An Undead Rebellion (Sequel)

The Dust in My Lungs / / The Hands Around My Throat

ARABELLE'S P.O.V

I looked down at the filthy bathwater, grimacing as I realized all that dirt and grime had come from me. I'd been granted their excuse of a bathtub, which was basically a metal barrel with a white bar of soap and lukewarm water, which they had brought into my room and dropped on the floor, then left and bolted the door back up. They had also tossed a lump of clothing on the floor that upon further inspection revealed to be a pair of black pants and a long-sleeved shirt of the same color. The pants were a bit loose on me, and the shirt hung from my frail-looking shoulders limply. I had no idea exactly how long it had been since Bryn murdered my father, but it felt both like only hours and weeks at the same time. I'd been fed a cup of blood very sparingly, but no solid food and I felt weak and malnourished. I had tried to do magic but it was weak as well.

After I had scrubbed myself down with the soap several times I lifted myself from the murky water and dressed in the clothes they left for me. A little while later a couple vamps showed up to take the tub away and I was left alone again. I spent awhile just sitting on the ground, picking at the sleeves of my shirt. I was drifting off when the door to my personal jail flung open, and the room was flooded by two sets of heavy-muscled vamps who immediately came over and started hustling me out of the room, grabbing my arms and legs, literally lifting me from the room. I struggled out of habit, kicking one of them in the chin. He didn't flinch in the slightest, but grabbed my ankle and yanked it away from the range of his face. I tried to summon my magic, it was only a dull spark but I grabbed the wrist of whichever guy had my left arm and shoved energy through my fingertips. It crackled, sounding like muted lightning that found purchase and the vamp jerked away, or tried to at least, because I was still holding onto him.

Someone shouted from nearby, "Get her out!" and, "They're on the northeast path!"

I sent another wave of energy tingling through my fingertips and the guy screamed as I let go and swung my fist into his sternum, knocking him away. There were still three holding onto me and I thrashed, lashing out my free hand to make purchase with the face of the guy gripping my other arm. I dug my nails in deep, tearing away skin. I yanked my hand back as he cried out in pain and his hands loosened around my forearm, I swung my elbow up to make impact with his nose.

Another call was heard, "What the hell's going on?"

I was taking them down one by one, despite my energy sources being depleted. When my right arm was let go I fell towards the floor, only held up by my legs now, I lifted myself up with my core and in one swift motion grabbed one of the two guys in a choke-hold before snapping his neck. The other must have dropped me at some point because I went down with the unconscious vamp, rolling onto the dirt. I was just about to make a run for it, getting my feet under me, when a body forcibly slammed into me, pushing me back down.

"Get off!" I yelled, trying to push them off.

"Arabelle, stop." they growled, pinning my wrists and pushing a knee into my stomach.

I paused at the sound of Corey's voice, an unavoidable pang of heartache wrenching through my chest. In the lapse I took a moment to catch my breath, inhaling roughly. I could feel that my magic was depleted, what little stores of it I had left that was, so I held still, trying to think of my next move. There wasn't much hope for me to escape when I was in a weakened state like this. Had I been at full strength I would have been a force to be reckoned with, between the raw power of my vampiric abilities and my demon magic. Unfortunately, both were very nearly tapped out. My stamina waned greatly after using resources to get myself free prior and I had come to learn that Corey was strong; even for a vampire. He had combat skills that I'd never been aware of until recently.