Turned

Chapter Fifty Six

I grunted, biting my tongue in agony as my wrists burnt. I tried to move but whatever was making them burn was attached to them, not just next to them. My vision was awful, I could barely make out simple shapes, but I could see bright lights ahead, a rectangle of bright lights.

The smell was awful, the room smelt of... vampire blood, it didn't help me, or help matters. I looked around, hoping my vision would clear, hoping I wasn't in any danger at all, that this was a dream, not a bloody nightmare.

I could hear a dripping sound close by, like a leaky tap or something. I hoped it was a leaky tap, better than the alternative. I tried to move, every movement burnt my wrists a little more until they felt like they were on fire, but I was stretched out, able to get to the middle of the room, the wet ground saturated my clothes, but they were the least of my worries.

"Nick?" I whispered as my vision darkened... like the lights turning off, everything went completely black.

I woke up what felt like a few moments later. I didn't know what to expect as I pulled myself up off the ground. My vision was clear... my face... it was covered in blood.

"Oh, my god!" I shouted in a panic.

"You didn't do anything" a familiar voice promised.

"Nick?"

"Can you see?" he asked.

"What?" I questioned.

"Can you see?" he asked again, not realising I was confused, not questioning what he said but completely scared.

"They gave you a syringe full of some sort of drug, designed to stop werewolves shifting" he replied.

"The chains?" I asked as I looked for him, barely able to make a shape out in the shadows.

"One thing our species have in common, neither of us like silver. Listen, whatever you do, just save yourself, okay?"

"What? No!" I hissed.

He just sat there as I heard voices outside our large metal cage. I was half-hoping and half-dreading they were vampire hunters, then they'd let Nick go, they'd concentrate on me, just on me. I'd never felt such debilitating fear, my whole body felt numb. I just lay there until I grunted, the shit they injected me with... it was coming out of me, rapidly, flooding out of me like water out a hosepipe.

"Are you okay?" he asked me.

"Don't worry about me, I got us in this mess"

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"They're vampire hunters, aren't they?" I asked.

"Bounty hunters, they collect werewolves for the packs... I'll spare you the details of what they do when they find them"

The cage was rusty, if I had enough strength, if I was free, I could've tried to break the bars, with Nick's help, I could've certainly done it, but the chains were weakening me, I had no chance while I was chained up.

"Who are they selling you to?" I asked. I heard near silence, the movement of chains but no answer. "Come on, Nick, I'm going to die, I might as well know"

I heard a sigh followed by, "I don't know but I doubt it'll be something I'll look forward to... perhaps they mean to take my teeth, a lot of value in those"

"Werewolf teeth?" I asked.

"Yes, werewolf teeth but my guess is, they've stopped the change until they figure out what to do with me" Nick explained.

I didn't know what to say, I just knew we had to get out but how? They weren't going to let Nick out, not unless they had him secured, so drugged up he wouldn't be able to fight back.

"Just... let them" Nick whispered as I heard footsteps outside the cage, close, closer, getting so much closer until a pair of filthy trainers were staring at me.

"Come, doggie" the man teased as he drew a syringe. "It'll be dissection for you"

"Stop" I begged.

"Don't worry, dog, it'll be your turn next. Bagged two, for the price of one"

"Wait" I begged.

"Jack, don't" Nick hissed as they dragged him into the centre, the syringe in their hand. "Just don't"

"You're making a mistake" I said quickly, looking them in the eye. Nick tried to block my voice out with protests, but I didn't want him to die because of me, not when I could in his place. "I am not a werewolf, why do you think your shit didn't work?!"

"Then you're human, good for selling, food to vampires" the man replied.

Without warning, without thinking, my blood boiled in anger, I hissed cruelly, my eyes a deep, vicious red, my skin pale, like paper, my fangs drawn, ready to kill. "I am not a human! I am a vampire!" I snapped aggressively.

"Jack!" Nick shouted.

"His eyes... they're red! Useless!" a man shouted.

I calmed down, revealing a beautiful bright blue, almost white, like ice. The man gasped and let go of the syringe as he saw them. He signalled for me instead, I'd never felt such fear yet determination to survive.

"Blue eyes... this is great, we can pull out pairs of them, sell them for a song!" the man cheered.

"Jack..." Nick whispered.

"Let me go" I whispered back as they dragged me out.

Thankfully, I was so drugged up, I neither felt a thing, nor knew what exactly was happening. I didn't know just how well I'd heal, if I lost my eyes, would they heal? Would I ever heal again? All I knew was the pain, the aftermath of the procedure. Growing them back was one of the most painful things I'd ever done, unsure if they'd even come back as my eyesight emerged from the darkness, back into the light where, blurry for moments, I could see again.

"What... what did they give me?" I asked as I spat it out quickly.

"Vampire blood... I'm so sorry, Jack, I swear, I never meant for this to happen"

"I just pick the best moments" I commented as I spat more out.

"Some went down, a lot of it... they didn't want to give you human blood, but they needed you to heal, I'm so sorry"

"We... have to... get out of here" I muttered as I continued to spit on the floor. "I feel sick, this place stinks of blood"

"I'm surprised you're sane enough to talk" Nick commented.

"I've got a high tolerance"

"Let them take me" Nick requested.

"You're worth less to them now, they won't want you"