Bleed her dry

ASHLEY

Jason wanted to see me.

That was the only thing I could think of as the overseer's face turned ghost white, panicked, pulling me up to a standing position, for I could barely stand on my own.

She looked at my tattered dress and unkempt appearance before rushing to the corner, only to return with a new dress. Well, not entirely new, but better than the one I was in. She pulled off the one currently on me, put on the new one, and brushed a hand through my hair, which had last been brushed three months ago.

Grabbing a rag and a bowl filled with water, she rubbed at the dirt on my face. I looked at her, curious.

This was the first time she'd be nice to me. She had never treated me as if I were a living being before, and even made them punish me more than the enslaved people in the prison.

Now, she was acting all nice.

“Get me that bandage and don't just stand there looking at me as if this is a circus!” She snapped at Kelly.

Kelly jumped, moving to grab the bandage in the medicine chest on the floor where the overseer had been before she saw me crawling away.

She snatched the bandage from her hand and began to wrap some of my injuries. Although I didn't have much visible on my skin now, I couldn't say the same thing for the scar and inside of me. I had more of an emotional injury than a physical one. Additionally, I was pleased that it was a maxi A-shaped dress and it had long sleeves that reached my wrists.

When the overseer was done and satisfied with how presentable I looked, she nodded.

Then she turned to me with narrowed eyes. “A word about what happened here to anyone, you'd be sorry. Not only shall I be the one to oversee that little shit death, I shall make sure it's slow and pain filled.” she nodded at Kelly.

Kelly swallowed, her eyes wide with fear.

“Is that understood?”

I blinked through the fever haze, mouth dry and skin still burning, before stuttering, “U-understood.”

“Now get out of my sight. Both of you.”

A guard came to escort me out to where Jason was. I didn't know how I managed to walk down to the waiting room. I was still feverish and weak, and I didn't think it would be going down anytime soon.

As soon as the guards let me go, the fever blurred everything, and I lost my footing, stumbling forward. I shut my eyes, preparing myself for the floor because I had no stamina to balance myself. Before I could hit the floor, strong arms caught me, wrapping around my waist.

It wasn’t Kelly.

It wasn't the guards either.

It was Jason.

My Jason. He looked better than I had seen him in three months. Grown, more handsome, and even more manly. He didn't look like he had lost a wink of sleep, unlike me, who could cave in if a strong wind hit.

Jason let me go as soon as he steadied me. He wasn't as enthusiastic to see me as I had thought.

“Jason,” I whispered, my voice weak.

He snorted, his voice derisive as he spoke, “Now you're going to pretend to be weak? I always knew you were a drama queen. Stop trying to look pitiful.”

I bite my lower lip. Was he blind that he couldn't see how horrible I looked? I could barely even see him!

He moved closer, assessing me. He gripped my shoulders where the most injury was, and I suppressed a wince.

But he caught it.

Jason touched the neckline of my dress and was about to push it down, but I gripped his hand, stopping him. “Don't touch me.”

The overseer's words echoed in my head. No one should know about my injuries. Not even Jason. She was going to kill Kelly if that happened.

Jason looked at my hand where I had gripped him briefly before pulling away.

“Ungrateful witch,” he grunted. 

I hesitated and couldn't resist the urge to ask as he began to walk away. “Where are we going?”

Jason looked pissed and like he would strangle me if I asked him another question. “Do you think I took you out there to look at how pretty you've become? Of course, you're going to pay for your freedom.” He snapped.

He began to walk away, and I followed him. I didn't want him to get any more furious with me, so I chose not to say anything else until we arrived at our final destination.

We arrived at the main pack house in five minutes. The slave barracks weren't that far from it at all… and yet, not once did any of them come to visit me. It was almost laughable, if it weren’t so sad.

I stepped into what I had called a home for the past eighteen years, only for it to be taken away from me within the blink of an eye. My parents weren't here. They must have been somewhere around the pack house.

I wanted to ask Jason why he had brought me here, to my house, specifically until I arrived in my room.

It was now Maria’s.

My parents were in the room. But it wasn't they that had caught my attention and made me stop midstep. It was Maria.

She was lying on my bed. She looked frailed and almost lifeless. If it weren't for the rising and falling of her chest, I'd have assumed she was dead. My mother held onto her hand, bringing it to her face while her eyes were shut.

“You did that to her. Her organs are damaged by the wolfsbane you poisoned her with, and only compatible blood can save her,” Jason said behind me, his voice flat.

As soon as he spoke, my parents' attention snapped to me.

“Why are you telling me this?” I whispered.

“Because you're going to get tested and you don't get to say no.” He answered.

Just then, a rogue doctor appeared in the room with a glint in his eyes, like he was enjoying what was going on, and he couldn't wait to inflict pain on whoever desired it. “You said you want fresh blood? Here’s one. Have her tested. Hers could be compatible.”

“Very well, Alpha.” The rogue doctor said.

“No,” I murmured again, my stomach twisted into knots as I saw the doctor coming towards me.

“Please, don't make him do that,” I weakly protested, holding his hand.

“Do it.” Jason asserted, yanking his hand free from mine.

“Please no!” I screeched, kicking, attempting to fight off the guards that dragged me to the room’s corner, but they were too strong.

The guards held me down while the doctor proceeded to draw out the blood.

I groaned as the sharp tip of the lancet plunged into my arm.

The doctor walked away from me with my blood in a glass vial, only to return a few minutes later. “It's a match, Alpha.” He said.

“She's eligible for the transfusion.”

“Then let her do so immediately. What are you waiting for?” My father demanded. “Take her and bleed her dry!”

My breath caught. And I swayed as the room tilted. Bleed me dry? All of my blood?

My limbs trembled. I was already so weak. So broken. Hopelessness clawed at me, swallowing the last thread of strength I had left. 

“No,” Jason murmured, halting him.

It was the first time I'd seen him disagree with what my father had said. “As much as I'd like for it to be now, I want everything to turn out perfectly. Look at her,” he nodded towards me.

“She looks weak, and I am worried that she could contaminate the blood or even make it less effective. Also, what if she collapsed in the middle? I reckon she fully recovers before the process can be done.”

My father looked at me and nodded in agreement with what Jason had said.

He agreed to his terms, and they both decided to act as if I weren't present in the room and my input wasn't necessary.

I sat on the small bench in the attic, looking at the lone small window. My father decided to lock me here to recover after discussing with Jason.

I should be happy. The attic was my favorite place in the whole house and a far better place than the barracks, but there was nothing to be pleased about in this situation.

“Ashley,”

I looked up to see my mother. She climbed down the last step, walking towards me.

She stopped a few meters from where I was seated, wrapping her arms around herself. “How are you?” 

I didn't respond to her. She had about three months to ask me that. Yet she never did.

“Are you going to help Maria? She's your sister.”

“No, she's not.” She was a liar and a manipulator.

“She didn't ask for this, Ashley. It's only your blood that is compatible with hers. You'll help her to live, right?” my mother whispered, tears brimming in her eyes.

“We don't know what else to do or who to run to. You need to save her. Do it for me. For our family.” She begged. That tugged at my heartstrings.

I could hear the tremble in her voice. It sounded just like the way I remembered it when I was younger, when she tucked me into bed and sang me lullabies.

She closed the distance between us, sitting on the bench, and she moved to touch my shoulder, but I flinched away.

My father stormed in at the same time.

I stood, creating a distance between us. “I had never trained you to be this stubborn.”

He turned to my mother, “If she doesn't agree to donate the blood, she'll be punished. I shall do it myself.”

I couldn't hold it in any longer. I rolled up my sleeve, showing them what the three months in the barracks had done to my skin.

Scars. Burn marks. Healing cuts.

“Then do it. Have them punish me again, tear what’s left of my skin. Beat me to death and let’s see who’ll save your precious Maria.” I murmured, looking at them both.

My mother gasped, her hands flying to her mouth in surprise. My father took a step back, stunned into silence as he stared at the scar.

Good. Just the expression I needed from them. If I die, so would their precious daughter, as she wouldn’t be getting a drop of my blood.