Crowned [Sequel to Turned]

12: A Visit to a Vampire's Castle

The vampire holding her, Kingsford, didn't allow Whittaker to move much. That didn't stop her from trying to wiggle free and kick. Feet flailing, body squirming, she tried to free herself from Kingsford. Her futile escape attempt must have annoyed the vampire. He let out a sigh and squeezed Whittaker around her waist with inhuman strength, made her yelp in pain. He held her in that tight, nearly bone crushing grip for the rest of their walk out of the hospital.

She had no idea where these vampires were taking her, and she didn't want to find out. Most of all, she didn't want to give up and let Cole down. She was his big sister, his protector. She had to do all she could to get themselves free. "Let us go!" Whittaker shouted out and kicked her feet again.

"Pesky little..." Kingsford muttered to himself then glanced at Whittaker. With one hand he pointed to Cole, who was still a bird stuck in a bird cage, "Want me to throw that birdcage off a cliff girl?" His pale face was scrunched up in annoyance.

"N-no!" Whittaker shouted in protest. "..Just leave him alone.."

He smiled and kept walking. "Then behave yourself."

Whittaker swallowed the lump in her throat and grew still without another word. The two vampires carried Whittaker and Cole in silence for a bit. They were casually walking along, with the hospital far behind them and fast approaching where the edge of the town meets the forest.

Nocturne finally spoke up, "She's kinda fiesty. That, or she's just stupid." He was following behind Kingsford, casually holding Cole's birdcage at his side.

"Probably the latter option." Kingsford replied with a grin. "Would you mind if we teleported the rest of the way? I know you wanted to do it the old fashioned way but I really just want to get back to my castle. We'll have more time for fun that way."

"Oh fine," Nocturne huffed, seeming a bit annoyed, "But we get to do what I want first."

Whittaker blinked. Just once. The forest they had entered a few moments ago vanished, replaced by what appeared to be a stone building. She quickly assumed it was a castle of some sorts, but a rather dreary one. Stone grey walls, black tiled floors, antique looking cloth furniture with blood red and black tapestries to finish it all off. Oddly, she couldn't see a single window and the faint smell of blood hung in the air. Without windows, the only source of light was from old, but well taken care of, laterns. There was no flame in the laterns, yet they still seemed to glow with an off white light.

"Home sweet home." Kingsford said happily. She had almost forgotten about him. The vampire suddenly swung Whittaker off his shoulder and set her down on her feet. Now faced to faced with her captor, Whitaker began to stumble back. There was a blur of movement and next thing she knew, she stumbled backwards, straight into Kingsford. She spun around to face him.

He let out a deep chuckle, seemingly amused. "Brother, who should we play with first..?" Kingsford asked, his blood red eyes trained on Whittaker's neck. "I dare say, I'm rather famished."

"P-please-.." Whitt began to stammer as she took several steps back. Throwing her head from side to side she couldn't find a good exit. Every option available was quickly eliminated due to the fact these vampires were just to fast. Her eyes came to rest upon Cole, who was a snowy owl now, still trapped in his golden bird cage. Her little brother let out small, frightened hoots and ruffled his feathers.

Nocturne tapped the golden bird cage with a grin, then said "Let's play with the shape shifter first. You can have a small snack but I pick this one brother."

Kingsford let out a small, sad sigh then he swiftly grabbed Whitt's wrists with both of his cold, pale hands. "Alright, I let you chose so I respect your decision brother. I'll mark her as mine then I'll send the pretty little thing to be caged up." Kingsford pulled Whittaker's left wrist up to his mouth; his pearly white fangs extended before he bit down into the soft flesh of her wrist and began to drink. Whittaker let out a small yelp and tried pulling back, but his iron grip held her still.

Kingsford's blood red eyes seemed to sparkle as he finally let her wrists go. "It's a shame to wait really, her blood is rather rare... It's quite addicting too." His voice held no emotion to it as he spoke. He snapped his fingers and two guards in silvery armor appeared in a swift motion. Kingsford's voice became cold, "Take the girl and lock her up with the blood slaves. She's mine, so if I find any other bite marks on her someone it going to have to pay the price." He snapped his fingers again.

Before she could protest, the two guards grabbed her by the arms and began to drag her off. Twice in the same night, she wasn't strong enough to fight back nor did she know where she was being taken. The guards chainmail armor clinked with every movement, but the sounds didn't drown out Cole's loud hoots and whos. He was flapping his wings wildly and pressed up against the side of his cage, desperately trying to reach Whittaker.

"I-It's going to be ok Cole!! I-I promise!..." Whittaker shouted in an attempt to calm her brother.

"Shut up." The guard holding her right arm spoke, followed by a quick slap across her face.

"Dude! Don't touch her!" The second guard snapped, "You wanna face an angry King?"

The first guard grew quiet and they continued dragging Whittaker along in silence. She quietly took the time to try and memorize their route and surrounding. Within a few moments, she noticed all the tapestries had the same strange symbol on them. The symbol dipicted two seperants with wings wound around a sword, their mouths open and fangs extended towards the handle of the blade.

Before she could think much more on the symbol she was pulled into a cell and pinned to a wall by the guards. They grabbed metal chains and clamped them down tightly around Whittaker's wrist before they calmly left and locked the cell door behind them.

Unsure what to do, Whittaker tried pulling at the chains. They held firm, and weren't going to break anytime soon... under natural causes. A small smile crossed across Whittaker's face as she slowly began to freeze the metal chains around her wrists. Anything could be shattered if it was made cold enough. Maybe there was a hope for her and Cole after all.. she just hoped Cole was doing alright with those two insane vampires..