Prisoner

Chapter 12

Doll-eyes stops inside Vault 120. I find it ironic that the place I feared has become my hiding spot. He squeezes my hand gently. "Are you okay?"

"I..." I swallow. "I think so." I jump as a long, haunting howl pierces the air.

"The pack," Doll-eyes says conclusively. "One of them must be hurt."

"He wouldn't... kill them, would he?" I ask. It was a stupid question. Of course Hero would kill the wolves.

"If he hasn't already," Doll-eyes mutters. "He's more concerned about you, though." Suddenly, he stiffens. He pulls me away from the door and pushes me into a dark corner. I am about to ask what is wrong when he raises his finger to his lips to silence me.

From the hallway comes a chilling laugh. "How ironic," Hero purrs from outside the door. "The Warden is trapped in the Vault while the prisoner roams free." A gentle knock comes almost teasingly. "Little girl, stop playing with your doll and let me in."

I close my eyes, wanting to close him out. No. No, no, no.

"Noelle." This time his voice is in my mind. Are you afraid of me?

Yes, I reply.

I'm not going to hurt you, he says softly.

I don't trust you.

They have turned you against me, he sighs. I...

You're trying to lure me! I accuse, cutting him off.

No, I'm no--

I can't hear you, I say loudly. Lalalalalalalala... He laughs. I shudder. Hearing a man's quiet laugh inside your head is, at the very least, incredibly creepy. Lalala... I pause; he's grown quiet.

Noelle, I am your mate, he says finally.

LALALALALALALA--

"God dammit!" Hero snaps from outside the door. I want to laugh until I hear him slam against the door of the Vault.

"Noelle!" Doll-eyes pulls me away from the door. I hadn't even realized that I had been moving towards it. Hero had lured me again. "Watch out!"

I jump into Doll-eyes as the door slams open. Doll-eyes pulls me behind him as Hero steps through. His red eyes fall on mine. His wings and fangs are gone.

"Noelle," he says simply, softly, like a lover.

"Stay back," Doll-eyes says. His frightening, cold voice has returned.

"You don't scare me, demon puppet," Hero says firmly. "I admit to slaying Wardens. But that one behind you is the last person on this wretched earth who needs protection from me."

"Your lures don't work on me," Doll-eyes says harshly. "If you want her, you have to go through me."

"I have no problem with that," Hero says.

"Don't," I say. "You can't kill him. You don't know where the doll is."

"Noelle," Hero says, turning to me. "Please, listen to me."

"Why should I?" I snap. "You killed my family, you've hurt my friends, and you have lured me. Why should I believe anything you say?"

"Because you are just like me!" He says. "You are my mate, Noelle! We are the same kind, the same breed!"

Doll-eyes snarls. "Noelle is nothing like you!"

"Explain," I order.

Hero sighs. "I won't say anything until I am close to you."

"You're close enough," I say curtly.

His tone becomes pleading. "Noelle, please. I have been without you for hundreds of years. If you step any closer to that puppet, I might tear him apart. I need you."

"Noelle," Doll-eyes whispers. "I'm sorry."

I yelp as he whirls around and grabs me. I wince as his arm locks around my neck. Doll-eyes glares at Hero and tightens his grip. "Talk," he says coolly. "Answer her."

"You won't kill her," Hero says. HIs face darkens. "You love her too much."

"I won't kill her," Doll-eyes says. "But I can hurt her. How do you think she would look with eyes like mine? That was your gift to me, wasn't it?"

Hero fell silent, but only for a moment. "I will tell you what you want to know. Just let her go."

"What are you?" I ask as Doll-eyes loosens his grip.

"I am an ancient creature," Hero says. "There is no name for our kind, but people call us the Imitators, the Mimics. I am able to take the attributes of the creatures I face and add my own power to whatever I take."

"What do you mean when you say," I ask slowly, "I am 'like you'?"

"You were stolen from your family," He says. "Your real family...by the Wardens. They brought you here to the prison and raised you around humans. You instinctually imitated them because you hadn't been taught how to control your powers. Once your real family realized what had happened, they came to my family. They came to me. They asked me to bring you back and kill anyone who stood in my way. In return you were promised to me."

"You were captured hundreds of years ago," Doll-eyes snaps. "Before I was here. You were one of the first prisoners."

Hero's lip tightens. "So was she."