Love Laced with Venom

Chapter I

My head throbbed and pounded as if something was trying to crack my skull from the inside. In a panic, I raised my hand to my mess of black hair, hoping it was soaked with sweat and not blood. When I positioned my hand into the view of my only good eye since the other one seemed swollen shut, I realized my hair was wet with water. I figured it was only water since it was odorless and my whole body was drenched. It wouldn't be possible for me to be this soaked in my own sweat, no matter how hot my surroundings were. That was about the only necessary body checks since it was obvious I took a nasty blow to my left eye.

Though it was hard to see, I was able to determine my settings. A cold, metal, jail-type imprisonment. And I was alone. Beyond the prison bars was pure darkness for a long while until I hardly made out a glint of light in the far distance that hovered above a stairway. Crawling to the bars with what I knew was a broken left leg, I grazed the battlefield to decide if I was really alone.

"He's a smart boy, strong too. You think you can manage to feed him without having your arm nipped off, Rayanna?" I picked up his voice immediately. It belonged to the man in the black coat. The one who kidnapped me. Or at least I think he did, I remember wine being shoved down my throat in the school parking lot and then blacking out. He must have been the one who was drugging me. But, why?

"Of course, he's still human, isn't he? It'll be a breeze." Purred a cocky, lullaby, female voice followed by the sound of metal being moved about. As I saw one stiletto heel hit the first step on the stairway, I cowered to the darkest corner of the imprisonment. But as the slim, maybe 5'3", silhouette arrived on the bottom step, I realized she had been approaching a different object. It was a slumped figure that I hadn't noticed until she shun a light on it. There was a male, maybe older than me, or my age, or younger. I couldn't tell because the light was dim and he was curled up.

"Wakey, wakey," the mysterious girl called out to him, "you have to gain all your strength." She unlocked his cage and placed the tray of what smelled like rotting meat. In one swift motion, the curled figure leaped up and lunged after the girl, knocking the flashlight out of her hand. She yelped and I knew she was a goner, never had I seen someone so fast. Contrary to my assumption, she quickly composed herself and threw him back into the cage as if he was a rag doll. Never had I seen someone so strong.

Without so much of a blink, the girl sprung from the floor and locked the cage. "That's what you get for encasing me! And for thinking you could dare show me kindness after the level of cruelty your Master revealed to me." He spat.

"That's my Master, he wanted you strong! Unable to be defeated! So he roughed you up, gave you the bite of venom and made you the creature you are! But he did not make you a monster! You did that to yourself." She countered, yelling through the prison bars. "But yeah, that's what I get for showing you kindness. Lesson learned it won't happen again, I can assure you of that!" The 20-something man practically snarled at her and scurried into his corner with the tray of food.  She let out a frustrated sigh and made her way to pick up her flashlight. As she reached for it, for just a moment, the light danced on my bronze complexion. It was long enough for her to notice I was awake and her figure began to approach me, letting the light shimmer on me. There was nowhere I could hide so instead, I prepared myself for her arrival and although she moved slowly and cautiously, she was at my prison bars in no time. She had no fear of unlocking the door and taking her first steps in. "You're up..." She whispered as if she didn't believe it.

Before I could respond, as if I actually knew what to say to the possible associate of my kidnapper, she settled the flashlight on the ground, letting it shine on the solid, wet ceiling and lighting my imprisonment. Enough for me to gaze on her beauty. Her dark, short hair and bangs that swept across her forehead. Her hour-glass figure, skin-tight black outfit, her exposed cleavage. And when she bent down to my level, the light caught her flawless facial features. From her amber eyes, smooth cheeks, her button nose and her sweet, inviting, red, plump lips. She was irresistible. "H- hi." I stuttered, my voice cracked and echoed through the room. I knew it was hoarse for the same reason that the rest of me was battered and bruised. "Who-" I began to ask.