Eternal Darkness - Book One ✔

Chapter Eleven

A couple of days later I was eating my usual lunch of bread and canned good, Sam sitting across from me in his usual chair. I could tell I was slowly gaining weight; my body felt fuller and almost all my ribs were covered with a small layer of fat underneath the skin. I thought it looked good on me. I found myself growing more vain as I stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom, no longer all that depressed about the small girl's hollowed face and gauging eyes. She wasn't filthy anymore, but clean and almost presentable. Presentable to what? A group of vampires wanting to eat her? Whenever I started thinking like that I knew it was time to step away from the mirror. 

As I finished scraping the remains of the preserved fruit in the tin can with my spoon I sighed with a content smile and relaxed against the soft pillows I had propped myself up against. 

"I'm so full I think I'd have to start rolling around in here." I didn't joke often, but recently I'd started to.

"I'm glad because you're going to need all your strength today," Sam's voice was husk and the smile slowly faded from my lips. My strength? What did he mean by that? But before I could ask or Sam could elaborate, the door swung open and Nox stepped into the room.
Immediately my senses went into overdrive and without realizing it I had backed up against the back of the bed, pressing my back into the wooden frame. Nox looked at the empty tray and nodded approvingly at Sam before turning his crimson glare at me.

"I need you to come with me Emily," he said, his tone set so it couldn't be mistaken for anything other than an order. I swallowed, suddenly feeling sick to my stomach and it wasn't because of the food.

"Why?" I croaked, my steady voice betraying me.

"Because I said so, now move it!" He growled and it made the hair on my neck stand up. I rose and stood next to the bed, biting my lip as my eyes shifted from Sam to Nox. Is Sam coming too? I thought, but Nox shook his head at me.

"Let's go," he said and pushed the door wide open for me to go through. I raised my chin and walked past him into the darkened hallway. From behind me I heard Nox mutter something, "Don't make this harder than it is Sam."

What did that mean? I folded my arms across my chest and waited as Nox came out and beckoned for me to follow him as he started down the hall. I trotted after him as we went through several different hallways, up some stairs then down some, turning left and right so many times that after about the 10th turn I admitted to myself I had no idea how to get back to my room.
Maybe that was the whole point? What if I wasn't going back there? My body gave an involuntary shiver. Nox didn't give any indication that he had heard or read my thoughts; he kept on walking with a steady pace. Good thing I was used to walking for hours straight or I would probably have been catching my breath by now.

Turning yet another corner I found Nox had stopped, standing in front of a heavy looking dark door. I felt my heartbeat picking up pace again and I forced myself to just stay calm... For now.
Nox glanced back at me, as if to check how I was holding up before knocking on the door four times.

We only had to wait a few seconds before it opened soundlessly and a very, very large man appeared in the opening. I had heard stories of exotic animals from other places in this world and somehow, when I saw this man, the word gorilla sprung out to the forefront of my mind.
Humans were apparently related to these beings and looking at this guy, I wasn't about to argue against it. He was, hairy to say the least; bushy eyebrows, sunken forehead on a big head with an even bigger and wider body to match. His eyes gleamed red, signaling he was a member of the dead club and I instantly knew I wouldn't want to meet him alone somewhere. Not a chance.
Nox didn't respond to my thoughts, but he must have heard them because just then he shifted his stance so he was shielding most of my body from the gorilla's stare.