Flight of the Phoenix

Chapter 9

Phoenix POV

I hissed at the pain in my head as I woke up trying to remember what had happened. Seriously, what is it with people and knocking me out? I jerked upright as I remembered Anya and looked around wildly. I was in a metal cage with my hands manacled to the nearby stone wall. I looked over to the cages next to me to see the vampires all sitting in individual cages like me, staring at me nervously. Unlike me the others weren't chained to the wall, but I couldn't find Hunter. 

"Where's Hunter?" I asked, my voice coming out raspy and low.

None of them would meet my eyes but just as I was about to demand an answer, the door of the dungeon swung open and a tall, muscled man walked in dragging a bloody, unconscious Hunter with him. He opened the cage next to me and chained him by his hands. The man came over to my cage and gave me a sadistic grin, his muddy brown eyes alight with excitement.

"Oi Alex! Come here for a minute!" A girly voice yelled from outside the door.

The man turned and ran to the stairs, giving me one last appraising look. I shivered slightly, remembering the evil glint in his eyes. A small gasp came from behind me. I turned as far as my chains allowed me to and saw a small cell door that I had missed before. Looking through the worn bars of the door, I saw a vampire with black hair and familiar grey eyes. Even covered in cuts, bruises and blood she still looked like...

"Gabrielle?" I asked, my voice coming out as a disbelieving whisper. Jace's head snapped up as I said her name, but because of the way that the dungeon was arranged, I was the only one able to see her. She nodded her head wearily and then whispered back.

"Phoenix? What are you doing here?" She looked terrified and glanced at the door. 

"We were captured by Anya. What are you doing here? Jayden said you were dead..." I allowed my voice to trail off at the end realizing what was happening.

"It was a trick wasn't it? Everything that Jayden said was a lie." I continued to talk to myself and I could tell that the vampires were all listening, especially Jace.

"Ugh, what happened? Where am I?" A pained voice groaned out from behind me. I looked and saw Hunter slowly sitting up clutching his head.

"Hunter! What did they do to you? Where were you?" I asked in a frantic whisper, wary of catching the man's attention again.

"They kept asking me all these questions about you and about your coven. I kept telling them that I didn't know but they didn't believe me. They were particularly interested in what protection spells had been placed on your coven house and anything about the members. They were also obsessed with Andre and his powers." Hunter finished with a small frown on his face.

"Hey Phoenix, why does Anya look so much like you? And how do you two know each other?" Tyler asked timidly. I sighed softly. I knew that it was only a matter of time until they made the connection, but I still wasn't thrilled about it.

"You guys might wanna sit down for this one. It's a long story." I began, watching them take my advice and get as comfortable as our prisons allowed.

"It all happened a week before my parents died on my 8th birthday...."

*Flashback*

Anya was braiding my hair in a fancy braid for my birthday. I was so excited. I was finally 8 years old!!! Andre opened the door of my room and jumped onto the side of my bed. Like me, he wore a huge grin on his face and was wearing his new ice necklace. Our parents had decided to let us wear them for the first time and we were both feeling giddy with all the power we now had.

"Hey Pixie! Hey Anya! Mom said that we should come downstairs soon because people are starting to arrive." He said still smiling. Anya gave a small laugh and finished my hair. She was 17 years old and was the most beautiful person I had ever met. I always hoped that I would look like my older sister when I grew up with her long red hair and her shining green eyes. Mom always said that I looked just like she did when she was my age and I hoped that I would always look like her.