Isabel and the Beast - Alucard

Chapter 11: Ain't No Sunshine

I wasn't sure how much time had passed. They'd kept me up all night, interrogating me. They knew I worked for the vampire they were looking for, and that we were close, after seeing us kissing. I'd refused to say anything, and they'd beat me for my trouble. My bottom lip was split, my cheek bruised and tender, but most of their cruelty had been in their kicks to my stomach and back, their boots leaving deep marks and broken ribs. There was the particularly smelly one - The others had called him Rizzie. He smelled of fish and body odor. He questioned me and promptly kicked or hit me when I didn't answer. A large, ogre of a man with no neck stood by a door, looking out every now and then. An older, more grizzled man with skin like scratched, dry leather occasionally added biting remarks and insults but otherwise sat back and let Rizzie work. When they'd kicked and hit and threatened to their hearts content and I didn't give anything up, they left me bound on the floor, a dirty, smelly rag gagging me. Over night one would stay up on lookout while the others slept.

The pain was one thing. At least I understood it. It was familiar. It was when Rizzie would fondle me that I felt truly violated and repulsed. While questioning me he would squeeze my breasts outside my dress, later reaching under my skirt where I sat, bound to the chair, and pawed at me, promising to stop if I'd just tell him what he wanted to know. I didn't tell him anything. I just endured for hours. The weapons

All I could see around me told me were in some kind of shed - The floor was covered in straw, and wooden panels made up the basic walls, cracks in parts showing moonlight through. It wasn't any place I was familiar with. Safe to say I didn't sleep much. My ribs shot pain through me when I moved wrong, or sometimes moved at all.

When sunlight started peeking through the cracks in the walls, the man with the dried out skin and the witty retorts came over. He started chanting something and his hand glowed. My stomach dropped, not just for myself but for my friends as I realized the stranger had more going on than they'd let on. But before I could worry too much, he tapped my forehead, and that was the last thing I remembered.

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I came to in a small clearing, surrounded my trees. The dirty rag was in my mouth, tied tightly around my head, and my arms were bound tightly behind my back. My knees dug into the dirt, my skirt puddled on the ground. Rizzie knelt in front of my, tracing a finger along my neck and shoulder, making me shudder. Then he tugged down at my gag.

"Now we know the general direction of where your boss works... We followed you out a ways before you disappeared. So we're out here, outside your village. And you're going to make sure your vampire friend finds you here."

"Drop dead," I spat at him. He didn't seem the least bit phased. He drew his hand back and slapped me hard across the face, sending me over into the dirt, my hands bound behind me. The leather-skinned man came over. They both pulled me back up on my knees. I could just barely see a faintly glowing circle around me - about ten feet in diameter. Some kind of trap. I couldn't draw attention - Adrian couldn't come here.

No sooner was I upright did the leathery man slap a hand on my exposed shoulder. My vision changed. I could see Merdes being overrun by demons. My parents killed. I screamed, the fear, despair and loss hitting me in fresh waves. The visions changed and I saw other people from my hometown ripped to shred - People I had known my whole life. And then I was alone. Tomas was gone. I screamed. I cried. My heart pounded. There was nothing I could do.

The visions disappeared and Rizzie was putting the dirty rag back in my mouth. I had tears running down my face. I couldn't make any sense of it. It had been so real, but I knew I was really here, in the field. It made no sense. I shuddered there, stuck on my knees, my wrists bound. I mumbled something but the gag was in my mouth.