Do You Have Room For One More Troubled Soul?

Chapter 8

Alex's Story

A week has passed since Jack's awakening. Slowly I watch his sanity leave him bit by bit, as hunger and instinct take control. Ronnie isn't helping either. He has been torturing, Jack every single day, his favourite method is throwing, Jack out in the sun. Every day, Jack is thrown back in, still smoking from the dying flames. His burns slowly heal but barely make a full recovery. They scab over and stop the bleeding; preventing him to lose anymore blood, but that doesn't stop it. They cut into his skin, over the main arteries in his gut, all over the place, making him lose as much blood as he can; it slows the healing process down and increases his hunger.

It breaks me to see him this way, huddled in the corner of the cage, hugging himself, whispering about feeding, tasting blood. It's all he can talk about, think about and even dream about; his dreams haunt him of the hunt. I know they do, he wakes up abruptly from his sleep, gripping the hair from his head, clenching his jaw tightly, and exposing the fangs, taking deep breathes from his nose.

I want to make it better, I want to take the pain away, I want to make him better, and I want to give him blood. He barely has any colour left in his irises; they've turned into a terrifying white. It usually takes months but with the sun's exposure, it's sped the process ten times faster. I miss seeing his dark brown eyes.

Jack . . . my Jack. I'm sorry, god I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.

A loud band, snapped me from my thoughts, three guards slammed the door open and marched towards our cell. I snarl and hiss at them, pulling at my chains, they need to stay away from Jack, they can't keep hurting him. They laugh at me and open the door. Jack is too consumed in his own mind, to acknowledge the guards. He used to fight back, he used to struggle and fight them, but with each method of torture he lost his strength. All he does is let them take him away, torture him and let him be thrown back in.

The guards pick him up and take him out of the cage. I pull at the chains and yell at them to let him go. He has already been out in the sun, he can't take any more. They snicker at me and take Jack away, locking me up once more.

It didn't take them long to close the door either and within five minutes, I hear him scream. My chest feels tight as my heart breaks into tiny pieces. Jack lost his voice a day ago, the guards complained about he didn't scream in the sun yesterday or this morning. So whatever they are doing to him, it's the worse pain he has felt.

The door opens again, they drag him back to the cell, open the cage door and throw him, locking it up, they laugh at us and leave, slamming the door and we are alone once more.

What I saw next, broke me. Small tears leak out of the corner of my eyes as I look at Jack's bloodied mouth. His fangs are gone, his weapons are gone. They ripped his fangs out, his only method for feeding, and his security. A vampire's only weapon is their fangs, it gives them security, power, and an identity and they took that away. Jack looked at me in the eyes, I noticed the small tears leaving as he lies there in pain. He wants to let go, let go of consciousness, fade into a blissful sleep. Every vampire gets to a point where it's unbearable. It's unbearable to deal with the pain and you unconsciously go to sleep. You're still alive but you're brain dead, it's easier to cope with the abuse. You can only be awoken once you've fed.

I can see him slowly fade to this state, his ragged breathes become shallower, his eyes begin to glaze, slowly becoming dazed; his body eases and almost relaxes.

This is how you break a vampire, they give up. They stop fighting and accept their fate, accept they will never get out, accept that they will never feed. It's easier that way, because they know death will not come. Death is mercy for us vampires, but its only mercy when we have no one left in our immortal lives or you have no one and you're starved to insanity. But Jack has me; he can't give up, not yet and I won't allow it.