Elora's POV
Time had become something that was only a figment of my imagination.
I felt like I had been in here for days. When in reality, I had no idea how long I had been trapped in this prison. Everything bled into each other, my days monotonous and repetitive. I was tired, so unbelievably tired. My sleep came in harsh, short periods. My head would connect with the broken mattress but be woken in what felt like minutes. Sometimes it was nightmares, other the banging of something against my cell door, telling me that it was time for something new.
I liked to think that it had been bearable. The jabbing, the whipping, the hitting, the tearing, the sewing, the healing. That it was familiar, that it was just what I had experienced before everything had happened, back when I was working in the factory.
My life before Maddox.
I tried so hard to believe it, but in the end, I just couldn't. It was worse than anything I had ever seen or heard about. Since arriving, I had only seen Nero, him and his brutal weapons. Belial hadn't come near me, nor any of his mystery brothers. I had no idea whether or not that was a good thing.
I hated moving. Every inch of movement sends pain rippling through every muscle, bone and limb. They certainly hadn't held back.
But I hadn't given in. Not a sliver of information had left my lips, my undying sense of loyalty came through. Though I'm not sure if it was paying off.
I was suffering, and I seemed to be making no progress. It was clear that we were in a fortress, no way of getting in or out, at least not without being caught and killed.
I shook away my thoughts, a slight ache taking over behind my eyes.
SMACK!
It brought me back into reality, the sadly familiar figure of Nero standing at my door.
"Get up, we're doing something fun today." He called out, a sinister grin still plastered on his face.
I made no sound as I heaved myself up off the floor and stagger over towards the cell door, collapsing against it as I felt a stabbing pain in my kidney.
It was muscle memory at this point, I shoved my wrists forward and through the gaps, Nero quickly snapping a thick, broken, separate piece of rope around each of my wrists, pulling it so tight that my hands started going red.
He clicked the door open, letting it swing open, dragging me out and back into the hallway.
"We're doing something a little different today," He whispered in my ear, "I hope you're feeling up to it."
I didn't reply. One wrong word could cause an eruption of uncontrollable anger, not something I wanted to risk.
He turned me around and we began walking up the stairs that I had first come down. I had been stuck in the same torture room every day since we got here. The steps were awful, the rotting planks creaking underneath my feet with every step I took. I sucked my breath in the fear that it would collapse underneath me. But maybe that was a good thing, it might be the chance of escape that I had been waiting for.
Alas, nothing happened, so we kept walking. We pushed through the door, revealing us to another hallway.
We turned away, turning down an unfamiliar path. My eyes kept drooping closed, I hadn't eaten, I hadn't slept, I was weak, my bones aching more and more with each step. Some of my wounds hadn't even closed yet, not to mention begin healing.
It was more painful than anything I had ever experienced.
Yet I carried on.
We seemed to be walking for miles before we came into another room.
It looked like a doctors suite. Clean, crisp, white walls, a plain white bed in one corner accompanied by a desk, hanging just above was a glass cabinet. filled with bottles and orange-capped lids. On the far wall was a clear, glass door, leading into another minuscule room cut off by an iron door.
I was pushed down on the bed with one, quick push. Nero walked over to a keypad of numbers that was hanging on the wall. I looked down at my bare, dirt-covered feet as he whispered a few illegible words into the microphone that was attached.
I watched him open up the cabinet and bring out a small container. It was completely opaque, the only hint to what it may be was the label sitting on the front, a label that I so conveniently couldn't see.
He ripped open one of the wooden draws that were attached to the desk, slowly drawing out a long cylinder needle.
I gulped, the thin metal glinting under the harsh medical light.
My mind flashed back to all the human girls I had seen been injected with a needle like that when a mate had first found them. Used for sedation so they could transport her to his house or visa versa.
I had a feeling that I wasn't going to be sedated.
The door that we had come through opened up, Belial stepping into the room.
"I need you to do the arm, I don't want to risk missing a vein," Nero informed gruffly.
Belial nodded, "Sounds good." He spared me a glance, suddenly he walked over to me.
For a second, I thought I saw something flash in his eyes as he walked over to me, worry or something similar.
Was this it? My chance to escape? Was he lying the whole time?
Belial latched a hand onto the collar of my dingy shirt, ripping it back towards my shoulder harshly.
He let out a breath of relief, "Thank god." He uttered.
Nero turned his head, "What do you mean?"
He pointed to the crook between my neck and collarbone that had been previously covered up.
"She's not marked,"
Nero snorted, "I know, I already checked. Quite a sad thing really, means that Maddox hasn't really felt any of the things that I've been doing to her."
"That wasn't my concern Nero, it was more than if we went through with this, chances are she would be killed. We can't really afford that at the moment." Belial said, walking back over to the desk and pulling out another needle from the drawer, identical to the one that Nero had brought out just before.
Nero didn't reply but rather opened up the bottle, a repulsive, metallic smell wafting out, slowly drifting in my direction. I gagged, a slow, cold feeling of dread running up my veins and to the very tip of my fingers and toes. I crawled back until I felt myself connect with the wall.
No, no, no, no, no, NO!
They stuck the needle tip into the liquid, the cylinder slowly filling up with a swirling, silver liquid.
They filled up the needle entirely before turning around and slowly beginning to walk over to me, I was beginning to shake.
I looked around the room, I knew escape was impossible, there was no way I could move fast enough to evade them, regardless of the needles in their hands.
Before I could move, Belial grabbed on to one of my arms. I tried to unleash his grasp, thrashing my arm around wildly to try and loosen his grip. That's before Nero latched his hand around my neck.
"Stop moving," He growled while Belial tightens his grasp.
I couldn't stop, I had no idea what was going to happen to me if I stopped.
"Just line up the needle and go, we don't have the time for this, the others are waiting!" Belial grunted through clenched teeth.
Nero nodded, he moved his hand from neck to my jawline, keeping my head from moving. There was no warning,
I felt the needle puncture my neck,
Not even a second later, I felt the same stabbing, pinching feeling just above the crease of my elbow.
It hurt for only a second before another feeling took over. It was like adrenaline but so much more, my eyes flittered behind my eyelids sporadically, my entire body seizing up as I felt it coursing through me, taking over my nerves, filtering my blood into something unrecognizable.
I felt the needles pull out. I stuck my hands on the bed, bracing me as my neck jerked sideways, my body feeling as if liquid fire had been injected instead of whatever was inside that needle.
It started to calm down, my body stopped shaking as I slowly lowered myself down, my head connecting with the rock-hard mattress. My breathing was heavy as I tried to inhale as much air as possible.
"And that," Nero said, "Is a successful transfer. I've got it from here Bel, join the others, she'll be in the room in five minutes at the most."
I didn't see Belials reaction, but I heard the open and the close of the door.
I felt Nero's hand slide around my wrist and with one quick tug, I was back up on my feet, standing straight with my feet firmly planted on the floor. I still felt every single injury in my body, the pain that it brought, but it was almost like that pain was a memory. It was there, but it wasn't affecting me, at least not as it had before. I lifted my arm, twirling it in front of my eyes. My veins were blue, so unreasonably blue, so bright that I was convinced that they were frozen shards of ice trapped underneath my skin.
"Listen carefully." Nero began. "It's a little different today, you're going into that room," He pointed towards the door I had noticed before, "And you're going to be in there for ten minutes. What we just injected you with? Vamptonite. We've found it has certain... effects on humans. It's temporary, but while in effect, it's extremely effective." A crazed, insane glint was in his eye as he talked.
Nero began to walk, still holding on to my arm. He pressed the button by the door, automatically opening it up. He pushed me through, closing the door before I even had time to react.
He turned around and started to leave the room, I banged my fist against the door, a scream of curses coming out of my mouth as he left my view.
I was going to die here.
In this stupid little room, surrounded by people intent on killing my mate.
I was going to die.
Maddox would feel it, regardless of the fact that I hadn't been mated. He would never see my body. Maybe that would be a good thing, since who knows what they have waiting for me.
The least I can do is put up a fight, no matter how useless that may be.
I heard machines whirring, the slow open of the second, metal door.
I turned around, pressing myself up against the glass door.
It opened up to a much bigger room, still the same bright white that it was before. Up the top was a rectangular glass window. Inside was seven figures, looming over me like some sort of unholy gods holding my very future in the palm of their hands. Underneath them was two, large, metal roller doors. I could hear the faint sounds of growling and roars from behind it.
I staggered forward, my steps heavy as I left the confines on the doored area and into the bigger room. I heard the door slam shut behind me.
The room was completely empty, void of any furniture or weapons. A blank canvas, soon to be painted in red.
The room was eerily quiet for a moment. I refused to lift my head to watch them, watch their faces as I slowly waited for my neverending doom.
It was a vicious cycle.
I heard a sound come over the monitor, soon followed by a voice.
"You have ten minutes," Das informed over the speakers.
Ten minutes for what, I wondered, though it didn't take long to figure out. The doors slowly began to open, rolling up into coils, revealing what was inside.
Wolves,
Tons and tons of wolves.
I would say that there was at least fifteen snarling beasts, all attached on metal leashes. Dark red eyes, matted dirty fur accompanied by yellow canines covered in bubbling saliva.
Rogues.
We didn't have rogue breaches is Gyabo, most of them being retreated into rural land far off from the major cities. The effort it must have taken to get so many of them here...
They were huge, rogues were wolves that had completely lost their human side. They were dangerous and brutal, with no hesitation to kill anything in sight.
I heard the snap of the leashes that kept them bound.
They all began to run.
They began to run to me.
I felt frozen in my spot, I looked at my arms and legs, there was nothing that I could use to protect myself. I begin jumping from foot to foot, trying to prepare for the collision.
One jumped, and in the flurry of the moment, I kicked out my leg, rotating it so that when the rogue was close enough, my foot connected with its neck, sending it spiralling off in another direction.
I caught my breath, but I had no time to pause to look at the wolf that I had just sent to the floor, nor ponder on how on earth I did that. They kept coming, jumping at me with teeth snarling or running at me from the side. I grabbed their necks, letting them strangle for a moment before pushing them as far away from me as possible. I gave some the same treatment as the first rogue, that tactic seeming to work well enough for the moment.
Then it stopped, like I had defeated ever single rogue they had waiting for me in that little room. I was breathing heavily, my lungs burning as each breath rasped in my throat.
I walked forward, needing some sort of space.
I was right, the once completely blank, white room was now a bloody mess. Except the blood wasn't mine. The blood was mainly red in colour, though it had streaks of black running through it. I looked up, bile rising in my throat.
I felt something latch into the back of my leg.
Strong teeth began tearing at my muscle, I cried out in pain, my body flopping down onto the ground. I turned my head,
One of the wolves had kept consciousness, enough to make the move onto me.
Out of nowhere, his eyes went wide before quickly pulling away. His mouth began to foam, a silvery colour spilling out onto the floor in copious amounts, reddish-black beginning to swirl into it.
His body began to spaz, his eyes darting into his head before his body completely stopped. His eyes closed, however, his mouth didn't stop foaming.
He was dead.
Whatever had been injected into me had killed him.
That's when I threw up.
"And that was a success." Das's gleeful voice said over the monitor, "Though I'll admit - you did leave quite a mess."
He couldn't say anything else before an alarm started ringing. It was a loud siren I looked up to see Das's alarmed expression.
This clearly wasn't planned,
And they clearly had no idea what was happening.
"Judas, check the surveillance, make sure this isn't a rescue mission. Nero - take her back to the cell, just in case. Lucifer, go into lockdown, I can't have her use this as an opportunity to escape - not with the Vamptonite still in her blood. The rest of you - come with me." Das ordered quickly, not realising that he hadn't turned off the monitor.
I looked down, a chance for escape, possibly a rescue mission. Had they been able to find me that quickly?
The alarm was messing with the electric currents, causing the door that I had through to go spastic, opening and closing sporadically.
A chance for escape.
I pushed myself up, trying not to slip in the mess of liquids underneath me.
A chance for escape.
I stood up, making as big of a step as I could, my leg still throbbing awfully, the slow drizzle of blood making its way down my leg.
A chance for escape.
I pushed through, jumping through the door quickly as it flew open. I opened the second door with ease, the currents breaking whatever lock had been placed on it. I ran through the room without a second glance, pulling open the door and launching myself into the hallway. I began to run.
A chance to escape,
And I was going to use it.
-----------------------------------------
For some reason, 37 didn't publish properly? Idk anyway, here it is.
I'm way to tired to write an authors note, so thanks for 8k!
Remember to vote and comment!
See you in the next chapter,
Eryn