaper. He sets it down when he sees me, and stands up.

"Hello, Kat." He says.

"Hello." I say quietly, and Ian looks at me.

"She'll need a little cleaning up." He says. "Maybe a small scar on her hand to make her look scarier, and maybe a couple of new outfits. Bring her back to me after she changes her outfit and gets a scar, then I'll start training her."

"Yes, sir." Matt says, and we turn around to walk out, when I hear Ian say,

"Wait." We stop, and I look back, "Welcome back, Katherine. You can just call me Dad."

"Thank you." I whisper, looking up at him for a second, then back down as he smiles warmly.

Matt leads me down a hallway to my new bedroom through a light pink door. Inside, a white fluffy rug has been put on the cold stone floor. I have a white, fluffy bed, a bookshelf full of books, a cream dresser, and a Hunger Games poster against the old brick wall under a small window that would be too small to crawl out of.

"Let me show you your bathroom." Matt says, and smiles, opening a door next to the dresser to a newly remodeled bathroom with white tile flooring and walls. He opens a mirror to reveal makeup and beauty products, and takes out a small bottle of strong chemicals. "We'll just use this to put a scar on your arm."

"Are you sure?" I ask, nervous. I didn't want that stuff to go on my arm.

"You'll heal quickly; you're a vampire, after all. If you work for Ian now, get used to pain." Matt uncaps the chemical bottle and takes out a paintbrush. He dips the brush in the chemicals and  I hold out my arm and close my eyes, not wanting to see the damage.

I feel the brush put on the warm chemicals. Maybe this won't be so bad I think, but then the chemicals start searing through my skin and I can feel them burn. I hold back a scream, and just grit my teeth while blinking away tears. Then, I hear Matt turn on the sink and stick my arm under the cold water. It feels so nice against the heat, and after he dries off my arm, he says, "Open your eyes."

I hesitate, then open my eyes. My skin is rapidly healing, and I can see a light pinkish scar start to form.

"So?" He asks.

"I...." I look down at it, "I guess it looks kinda tough."

"Good." Matt nods. "You can just take a bath and wash all of the blood off, and someone will pick out an outfit for you and do your hair. I'll be back in an hour."

I nod, and he walks out, closing the door behind him, and I put away the chemicals and start to run a bath.