The Man of Shade Manor

   

My teeth clench, the rancid cloth forcing its way down my throat. I take sharp breaths in through my nose as tears slide down my cheeks. I clench my fists in hopes of stopping my body from trembling. The cellar only becomes colder as the days go by.

     Darkness envelopes my entire being, making the cold room feel like an endless vortex. My ears are filled with the soft cries of the others trapped here. Their wailing voices make my skull pound. I shift my achy body so I'm sitting straighter causing the gravel floor to scrape across my flesh. Moaning at the sudden pain, I squeeze my eyes shut.

     I can't take this anymore. I must leave.

Sitting up, I lean against the wall I feel behind me. I tug at the rope binding my hands. As I struggle to pull my hands free, the rope begins to rub my wrists, eating away at my tender flesh. Blood drips onto my hands but I continue to yank at the ropes. I let in a shaky breath, trying to push the pain away.

     Tugging like this isn't going to do me any good. I have to find another way.

I pat my hands against the floor until my fingers graze a sharp piece of gravel. Grasping the small stone, I begin to rub it against the rope.

     I work at cutting the rope for several minutes but to no avail. My eyes burn when light suddenly filters through the room. As torch light fill the space soft footsteps echo about. I blink a couple times allowing my eyes to adjust to the light.

I suck in a deep breath at the sight that befalls me. The sounds of crying and people shuffling about let me know I wasn't down here alone, however I was not expecting this. There are dozens of people tied up in cages just like me, their clothes dirty with blood and dirt. The walls are made of red rotting wood crawling with insects, and the gravel that makes up the flooring is stained crimson.

As my eyes dart around the room they land on a man clad in black. A woman with honey blond hair stands beside him holding a torch. The man is tall with straight black hair and long elven ears. He turns and I glimpse his face. His eyes are orange like a smoldering ember, and his skin is as white as silk. The way his orange eyes glow in the torch-light sends a shiver down my spine.

"You have done well, this is the most I have seen in a while," the man states.

"Those from remote villages are less likely to have people look for them. I find they are easy prey," the woman chuckles.

I shudder at the words 'easy prey.' Just how many of us have they taken?

"I care not where you get them from, as long as you keep the supply coming."

The blond smiles wickedly.

"We are in no short supply. Which one shall we start with first, master?" The blond woman asks looking up at the man, her blood-red eyes sparkling.

The man's fierce gaze turns towards the woman.

"There are less females then I expected. I thought I had asked you to bring more females this time?" He questions his companion in a silken voice.

"How do you expect me to find beautiful women when we only take those from common villages?" The woman fires back.

The man doesn't respond, simply walks ahead, peering into the cages. I cower like a cornered rat, curling into myself. My heart thumps up my throat as the metal bars of my cage open. The bars shriek and groan in protest. My breathing starts to become uneven and I clench my hands into a tight fist.

I cast my eyes down, tears swelling in them. Stomach acid claws up my throat and I begin to struggle for air.

This is it. I'm going to die.

As his footsteps get closer and closer, my head throbs. Peeking up from behind my knees, I see the man's dark leather shoes barely a foot away from me.

The young man who sat a couple of feet from me is dragged from the cage by his brown hair. He releases muffled cries as he flails his body about. I feel all my tense muscles relax upon realizing that I wasn't the target. Guilt gnaws at my mind for being glad that it wasn't me that was taken, but I'm too scared to die.

Once the young man is out of the cell, he's dropped to the floor. Our captor bends down to the young man, forcing his head to the side. The orange-eyed man opens his mouth, revealing two long fangs. He bites down on the young man's neck, causing him to scream out in pain. Even with the cloth in his mouth, the young man's scream still pierces my ears.

I watch his once-brown eyes turn blood red and his body goes limp. Our captor releases his grip on the young man, letting his head hit the gravel. Silence fills the room as everyone watches the young man until finally, his body begins to twitch and writhe on the floor. During his fit, he breaks free from his restraints and lunges at the dark-haired man.

"Stop," our captor commands.

Just like that, the young man stops in his tracks. The dark-haired man approaches him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"You must be hungry. Feast, my child," he says as he opens another cell door.

The young man, almost as if possessed, lunges into the cage, pouncing on one of the people. He pins the person down and, goes straight for the throat, he rips it out and, feasts upon the blood. Muffled voices cry out around me as the young man kills every living being in that cell. Blood soaks the ground, filling the room with a metallic smell.

     I begin to gag at the sight, but the cloth in my mouth forces the vomit back down. My eyes sting with tears. I blink, wishing them away.

     "What a waste," the blond woman comments.

     She turns towards my cell. Entering it, she bends down to me, picking up a strand of my red hair and twirling it around her finger.

     "I would have much rather seen a pretty thing like you get turned," she purrs in my ear.

     My blood turns to frost and I stiffen up. The thumping of my heart turns erratic as more tears stream down my face. I release a muffled cry while the woman smirks.

     Suddenly, the woman coughs, spraying blood all over my face. Her hand slips from my hair and she slumps to the ground in a bloody mess. Standing behind her is a tall man dressed in red. He looks strikingly similar to my captor; tall and lean with long black hair that reaches his mid-back. He too has vibrant orange eyes and elven ears.

My heart drums as I see blood dripping from his outstretched hand. He had ripped a hole right through the blond woman as if it were nothing. Our eyes meet and my body goes rigid. His footsteps ring through the silence as he bends down towards me, pulling the cloth from my mouth.

"Are you alright, miss?" He asks in an angelic tone.