A Droplet of Blood

Chapter 2 Red Cross

The first thing I felt when I woke up, ( besides the throbbing headache ) was the distinct feeling of a kick to the ass.

  "Wake up, you scum."

  My eyes shot open, my body jerked with a sudden twitch.

  "Wh-what? Where am I?!"

  I looked around, trying to familiarize myself with my surroundings, first glancing down at the scratchy wool blanket I was lying on, then my glaze shifted to the wall opposite to me, blocked with metal bars.

  Finally, my eyes settled on the woman in front of me. She was looking at me with red eyes full of contempt, and in her hand she held a needle.

Ignoring my questions, she grabbed my arm, wrenching my elbow towards her.
  "I am required to inform you are in the Red Cross holding for blood donors, and let you know that you have a right to consent to giving blood," she inserted a needle into my bulging vein, "and to your body."

  The pain I felt from the rather dull needle subsided as my blood returned to healthy levels. Once the vile was filled completely with my dark red blood, she pulled it out, placed it in her pocket, and walked through the doorway, shutting the me into the cell.

  "A very important group of people are going to be needing this," she smirked and patted her pocket, "A  audience will be here soon."

She jerked her head to the end of the blanket, were a pile of fabric sat.

She turned away from me, "Put that on." Then, with nothing left to say, she  walked away.

  I moved my back against the wall, absorbing the information. I knew of this place - or at least prisons like this in general. They held blood slaves, people like myself that had a crippling mutation: we created too much blood. If our blood levels got too high, we would die a horrible death, seemingly unfixable.

Thankfully, another group of humans required an immense supply of iron and other nutrients found only in human blood. Great relationship right? Only at first. Our two races had lived in relative harmony, until the bloodsuckers adapted inhuman strength and speed. A hierarchy came into effect, the stronger species becoming Royals and nobles, given great social power.      

  My people... not so much. We became interchangeable with cattle with the worst of blood thirsty masters, prized dogs with the best.

I shut my eyes, wishing I was any where but here. Here - where I would sold off to some creature to spend my life being overworked and fed off of.

  I whimpered.

  I worked so hard to not be this, a blood slave, a 'blood donor'. Unlike the rest of my kind, I had a chance. I had freedom for eight, almost nine years! Almost nine years of scavenging for everything, food, clothing, water. Hiding in forgotten rooms in the bunker, under flooring, just out of sight. When my blood levels got too high, I would slit my own wrists.
Anything to avoid capture. Not that I never had close calls, sometimes I was a hair length away from being found out, but somehow I had never thought I'd really be in this situation.

  "You should really put those clothes on, you know." My head whipped up, my eyes locked onto another girl's.

  "Who the hell are you?" I snapped. My anger at my dire situation being projected on to her. I could see the slaves on either sides of my cell, with about a yard of barring so we could see and talk with each other. This girl was scantily clad, though if anything it just added to her exotic beauty. Her eyes widened, and her facial expression hardened.

  "Just a person trying to help you." She spat. "Some powerful leeches are going to be trotted through here soon, and we're supposed to look our best."
  My eyes widened.

  If knowledge was correct, and it probably wasn't as I learned most of everything I know from listening through a walls, prisons holding blood slaves would bring elites and nobility to select new pets to play with.
I picked up the clothes, if one could call them that.

  The scraps of fabric seemed to form a dress of sorts, deep ruby in color, and weirdly placed straps connecting pieces of satin. Where's the front!? How do I put this on? Do I just throw my limbs into it? And most importantly, where's the rest of it?

My other cell neighbor, a scarcely clothed man, seemed to notice my dilemma, and started to smile. I looked over at him, confusion contorting my face.

"Help me?" I pleaded.

  He smiled wider and waved me over. Once in front of him, he took the dress from my hands and untangled it, and handed it back to me. I walked to the dark corner of the cell, stripped down, and began with the still daunting dress. I seemed to have put all of my limbs through the right holes, but there was still exposed skin in intimate areas. I walked out of the shadows, into the light coming from the opening of the cell. 

As I walked, I felt metal tapping against my skin. I looked down to see my rusted thin dog tags, and one new addition. This one was a thicker, stronger metal, with upsetting information on it.

Blood donor
Haven Lilith Jackson
Property of Red Cross Prison

  Was that really all it took to define me? Three lines of text? Anger flashed through me, and I dropped the demeaning tag. I looked up from the floor to the cold metal bars in front of me with a glare. Without them, I could run to safety, run back to my secret home, free of any master or mistress. I felt hate bubble up from my gut, evaporating my fear away, coaxing up courage.

  "Let me out! Let me out!" Howling in anger, I threw myself at the bars, rage fueling me forward.

"Let me out of here!" I screamed out to the prison. I hit the bars again and again, until my body was throughly bruised. 

    "Please. Let me go...please." Defeated by my own will, I dropped to the floor.

As my body hit the cement, bright fluorescent lighting lit up the dark space around me. I turned my head to the left, squinting my eyes as I looked up at the dark haired girl.

  "What's going on?" I asked, fear once again filling my voice.

  She barely uttered a whisper, but I heard her perfectly.

  "They're here."

~~~~

*Evil face* I wonder what's gonna happen...😏

Stuff is really going to pick up in a bit, so stay tuned!

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Love, Crescent 🌙