Chapter 3
White walls surround me. White floors hold my body flat. The pocket watch is draped around my neck, ticking violently as my vision returns and the images become clear in my head. It doesn’t take but a second for me to understand I’ve been kidnapped. Of course I reject the idea immediately; perhaps I’m dreaming—maybe I’m in a hospital room without any of the furniture. But even hospital rooms have windows. They have a bathroom. And, sometimes, another patient.
Snarling to my right makes me jump out of my skin, my heart leaping into my throat and blocking the passage for my scream. My eyes land on a man with pale-ish dark skin and scars covering his bald head as I crab-walk away, only to feel the cold abrasive wall against the skin covering my occipital bone. I heave air in and out of my mouth, unable to beg for my life as my fear tangles into my matted mind.
He tugs at his limbs, trying to surge forward, but is unable to. My darting eyes find the reason behind his agonizing stillness: silver chains, glistening in the fluorescent lighting of the room. They’re strapped to his wrists, his ankles, his neck, and around his waist. They dig into his thin skin, thick black-red blood dripping to the pristine floor. The fact that he’s tied up should help me stay calm—if it wasn’t starting to come out of the walls with each tug of his limbs.
My heart pulses just behind my tongue as I try to tear my eyes from the man. I’m not strapped down so I can run—if only there was somewhere to run.
One glance around the empty room and my eyes snap back to the wall adjacent from where I cower. A silver door is pressed into it, reflecting dully the room I’m held in. I could run to see if it’s unlocked, but what if he gets free before then? Whatever it is he wants, I’m sure he wants it from me.
But I’m almost too terrified to move.
One of his ankles is almost free.
It’s either die fighting or don’t try at all.
My breath hitches one last time as my self-preservation kicks into my bloodstream. I sprint to the door, slamming into it and growling at the metal for being so hard. The man shifts his stance, reaching out for me still. I grip the door handle and tug, moving my hand left and right and feeling the deluge of dread take over my system. I’m locked in.
Metal hits the ground behind me.
God, be with me.
The man has his right ankle free, the chain dragging behind him as he yanks at the rest, his eyes red and rabid as his dry lips curl up into a sinister smile. I’m done-for.
I slam my weak fists against the hefty door, screaming for help and rubbing my dry throat raw. Tears can’t even find my eyes, I’m so scared out of my wits. No, scared isn’t the word. It’s something much, much more terrifying than that.
One arm and both legs free, he lunges toward me. His other wrist finds freedom, the white wall looking like a small explosion was set off inside its drywall. A final scream shakes my bones and shatters my acceptance of death as his body collides with mine. All my suspicions are confirmed as he opens his mouth and his canine teeth elongate and curve wickedly like a snake’s.
Vampire.
He brings his head down to my neck maniacally, and I feel the teeth press onto my skin. I let out a whimper as I close my eyes, trying to push him off of me and save myself.
God, help me, please…
A moment later, I realize the fangs hadn’t pierced my skin. Not completely, anyway. The sting of the pinprick he’d given me pulls at my consciousness. Why didn’t he bite me?
Not that I’m complaining.
The man falls to his side, clutching his mouth and crying out ferociously, like a mourning beast. I suck in air, wheezing, and move around to stand and press my body against the wall, as if it could help me get away from the man.
He wails again and I glimpse what he hides behind his tightly bound hands. His teeth have chipped, losing around half of each tooth one either side. My head throbs as I stare at him, the fear only simmering in my chest now but the adrenaline still pumping through my system.
The silver door crashes open, almost hitting me in its suddenness. I jump and back away quickly as the dark-haired woman steps through, staring me down with intense dark eyes. Oxygen is heaved into my lungs, carbon dioxide escaping quickly as I exhale at rapid paces.
She stands in the doorway with her hands on her hips, white walls extending behind her. Her mouth stays shut and still, resembling the edge of a blank page. I’m frozen in place.
I want to ask what she wants, but fear trickles down my arms as I even think about asking her. Perhaps I should just wait for her to speak—but my brain is moving too quickly and slow at once to process what’s happened, what’s occurring, and what’s to come. Although I’m great at reading people, I’m terrible at predicting the future, whether it be five minutes from now or ten years.
“Kyla Vonemben. I didn’t know you were saved.”
“Ex—” I clear my throat as my eyes dart to the man. He’s quiet now, still holding his mouth, tears leaving painful rivets along his cheeks. “Excuse me?”
“When were you baptized?”
“What?” I croak again, my voice rough. The wall is getting warm from where I continue to nervously press my hands.
“Are you Christian? Catholic? Although I don’t really see the difference between the two.”
“Uh,” I blink. “C-Christian.”
“Mmm,” she sings softly from the doorway. “When were you baptized?”
“Um,” I close my eyes and shake my head, still confused. I’d been baptized twice; the second was a rededication to Christ when I finally understood what it meant to be a Christian.
“Never mind that. You were. You have the Holy Spirit inside you. You can’t be pierced by us.”
My eyes find hers. Her face is tight with creases of anger. I fiddle with the ring around my finger, relieved to feel it still there. There’s a part of Tobias with me. Aside from his jacket that I now realize I wear as I begin to notice my body excreting sweat. Now that everything is still and my life isn’t in immediate danger at this moment, I see it as I stare at her; she won’t attack, the details about me and around me are clarifying.
“So here you will stay until we can.”
“What?” I burst forward for a moment, my eyes darting to the singular threat in this room. If my knowledge on vampires is correct, and it is, then she can’t enter the room unless I invite her. However, everything I learned was legend and folklore and… I rule out Twilight vampire laws.
“Sooner or later, you’ll give up on God because you’ll grow tiresome of your unanswered pleas to him. Everyone does.”
“Well I’m different,” I spit, growing angry as my head grows light from confrontation. It’s the worst—oooh, I take it back; I hate that saying. It’s the worst thing that could come forth from any situation. I get flustered and I can’t think straight.
I spin the ring around my finger with my thumb as my body trembles beside the still wall.
She smirks. “We’ll see, now won’t we, little Kyla. Get ready, kid, because you’ve got a lot of thinking to do in the silence provided to you.”
She slams the door shut, my heart weighing heavy in my chest. I shift my gaze down to the man sitting defeated close to the door. He stares off in the distance, somewhere past the tile floor I stand on. Now that all is quiet, I can hear him sucking on something inside his mouth.
“I lost my faith,” he whispers in a cracked, monotonous and accented voice. “I couldn’t take it anymore.”
I stay silent, afraid of what I might say.
“Stay strong, or heaven will never be within your reach again.” He sucks one last time. “May God be with you.”
A moment later, he closes his eyes and his body turns gray, crumbling to the floor as if he were made of ash.
Snarling to my right makes me jump out of my skin, my heart leaping into my throat and blocking the passage for my scream. My eyes land on a man with pale-ish dark skin and scars covering his bald head as I crab-walk away, only to feel the cold abrasive wall against the skin covering my occipital bone. I heave air in and out of my mouth, unable to beg for my life as my fear tangles into my matted mind.
He tugs at his limbs, trying to surge forward, but is unable to. My darting eyes find the reason behind his agonizing stillness: silver chains, glistening in the fluorescent lighting of the room. They’re strapped to his wrists, his ankles, his neck, and around his waist. They dig into his thin skin, thick black-red blood dripping to the pristine floor. The fact that he’s tied up should help me stay calm—if it wasn’t starting to come out of the walls with each tug of his limbs.
My heart pulses just behind my tongue as I try to tear my eyes from the man. I’m not strapped down so I can run—if only there was somewhere to run.
One glance around the empty room and my eyes snap back to the wall adjacent from where I cower. A silver door is pressed into it, reflecting dully the room I’m held in. I could run to see if it’s unlocked, but what if he gets free before then? Whatever it is he wants, I’m sure he wants it from me.
But I’m almost too terrified to move.
One of his ankles is almost free.
It’s either die fighting or don’t try at all.
My breath hitches one last time as my self-preservation kicks into my bloodstream. I sprint to the door, slamming into it and growling at the metal for being so hard. The man shifts his stance, reaching out for me still. I grip the door handle and tug, moving my hand left and right and feeling the deluge of dread take over my system. I’m locked in.
Metal hits the ground behind me.
God, be with me.
The man has his right ankle free, the chain dragging behind him as he yanks at the rest, his eyes red and rabid as his dry lips curl up into a sinister smile. I’m done-for.
I slam my weak fists against the hefty door, screaming for help and rubbing my dry throat raw. Tears can’t even find my eyes, I’m so scared out of my wits. No, scared isn’t the word. It’s something much, much more terrifying than that.
One arm and both legs free, he lunges toward me. His other wrist finds freedom, the white wall looking like a small explosion was set off inside its drywall. A final scream shakes my bones and shatters my acceptance of death as his body collides with mine. All my suspicions are confirmed as he opens his mouth and his canine teeth elongate and curve wickedly like a snake’s.
Vampire.
He brings his head down to my neck maniacally, and I feel the teeth press onto my skin. I let out a whimper as I close my eyes, trying to push him off of me and save myself.
God, help me, please…
A moment later, I realize the fangs hadn’t pierced my skin. Not completely, anyway. The sting of the pinprick he’d given me pulls at my consciousness. Why didn’t he bite me?
Not that I’m complaining.
The man falls to his side, clutching his mouth and crying out ferociously, like a mourning beast. I suck in air, wheezing, and move around to stand and press my body against the wall, as if it could help me get away from the man.
He wails again and I glimpse what he hides behind his tightly bound hands. His teeth have chipped, losing around half of each tooth one either side. My head throbs as I stare at him, the fear only simmering in my chest now but the adrenaline still pumping through my system.
The silver door crashes open, almost hitting me in its suddenness. I jump and back away quickly as the dark-haired woman steps through, staring me down with intense dark eyes. Oxygen is heaved into my lungs, carbon dioxide escaping quickly as I exhale at rapid paces.
She stands in the doorway with her hands on her hips, white walls extending behind her. Her mouth stays shut and still, resembling the edge of a blank page. I’m frozen in place.
I want to ask what she wants, but fear trickles down my arms as I even think about asking her. Perhaps I should just wait for her to speak—but my brain is moving too quickly and slow at once to process what’s happened, what’s occurring, and what’s to come. Although I’m great at reading people, I’m terrible at predicting the future, whether it be five minutes from now or ten years.
“Kyla Vonemben. I didn’t know you were saved.”
“Ex—” I clear my throat as my eyes dart to the man. He’s quiet now, still holding his mouth, tears leaving painful rivets along his cheeks. “Excuse me?”
“When were you baptized?”
“What?” I croak again, my voice rough. The wall is getting warm from where I continue to nervously press my hands.
“Are you Christian? Catholic? Although I don’t really see the difference between the two.”
“Uh,” I blink. “C-Christian.”
“Mmm,” she sings softly from the doorway. “When were you baptized?”
“Um,” I close my eyes and shake my head, still confused. I’d been baptized twice; the second was a rededication to Christ when I finally understood what it meant to be a Christian.
“Never mind that. You were. You have the Holy Spirit inside you. You can’t be pierced by us.”
My eyes find hers. Her face is tight with creases of anger. I fiddle with the ring around my finger, relieved to feel it still there. There’s a part of Tobias with me. Aside from his jacket that I now realize I wear as I begin to notice my body excreting sweat. Now that everything is still and my life isn’t in immediate danger at this moment, I see it as I stare at her; she won’t attack, the details about me and around me are clarifying.
“So here you will stay until we can.”
“What?” I burst forward for a moment, my eyes darting to the singular threat in this room. If my knowledge on vampires is correct, and it is, then she can’t enter the room unless I invite her. However, everything I learned was legend and folklore and… I rule out Twilight vampire laws.
“Sooner or later, you’ll give up on God because you’ll grow tiresome of your unanswered pleas to him. Everyone does.”
“Well I’m different,” I spit, growing angry as my head grows light from confrontation. It’s the worst—oooh, I take it back; I hate that saying. It’s the worst thing that could come forth from any situation. I get flustered and I can’t think straight.
I spin the ring around my finger with my thumb as my body trembles beside the still wall.
She smirks. “We’ll see, now won’t we, little Kyla. Get ready, kid, because you’ve got a lot of thinking to do in the silence provided to you.”
She slams the door shut, my heart weighing heavy in my chest. I shift my gaze down to the man sitting defeated close to the door. He stares off in the distance, somewhere past the tile floor I stand on. Now that all is quiet, I can hear him sucking on something inside his mouth.
“I lost my faith,” he whispers in a cracked, monotonous and accented voice. “I couldn’t take it anymore.”
I stay silent, afraid of what I might say.
“Stay strong, or heaven will never be within your reach again.” He sucks one last time. “May God be with you.”
A moment later, he closes his eyes and his body turns gray, crumbling to the floor as if he were made of ash.
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