The Last One

Escape

     Pain. The only constant thing in this world. I am always in some sort of pain, and always having more inflicted on me. I'm not quite sure what they have done to me here, seeing as how I've disconnected from my body, focusing on the barrier around my mind. The only reason I'm still alive. I've seen what happens once they break through, they take all your memories, leaving you with no idea of who you are, then kill you. I won't die, and I won't lose my identity. I'm the last one left, the only one to survive.
     I feel the probes again, and quickly meld into my barrier. I am Katrina and I am a Shifter. I am Katrina and I am a Shifter. I am Katrina and I am a Shifter. I am Katrina and I am a Shifter. The probes retract and I tense, waiting for the next attack.
     It never comes. Instead, pain fills my veins and forces me to reconnect with my body. I feel the cuts and bruises, the huge gashes, and the chain wrapped around my ankle. I hate that chain, it's the only thing keeping me here, keeping me trapped. Another wave of pain flows through me and I scream. What have they done? The pain increases as it goes, then multiplies when it reaches my heart.
     Through the pain, I feel my wounds healing, skin melding together, bruises fading from existence.
     The pain begins to fade, and slowly disappears from everywhere except my throat, already dry from screaming. Now it burns, and it feels as though it will catch on fire at any second. I automatically shift the the hindrance away. It's much too distracting.
     “You'll find that barrier of yours isn't true any more.” The voice pulls me out of my reverie, and with it comes the realization of what they did. My eyes shoot open. They turned me. The vampires turned me.
     I hear a crash, instantly recognizing that I shouldn't be able to hear that far. The vampire in front of me curses, disappearing to somewhere, probably the sight of the crash. I curl into a ball, devastated. A few minutes later, steps echo, multiple people coming down. They try to come towards me, but I lunge at the vampires, not caring if they are part of the group that tortured me or not.
     “Get-get away! Stay out! Get away!” I growl, not caring about anything but making it stop. They step back, looks of pity in their eyes, and I curl into my ball again. Another set of footsteps comes down, and enters the cell.
     “Your Highness, I wouldn't-” I cut the person off with a growl, lunging at the man in front of me.
      “Stay out! Get away! Get away!” I growl, stopped by the chain.
     “I'm not going to hurt you.” The mystery man states, and I gasp, stumbling back in shock. I believe him, I trust that he won't hurt me. My kind doesn't trust. I don't trust. Especially vampires. But this one, this one I do trust, and I don't know why.
     “Is that so hard to believe?” He asks. My eyes widen as I feel a probe in my mind. I automatically drop to the floor, releasing control over my body, concentrating on my barrier, my weak barrier that doesn't work.
     “Get out! Get out!” I screech. A growl rips through the air.
     “WHAT DID YOU DO!” The probe withdraws, and I look up to see the man facing the group, and furious. Over me. It wasn't him, right?
     “I-I tried to see why she's reacting like that, I didn't realize she could feel it.”
     “Idiot.” I hiss. “Of course I can feel it. I'm a Shifter for Nature's sake. How could I not feel it when someone tries to invade my mind?” Or at least I used to be.
     “My apologies, I didn't realize.” One of them laughs.
     “I don't know what's funniest. That she didn't yell, that Victor apologized, or that she said ‘for Nature's sake’” I wrinkle my nose. None of it sounds funny to me.
     The cuff on my ankle shifts, and I stiffen, looking at the mystery man, now in front of me. He holds up a key.
     “Is that to-” he answers my unfinished question with a nod. I watch as he unlocks it, and the chain makes a small clinks as it hits the ground. My freedom is short-lived, before I can blink his hand grips my ankle. Sparks shoot from the area, and my eyes fly up to meet his.
     “If I let go,” He breathes, only loud enough for me to hear, “will you run?”
     I shake my head. “I-I trust you.” I mumble. The hand, and the sparks, leave my ankle as he stands up. He offers a hand and I take it.
     “Do you know if any other Shifters survived?” I don't know which one said it, and I don't really care either.
     “I'm the last.” I answer, while standing up.
     “Good.” One of them has the nerve to say. My vision goes red, anger consuming me. My eyes go black, fangs extend. I charge, tearing through everything until there's nothing left. The red and anger fades, leaving the burning in my throat.
     I look around at the dead bodies, knowing I did it. I stumble backwards, and into him.
     “They turned you.” It wasn't a question, just an observation. I nod anyways. “When?”
     “Just before you came"
     “What else did they do to you?” I could hear the worry in his voice, the pity.
     “I don't know.”
     “You… don't... know?” His voice sounds confused, innocently confused, but it sparks the anger inside me. I whirl around to face him.
     “I don't know! I made myself forget, I made it so I can't remember, so I don't know! I-” His arms wrap around me, sparks enveloping me.
     “Calm down, it's fine. It's fine.” I don't know if his voice, the sparks of some combination of them both calms me down, but something does.
     “Sorry.” I mutter. “I'm usually in better control of myself.”
     “You were just turned, being out of control is normal. I'm guessing you're thirsty, right?”
     “Thirsty?” I don't need anything to survive, why would I be thirsty?
     “The burning in your throat, that's what we call it. Because to make it go away you need-”
     “Blood. Which is a liquid, making the craving for it thirst… I get it. And, I'm not thirsty. It was annoying, I shifted it away.” He chuckles.
     “It is annoying. I wish I could do that sometimes. Is it going to come back?” I grin, shaking my head.
     “We should go.” I look down the long hallway at his words. Mine is the last cell, the very end. They did it one at a time, I heard the screams, felt the bond break for each of them, and survived as long as I could when my turn came.
     I didn't notice that I'm crying until I feel the tear slip down my cheek. He wipes it away, leaving a trail of sparks on my cheek. I shift the rest of them back. At least I still can shift. I silently follow him as he walks out, and away from the place I hope I never return to.