Twisted Thorns

Chapter 14: Rescue

"Hello?" Lizzie called through the bars of her cage. She had heard a creaky door open and close, and some footsteps. She stepped back from the bars, scared as to who would come forward. Except, not fast enough. A heavily scarred arm shot forward and gripped her by the throat, elevating her. She choked, unsure who or what was grabbing her. A feral snarl escaped the mouth of her captor.
"Put her down!" She heard a mans voice ring out from the end of the hallway. Lizzie dropped to the floor, stunned. For a moment she had hoped, her saviour was Alucard. But alas, the voice was not his. The small fire of hope was extinguished quickly. Another, clearly saner man approached her as the one who had had her suspended by her neck just moments ago slumped away from her, his eyes ablaze with hatred.
"I apologise for my pet's behaviour, he's not all there as you can tell." he motioned toward the snarling man, who had the wild appearance of a rabid dog. The new man, tall and thin, with glowing red eyes, had a sinister smile on his pale face. He had dark hair, which was slicked back, and a sweet face. But his eyes... his eyes were not sweet.
"Who are you?"
"How rude of me. My name is Sebastian. I am here to ensure your... safety."
"You snatched me from my home, from my-" she stopped herself. How does one describe her and Alucard's relationship to a stranger? "I was perfectly safe where I was. Now, if you don't mind?" she gestured towards the lock on the cell. Although her exterior attitude was steely, she was terrified. This man, although probably not the most powerful of vampires clearly, was still much stronger than herself.
"No. I must keep you safe for Marissa." Lizzie's blood ran cold. Oh no... she was petrified. She visibly shook, and slumped back from the bars.
"No... please. Please, don't give me to her." she stuttered, her lip trembling.
"Oh but I must. Marissa needs you for some reason." he smiled slowly, wistfully. Lizzie put two and two together, and realised...
"You love her, don't you?" she laughed aloud, finding it ironic that he was helping that monstrosity of a woman to murder the man she 'loves' true bride. Sebastian's creepy smile faltered.
"What's so funny?"
"You are! Marissa only wants me to get to Alucard. Whatever she's promising you, she's a liar." Lizzie was still laughing, finding the whole situation hilarious.
"Shut up! Marissa loves me! And when she disposes of you and Alucard, we'll be together, uninterrupted." he smiled stupidly, and Lizzie stopped laughing. Kill... Alucard? She flung herself at the bars, gripping them close. She did not know what had possessed her, but the mere mention of Alucard's life being in danger, no matter the threat, made her spine tingle. Her blood boiled and she snarled, an animalistic sound that made Sebastian step back. "You keep away from Alucard. He is mine. If she wants him, she'll have to step over my cold, dead body." Sebastian paused, and walked away.

"Lizzie?" Theo's voice echoed across the near empty rows of cells. It had been a few minutes since Sebastian had left.
"Yeah, Theo?"
"I'm scared of the dark."
"The dark isn't what you should be scared of. It's people like those men."
"Are we going to die?" There was near enough no emotion in his voice. He sounded as if he had accepted his fate, to Lizzie's anger.
"No Theo, we aren't going to die. I won't let it happen."
"You don't need to lie to me, Lizzie. I just wish I could have seen your face before. I wish I could have had one more hug from my Mummy." Running her hands across the hay pile in frustration, her hand brushed something small and hard. Looking down, she saw! It was a bone of some kind! An animal bone by the looks of it!

"Theo, sit back from the wall a moment." She located what looked to be a small, loose brick, and tried to jam the bone between the bricks to wedge them out. Rattling the bone, the noise of grinding wet bricks set Lizzie's teeth on edge. When it was drawn out enough to grip hold of, she tried to grip on the wet stone. Her fingers slipped, and the stone broke her nails and cut her finger tips, but she would not let Theo down. She wouldn't let him go without seeing her face. If worse came to worse... she would think about that afterwards. The brick slipped out, and she fell back and glanced her head off the floor. Rubbing the back of her head, she sat back up and looked through the hole in the wall. A little boy with big, chocolate brown eyes and curly black hair, and lightly tanned skin. He had a cute button nose, and his face broke out into a small smile which enhanced a small dimple on his cheek.
"Hi." Lizzie smiled.
"Hey Lizzie. I didn't realise how pretty you were!" He waved happily. How a child can still smile and wave in the face of possible death was insane.
"Thank you. When we get out of here, I'll tell your mummy and daddy how nice a young man you are, and to make sure to give you all the cuddles they can, okay?" Lizzie's eyes burned.
"Why are you crying, Lizzie?" Theo's face faltered. Why was she crying?
"I- I just miss my friend."
"Are you both good friends?"
"The bestest of friends. I think... I think I'm in love with him." Lizzie stopped herself. What was she saying? She loved Alucard? Did she?
"I like my friend Jessica, too. She is my friend at school! We play in the sandbox at break time."
"How old are you, Theo?"
"I'm eight years old in October! How about you?"
"Twenty three, I'm pretty old. Hey... when we get out of here, I want you to do something for me."
"What's that?"
"Tell Jessica that you like her. And make sure she knows in what way you mean." Lizzie felt more tears fall down her face again. Theo was quiet.
"Okay... Just as long as you tell your friend, too." Lizzie smiled, wiping her face. She reached her hand through to the other cell, and felt a small hand enclose hers. She held the little boys hand as she silently sobbed.

Alucard morphed back into his human form. He stood at the door of the ruins. Sniffing deeply, he could smell his love. Drawing his jackal from his side holster, he kicked the door down with a single boot. "I'm coming for you, you bastards." he snarled beneath his breath.

Sebastian heard the door slam open, heard the growl of Alucard, and dashed downstairs. He pulled the key out of his pocket and ran into the basement cellar rooms. Swinging open the door, he yanked Lizzie from the cell, which pulled her arm at an awkward ankle. A loud 'SNAP' was heard, and Lizzie howled in pain as she was dragged by her hair through the cell and down the corridor, past all the cells.
"Lizzie! Don't leave me!" she heard Theo cry!
"Theo! I'll come back for you! I swear!" Lizzie screamed as she was dragged up the stairs, the door slamming shut at her feet, leaving Theo alone in the dark.
"Please... stop." Lizzie sobbed, cradling her arm. Sebastian yanked her up roughly, holding her up with an arm around her arms and what looked to be a machete to her throat. As he did this, the door flew open. It was Alucard!!!
"Alucard!" Lizzie cried, smiling brightly at him through the pain. "I'm so happy to see you!" she was silenced by the blade being brought tighter against her neck.
"So this is the famous Alucard?" Sebastian growled in her ear.
"Yes. And who might you be? Another of Marissas slaves?" Alucard laughed openly in Sebastian's face!
"I'll cut her from ear to ear, No Life King." He sneered the name like an insult.
"Put the blade down, Sebastian. Marissa is not worth the never ending pain I'll place upon you if you so much as draw a single drop of blood from that girl."
That girl? Lizzie was offended slightly. Sebastian lifted her up with a hand so their faces were level.
"All this fuss, for you two? Amazing." He chuckled darkly.
"Alright Alucard. I'll give you back your chew toy. As long as you let me leave, for now." Alucard looked to Lizzie, at a loss. Lose her again, or let him loose to report back to Marissa. He knew what to do.
Throwing down his gun, he stepped closer.
"Hand her over." He growled. Sebastian threw her at him, and she nearly landed on the floor in a pile, but Alucard swooped down and cushioned her fall.
"Lizzie... my darling Lizzie..." he smiled, kissing her on the face. Lizzie felt sick with joy almost.

Sebastian felt the anger build inside him, like a bubble in his throat. This tall, pale man was the stuff of legends, his reign of blood and terror had scarred Wallachia and still the very utterance of his name demanded respect and fear. And now he was on his knees on the floor, cradling a mere human to his chest.
"You're pathetic. She's nothing but food." Sebastian laughed, running his finger along the blade edge.
"Humans are so much more than food, you fool. You and I were both human, once." Alucard didn't take his eyes off of Lizzie.
"My human life is long forgotten. Marissa has shown me the way. This is what I was meant to do. I was meant to be with her forever. But for that to happen, she needs you" he pointed at Lizzie "dead and gone, for good." he raised the machete over his head and ran towards Lizzie.

"NO!" Alucard threw Lizzie from him, putting himself in the way of the swinging blade. Lizzie heard the sickening thud as the machete was brought down onto Alucard's head. The sound of bone and blood, and the machete not withdrawing from the cranium of it's victim. Blood splattered across Lizzie's face and neck as Sebastian pushed Alucard's head off of the blade with his foot. Lizzie felt the colour wash from her face.
"ALUCARD!" Lizzie screamed, tears springing to her eyes. His body slumped to the ground, blood pooling.
"What have you done?" she whispered. She crawled to Alucard'a now lifeless form. She vaguely registered Sebastian dropping the machete next to her and exiting the room quickly. Lizzie pulled Alucards now lifeless body into her arms. She let out a scream, and a howl riddled with pain.
"Please! Wake up! Please, you can't die. Please." Her tears fell fast and thick, rolling down her face in small rivers. Then, a scream pierced her now soft cries.
"Help! Lizzie!" Theo!