Ethereal Angels

22. Are You Deranged Like Me?

Knives.

There was a lot of knives of various shapes and sharpness. She grabbed a few of the longer ones and began to place two of the sharpest ones she could find securely into her thigh. She had made a makeshift holder out of some cloth earlier. She sighed and smiled hoping they would be secure around the band to her side. She closed the cabinets and threw herself back on the couch just as the door opened up. Malora stepped in with Charles and Samuel following behind.

"I heard you ripped your stitches open?" Malora gave her a suspicious glance as she gathered some materials to stitch her arms back up.

"Yeah. I umm..well.. My sister she pushed me onto the concrete and I assume that might be when they ripped? Although it could be when Asmund pushed me up against a wall..." A blush crept up onto her pale skin at the memory. "I'm not sure. All I know is I went into take a bath and I noticed the blood. I asked to come see you immediately."

"We will wait outside. As always, let us know when you're done." Charles nodded towards me and then towards Malora before he exited with Samuel at his side.

"Sit up here real quick and let me clean the wound up." Malora pointed towards a high steel table. Adelina stalked her way over to it and lifted her body up, letting the bloody towel fall to the floor. Blood began to immediately trickle down her forearm and onto the steel table.

"Sorry. I thought maybe it had stopped bleeding."

"It looks like it is deeper than before." Malora commented as she began to clean the wound with some gauze. "Do I even want to know what actually happened here?" Malora questioned as she looked straight into Adelina's eyes.

Adelina held her gaze and leaned forward before whispering. "Have you ever tried to escape, Malora?"

"You want to know the truth?" Malora walked away and grabbed some liquid on one of the counters. She began to dab clean gauze into it and walked back over to the table. Adelina let out a sharp breath as the pain from the liquid filled gauze hit her arm.

"Yes, I do." She let out a sigh as Malora took off the gauze. Malora walked over to another cabinet. She grabbed a syringe and some clear liquid. She looked up at Adelina as she walked back over to her, cleaned off her arm and stuck the needle in without warning. Adelina let out a hiss as the fluid entered but she felt a numbing sensation spread through her arm.

"Sorry, better to do that without warning." Malora gave her a reassuring squeeze before continuing. "I still remember the day they tore into our village. None of them showed any mercy and I was terrified. I had every reason to be. Vampires and demons, what a mix right? I was naive to these creatures before. I had no idea they existed, a lot like you. But they came and they took and took until there was nothing of my village left. They had all of us in cages as they inspected us. They took a few of us who might be useful as well as our families. At first, I thought that they wanted our families because they wanted us." Tears began to brim into Malora's green eyes. "I was so wrong... so very wrong. After we were carted off here, they separated us. I had no idea where my family was, but I was told they were safe. At first, I begged to see them, pleaded. It was never allowed. I didn't know what I was supposed to do. I began to plan and think of ways out. I watched the guards learned their routines. I kept my head low and tried to show that I was loyal. Eventually the guards stopped paying attention to me. One night, during a feeding ball, I packed up and began to sneak out of here. I made it out the front gate and into the forest. I had no idea where I was going or what I was doing. I tried my best to hide, but there was guards that I didn't know about. They roamed the woods around the compound so nobody got in and apparently so nobody got out." Malora visibly began to shake and tears came spilling out of her eyes.

"I'm sorry. You don't have to go further Malora. I didn't mean to press." Adelina lifted her hand and grabbed onto Malora's arms.

"You need to hear this Adelina. You need to know you can't trust these creatures. I don't know what is going on with Asmund and you, but you have to know what you are up against."

"What do you mean by up against?" Adelina questioned.

"Those guards they dragged me back to the castle, kicking and screaming. I fought the whole way back only to be greeted by the three rulers. They all had this wicked gleam in their eyes and I could feel my entire body go rigid. The guards grasped onto me harder and the three stepped to the side. That was when I noticed my family. My entire family! They had them all out there on their knees with their heads hung low. Guards held onto them. I tried to run towards them, but the guards were relentless. Falentine was the only one to speak and I'll never forget what he said. "Learn your lesson" that was all he said before the three of them merciless ripped my entire family to shreds. The blood and gore was everywhere and they made me sit there and watch this." Malora let her tears spill freely.

"I'm so sorry. I had no idea." Adelina frowned deepened.

"You can't trust them. You must never trust them Adelina. They prey on our weaknesses. They will rip you to shreds given the chance. You must be careful Adelina. Even more so of nasty wounds like this. Blood makes them go even crazier. I know we don't know each other well, but I do care about what happens to you. Please be careful." Malora finished and began to stitch up her arm. They were both completely silent as the last stitch was placed.

"Thank you for stitching me up again." Adelian lifted herself off the table and began to head to the door. She paused and turned towards Malora. "Have you ever thought about escaping again?"

"What reason do I have anymore? My family is dead, my village is gone. I am here until I am no longer useful and I can rejoin my family. I have accepted my fate, Adelina." Malora smiled sadly.

"I'm sorry, Malora. I truly am." She knocked on the door and waited on Charles and Samuel. They were swift to enter the room and Adelina followed them back into the corridors. Her head felt fuzzy and her thoughts were hazy, but she let the men guide her back to her room. She entered her room and leaned down onto the wall. She felt one of the knives hit her thigh as she remembered what she had done.

"Should I do this? Is my family going to end up dead?" She began to let these thoughts circle around and wallow in her head.

She began to think about the kiss Asmund and she had shared. The sincerity in his tone when he said he would protect her family and friends as well as her. Was he just a monster? She had no answer for this but the thoughts kept going round and round.

As the night sky began to lift and turn into a array of pinks and blues, she had realized one thing.

She would fight. She would do what it takes to get out of here.

She had to.

And with that thought she removed the knives from where they were being held and hid them under the mattress of her bed. She laid herself down and let her heavy eyes shut. Her final thoughts were those of Asmund. She had to trust him with this.

"Freedom Lies in Being bold" Robert Frost.

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