Chained

Chapter 8

I felt like laughing bitterly. Him? Help me? He’s a vampire! And not a very scary one at that. But I kept my mouth shut. Although he wasn’t the kind of help I expected, maybe I could get somewhere with this.

“What is your dad in the military or something? I have a lot of friends that could track him through our system.”

I shook my head.

“No, he’s not in the military.”

Daddy’s having problems with his powers…

“Well, you have to tell me why he left. Or I really can’t help you.”

The sound of other footsteps entering the mouth of their cavern echoed in.

“I can’t tell you now.” I responded swiftly, “Later.”

His head tilted to the right slightly. Two vampires came into our view. Both tall with dark brown hair and a stern expression on their pale faces.

“Why is she unchained?” One demanded.

“I let her go.” Jake answered.

“We see that,” The second hissed, “why is she unchained?”

“She was in pain. And I’m watching her, she won’t run away.”

“Well it’s becoming dawn,” The first replied more coolly, “Chain her back up and go to sleep.”

“No.”

The two vampires looked surprised at his sudden objection. Even I had a shocked expression. Jake looked away from them to me. “I’ll stay up and watch her.”

“Are you sure?” The first asked. Jake nodded. “Very well. You’ll want to sleep tomorrow though. You look pretty worn out.” While the first talked to Jake, the other eyed me with hatred. The way he glared at me made me want to sink deep into the cold earth and hide. But as the first vampire began to leave; he pulled the second away, taking him out of his trance. When they were gone Jake turned to me.

“What’s with you?”

 “I want to leave.” Tears began to form in my eyes again, despite my attempts to keep them down. “I’m cold, hurting, hungry, and afraid. I don’t understand why this had to happen. I only want to be with my dad.”

Jake bit his bottom lip, eyed the mouth of the cavern, then looked to me.

“If I leave for a second,” He started, “Will you stay here until I come back?”

My eyes stared into his for a few moments. Carefully I nodded. No matter how bad I wanted to leave, my muscles were weak and hurt. I couldn’t go anywhere.

“Yes.”

Jake stood and used his vampire speed to leave the area. I slowly moved my body, trying to roll onto my back. The ground was a little rugged, but not so much that it hurt. After several attempts I made it. When Jake returned he found me lying on my back, head rolled to the side.

“You did that by yourself?”

“Yeah.” I answered in a ‘duh’ tone.

In his arms were several piles of blankets. He started to lay them down, piling blanket after blanket. After putting down six or seven covers he offered to help me get on them. But I managed to scoot myself over and onto the bed he made. Jake layered a few more sheets on top of me.

“Well I’ve got the cold part covered, right?” He asked awkwardly.

I nodded, trying to get my body heat to warm me faster. I tried to see, but my hair was in my face. “Here,” He spoke, “Let me help you.”

Reaching out, Jake touched my forehead, brushing the hair out of my eyes. Again the shock returned, but this time it wasn’t so strong. My heart raced, heating me up under the blankets. Jake stared at me, which I did the same back. “Did you feel that?” He asked. I nodded. His hand was still touching my cheek.

“Jake…what are they going to do to me?”

“I don’t know. They aren’t sure…they’ve never seen anything like you.”

“That’s because I was born this way.”

“Maya,” He cupped my cheek with the palm of his hand, “Tell me what you are. Maybe I can help you. The others can’t decide whether you’re a threat or not.”

“I don’t know what I am. I’m the first of my kind….There really is no name created for me.”

“Who are your parents?” He asked.

“My mom was Maya Chamberlain, an experimental human. She was worked on by lycans. They wanted to see if the basic genetic code of a human could be altered and made into something else without using venom to change her. My father…my father is Michael Richardson – Werewolf Lord.”

 **************** 

I lied on the ground, half conscious. For some crazy reason I had agreed to let the vampires examine me. Damien was right, they wanted to do experiments. But these vampires promised not to perform any form of autopsy – to their distain. Although I was still worried they wouldn’t keep their word, Jake said he’d watch over me.

So here we were. Several vampires examining my arms, legs, head and lower ribs. They never went further because Jake would freak out when they tried. A lot of their time was on my mouth with them messing with my fangs. I couldn’t remember if they wanted samples or not.

Hours later they were finished with me. Jake took me back to the cavern. When he laid me down on the bed, the vampire started to leave. Reaching out I grasped his sleeve. He paused and looked at me. His eyes were half open and he looked worn out.

“Yes Maya?”

“Uh...erm…” I hesitated.

“Maya, is something wrong?”

“How long?” I asked quietly.

“How long?” He repeated.

“Yes, how long have I been here?”

“About a month; maybe two?”

A month. A whole month away. Even I hadn’t guessed it had been that long. What did Damien and Drake think of this? Did they think I was dead? Or still on my mission? He began to leave, but then paused. “Maya?”

“Yes?”

“Are you ok?”

My expression saddened.

“I don’t know.”

After thinking for a second, he reached over and flicked off the light. “Are you going to bed?”

“Yes.”

I felt him lie down next to me on top of the covers. “Thought you’d like some company.” He whispered.

I nodded, but I didn’t know if he saw it. This was all so strange. What happened to vampires being vicious creatures that wanted to tear me to a million pieces?

“Jake?”

“Hm?”

“Why are you helping me?”

“Because I’m not the monster others portrayed me as.”

He grasped my hand and held it to his heart. I felt no pulse, but the electricity still flowed from me to him. “I have a heart. It may be cold, but I feel love.”