Human Sacrifice

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

“I really want to help Brix y’know, but the King will find out and he’ll kill us both” Katya sighed, looking up at her brother. “I plan to live this life to however long it lasts, but I don’t want to purposely shorten how long that will be. Helping a sacrifice is one of the highest treasons, if Brix tells them anything-”

“Brix won’t tell them anything, not if she wants to get out alive” Lyle sighed, sipping some of the blood he had left over from dinner. “What we need to worry about is the fact that they’ve brought forward the day for drainage due to a shortage. I want to help as well, but if they found out we were involved it would make us traitors. I tried to save Sierra and that resulted in the stupid scar on my cheek where he sliced the side of my face”

“She trusts me though, Lyle. I don’t really know how I feel about that” Katya sighed, shuffling the deck of cards. They were only allowed a pack of cards as entertainment between them both because of what Lyle did, and they weren’t deemed on the same level of importance as the princes for example. “Plus I haven’t drank for a few weeks, not since the concert. I just feel so weak and they still expect me to run around after them”

“Katya you can’t keep going on like this” Lyle sighed, handing his sister a bottle he’d managed to smuggle from Scott’s private stash. “Think about your own wellbeing before anyone else’s. We all know you’re trying to save Brix because she reminds you of yourself”

“Maybe I am, what are you going to do about it brother?”

“Help her escape before you never want her to leave. You’ll get too attached to her and we all know how much you hate to be alone, you just want friends, you’ll restrict her so much that she’ll never get out” Lyle sighed. “You’re like an over-protective parent, like dad always was”

“Don’t you dare mention him around me” she spat back at him whilst dealing the cards out. Even hearing about him made her want to rip something, or hit someone, or both.

“You’re just like him Katya. Remember how he used to tell us stories that used to give you horrible nightmares? He used to always stagger in drunk while you were asleep and I was playing video games, and he’d tell us stories. Stories that back then seemed like what murmured in the abyss of his intoxicated imagination, but now are just real” Lyle sighed, and Katya looked up and nodded.

“About the monsters that would get us. But now we’re the monsters” she said through tears. “We sit around while innocent people are being killed just so we can have something to drink”

Lyle desperately needed to steer the conversation away from their dad before Katya broke down again. The last time she did, she ran away and got herself turned. That resulted in him being turned as well; maybe Lyle still hadn’t got over the fact that it was her fault that he didn’t have a normal life anymore. “Katya, you think you have problems, I have an even bigger one”

“Sure” she laughed. She knew what he was on about. Just because he really liked someone didn’t make his situation bigger than her own. Hers could be the life and death of me, but his just decided whether he spent his life alone or not. Needless to say, when Katya had laid off the blood, she didn’t act like herself. She was usually a bubbly person but without it she was bitter and horrible.

“But he doesn’t like me back” Lyle sighed, looking down at his cards. They played for an hour before they made the effort to talk to each other. Katya sighed between taking sips of the blood before her, and put her cards down to show her full house that she’d won. She took the chips and dealt the cards out again. They’d spend many evenings like this.

“I have three pieces of advice for Brix. Make an impression, get a boyfriend or escape. All the things I could’ve done to get myself kicked out of this hellhole” Katya sighed, resting her head on the table as the blood rushed to her head. The rush would be minimal but she just wanted to feel alive again. Being undead was taking a drag on her self esteem.

“You always have advice don’t you, because you don’t want her to make the same mistake you did. You fell in love” Lyle sighed. Katya had a massive crush on Patrique but she gave up after years of liking him.

“You just told me that you love somebody Lyle. Stop being so hypocritical” Katya hissed at her brother. She hated him sometimes, but he just reminded her of herself. She put on a confident look for me but even then I could tell she was fighting a war with herself. Lyle had told me once that she suffered from depression.

“I only LIKE him, not love like you did with Patrique” Lyle sighed, packing the cards away. It was nearly morning and they needed their rest as the King wanted the girls to have a tour of the castle and they were the two tour guides. The castle isn’t even that interesting. Katya strongly disagreed with the idea; most of us had seen the castle anyway.

“Scott won’t like you back Lyle, he has Monica now and you can’t change that” she sighed, hugging her brother. He always fell for the wrong people and she wanted to help, just like she was helping me. Lyle appeared tough but inside he was soft and sensitive and his feelings got crushed easily, but it just made him a stronger person.

“Answer me this honestly Katya, do you think we’ll be able to help Brix or not?” Lyle sighed, sick of her optimism and in search of a definite answer. Katya sighed.

“Honestly? My hopes are staring to fall right now”