Blood Ink

Chapter Twelve

Bewildered. Cold. Upset.

The same repetitive feelings that I always wound up with. I was growing pretty accustomed to their familiarity. I was still in the van when I came to my senses once again. Where I was, happened to be a different story-
I didn't realize it as I moved stiffly from the floor of the van that I was no longer in the world I was knew. I was in a different one entirely and I had absolutely no knowledge of what kind of fate awaited me next.

Groggy from sleep, I stirred pained from the unwelcoming floor of the car. The people who had been in the car with me where gone. The car itself was empty except for me. My memory was slow to return, the instance in which I had been grabbed and thrown into the back of the van against my will didn't surface for a moment or two. I winced at the artificial lighting glaring at me from the darkness of the open van. I propped myself up slowly using one of the seats for leverage. Every muscle in my body was stiff, as if I were incased in jello.

Wobbly I managed to get to my feet and stumble out of the van. A dart was stuck in the base of my neck, the kind of tranquilizer darts that would be used on large animals. I pulled it free with a light wince and tumbled out of the van. My body refusing to allow me the liberty to regain any sort of balance. Crushing weight was felt to have dropped upon my shoulders when I exited the van. I wanted to scream but I couldn't find the ability to do so. Basking in the light of the place I was in I could barely force myself to sit upright. Everything inside me was being pulled apart and retracting like taffy.
The van didn't have that effect on me, I longed to be back in it's comforting darkness where the weight was lifted from my shoulders. I could barely breathe, a loud ringing bell sound was heard in my ears. It felt like my senses where steadily being robbed from me. There was no scent, I couldn't feel the ground under me. Bright artificial lighting blinded me from seeing anything, and I couldn't hear anything. I wanted to go to sleep again. Another tranquilizing dart please I begged internally, I thrashed on the ground kicking and forcing my by limbs to move. Someone had to be around here, anyone could put me out of my misery. There couldn't be a time in my life, I wished for the sweet kiss of sleep more than this.

. . . .

The three beings that had tranquilized the girl were kneeling their arms bound with chains on the side of the road. Their vehicle had been ambushed without any warning. The woman who had been sitting closest to the human girl stared up at the man who walked through the group of beings that surrounded her and her crew. They split letting him pass without saying anything. They just stood at alert waiting for his command.

"What have you caught now?" He asked calmly.

"Human smugglers." One of his obedient mutts replied causing the woman to spit at his feet. She knew who this man was and she hated him. His name was known by many, and that name was Mathias.

Mathias looked down at her saliva on his shoe and struck her across the face. She hissed and landed sideways on the gravel road. She didn't give him the satisfaction or hearing her whimper although her cheek burned with where he had hit her. He turned and looked at the mutt who worked for him. "Is the human alive?"

"She was immobile and unresponsive when we removed them from the van. It appears that she might be dead." Mathias looked down at the woman who sneered mockingly. "No human can survive crossing the border into the realms." The woman piped up. "She ought to be dead, you should know that by now." Mathias kicked her in the stomach with a well placed hit. A light crunch of bones was heard and the woman wheezed. "I don't recall having asked you, what the condition of the human was." He didn't raise his voice but rather spoke softly.

The woman curled on the dirt floor her teammates remained unmoving they did nothing to help her. Neither of them offered a threat or a harsh word toward the man. They knew better than to mess with him, they kept their eyes glued to the floor and mouths shut unless spoken too.

"What's your business transporting this human girl here anyway." He looked at his men for answers and then down at the woman.

"A business transaction with a dragon." The woman admitted. Her brash and stubborn spirit having been broken after a few good hits. The man kneeled and looked her straight in the eyes. "Dragon?" He says with his smile dancing across his lips. "Which Dragon?"

"One with a lot more power than you." She hissed. A noise was heard as she spoke. "I personally just can't wait until the day Issei comes for you." The woman spoke coldly. Mathias blinked when she spoke the name of someone who was considered to be a myth in his eyes. Most respected the name even though they'd never known who possessed it. He was sort of like the boogie man for monsters and inhuman creatures alike. He went into strike her again but something had tumbled out onto the ground. It caught his attention, as the woman moved from her curled defensive position to see the human girl they had picked off the streets struggle on the ground. The high dosage bear tranquilizer they had used to put her to sleep had worn off. It was meant to let her die peacefully as the woman had expected it to work.

That's how they usually dealt with their targets. Put them to sleep and let the crossing into the different realms finish the job for them. Most humans died the moment their van had fully crossed over from the human realm into theirs. Yet this girl had survived it. "Well look at that, it looks like your little hostage lived." Mathias spoke softly standing upright to see the girl flop and thrash on the ground. He watched her struggle against the force of the their realm that appeared to crush her with an invisible force. Her body didn't handle the transition of being in a different dimension well. Mathias waited attentively for her to stop moving and give into the death she was bound to endure soon enough.

She didn't stop moving, she thrashed on the ground for a good while before her body stopped willingly moving. Something was strange about her and it intrigued Mathias to learn more about her. "Help her." He told one of his followers. They didn't question his command and walked over to the human girl. Her scent filling their nostrils with her human sticky sweet smell. The men dragged over and deposited her at his feet he kneeled down and lifted her face so he could get a better look.

"There aren't any features that would deem her as a half breed or hybrid." He examined her face closely and found nothing that would mark as anything other than an ordinary human. "She's the first to have survived the crossing." He spoke gently.

"The dragon has payed for her." The women hissed. "She's mine now." Mathias answered her. "Put her in the car." The men grabbed her and lifted her gently disappearing. "The dragon conflict isn't my problem." Mathias said with ease. "You should've chosen a better route."

"The dragon payed specifically for her." She yelled. "You can't just snatch her."

"I just did." Mathias stated as his men began to pile into their vehicles. He smiled tauntingly and threw the key to free the woman and her team on the ground. He left them stranded on the gravel road without a method of transportation. That situation involving them was no longer his problem.