Friends, Slaves, and Nightmares

32: You Don't Belong Here

Mina swam up to the surface of the lake, quickly taking in a deep breath of air. "David?! What was that-!" She began to yell, but was quickly cut off as David pushed her under the water again. Fear twisted her gut. What was he doing? WHY was he doing this? She needed air. Her lungs began to scream at her for air as she began to panic.

Gasps of her filling her lungs. Chains clamped to her wrists. Her sopping wet hair dangling above a bucket. Pitch. His hand holding her head up. His laughter. No... No, no, no!

Mina snapped out of her memories and swam up again, taking in large gulps of fresh air. "D-david-"

David stood st the shore, facing the forest as he quickly spoke in a harsh but hushed voice, "Mina, you have to stay hidden under the water. Something bad is going to happened, but you have to promise me something. Can you promise me something?"

"I-I-.." Mina slowed her breathing and tried to force herself to calm down and study David. He stood rigid, his muscles tense and head hanging low. He faced the woods, in the direction of that strange crunch-clink noise. She could see he knew what it was, and whatever it was, it made him afraid. She couldn't tell if it was fear for himself, or of what might happen to her. "I guess.. I'll try?..."

"Promise me you'll stay hidden, no matter what happens. Promise me, you're going to stay safe."

"What-? What's going to happen?" Mina's fear was obvious in her voice. She struggled to keep her voice quiet, hushed like David's.

"They're coming for me. I'm sorry Mina... I'm so sorry. I didn't want any of this for you. Now please, please stay safe, don't let them take you." David glances back at Mina. His foggy eyes watered slightly and held sadess. She felt a pang of pain as she saw the obvious fear and sadness in his eyes.

"What's going to happen to you?.. I can't sit back and watch... And none of this is your fault..." Mina trailed off, watching the line of trees in the distance as she saw movement. It was now or never. She had to decide. Was she going to listen toDavid and hide, or be stubborn?

In the end, Mina trusted David. The moment of indecision was brief as she moved over to a section of the lake where cattails stuck up into the air. She kneeled down so that only her mouth was above the surface of the lake water caused her chin to dip into it, but kept her out of sight, hidden among the cattails directly behind David. Now all she could do was hope that David would be alright with whatever was coming next.

A group of five armored soldiers emerged from the trees. They marched in formation, a column of two men along side eachother and one man in the lead. Their silver armor shone in the early morning light, appearing to have been made of a fancy durable metal. There were no visible signs of damage to their armor, it appeared to be in perfect condition and explained the clink she had heard previously. With every step, a clink of metal from their armor sounded, then the crunch of plants as their heavy metal boots crushed the grass and leaves beneath their feet. Her eyes widened as she saw it. A familiar crest from the last armored men. Their armor had the an impressionof two serpants wound around a sword with their mouths open and fangs extened towards the handle of the blade. These had to be the same men, or men from the same group. They had said something about working for a Vampire King before... And they had tried to take Axel and David as slaves.

No. No, no, no. She couldn't let them take David!

The armored soldiers halted their marching in front of David and the lead man stepped forward. His armor was tinged with a strange red metal that Mina had not seen before. It almost seemed to... flow. But at the same time, it was metal. Solid, real metal. That flowed? His face was strangely pale and reminded her of Katey's face. It appeared that at least that part of the vampire legends were true. Along with the whole fangs thing. And blood. They definitely drank blood.

"By order of the Vampire King, you are hereby commanded to return to the castle as a bloodslave. We reccomend you do not struggle, as the King does not much care if you live for very long." The man, supposedly the leader of the group, spoke as a sneer covered his face.

"He doesn't care if any of his slaves, bloodslave or not, live long." One of the other soliders said with a slight chuckle.

David's face was hidden from her view, so she couldn't see his reaction very well. The cattails didn't make her view any better. His head drooped forward and his shoulders fell, almost as if he was giving up. He was not going to fight them. Mina's eyes grew wide. David wasn't going to try and escape, he was going to let them take him. He would become a bloodslave, which did not sound good to her. Fear twisted inside herself again as she watched David anxiously. 

Please David, fight them, don't let them take you. I can't just watch them drag  you away! Mina silently pleaded, hoping to someone influence David's actions. It did not appear to work.

Instead, the lead man took out chains and approached David. The chains had clamps on them, obviously for his hands and feet, and then one larger clamp she assumed was for his neck. David remained still as the soldier tightened the restraints around his wrists, ankles, then the large one around his neck. The chains were all thick, and so were the clamps, all except the one on his neck. The collar-like clamp that was around his neck appeared to be small and thin, for what purpose, she had no idea. 

The solider grabbed the chains and yanked David forward. Poor, blind David had not seen or heard it coming, so instead of stepping forward he fell to the ground. "Oh you.... Get up!" The leader shouted in obvious disgust and anger, then he slammed his metal boot down on David's back. A hushed yelp of pain escaped David's mouth as he obeyed and began to raise to his feet. "You dumb slave, you don't even belong here in this town. Who would want a blind, weak, flithy slave anyways? The only good you can do is serve as a bloodslave."

That was the last straw. Mina sprang up to her full height and leaped into the soldiers view, outside of the cattails. "STOP! You can't take him!"