River of Red

XVII

When I awoke my head ached.
My neck stung like it felt when I got choked.
Memories flooded into my mind, the man, the darkness.
I pulled at my arms, but they were tied with chains to a metal chair. The chains burned slightly, and gave me the slightest itch.
It was unnerving.
My legs were also chained to the chair, holding me immobile. I craned my neck to look behind me, but sadly I was not an owl. It was pitch black in the room, no light could be seen, but I could see fine. The walls were stone, bricked stone, not concrete, almost like an old castle wall.
What was up with vampires and their giant old houses?
I could only see 3 walls, and none had a door or any means of an escape. A drip sounded in the distance. I squeezed my eyes shut, closing out my situation and focusing on that one drip.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
The sound was too thick, too deep to be that of water. What it was settled in my mind.
If I was captured by a vampire, whom I could tell was one by his striking features, then he wouldn't have water in his basement. It smelt like copper, a metallic smell.
He would have blood.
My eyes slammed open.
I had to escape.
I knew that if I didn't, then I would surely die in the hands of my kidnapper, who was an extremely handsome vampire. The thought wiggled on the edge of my mind, a loose thread, waiting to be torn off, but I couldn't tear it off. It sat there, taunting me, playing with me. His face wandered into my mind, among Nolan's, and I realized if they were in a line of world's hottest man, I think I would choose my dark kidnapper.
Sorry Nolan.
I strained against the chains, but succeeded in nothing. Time ticked by, making more and more kissed by the second. Who did he think he was, his nerve, kidnapping me?
Ooh, just the thought of ripping his fine hair out, imagining how soft it would be.
A haze fell over my eyes.
A crack sounded through the chains.
I looked down amazed, I had broken a link of the chain on my left arm, freeing it. I snatched my arm away, throwing it to the other side, and worked to break the chain on my right arm. Through more angry thoughts, I finally managed to break through.
Standing, I simply kicked my legs free. My arms were slightly chafed and red where the chain had been, making me wonder why. I looked at the other wall and found a door. It was shiny, maybe steel, I couldn't be sure. I had been a fool to expect it to be open.
The door had no handle on the inside, it was bare. It was plain, no window or hinges, making me feel like I was in a prison.
And I think I was.
My captor was obviously paranoid. Why chain me to a chair when there's an impossibly large door in my way of escape. Anger seeped into me, filling my mind. The same haze filled overtook my vision, and I kicked the door, watching it fly into the hall. It slammed into the wall opposite the gaping hole where the door used to be.
I was ecstatic.
Amazed at my own abilities, I flew down the hall. The walls zipped by, only a blur to my speed.
Sensing freedom, I ran faster, but flew headlong into a person. It was like running into concrete, their chest was solid stone as I hit my face into it. I fell to the ground, moaning in my pain, and looked up to the person.
Black eyes stared at me, a scowl placed onto his lips. By the look on his face I knew I was in a load of trouble. He stood over me, seething in anger as I laid sore on the ground.
"What have you done?!" He roared.
I cowered, ashamed. How had he made me feel so much fear?
"You destroyed my door," he continued, "you dented my wall, broke my only set of silver chains, and you bent my only silver chair!"
I said nothing, knowing that trying to talk to an angry person made them angrier. I knew I was going to die, I tried to straighten my back, to be defiant, but failed miserably. Instead, I stayed laid on the ground and curled into a ball, covering my face in my arm. I couldn't help the hot, fat tears that welled in my eyes that rolled down my face in tiny rivers. I waited for him to kill me, laying on that floor all broken, but the killing blow never came.
I peeked over my arm with teary eyes to find him staring at me, his face stricken. All traces of anger were gone, only amazement settled on his features. I sniffled, and wiped the tears off my face.
"What?" My voice was hoarse.
His mouth popped open, surprised, "How are you crying?"
I frowned at him, "I don't know what you mean."
"Vampires can't cry," he said. "What are you?"
I thought for a moment, not coming up with an answer.
"I don't know."
Seconds ticked out the window as he stared at me openly. Deftly, he squatted next to my form on the ground, gently lifting my face to look into his eyes. Those midnight eyes locked into my own, then roamed down my face, searching for something he didn't seem to find. Abruptly he stood, stretching out his hand like he wanted me to take it.
I didn't.
I stood on my own, pulling myself up with a lot of effort. When I stood though, I shook out my rigid spine and straightened it, not showing how scared I was. My cheeks burned from him seeing me cry, but I held my head high. Frowning, he led me down the hall, the opposite way in which the door was.
I contemplated running again, but pushed it away. If I couldn't make it out when he didn't know I was escaping I had no hope to escape when he knew I was escaping.
Confusing.
So I followed him down the hall, noticing how the walls were actually smooth, not rock. My mind wasn't working, like a tape stuck on replay, skipping over and over. My vision swam as I followed him down halls, passing 5 doors and 3 hallways. Eventually, he walked into an open doorway, leading me into a living room.
What was up with vampires and their living rooms?
Why not go to a bedroom?
Why not a kitchen?
I was pulled out of my thoughts when I looked at the room. It was gigantic. The ceiling were about 30 feet high, with periodic windows that reached clear up to the ceiling. The ceilings were vaulted, and they had elegant metal designs with a giant crystal chandelier that hung 10 feet off the ground. The floors were comprised of white slabs of marble, with onyx strips in the pattern in intervals.
The room dwarfed Nolan's own living room, the size big enough to engulf me. The furniture was nice, dark brown leather stretched smoothly over the cushioned frame. There was one 8 foot sofa, one 5 foot loveseat, and one recliner.
A nice full set.
It was accented with a nice mahogany coffee table, with delicate iron designs.
Off to the right was a doorway that led to the kitchen, where I could see glimpses of gleaming stainless steel appliances. The windows were closed off with large black curtains, complementing the red painted walls.
I looked to the man, amazed at the room.
He smirked, probably sensing my amazement.
Before I could make a snarky retort, he stepped deeper into the room, landing on the sofa with lithe and grace. I was much more clumsy, due to an ache in my leg when I had run into the man.
This was sorta daja vu from when I was with Nolan, and look how that turned out.
Huffing, I flopped ungracefully into the loveseat, sighing as I melted in to the squishy foam.
The man leaned forward, placing his hands on his knees.
"Where do we begin?" His manner was polite, restrained, bussiness-like. The opposite of what it was like five minutes ago.
"I don't know. How about, what's your name?" I asked, my voice a little too polite.
His face closed off, and his scowl returned. His eyes fell guarded, unnaturally offset by my question.
"Domitius. How about you?" His voice was curt, strained.
Domitius, what a strange name. I couldn't judge, mine was equally strange.
I frowned at his sudden closure, "Katrina."
His face still shut, he answered, "Pretty name for a pretty girl."
At that I blushed, I must have vampire attracting innards. He sensed my unease, falling back into a carefree, cocky demeanor. I was confused, why did he become antsy after I asked him his name?
After all, a name is just a name.
I was pulled back to my thoughts when the man-Domitius, stands, deciding to deal with more important problems.
"Your allowed to stay here," he hesitated, looking at me like a piece of trash, "follow me to where you'll stay."
I tried to follow him, but he zipped down halls so fast I lost him.
Stopping in an unfamiliar hallway, I looked around. The walls were pale blue, turns in front and behind me. There was only one door, giant French doors which were engraved with designs. There was one design that caught my eye, though. Not so much a design, but a word.
One word.
Mary
Entranced, my hand landed on the cold metal handle, pushing the door inward.
It took my breath away.
The room was as big as the living room, but it had no windows, strange. There was a giant four poster bed in the middle of the room, with rumpled blue sheets. The theme for the room seemed to be blue: pale blue, like the sky. A white armoire sat to the left of the room, a matching white mirrored desk sat on the opposite side of the room.
A hand clamped over my arm.
It pulled me back, punched me onto the ground. The door slammed shut with a heavy thud.
"What are you doing?!" Domitius roared, making me almost pee.
Yeah, I almost freaking peed from the fear he caused. He has a really, really good angry voice.
"N-nothing." I replied, my voice weak and shaky.
"You were in that room! Why?!" His fangs elongated.
I trembled under his hateful glare, "I saw the name," I gulped, "and I was curious."
He grabbed my arm, pulled me up, and started pushing me down the hall. We walked for minutes, down lots of halls when finally he approached a large mahogany door, no engravings, just plain.
He opened the large handle, still holding my arm in a right grip. He practically tossed me into the room, making me slam into the ground. I laid, helpless, as the door shut with a thud, cutting off all the light.
Despite the lack of light, I looked around the room. I noticed a light switch next to the door, so I quickly got off the ground and switched it on.
Bright yellow light flooded in through the chandelier.
The room was normal.
There were white walls, and a white comforter for the bed. It had a plain white wood bed, with a matching wood armoire, dresser, and full length mirror. It was all very clean and contemporary.
I was surprised.
Really surprised.
This house had electricity, it didn't seem like it was too dusty, and all the furniture looked mostly new.
It wasn't from the dark ages.
The house itself seemed old, really old, but it was all updated and new.
It was nice.
Exhaustion rolled over me, making me stumble toward the bed. I laid down on the soft plush mattress, revelling in the comfort.
I snuggled into the white blanket, it smelt good, almost like rain.
My eyes drifted shut, carrying my body into a dark oblivion.
I dreamt of Domitius in the rain.