Chapter Nine
I was startled awake by a loud bump above my head. I looked around and saw that I was still in the basement and my hands were still chained. There was another bang above my head, this time plaster fell from the ceiling. What’s going on up there?
I heard a door open and footsteps approaching. Soon Caesar appeared. He wore black pants and a green shirt. His dark blonde haired fell perfectly above his eyes.
“Good morning.” He greeted, smiling at me.
“Hi. What’s all of that noise?”
“Training. I told you it’s hard to sleep when training is going on.”
“What time is it?”
“6:00 give or take.”
“It’s so early.”
“Yeah well the more training the better.”
Caesar came over and reached above my head. I looked up and saw that he was unchaining my hands.
“You’re letting me go?” I asked.
“Don’t get so excited. It’s just so you can eat. Follow me upstairs, and stay close.”
I stood and followed Caesar. I followed him up the narrow cement steps. We walked through a door and the bright light stung my eyes. When my eyes adjusted, I saw a large open field. Groups of people were spread out. People were running and fighting. Do they train like this everyday? What’s the point?
“Why do you all train?” I asked, following him across the field.
“So we’ll be fit to kill those demons you love so much.”
“I know Demetri killed your family, but do you really have to kill him?”
“No one understands until it’s happened to them.”
People had stopped to stare at us as we walked across the field. Every single person had golden eyes and was tan. They could all be related.
Soon Caesar and I came to a large white building. I followed him inside and I the smell of food made my stomach growl. I haven’t eaten in four days. It’s not the longest I’ve gone, but that doesn’t mean I’m not hungry.
Inside it looked like a home. There were couches and a fireplace to my right, and to my left there was a large round wooden table in the center of the room with many chairs around it. There was another door leading farther into the house.
I followed Caesar farther into the house, the smell of food growing stronger. We entered into the kitchen. There were five older women working around the kitchen. There were two stoves, two ovens, two sinks, and so much more. I wonder why they need two of everything?
“Morning Ms Pearl.” Caesar greeted.
A woman who looked somewhere in her forties looked up at us. She had long blonde hair that was beginning to grey. Surprisingly she wasn’t tan and didn’t have golden eyes. She was very pale and had pretty blue eyes with long eyelashes. She had full lips and a button nose. She was a little thick but not too much. She wore a flower patterned dress with a white apron over top of it.
“Morning sweetheart.” She greeted back. She looked at me. “You must be the girl Joe brought in last night. You’re the talk of the pack this morning.”
Everyone knows that I’m here? How? I was chained up in the basement until this morning.
“Anyway, you must be starving. I’ll get you some food.”
Pearl walked to the other side of the kitchen and took a plate from the stove top. She came back over and handed the plate to me.
“Here you are.” She said, smiling.
“Thanks you.” I said.
Caesar led me back into the room where the large table was, and I took a seat in one of the chairs. Caesar sat in the chair beside me. I guess he has to make sure I won’t try to run.
I took a whiff of the food and smiled. It smells so good. I dug into the food, not caring if I looked like a slob in front of Caesar.
“Wow, you’re really hungry.” Caesar said. “I’d think you haven’t eaten in days.
“I haven’t.” I said after swallowing. “The king promised us a meal every night but it hasn’t happened yet.”
“You can never trust a blood sucker.”
“And how do I know whether I can trust a werewolf or not?”
“Think of us as dogs. We’re forever loyal. Just ask Ms. Pearl.”
Why would Pearl know more about their loyalty? Who is she and why does she looks so different from everyone else?
“Is Pearl a werewolf too? She looks very different from everyone else here.”
“What do you think?”
He stared into my eyes, a smile playing on his lips. I sighed and continued eating, knowing he wasn’t going to answer my question. I have a feeling that Pearl isn’t a werewolf. Unless she’s like Prince Demetri and doesn’t look like the rest of her family.
The door we entered through opened and a group of people entered. They were all dirty and their hair was messed up. I figure it’s from the training. They were joking and laughing about something until they saw me. The smiles wiped from their faces and they just stared at me. They all looked around my age.
“Hi.” I said, trying to break the awkward silence.
A few of them glared at me and the room suddenly grew cold. Do they hate me because I came from the palace?
“Move along before your food gets cold.” Caesar told the group with a wave of his hand.
The group slowly shuffled on, a few of them refused to take their eyes off me until they were in the other room.
“Did I do something?” I asked.
“Nothing you’re aware of.”
“What is it?”
“In their eyes you’ve sold your soul to those demons.”
“Do you believe that too?”
He simply stared into my eyes as though he was searching for something. His eyebrows furrowed.
“I’m not sure what to believe about you. You’re a little different from most humans. Most, once they’ve become attached to the demons, they learn to hate us. But you… you somehow try to make peace with both of us.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
“No. It’s just different.”
After I finished eating, Caesar took my plate back into the kitchen. He soon returned and motioned for me to follow him. I followed him out of the building.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“I’m taking you back to the cellar.”
I stopped immediately stopped walking. He wants to put me back down in that dark basement?
“No.” I said.
“What?” He stopped and turned to face me.
“No. I’m not going back into that basement. It’s dark down there. I’m a human being. You can’t keep me down there. Just take me back to the palace.”
“If I take you back to the palace I’ll be caught. I’m not risking that.”
“Then take me back to my parents. I haven’t seen them in a while and I want to make sure they’re okay.”
Caesar sighed and came closer to me. He looked into my eyes and gave me and apologetic look.
“If it were up to me, I’d take you to your family. But I’m not in charge around here.”
“Then who is? I want to talk to them.”
“It’s not that easy. He’s a busy guy and doesn’t like vampire sympathizers.”
“I don’t care. I’m not going to allow you treat me like this. I got treated better than this at the palace.”
“Really? A place that makes you wear rags as a uniform.” He grabbed the hem of my skirt and shook it in anger. “And a place where you have to be a walking blood bag?” He roughly turned my head to the side exposing my neck where I was bitten. “And a place that doesn’t feed the help.” He poked my stomach. “Sounds like a great place.” He said sarcastically.
The palace is far better than this place. I may be having my doubts about Demetri, but I’d rather be in the palace with him, than here with werewolves who keep me in a basement.
“I’m not moving unless I speak to him.”
Caesar sighed. “I’ll be back.”
He walked off and I took a seat on the grass. I’m determined to get home or back to the palace so I’m not going to let Caesar order me around.
After a while I heard the light sound of grass crunching and looked up to see Caesar approaching me with a man along side him. Surprisingly the man was young. He had dark cropped hair and golden eyes. His skin was tan like everyone else’s. He was tall and broad shouldered. He wore grey pants and a black shirt. I stood up and faced them.
“Alpha Keith, this is the girl.” Caesar said.
Keith looked me over, not showing any emotion. What’s his deal? Why isn’t he showing any emotion?
“Kill her.” Keith simply said.
A wave of fear went through me. He looks me over and wants to kill me? How heartless can he be? And they thing the royals are bad?
“What?” Caesar asked, sounding shocked.
“You heard me.” Keith said.
“But she’s human.”
“Does it look like I care?” Caesar sighed. “I have work to do. Don’t bother me again unless it’s something important.”
Keith walked away. I hate that guy. He’s cruel. He wants me dead? He doesn’t even know me.
“Caesar, you don’t have to kill me.” I said. “I’ll go back to the basement.”
“No. I’m getting you out of here. Luckily it wasn’t an actual order to kill you. Otherwise I’d have no choice. But let’s wait until nightfall to get you out of here. We don’t want anyone to see us.”
Caesar took my hand and led me back across the field. I know he’s taking me back to the basement, but this time I won’t allow him to chain my hands. Besides, I’m getting out of here as soon as night falls.
We got the basement and I sat on the floor with my back against the wall. Caesar was about to chain my hands.
“No chaining this time.” I said. “We’re leaving at nightfall anyway.”
“Fine, but don’t try anything.”
“Like I would risk my chances of getting out of here.”
Caesar left, leaving me alone. I sighed. It’s still early. I have a while until nightfall. What am I supposed to do until then?
I woke up with a headache. I slowly sat up and looked around. I was still in the basement. When did I fall asleep and how long have I been asleep for?
I heard a door open and then footsteps coming closer. Soon Pearl was standing before me. She held a plate in her hands with a sandwich on it.
“Hi.” She said.
“Hi. What are you doing down here?”
“It’s lunch time and Caesar refuses to bring you up to eat, so I decided to bring the food to you.”
“Thank you.” I said.
She handed the plate to me and I placed it on my lap. She turned to leave but I stopped her.
“Wait.” I said. “Are you a werewolf like the others?”
“I thought you’d ask me that.”
She came over and sat down beside me. She folded her hands in her lap and looked at me.
“No, I’m not a werewolf.”
“Then why are you here?”
“When I was about your age, I worked as a servant for the royals.”
So she used to have the same job as me. Then how did she end up with werewolves?
“After a while I became unhappy with my choice of work and wanted to leave. But as I’m sure you know, once you’re in you can’t get out. Me being me, I wouldn’t take no for an answer. So I ran away the next morning.”
“The guards didn’t catch you?”
“Guards back then were scarce. I went through the woods. It felt like I had been running for hours before I finally stopped to catch my breath. From there I walked. I walked and walked, until I got to a town. I went from door to door asking for food, but no one wanted to deal with a beggar. I had to resort to trashcans, and it was the most disgusting thing I’ve ever done.”
Surprisingly her life back then sounds worst than mine right now. I may have needed food, but at least I could buy some food whenever we had money. Servants don’t get paid money, their families do. She had no money to buy anything.
“After I’d gotten enough food I continued on my way. That town was too close to the palace and I needed to get away from there. By nightfall I was dirty, tired, and cut up from stray branches. I had nowhere to go and I was scared.”
“What about your parents?”
“They had died a few months before in a house fire. That’s why I went to work in the palace.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. I would’ve worked in the palace anyway since we were so poor. But anyway, I stopped to sleep. I curled into a ball by a huge oak tree. I remember being so cold that night. It was almost winter and I was wearing a dress like yours. When I woke up the next morning I found three, muscular and tan people surrounding me. And I was so mesmerized by their eyes. How golden they were.”
“Without a word they took me by the arms and hauled me off. They took me to their alpha at that time. He was tall and very muscular and had long dark hair. He was like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”
“Wait, you and the alpha got together?”
Pearl laughed. So she was taken into the pack because she was in a relationship with the alpha.
“He wanted to kill me at first because I smelled like a vampire, but as time went by, he began to trust me. Trust turned into respect, respect turned into like, and like turned into love. We got married and we had a son. He’s now the alpha.”
“Wow. That’s kind of nice in a way. It’s nice that after you’ve been through so much you found love in the end.”
“I told you this story because I think you should consider staying here.”
I should’ve known there’d be catch. Why else would she tell me her life story? But I just don’t want to stay here.
“No thank you.” I responded. “I’d rather be somewhere close to home. Besides, the more I work in the palace, the more money I earn. My money goes to my family and I have a sick mother. They could use any money they can get.”
“It was just an offer.”
Pearl got up and left, leaving me alone once again. I took a bite of my sandwich. I don’t understand why everyone wants me to stay here. Everyone but the alpha. For some reason he wants me dead. I’m getting out of here. I don’t belong.
Hours had passed before I heard the door open and footsteps coming closer. Caesar appeared.
“Ready to go?’ He asked me.
I quickly stood up and he took my hand. He led me up the stairs and out the door. It was extremely dark with only the moon and stars giving us dim light.
“Stay quiet and stay close.” He whispered.
He led me across the field which seemed larger somehow. We were soon on a gravel path. We followed it until we were in front of a carriage. Caesar opened the door and I climbed in. He closed the door behind me and I heard him climb on up front. Soon we were off.
I looked out at the darkness as we rode. I wonder if Demetri is wondering where I am or if he’s worried. Does he even care? He says he does, but I can’t help but feel like Demetri is unable to feel. He killed Caesar’s family without thinking? If Demetri really has a heart, could he do something like that?
What kind of relationship could we have? One where I give him my blood when he’s thirsty? That’s all he’s wanted from me. And I hate having to keep our relationship a secret. He should just stick to someone like himself. Royalty.
After a while the carriage came to a stop. The door opened and Caesar had an anxious look on his face.
“Let’s go.” He whispered.
I climbed out and looked around. We were in the middle of nowhere. Trees and shrubs surrounded us on both sides.
“Got straight through there.” Caesar said, turning me in the right direction. “It’s a straight shot to the palace. This is as far as I can take you.”
“But what do I tell them?”
“I don’t care. Just go.” He gave me a slight shove.
I walked into the bushes, trying to stay on a straight path. I heard hooves on the ground and knew Caesar was on his way back to his pack.
It felt like I’d been walked forever when I finally got to the tall black gate surrounding the palace. Guards stood outside as usual. I banged on the gate and got a guards attention.
“Who’s there?” He asked, walking towards me. “Move away from the gate!”
“I’m a servant in the palace.” I explained. “Let me in.”
“Ma’am please step away from the gate.”
“Look at my clothes. I’m a servant.”
“Ellie?” A familiar voice asked.
I looked behind the guard and saw Demetri. He had a shocked look on his face. He came over and opened the gate. I walked inside and he took me into a tight hug. He then quickly let go of me.
“You smell like a wolf.” He said, a skeptical look crossing his face.
“I uh…”
“Were you with one of those creatures?” He was beginning to sound angry.
“I was uh…”
“You’d better start talking right now.”
I don’t know what to tell him. I don’t want to tell him the truth and him go looking for the pack. If something happened I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself. But I don’t have an excuse to feed him. Nothing would make sense. What do I tell him?
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This isn't one of my best chapters but I was getting a little writers block for this chapter. I hoped you enjoyed it though.
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