Ailsa
I've never woken up so cold as I do today. My teeth chatter so hard my jaw might shatter. I clutch my dress to my legs. It's dark, and the hard stone beneath me provides no comfort or warmth.
At first, I believe that this freezing cold is just because of where I am. Then I realize.
It takes me a small while to dawn on me where it is that I am. I take a deep whiff in and it clicks, the sun rising over my dark, clouded brain to shine some like on the situation.
The dungeons and their filthy, musty stench.
"Fraser?" I call out the one and only word on my mind, but all that responds is the trickling drip of water from the ceilings. I feel out in the harsh, pitch black, finding nothing but cold bars that keep me pinned in.
"Fraser..." My voice breaks, tears in my voice as they get clogged in my throat.
He couldn't possibly be gone? Could he? That's not possible. He left me here? No. No, not my Fraser. He wouldn't, couldn't.
My hand goes to my neck as my memories flash, brushing the gouge of a wound staining my skin at the smooth juncture of my shoulder. A sharp pain echoes down my spine.
So, it would seem I hadn't imagined that. I fed him, brought him back from the brink.
I gulp, the motion causing sheer agony.
He couldn't have left me, he would never abandon me here. I shake my head, sure there must be a mistake.
Fraser told me he loved me. He tried to save me from my father's men. Why would he do that if he planned on abandoning me the first chance he got?
There's a sound that breaks the silence, an opening of the dreaded door from above, the door that leads to my clan. That door that I once used every night. I'm all too familiar with it and it's signature unbearable noise that it makes when it scratches against the stony ground. I wince, my head panging.
Footsteps and a flickering light rumble down the stairs, illuminating the dank dungeons and making me reassess exactly where I am. Sure enough, I'm locked up like a prisoner.
More footsteps and soon I'm looking at the sneering face of my father. The Laird. Our blessed leader. His eyes shoot sharp stones at my heart and he glares down his nose at me, eyebrows bunched and lip curled. He's looking as if I was a mess he stepped in rather than his own offspring.
You would assume that I was used to that look by now, but it never ceases to choke me as I drown in his disappointment.
As he nears, his swinging lantern allows me to see the inside of my cell, realizing that this is the same cell that my vampire was kept in for all those months and weeks we spent together. The bars have been replaced, and there is no way I will be able to shatter them as Fraser did with ease.
"I hope you have come to know and understand what it is that you've done, lass. What you've done to me, what you've done to this clan, and maybe you're ready to see what the consequences for your betrayal will be." He says slowly, and I stare at him, letting the implications wash over me.
My father found me here, found that his vampire prisoner was gone, and locked me up like the traitor that he believes I am.
This cannot be good. No, in fact, this is a very, very grave situation I have found myself in. There might not be any squirming out of trouble now. I've gone too far this time, and worse, I've been doing it. And even worse than that, I have no handsome lover to kiss away my troubles and fight my battles for me.
I have to face this all on my own.
"Where did he.." My words crackle from disuse. I yearn for a glass of water. "Where did he go?"
I'm hoping that I'll blink and that heavenly weight of Fraser pressed against me will be back, pinning me to the ground and sharing his warmth. I'm imagining it so thourouly that I pray he'll simply appear again and he'll assure me that all will be well, and I need not fear any more.
It's a fantasy that I know would be too grand for one as unlucky as myself.
Father slams a fist to the bars caging me in.
"Hell if I know! You are his slave, you're the one who should know." He huffs, face turning red as he works himself into a frenzy.
"Father, why am I imprisoned?" I manage to say evenly.
There is no flicker of remorse or endearment in his eyes, not that there ever is, but sometimes I wish for it, if only for a moment.
"Because you are no longer my daughter." He spits, and my heart cracks a little bit more.
"Pastor Ewan has confirmed it, says you are too far gone. That monster turned you into a witch. You survived his assault. No one should be able to survive that. Not even an exorcism can save you now. You are still under that monster's control."
"He is not a monster! He loves me, and I love him!" I demand, as loud as my voice can manage at the moment.
My father laughs so hard that spittle comes flying from his lips. I fix the meanest glare on my face that I can, and his humor dies.
I've never been fierce before my father never let my fury show: Today is different, because today I have nothing to lose. I've already lost it all.
"Hearing you say that is humorous, lass, and I'll tell you why. That monster, because aye, he is a monster, left you. He left you as soon as he took your blood. He gathered his strength and decided he didn't need you anymore." He crouches down, leaning into my space with glee in his malicious face as he prepares to wreck me with his words.
"He may have convinced you he loved you, but as soon as you lost your value to him, he dropped you and ran. Now, tell me again, do you think that is what love is?"
The tears are back, stinging and slashing through me.
"That's a lie." My voice is fierce, but I'm beginning to tremble.
He barks a laugh as he stands swiftly, belly jiggling with mirth.
"Then where is he if he loves you so?"
My lips press together as I refrain from answering.
If my heart was cracking earlier, its shattering now.
"It is obvious that Pastor Ewan was right, you are possessed, and that leaves little options." Father shakes his head, "Your execution will take place next eve, and then we will be rid of this nonsense for good."
My body stills, all signs of trembling and shaking disappearing.
"I should have known you would be susceptible to the wiles of a demon. You've always been so weak, pathetic. I'll be relieved when I no longer have to acknowledge you as my daughter."
His words sting, but I don't let myself cry until he leaves.
But when he leaves, the dam breaks.
I fall forward, sobbing and clutching at the cold ground as agony slashes through my heart, or what is left of it.
My execution, my death, will happen in less than a day. My whole clan will watch as I'm burned at the stake for my treachery and witchcraft. It's not common, but it's happened before. I can still remember the stench of burning flesh, and soon it will be my own body that provides that smell.
All because I fell in love, and I was willing to do anything for that love, even if I fooled myself into believing it would somehow work in the end.
I thought I was going to die beneath Fraser from his thirst. I was satisfied with that ending. Sacrifice for the man I love. Somehow, and I'm not sure how, I survived that sacrifice. I hate to admit it, but it didn't kill me, and he left me to die here all alone. There is no way around that.
I choke on a hiccup, sobs still retching through me like a storm of emotion.
Maybe he'll come back, maybe this was part of the plan.
I sniffle, considering this. His clanmates helped me get him out, maybe they're the ones that left me here. Surely Fraser has awoken by now? Surely he's determined to free me.
He promised he would never leave me behind. I need to hold out hope.
Decided, I nod my head to myself and shut off the tears. It's time to stay strong. I must keep my energy for my escape when Fraser comes for me. He'll arrive before I'm put to death. I know he will. My love for him extends into trusting him.
I've saved him over and over, and now it's his turn. It's just a matter of time.
The cold takes over me again, nearly freezing my tears into icicles on my face. How did Fraser endure it for so long? I must be more susceptible to it, being human and all.
I rub my hands back and forth, blowing on my numb fingertips to try to warm them as best I can.
My fingers catch on my inner wrist, feeling the marks still lingering on my pale skin. It makes me smile, and I trace the places where Fraser's teeth once were.
My heart stutters when I think about him. I can't possibly be mind controlled into this state. This feels so right, feels like destiny. My dedication, my love, it's all organic and freely given, it hasn't been taken from me against my will. If it was, I wouldn't fight it. It's as if my heart belonged to him long before we met.
Curling up in a ball, I let myself feel some sort of hope as I fall back asleep, picturing the bearded face of the man that I love.
Hope you enjoyed:))
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