br@ce Yourselves — Very Long re-ad
🐺💣🔪 #MY_BLACK_KNIGHT 🔪💣🐺
🎴Happen 10 & 11 (VL)
As Produced By Sheriff Squinty
Theme: Apprehended & Maliced
It could have been mere seconds, or it could have been days, before I began to regain consciousness. I floated in the dark place between awake and asleep as I tried to comprehend what was happening. I dimly registered that my hands and feet were bound and I was lying horizontally on a fairly uncomfortable surface. I could hear voices muddled in the background but I did not have the pres£nce of mind to un-derstand them or even open my eyes. Something nagged at me; something was wrong, but my mind was too tired to try to figure it out. gro-an ing slightly, I gave into temptation and returned to the darkness.
—
This happened a couple more times before I truly regained consciousness. I vaguely remembered being dragged on the ground before being propped up and tied to something. I even thought a nee-dle had been plunged into my n£¢k a second time, although I wasn’t sure. I remembered a sharp burning pain at my wrists, and multi-ple instances of hushed talking. I wasn’t sure what was real and what was a dream anymore. My b©dy constantly craved the dark, dreamless sleep, and I gladly sank into it. After a while, however, the sleep bec@m£ less peaceful. I began to register a dull, incessant pain and voices. The agitated voice in my mind bec@m£ increasingly agitated, shouting at me to wake up, to fight. My b©dy throbbe-d and ached and the darkness behind my eyelids gradually transitioned into a bright light.
I truly knew I was awake when I finally opened my eyes and winced; there was a bright fluorescent bulb directly above me.
I made no noise as I finally woke up. Some semblance of caution f0rç£d me to hold my ton-gue. Squinting against the beam of light, I glanced around to take in my surroundings. I was alone in what looked like a warehouse or storage room, although it was fairly small. The room was almost completely ba-re except for a small table and a couple of chairs set against the corner near the only door. The door itself looked like it was pu-ll-ed open from the bottom, somewhat like a garage door.
As for me, I was tied to a chair in the middle of the room. I was currently alone. My wrists were burning, and I realized the pain must have brou-ght me to consciousness. They were tied behind the chair and as I glanced over my shoulder, I realized why they hurt so badly and I swore.
Silver. The kryptonite of werewolves. Silver sapped our strength and drove a mental barrier between us and our Wolves, preventing us from shifting and leaving us almost as weak as humans. It even made communication with direct family members more difficult in human form. As long as it t©uçhed me, my wounds would not heal and I would not be able to Shift.
*
As Produced By Sheriff Squinty
*
Nob©dy knew why silver was such a weakness of ours. It had been this way since the first wolves roamed the planet, and as far as I knew, there was no way to develop a tolerance to it. We were immune to so many things that caused humans harm, yet they wore silver jewelry on a daily basis. The irony was not lost on me. My father had said it was best to un-derstand the effects of silver as ma-king our inner Wolves ill, which isolated them from us, while the skin irritation was more of an allergic reaction.
I tugged at the silver chains that bound me, wincing in pain. I wasn’t going to be able to break them with my reduced strength. The chains were locked together and one of my kidnappers had the key.
Trying not to panic, I attem-pted to contact my Wolf. I could still s-en-se her agitation and her pain, but I could not hear her voice. I could tell she felt the same frustration at the lack of contact, but for now we were stuck. I shuddered, feeling frighteningly alone.
How was I going to get out of here? I wasn’t strong enough to break free. I had no idea how long I had been here; my pack was probably having a heart attack by now. Had my friends noticed my abs£nce at the club? Was my family searching for me?
Thinking of my family gave me a moment of surprising clarity. The silver created a barrier between my Wolf and I, meaning I couldn’t Shift and converse with the rest of the pack. However, I didn’t nee-d to be in wolf form to converse with my immediate family or the Alpha.
The problem was, conversing at this great of a distance from them required both strength and concentration. I’d been in too much pain and too distracted during the battle to contact them, but now it might be possible. I had no doubt that they could be trying to communicate with me, but with the silver-induced barriers in my mind, they were having no luck. If I could just lower my barriers for a few seconds to s£nd a quic-k message….
It would be difficult. I knew that much. I would have to conserve every last drop of energy I had. Even if I did have enough strength to break throu-gh the silver-induced haze and lower my barriers I would only have a couple of seconds before my reduced strength gave out. It was definitely not a guaranteed plan, but it was the best I had.
With a glimmer of self-deprecating amusement, I realized that this would be easier if I were Mated to Gabriel. Mates had a bond so strong that the strictly external t©uçh of silver couldn’t break their mind link. It required a silver bullet or silver in the bloodstream to disrupt that connection. Thinking of Gabriel brou-ght a fresh rush of pain and I turned my head to the side, gritting my teeth. Did he have any idea where I was?
I did not have time to dwell on these thoughts for I heard footsteps outside, fast approaching. Not knowing how to handle the situation in my unfortunate state, I pushed back the pain in my b©dy and allowed my head to loll to the side, closing my eyes. Perhaps I could catch them off guard or learn something about them if they thought I was asleep. What had they drugged me with, anyways?
Forcing my breathing to be even and relaxed, I kept up my act as I heard a loud, rusty grating sound. The door slid upwards and I heard two distinct sets of footsteps. I tried to breathe throu-gh my nose to better un-derstand what I was up against, but all I got was a faint whiff. Once again I was struck by the subtlety of a vampire’s scent.
“She’s still asleep?” c@m£ the incredulous voice. I recognized it as the vampire that had bitten me, then later called me a ‘werewolf bit-ch’.
“I’m not surprised. I gave her enough to kill a vampire.” The voice was calm, collected, coming from the vampire that had drugged me. I heard the door slide shut again, connecting with the ground with an ominous thud.
“Still, it’s been more than eight hours. It’s nearly sunrise!” I tried not to let my obvious shock show. Eight hours? Surely someone was searching for me by now. My father would be going out of his mind with worry.
“Yes, the timing of this was most unfortunate. Antonio can’t come meet us here until this evening. He was too far away to make it here before sunrise.”
So the vampire Antonio didn’t want to travel during the day, then. Was it true vampires were weakened by the sun, then? And what the hell did the vampires want with me?
“I don’t see why we can’t just kill her now,” the first one said, sounding a bit petulant.
“Orders are orders, although we disobeyed them by capturing her so soon. We weren’t re-ady yet but we’ll have to make do.” His voice had grown ha-rd . “You two almost fv¢ked everything up. You’re lucky I was there.”
“It wasn’t our fault! We were just trying to have an evening snack. How could we have known that werewolves would be nearby? YOU were supposed to be watching her!”
What the hell? Watching me?
The other one hissed. “Silence, Marco. Do not disrespect your elders. Especially when I’m the only reason your n£¢k wasn’t broken.” He sighed irritably. “I was watching the club from the front, I didn’t expect her to go out that way. I didn’t know you two idiots would be munching on a human nearby.”
Marco huffed and there was a moment of silence. “I’ve never met a werewolf. I didn’t think she’d be that strong.”
“You’re too young to be a match for a fully-grown werewolf. Don’t forget that.” I heard the noise of a chair being pu-ll-ed out as the vampire sat down.
“Can I at least wake her up? She bit Angelo. She deserves some sort of punishment.” I wondered if my bite had killed Angelo or just wounded him. Knowing my luck, he was still out and looking for blood.
“Be my guest. Just don’t injure her too badly, Antonio wants her in good condition.”
I automatically tensed, my breathing coming out fas-ter than I’d intended. I heard footsteps approach me as Marco neared. I should have known it wouldn’t be that easy. I br@ced myself for a hit, knowing I had to conserve my energy in order to have any chance at communication. I fervently hoped the vampires didn’t know about my ability to mentally communicate with my family without being in wolf form.
“Rise and shine,” Marco snarled, and I felt a breath of air before the back of his hand collided with the side of my face. My head snapped to the side and my eyes opened instantly, fixating on his face as I ba-red my teeth in a snarl. In the back of my mind I registered the fact that he looked different from yesterday. More human, for lack of a better word. His fangs were no longer visible and his eyes were not the black pits they had been yesterday. Instead, his pupils had shrunk to make his unnaturally bright green irises visible. I glanced down, noting that he had a clean shi-t on. I hoped the wounds I inflicted still hurt like hell.
My cheek stung from the b!ow and I felt my Wolf’s anger that we were being attacked in our helpless state. Gritting my teeth, I positioned myself to face Marco.
“Good morning, bit-ch,” Marco snapped. I ignored the insult, shifting my gaze to examine the vampire that had drugged me. He had white-blond hair and his eyes were blue, unnaturally bright like Marco’s. He had an amused expression on his features as he watched us.
“Look at me when I’m talking to you.” He drew back his hand and sl@pped me on the other side of my face. Once again my head j£rked to the side. I bit my l!pto keep from ma-king any noise as pain lanced throu-gh my face. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction.
Growling in irritation, Marco curled his hand into a fist then punched me, p@rt of his fist connecting with the side of my mouth. This time I visibly winced as his punch f0rç£d my teeth into myl-ip. I tasted coppery blood as it filled my mouth. I knew without hearing her that my Wolf was howling her fury at this despicable creature. If I could get free I would tear him to shreds.
*
Hall Of Supernatural Stories
*
I f0rç£d myself to take a de-ep breath. If I was going to get out of here I nee-ded all of my energy. I fervently hoped my pack would find me.
The vampire’s nostrils flared. “I can smell your blood, dog. Good thing it smells disgusting and repulsive. Otherwise I’d make you into breakfast.”
I snorted before I could help myself, knowing it was obviously a bluff. Their boss, Antonio, nee-ded me for something so I doubt he’d let Marco ‘make me into breakfast’.
My reaction seemed to infuriate him, for in a second Marco was in my face. His hand reached out and gr@bb£d my n£¢k. He began to squee-ze, his grip crushing. I could feel bruises forming on my throat as he gr!pp£dha-rder, his face contorted into a snarl. I struggled despite myself, attempting to get air into my lungs.
“re-lease her!” The blonde vampire demanded, an edge to his voice. Marco paused, his angry eyes still boring into mine. “Marco!” The other vampire barked, and with a growl of reluctance the vampire re-leased my n£¢k. I su-cked in the air gratefully, my n£¢k bruised and tender.
“You nee-d to go cool off. Now, before sunrise. Antonio will punish us if she’s too bruised; she’s his leverage, after all.”
I wheezed, trying to catch my breath. Leverage for what? I had a sneaking suspicion, but hoped I was wrong.
The two vampires stared each other down for a moment more before Marco stalked over to the door, tossing me an angry look over his shoulder as he went. “I don’t see why we have to stay in this place before he gets here.” He muttered darkly as he hauled the door open. “We could just meet him at the mansion.”
“We can’t risk leaving the city. As soon as we get away from all the humans her pack will be able to find her scent and they’ll track us down.”
So did that mean they were looking for me now? I wondered. At least it told me we were still in the city, although I wasn’t sure where. If the vampires kept me here to mask my scent it would make s-en-se if they were closer to downtown where the population density was higher.
Marco lifted the door to the facility open. It was dark outside, but the sky was beginning to lighten slightly and I knew sunrise wasn’t far away. I tried to inconspicuously observe the surroundings outside. Fortunately there were a few dim lights outside so I could make out certain details. Directly across from us was another door that looked identical to the one Marco had just opened. From the quic-k glance I obtained before he shut the door behind him, I tried to memorize all I could. If I was going to try to contact my father or Alpha Brett later, they would nee-d all the clues they could get. Unless they found me first, which based on my luck so far was highly unlikely.
As soon as the other vampire left, the blonde one relaxed in his chair and pu-ll-ed out a phone. He began cl!çk!ng away on the device, ignoring me completely. Left alone with my new bruises and burning wrists where the silver t©uçhed, I finally allowed my mind to wander to Gabriel. I pictured his flawless skin and dark eyes. Trying to get away from thoughts of him had landed me in this mess in the first place; maybe that was a sign. I thought over our interaction in the clearly and the husky way he had declared me as his.
Was I going to die without ever having t©uçhed my Mate? My situation seemed pretty hopeless at the moment. If I wouldn’t have been so pathetic and confused, maybe he would have wanted me. He had been cruel in the past, but my hatred of him had dimmed after meeting these horrid vampires.
My mind wandered in circles like this for quite some time. I attem-pted to distract myself from the dull physical pain with thoughts of Gabriel and my family as the minutes trickled by. Another hour pas-sed in silence, then another, and I lost track of time. I had just begun to contemplate my growing hunger when Marco returned. He created quite a racket, throwing up the storage room door and slamming it as soon as he was inside. Looking out, I realized it was because tendrils of sunlight were beginning to stretch across the sky.
Thankfully, Marco ignored me as he pu-ll-ed out a chair and sat at the table next to the blonde vampire. He had brou-ght a sack of items with him and he pu-ll-ed out a book from the sack, facing away from me and promptly beginning to re-ad.
Another hour pas-sed by and I began to grow increasingly uncomfortable. My stomach had started to rumble and my throat was incredibly dry, but worst of all was my nee-d to use the restroom. I hadn’t consumed much liquid the night before but my discomfort persisted. Surely the vampires wouldn’t let me soil myself?
I cleared my throat, and icy blue eyes quic-kly snapped to my face. The blonde vampire stared at me with a blank expression.
“I nee-d to use the restroom.” I said coldly, my voice raspy from my thirst.
“How is that our problem?” Marco sneered, glaring at me over his shoulder.
“You’re the ones tra-pped in here with me,” I replied. “If I just let it go, you’ll be the ones smelling it all day.”
The blonde one raised an eyebrow, looking bemused. “Marco, give her that bottle you brou-ght and untie one of her hands. Only one, we don’t nee-d her Shifting.”
A bottle? Was he serious?
Marco was scowling but apparently he had no de-sire to smell my urine for he approached me, grumbling and clutching an empty Powerade bottle. Meanwhile, my mind was racing. If he untied one of my hands I would have a bit of my strength back. I had remained motionless the last three hours, trying to relax and sto-re my energy as much as possible. Did I have enough to s£nd a message to my dad? It was as good a time as any to try. I wanted to be long gone before Antonio arrived.
Marco stooped behind me and I felt him in-sert a key into the padlock that held the chains together. He tugged the chains off of my left hand before re-locking them. I flexed my hand, glad to be rid of the burning s-en-sation for even one moment. I also felt a bit of my strength return, although not much.
A large plastic bottle was placed in my l@p. “Make it quic-k, dog. No sudden moves or tricks,” Marco snapped before returning to his chair.
p@rt of me felt extremely uncomfortable trying to do this while they were in the room, but I had no choice here. Still, my cheeks burned at the thought of that immodesty. I knew it was petty to care about that at a time like this, though. Who knew if I’d even get out of here. I took a de-ep breath and attem-pted to ignore my embarras-sment; it wasn’t as if they were watching me anyways. In fact, they had entered a heated conversation about something and I knew this was my chance.
I began to go about my business, attempting to arrange my clothing with one hand so I could relieve myself (which was pretty dang difficult, for the first time in a day I was actually thankful that I had a Sk-irt on), but my mind was preparing energy instead of focusing on the task at hand. After I finished using the restroom, still feeling immensely awkward, I made a big show about re-adjusting my clothing. Really, I was preparing to s£nd the message. Fortunately, the vampires were still in a fairly intense discussion and paid me no mind. I knew I had thirty seconds, at most, and probably not even that.
I di-pped into the reserve of energy I had sto-red all day, taking a de-ep breath. It wasn’t much but I had to hope it would work. With all the f0rç£ I had, I r0ûghly broke throu-gh the haze of pain that was causing my mental block and focused on my father. I closed my eyes, narrowing my vision to just him. I felt my energy quic-kly draining and I had to act fast.
“Vampires have me. Somewhere near downtown, warehouse or storage unit.” Even these few words left me with my energy nearly gone, I could feel it seeping away as I tried to maintain my concentration. With one last bit of effort I projected the image of the building I had seen when Marco opened the door. I kept this image in my mind for as long as possible, hoping against hope that my father could see it.
*
Hall Of Supernatural Stories
*
Then the last vestiges of my energy left and I drooped, exhausted. The image faded from my mind and I felt my mental barriers return as my concentration vanished.
I could only hope it would work.
—
“I still don’t un-derstand why we can’t just question her.” Marco said. He had started pacing about two hours after I had s£nt my mental message. Meanwhile, I was growing increasingly worried. Shouldn’t they have found me by now? It had been well over two hours, and by my guess I had left the club thirteen or fourteen hours ago! Where the hell were they? Did my message not go throu-gh? That last thought was extremely disheartening. I tried not to give up hope. I had to make it throu-gh.
“The Master trusts Antonio with questioning. Not those of our rank.” I made a mental note that Antonio was not the Big Boss after all.
“We could still ask a few questions. Just basic ones. We captured her after all, we should get to p@rticipate in the fun.”
“He wouldn’t like it.”
“He doesn’t have to know, Brutus.” Marco snapped impatiently. I took another mental note. If I ever got out of here I wanted to know who these vampires were so I could get my revenge.
Brutus sighed, leaning back in his chair. “She could take a couple more hits, I suppose,” he said coolly, a slight sm-irk pu-lling at the corner of his mouth. “I’ve grown bored, too. I wasn’t hired to babysit a she-wolf all day. If it weren’t for her relation to Gabriel we could’ve killed her alre-ady.”
I jo-lted upright in my seat at the mention of Gabriel’s name. So this had something to do with him? It made s-en-se, given the timing of all of this. What did they want with him?
My mental questioning c@m£ to a stand still as Marco approached me, strolling with the grace of a predator. I did not like the hateful and angry expression hovering on his features. With a bur-st of speed he appeared in front of me and struck me in the face. I g@sped slightly, reeling with the f0rç£ of the b!ow.
“All right, I’m bored so you’re going to answer a few questions for me. Where is your Mate?”
I bit myl-ip, not liking the fact that he was asking about Gabriel and that they knew he was my Mate. This solidified my suspicion that they had been watching us in the forest that day. That faint scent I’d caught in the woods must have been that of a vampire following me. It had still been before sunrise, after all.
Regardless, I had no idea where Gabriel was at this second. If the vampire had half of a br@in he’d know that. I remained stonily silent.
Not liking my silence, Marco gr@bb£d my cheek r0ûghly and glared into my eyes. “I asked you a question.”
I just watched him coolly. Like Hell they were getting any answers from me.
Marco sneered and backhanded me again. I winced from the pain of the b!ow, although at this rate I wouldn’t even notice my newest bruise.
“He has something we nee-d. I’ll ask you again: where is he?”
There was no way to win here, either by staying silent or by telling him the truth, which I would never do. Not that I knew the answer to his question.
I felt a surge of frustration. “Something you nee-d? Like a breath mint?” I snapped cheekily before I could help myself. My Wolf would be proud. Immediately I knew I should’ve just stayed silent, as the next sl@p was much ha-rder.
The questioning continued for four more rounds, and each time I did not answer in any way other than to glare at him or make a snarky comment. Each time I received a sl@p to the face. One of my cheeks was going numb, although I could taste blood in my mouth from where my teeth had cut into the inside of it. I spit most of it out on the floor, but apparently the vampires really didn’t care for werewolf blood because they didn’t even glance at it.
“We nee-d to be more rou-gh with her,” Marco snapped, but Brutus was shaking his head. “I told you. Antonio wants her undamaged.”
Marco turned on me again, expression taut. I thought his eyes had darkened somewhat and I was worried his fangs would come out any minute.
“Tell us where he is,” he hissed, leaning in close to my face.
I spit on him. The globs of saliva, and even a little bit of blood, splattered his face and he roared with rage, punching me directly in my side and cutting my satisfaction short.
I cried out in pain that time despite myself as I felt a definite crack. I hunched over, g@sping in agony. My side was on fire. Breathing heavily, I winced. It seemed as if he’d broken a rib.
Marco r0ûghly gr@bb£d me and shoved me upright. I whimpered in pain, scre-wing my eyes shut as I anticipated the next b!ow. I had no way of defending myself.
“Marco!” Brutus snapped, sounding angry.
Marco snarled in fury again, seemingly ignoring Brutus’ protests, but his snarl was drowned out by a mighty roar.
My eyes snapped open as the vampires spun towards the source. I heard a loud screeching noise and then a grating sound as the door was pu-ll-ed up. Sunlight flooded p@rt of the room, causing the vampires to hiss in pain and flee to the back corners of the building, but I didn’t care about them. My eyes were fixated on the blinding light.
Four werewolves stood there. Maria, Will, and my father, all with worried and furious expressions, but my gaze quic-kly slid to the fourth werewolf, the one who had roared and opened the door.
Gabriel. My Mate, was here. Saving me. I sighed with relief as I heard the vampires snarl in fury behind me.
And then all hell broke loose.
.
.
.
#Tobecontinued…….
Ok, that was a very long ride.
Could have split this into two, but thought it won’t be nice to break the excitement in the story.
Smiles.
Am hoping you’re excited for the next happen as much as i am?
The story’s main plot is slowly unwra-pping
*****
I’ll see ya in the next Happen.