' "Revenge" sounds so mean, that's why I prefer to call it "Returning the favour." ' - Anonymous.
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"Where is your fucking brother!?"
A delightful shiver runs down my spine at the sound of Alderic shouting at Ornella for the location of her brother. The sound echoes off the dark, damp halls before reaching my ears. Shortly after, I hear her screams and that brings me more pleasure than I'd like to admit.
I walk through the dark hallways of Aurelien's dungeons. The same ones where Caleb was once kept. Vampires just like before, shrivelled and rotting, walking corpses, staring and groaning as I pass them by. I'm no longer human, so my blood's smell doesn't drive them crazy as it did before. Instead, they silently watch me, their eyes still putting me slightly on edge.
it's not long before I reach Ornella's cell.
Alderic has his back to me, his dark, heated gaze focused on Ornella. He's wearing the same clothes as yesterday, his white tank top now covered In Ornella's blood after hours of torturing her.
He has Ornella chained to the wall by her hands and ankles, bruised and bloodied. Her black jacket is now missing, allowing me to see the many cuts marring her bare arms. Her grey vest is stained with her own blood, especially near her abdomen where she was shot yesterday.
My eyes dart to the right side of the room when I see something catch my eye. My eyes widen at the table of instruments and sharp objects, more instruments hanging from hooks on the wall. There are knives, whips and other torture devices, many of them coated in blood after being used already.
"Please..." Ornella begs, my eyes drifting from the instruments to her and Alderic. She can't see me, Alderic'a giant form blocking me from her view. "I don't know where he is. He abandoned me, remember?"
"You know him better than anyone," Alderic retorts, "You had plans put in place before he figured out he was tracked. Now, what were they?"
Ornella hangs her head, too tired to keep it up, "I... He didn't give me the details."
Alderic tilts his head, displeased, "Why don't I believe you?" She shakes in fear, knowing he'll most likely torture her again. "One last warning. Don't make me-"
I take a step and Alderic freezes, making me stop. "Rosalyn, what are you doing down here?" He asks, knowing it's me without having to turn around.
I sigh and walk closer, crossing the threshold of the cell, "You've been down here for hours, I was beginning to grow impatient." He hums in response, his own impatience coming forward, annoyed he hasn't yet learned where Richard is. "Have you learned anything?" I ask, now standing next to him, my eyes darkening at the sight of Ornella.
"No," He answers gruffly, "The stubborn bitch won't say anything useful."
Ornella lifts her head, a fire burning in her gaze as she uses up the little energy she has left, "You want to know where he is then find out yourself, I won't do the work for you."
"We did do the work, went as far as to track him but even that wasn't enough, and to our disappointment, it only led us to you," I spit back. "You might not know his exact whereabouts but you know how he thinks and we want to exploit that."
I need to know where Richard is. I can't stand not knowing what he's up to while he's lurking in the shadows. He threatened to come back for me and I won't live the rest of my eternal life waiting for him to fulfil his promise. Ornella is our only key to finding him and I'll twist and turn until I force her to unlock the information she has on her brother.
Ornella is uncomfortable and scared, her eyes shifting from me to Alderic. But she's also stubborn and determined not to tell us anything. She hates her brother for leaving her to defend herself against us, but at the same time, she hates us even more and would love to see us go to hell along with her like the cruel bitch she is.
"Trying to exploit me is a waste of your time when you can be out there looking for him instead." She shoots us a glare, keeping her fear in check as I stand next to Alderic. I can hear his mind working, thinking of ways he can extract the information from her.
Maybe something he hasn't yet tried.
"We have men looking for you're brother, so no," Alderic walks towards the table of instruments for the first time since I've been in here. He grabs two knives before walking back in front of Ornella and whispering, "I don't believe this is a waste of time, especially when simultaneously I'm avenging my mother's death."
My heart jumps when without warning he slams both knives into her hands before driving the blades into the wall behind her. Ornella's screams pierce through my very skull, rattling my brain.
Her body is shaking, fire running up her arms as the pain causes her body to become coated in sweat. Blood trickles down her arms and drips onto the floor, forming small puddles of blood. I take a small step back and watch her in pain, enjoying the view for everything she's ever done that's hurt both me and Alderic.
Alderic is completely unfazed by the pain he's causing. I can hear his heart beating fast, excitement and anticipation running through his veins. Alderic walks back towards the table and I hear Ornella's chains rattling, turning to see her shaking her head as she tries to free herself. she only causes more damage to her wounds and regretfully watches Alderic come back with yet another sharp instrument.
It's a smaller knife compared to the others but its blade is jagged. it will make easy entry but pulling it out will cause more damage to the person it enters.
Alderic plays with it mindlessly whilst keeping his eyes on Ornella. "Does your brother have any safe houses that he might be occupying as we speak," Alderic's tone Is dark and holds an obvious threat. If she doesn't answer correctly then that dagger will find its place beneath her flesh.
And boy it will hurt coming back out.
Ornella is struggling to breathe let alone speak. It takes a long minute before she can finally find her voice again, "T-that house you raided was the only one... I knew of." Ornella tries to get her words out as quickly as she can but she's still struggling. "If he does have more then I wouldn't know." Her eyes are watering as she watches Alderic, "I swear!"
I can see in her eyes that she's already wishing for death. I think she is silently praying for Ric to kill her.
I think she's telling the truth. I tell Alderic, not to help her but because if we're going to torture her it will be because she's lied or been deceitful. otherwise, if she is telling the truth and we hurt her, it will deter her from continuing to tell the truth.
I agree.
Alderic releases an audible sigh, "Fine, I can understand that's logical enough to believe but you all had plans in place in order to escape before he decided to leave you behind. What were those plans?"
"I followed Pierce to the safe house and Richard met us there afterwards. That's all I know." Ornella answers, tears sliding down her cheeks but I catch that small skip of her heartbeat. An indication of deceit.
She's lying.
Alderic hears me loud and clear. Without saying a word that jagged knife is buried into Ornella's abdomen, Alderic holding it in place and twisting as he watches Ornella's eyes bulge while she screams with blood dripping from her lips. Alderic threatens her with, "Torture will be all you know if you keep lying to me. Think of death as heaven compared to what I'm going to do to you for the rest of your undying days."
Her immortality will become a nightmare rather than a gift.
"There-there w- was a plan!" She screams, hoping it will stop Alderic's torture."
Alderic doesn't relieve his hold on the knife, neither does he try to pull it out. He keeps it there and keeps it there and keeps her suffering as he demands, "What plane? Where is it?"
"I don't know," She answers, Alderic's eyes darkening dangerously at that. She's see's the danger in his gaze and quickly rushes out, "But it's located somewhere around the border of the city. It's how we were going to escape once we had a pilot."
Alderic, pleased, pulls the knife out of her abdomen and blood splatters out before coming to a slow stop as Ornella cries out in pain. I take a step forward, my heart beating fast now that we finally have a lead on Richard. I place my hand on his arm and ask, "Are we going to search for the plane, Ric?"
Alderic turns his head so that our eyes lock, a small smirk gracing his lips, "Yes, Rose." I smile back at him before he turns back to Ornella, "After we've dealt with her."
I turn to look at Ornella, her heart pounding loudly In my ears as she croaked, "Please, just kill me already. I gave you everything."
"And I want to thank you for that... but now it's about time you face the husband you betrayed," Alderic smirks, his tone sinister that it causes goosebumps to rise along my skin.
Ornella has an angered outburst, tears falling from her eyes in outrage as she slams herself against the chains, "Kill me!"
When it's clear Alderic won't Ornella screams and then begins to hyperventilate, struggling to breathe. We both watch Alderic move towards the wall of weapons but this time he doesn't grab a weapon. He returns with a silver chain connected to a silver collar. Ornella catches sight of it, her eyes continuing to water as she bows her head in shame and humiliation.
He's going to present her as a human pet.
Quite fitting.
Once Alderic has the silver collar locked around her neck, he holds the silver leash out to me, "Can you hold this for me, please." I nod and take the lead from him, allowing him to unlock her shackles while I keep a firm hold on her.
My voice darkens when I whisper to her, "Try anything and seeing Aurelien again will be the least of your worries." Her head shakes and her head remains bowed but I know she heard me. I give the leash back to Alderic when he's done, "What will your father do with her?"
Alderic shrugs, "He can lock her up and starve her for the rest of her life for all I care."
Fair enough.
I walk beside Alderic as he yanks on the chain, pulling Ornella along with us as she trembles. When we exit the dungeon and enter the garden, we head towards Aurelien's estate. We walk inside and vampires along with human pets eye us curiously, their gazes burning into Ornella's skin, making her extremely self-aware and humiliated.
We finally reach Aurelien's throne room where a meeting is currently being held. When we walk beneath the archway to enter the room, all eyes snap to us, Aurelien's automatically being drawn to Ornella like a magnet. Anger contorts his features as Caleb and Emmi stand in the centre, feeling the tension in the room.
Ornella doesn't look up, her heart racing in fear. Her legs look like they want to buckle beneath the weight of her fear, already knowing how vengeful Aurelien can be. Alderic pulls her closer towards Aurelien, Aurelien standing from his throne and walking down the steps to meet them halfway. "Ornella is your prisoner now, Father," Alderic tells him, yanking Ornella closer. She skips over her own two feet and falls into Aurliens arms.
Aurelien grips her forearms and puts her at a distance, his eyes locking with her frightened gaze as he clicks his tongue and whispers lowly, "You've been a deceitful wife, Nelly." A tear falls down her cheek as she shakes in his grip, "For someone who's seen me punish hundreds for crimes less serious than yours, you truly are stupid." Ornella sobs, Aurelien turning back to Alderic, "Before I take her for her punishment, did you get everything you wanted?"
"Yes. Richard has a plane somewhere along the border of our city," He informs his father, Aurelien nodding in satisfaction.
Emmi, overhearing, announces, "I'll get my men to work right away."
"Thank you," I tell her with a smile. Emmi nodding her head before leaving the room with Caleb going with her.
"Thank you, Son. Now, I'd like some time alone with my wife in order to teach her the errors of her ways," Aurelien requests, Alderic and me respecting his request by leaving him alone with Ornella. Ornella left to face her husband's wrath and not for a second do I feel sorry for her. Not after all the pain, she caused.
True justice is at work today.
An hour later, I and Alderic are resting in my favourite lounge with me reading a book and Alderic's head rested in my lap, silently enjoying the other's company. Our eyes both snap to the door when Emmi comes rushing in, "There you two are. I've been looking everywhere for the both of you."
Alderic removes his head from my lap to sit up as I close the book and put it on the armrest. Alderic asks her, "What's wrong?"
"My men found a suspicious plane at the southeast border of your father's city," Emmi informs with a grin, my heart skipping a beat at the news.
Could it be Richard's?
Alderic is quick to his feet, "And Richard?"
"We're not sure yet. I'll be sending men out to get closer and you're more than welcome to join us."
Alderic smirks before turning to me, his expression shifting, "I'm going to find him and bring him back here. it'll be best if you stay here, considering the threat he left for you last time."
I stop him, placing my hand on his arm, "And what if he escapes again?"
"He fooled me once, I won't underestimate him this time," He responds absolutely, my hold on his arm fading away, knowing I have to let him go. He kneels down, giving me a gentle kiss before gazing into my eyes, "I'll be back before you know it."
"I believe you," I whisper back, watching him stand to his feet to leave with Emmi.
They discuss their move while leaving, Alderic telling her, "We'll head out at sunset."
It's when they leave that I stand up, knowing I can't leave it up to them again. Richard is smart and will see them coming however, I, on the other hand, he won't expect. Especially, alone. I'm not leaving anything to chance.
I have to take Richard on alone...
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Hey everyone, sorry for the long, long wait. Getting this book finished is definitely a priority and I will get there. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it.
What do you think will happen next?
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