I didn’t spend too much time musing over this and instead, focused on how on earth I was going to get back to the ground. I looked outside and smiled faintly with relief. I saw a lift not too far away. That must be it. I pulled the black hoodie over my head and made my way to the lift. It didn’t take long before my feet were back on the solid ground. It was almost too good to be true, but no one seemed to be around to keep watch over me, so I just slipped the slippers on and made a run toward the direction opposite the Vale, the town center. I figured that north of the Vale were the Cells, east of it was the Sanctuary, while on the west side was the Pavilion. If I made a run for it in the direction away from the Vale, further to the west, I just had to reach an exit sooner or later.
Where there’s a way in, there must be a way out.
I was so wrong. After what felt like hours of staggering through the dark trees, with the rubber slippers blistering my feet and getting completely battered by the sharp twigs and stones, every muscle in my body aching and scratches all over my body due to branches I hit or bushes I stumbled into considering the severe lack of lighting, I finally reached a clearing leading out of what almost seemed like an endless forest.
But what I saw made my heart sink. It was a wall so tall and seemingly so thick, I was surprised no one’s ever noticed the Blood Shade on a map before. This will give the Wall of China a run for its money. I frowned. How I planned to get past that wall, I had no clue, and the fact that I had no idea whatsoever what was on the other side of it didn’t help either.
I bit my lip, unsure of what to do. I just sank to the ground to my knees, fighting the urge to break down and cry. There was no way I could climb this wall. I could barely even stand up. I was beginning to grow desperate. The thought of returning and facing the consequences of my botched escape was playing tricks on my mind. I was overwhelmed inside by more fears and doubts than I knew how to handle.
Suddenly, I heard a twig snap behind me.
“Well, what do we have here?” Spoke a voice that was a tad too high-pitched for a man.
“Looks like dinner to me,” a deeper, huskier voice replied.
My fists clenched. I was suddenly so aware of how many scratches I had and how blood was oozing through those scrapes. I’d practically turned myself into bait for these creatures.
“What are you doing way out here by the fortress during a night so dark?” Pitchy, with the high-pitched voice, asked.
“Taking a walk. My master said I could,” I bluffed. I could feel my face turning red.
“Really now?” This time, it was Husky speaking. “Did he also ask you to get yourself all bloody and ready to become his breakfast while you’re at it?”
I could feel them drawing closer from behind me. I slowly turned so I could face them. Based on the clothes they were wearing – black garb with red crests worn by the guards escorting us the night before - I assumed both of them were guards, assigned to keep watch of the fortress.
“Who’s your master, lovely little thing?”
Pitchy was right beside me now. He held a clump of my hair within his fingers and took a good long sniff of it.
I was about to tell them that Derek Novak owned me and harming me would be a big mistake, but was interrupted by Husky before I could speak.
“Who cares?” he spoke up. “Anyone who walks past the forest and reaches the fortress is under our mercy. I’m sure her master will thank us for teaching the insolent slave a lesson.” His finger traced one of the scratches on my legs, drawing blood with his protruding claw. He took a whiff of the blood and smiled before tasting it. He smiled.
“Sweet.”
It was Pitchy who seemed apprehensive. “Perhaps we shouldn’t touch her. We don’t know who owns her.” Still, his eyes were on me, his free hand running the length of my arm.
Husky showed no indication of stopping his taste tests of the blood coming out of the scrapes on my body.
I stood there, trying to recall whatever it was I learned from the self-defense lessons Ben had convinced me to take part in. I had no idea if they would work against vampires, but I figured it was worth a shot – if only just to stun them so I could make a run for it. It was wishful thinking, but it was the best I had. I bent down on the ground and swung a leg beneath Husky, making him topple to the ground. I took advantage of Pitchy’s surprise and pushed him away before I began running back to the forest. I barely even took three strides, before both managed to catch up with me, pushing me to the ground.
Pitchy held my arms down, while Husky bent on the ground to hold my feet down.
“That was a big mistake, sugar,” Husky grinned.
Both their fangs came out and I was sure I was about to lose all sanity, considering that it was the third time in the past twenty-four hours that vampires had threatened to suck my blood.
I saw no hope whatsoever and just shut my eyes as both were about to bite. I was expecting to scream in pain upon feeling their fangs dig into whichever part of my body they decided to sink their teeth into.
But, instead, I felt their grip on my wrists and legs suddenly loosen.
I opened my eyes and blinked several times, still trying to get used to seeing in the dark. My eyes lit up when I saw both guards on the ground with Derek looming over them. The moon shone down on him in the clearing. Each of his hands were pinning them to position by their necks.
“Has either one of you tasted her blood?” Derek demanded, the tone of his voice nothing short of menacing.
From behind, the way his shoulders rose with every breath and the way his muscles bulged, told me how he was desperately trying to maintain a grip over his temper.