Prisoner

Chapter 6

Doll-eyes stares at Noelle's still form. He paces nervously. She's been like that for a while...How long will Leo keep her there? Panic fills him. What if he keeps her forever? How can I wake her up? Will she wake up? Should I bite her? What if she gets mad at me? Deciding that it was better to ask forgiveness than permisson, Doll-eyes reaches through the bars and grabs the Warden's hand. He hesitates before biting into the soft skin.

"OUCH! Dammit!" She curses and yanks away, shaking her hand. "Jeez, what was that for?!" He jumps back to avoid her hand trying to pull him against the bars.

"I didn't bit hard," he protests. "And you weren't coming out of Leo's trance. I was nervous."

"You didn't have to bite me," she says grumpily, inspecting her hand. "Do you have rabies?"

He rolls his eyes. "You big baby. Let me see." He reaches through the bars and takes her hand, flipping it. As he rubs over the smooth skin with his thumb, he feels her pulse flutter in her wrist. With a small smile he lifts her hand and kisses it. "All better~!"

"That's worse than biting me!" She says, yanking her hand away as her face flushes pink.

"Sorry," he muses in a sing-song voice, not sorry at all. Noelle was so cute when she was flustered.

She grabs her chair and drags it towards the blank wall. She glowers at Doll-eyes before sitting down. "I am going to sleep," she announces. She points at each vault. "There is to be no noise whatsoever."

Kris chuckles. "No promises."

She glares at him intensly. "If any of you make noise, I will neuter you."

"We--" Baekhyun starts. Noelle raises her hands, making scissors out of her fingers, and mouthing 'snip snip snip.' Baekhyun's face pales, and he closes his mouth.

Doll-eyes glances at her as she closes her eyes and leans back. He turns to Leo. Leo immediately tilts his head, and the scenery melts away into his trance. Doll-eyes leans against a tree and crosses his arms over his chest.

"What did you tell her?" He asks.

Leo shrugs. "Almost everything."

"You didn't tell her about me, did you?" 

"If you mean who and what you are, no. Your secrets aren't mine to tell." Leo runs his fingers through his hair. "However, she knows now that her family was killed by the thing in Vault 120."

Doll-eyes nods. "That couldn't be avoided for very long," he agrees. The dark forest starts to melt back into the cold bars and thick walls of the prison. Doll-eyes glances at Noelle and smiles softly. She was already asleep.

The lights in the hall were flickering. The guards were gone, nowhere to be found. My footsteps echo throughout the hall. I'm chasing something, but I can't see what--or who--it is.

Finally I see something--a brief glimpse of flaming orange hair. "Ravi?" I call. He turns, and his yellow eyes meet mine before he runs. I bolt after him and shout, "Ravi, what are you doing? Get back here!"

I stop and blink, throwing my arm over my eyes as a bright beam of light appears, temporarily blinding me. When the light disappears, I realize that I am standing in front of Vault 120. Inside I can hear chains shaking and the sound of a rough voice crying for help. My eyes widen. Ravi is inside!

As soon as my fingers touch hte handle, I hear a voice in my ear. "Anyone who goes into the Vault will die."

A scream comes from the Vault. To my surprise, it's not Ravi's scream. It's Doll-eyes'. My heart pounds in my chest, and I yank the door open. As I slam it shut again, what little light there was is snuffed out like the flame of a candle.

I hear a low, cat-like laugh. "Hello, Warden."

I turn to face the voice. Immediately the area around me becomes a dark forest. Unlike Leo's trance, this forest is dead and blackened. The ground is covered with patches of icy white snow. I shiver; I can see my own breath.

The creature from Vault 120 stares at me. The gross metal mask was gone, and I could see how milky and pale his skin was under the silver light. His red-brown hair looks like dark red wine. His lips were curved into a predatory smile. 

"You have grown," he murmurs, taking a step forward.

I step back. "Stay away from me," I snap. I glance away for a fragment of a second, and he moves closer. I feel utterly trapped.

"Don't you hate that?" He asks, tilting his head.

"Hate what?" This time, I don't look away from him.

"That feeling of being trapped," he says. "A prisoner. Unable to be free. I hate it."

"You have no one to blame but yourself," I say sharply, stepping back. "Where is Ravi?"

"No one to blame, hm?" He purrs. "I am forced to blame myself because your family has kept me caged for a century? I am forced to blame myself for being what I am?" His eyes start to glow red. "How would you like being chained and collared?"

I scream as chains lurch from the dark and wrap around my arms, pulling me backwards. I realize that I am now inside the Vault, standing in the monster's place. A collar wraps around my throat, and I gasp for air. It's too tight! A mask covers my mouth, muffling my cries.

The monster watches me with predatory interest and faint amusement. "You don't like it, do you?" He murmurs. "Weak little human. At least I can break my chains."

"Noelle!" I hear a quiet voice growing louder. "Noelle!"

I can't breathe. The collar is too tight. I can feel my body going numb.

"NOELLE!" Doll-eyes shouts. I gasp and shoot upwards. My heart pounds in my chest. I glance around at all of the monsters. They are staring at me. 

"What?" I snap, trying to catch my breath. There's nothing choking me... I'm not in the Vault... He's not here...

Vampire N's eyes meet mine. "Ravi is gone."