Payment

Flashes

My eyes stung against the darkness pressing in on them like a hot wet hand. I couldn't tear them open, couldn't tear my mind from the flashing images and voices.

It was like looking in on myself, unable to control my body and even less my actions. I moved in fast, staggering down the hall without much elegance in the shaken flying of my legs. I already had red dripping down my face and I knew if I looked back I would find my first victim. I wanted to sneak a peek, to reassure myself it wasn't real but I couldn't. My course was stuck ahead.

And as I round the corner I found someone. She was short with hair curly that hung just above her shoulder in this cute, unruly bob. Her dress was black, beaded down the exposed back to show her ivory skin. I could see through the fresh, could map out all of the arteries and veins pumping blood throughout her body. I wasn't sure how I knew, but I could tell she was a wolf. Maybe it was in the way she smelled. It wasn't dog-like, rather it was this earthy, similar to an unwashed hair scent. It was like a baby animal, still clean but an animal nonetheless.

My lips trembled on words my heart forced up my wet throat. I felt the blood bubble quiver with the vibration of my voice. It wasn't my blood. And when she looked at me, I knew she could tell.

She ran. Like a frightened animal, her legs scurried under her and for a moment she shuffled in place, her heels slipping on the marble before she could gain traction and make her way forward. But it didn't matter because I had her in my grasp before she could reach the door.

My mind melted into her, absorbing her fear and thoughts. I could see the scenes of her life flow into me. She had been so lonely. I couldn't see a single person of extraordinary importance to her at first. It was just years of new faces and days spent in a library. But near the end, one face kept popping up. It was of a woman, elegant and as blindingly beautiful as the sun. Kana flashed through her mind. Again and again I saw her face until suddenly I did have her in my arms. I was looking directly into her wide blue eyes. And I felt her love fill me.

Though she looked scared, I could sense her acceptance of my attack. A bit of her was willing to die in my arms. And an even bigger part felt guilty for finding relief in the fact she would die by my hands, by my lovingly gentle hands. I couldn't squeeze her and shove her down like I had down the others. When I bit back into her, it wasn't my actions pushing me to end her, it was Kana reaching into my mind and soothing over my hesitation.

My heart broke as she coaxed me into the deep dark depths of my fate. For a moment I felt myself slipping away, as if it was me who was dying, as if it was her who was latched into my neck and draining me of life.

And that's when my eyes shot open. Not just physically, but mentally. I was aware of my past actions, though I hadn't fully been in control of them. I knew what had happened it me. I could remember clearly how Amaria had drained me little by little over the coarse of hours.

It had been so cold, so dark. And the only thing I had been able to think about was Dominik. He had filled my mind and soul, willing me to hang on for as long as I could.

And just as I felt myself slipping, Amaria shoved her bloodied wrist to my mouth and forced me to drink. It had been like fire, an electric charge that sparked beneath my skin and lit every cell of my being into a blazing inferno pit of pain and violent convulsion. I died there on the floor, with Dominik's name lingering on my blue, ice cold lips.

And even now as I starred at the ceiling of my cell and contemplated everything that had happened, I felt dead. My heart, which still barely beat in my chest, was a lump of ice that didn't hold any life.

"Dinner time." Her voice filled the dank dungeon, shrilling and peaking with cruel excitement. "Are you awake?"

I didn't bother lifting my head. There was no need to acknowledge her because I knew all too well that this was all a joke to her. Night after night she would say the same thing and come empty handed, telling me I would go hungry because of my refusal to denounce my love for Dominik. I didn't care how much pain pulsated at my gums, nor the sensation of daggers slithering down my throat with every dry swallow.

"Oh, and I brought a guest tonight." She hummed. I listened to the shuffling of her feet as she danced around.

Propping myself on my elbows, I gave into her pandering, though I wish I hadn't. A young man stood beside her, his body stiff. It was Zambi, Vera's helper and a worker in Dominik's castle. I nearly said his name, nearly asked him his purpose of being here. But a part of me already knew.

"Yes!" She hissed. "The betrayer who set up your capture."

My eyes began to swell with pressured tears as his earthy scent drifted in through the bars. It was strong, juicy, and my mouth watered at the thought of biting into him. It was enough to make me sick, to churn my gut into a disgusting knot.

"Zambi, here, feels guilty for what has happened to you." She faked a frown, her hands hasty as she unlocked my cage and threw him inside. "He will be your meal tonight."

And as he stepped forward, the bars clanking into place with a snap of the lock, I knew I wouldn't be able to contain the thirst burning like acid down my throat.