Atherian Tales: The Blood Slave

Chapter Ten

I pounded the door to my chambers in hopes that Jerric hadn't escorted Anna too far and could hear the noise. When the sound of the door unlocking answered back to my pounding, I had realized I caught them in time.

"What's the matter Amily?" Anna had asked as she stepped back into my room and grabbed my hands.

"I need to speak with Lord Thelios! I must know about my bonding and how I can survive it."

"Amily, I told you how everything will go."

"Yes but I need to be sure he can stop drinking from me. I would much rather die than be a blood slave but I refuse to die like that." I almost shouted my last confession as I began to walk out the door only to have Anna take hold of my wrists just as I reached the threshold.

"You can't go alone, you need an escort."

"Elias is not here and I need to speak with the lord now."

"Please just come back to your room. Jerric will escort me to my chambers then I'll send him back here to take you to the lord." She was practically begging me. Some blood slaves follow the rules religiously afraid of reprimanding, some followed because they were afraid to end up as a midnight snack to a vampire. This was an urgent matter however and I didn't haven't time for rules. They were meant to be broken anyways. I slipped through Anna's grasp and right past Jerric before they could stop me.

As I made my way down the hallway, I could hear Anna's pleas to me, begging me to come back but I wouldn't. I was surprised that Jerric didn't use his vampire speed to catch me and drag me back. I was happy he didn't though.

The more I walked the more I realized I hadn't the slightest idea how to get to the east wing sunroom. My journeys to and from were always with Elias and to avoid any confrontation, I usually kept my eyes down and let him lead the way. I was incredibly lost. I asked myself why I couldn't have dreamed of the way to the sunroom like I had with the rose labyrinth. I could have used my dream like a map now like I had then.

I must have made a wrong turn somewhere, though every turn seemed to be the wrong one at the moment, because I had made my way to a dark corridor. There were no torches on the walls and the only light was from the moon that was cascading through the windows. It barely helped in the slightest as it took a moment for my eyes to adjust.

The further I walked down the dim hallway, I could hear a sound getting louder and louder. It sounded as if a sheet or a garment of some sort was hung up to dry and the water was gathering at the ends, dripping on the floor. It was making a small padding sound as it dropped to the stone beneath it.

At the end of the corridor was another turn. Coming up on it I saw what looked like a pale thin arm. I wasn't sure until I had reached the item did I see that my assumption was right. There stood Shelby. The redheaded girl from the carriage. Her arm was hanging to her side lifeless as her head was tilted to the left letting her long red locks run down the length of her arm. I gasped when I realized there was a figure standing in front of her, holding her up against the wall and her head to the side. I covered my mouth almost directly as I released the breath and saw the figure turn my direction. Before I could turn to run, the figure had me pinned to the wall next.

It was Elias. His black eyes were hooded by his furrowing brows. His teeth were on display. From his mouth down to his chin was covered in Shelby's blood. The smell of copper wafted past my nose making me swallow a lump of bile trying to rise from my belly. He began doing the same to me that he had done to her. He placed his index finger and thumb around my chin turning it to the side to expose my neck. I had been in this position with Lord Thelios before but this felt different. I was scared and truly felt like if Elias were to drink from me, he wouldn't stop. There was irony in it all. I had tried to make it to the lord to ask him if he could stop drinking from me during my bonding because I didn't want to die. Yet I had lost my way and here I was in the hands of Elias worried about the exact possibility.