Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ A Journey for the Lost One ❯ Is It Really Freedom? ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

This story, characters , places and all that nice stuff in the story is my work. Thank you so much for reading! ^-^ *bows* Enjoy!A Journey for the Lost One: Chapter Three - Is It Really Freedom?






Zin couldn’t remember anything. His head hurt so badly he was afraid it would split down the middle. He paused and tried to use a little of his vampiric ability to gauge whether it was day or night. It was night, but he had fought the vampires early the morning before so hopefully he had not been out for too long. Then he remembered it, he was battling with the young vampire then elder stepped in. Zin couldn’t remember much beyond what had happened after his vision went red. He was back to normal now at least. Zin groaned very softly as he raised his head from were it hung in front of his chest and looked down at cold steel floor. Cold steel floor? He thought as he looked around a little more frantically, which made his headache worsen. His hands were above his head in silver shackles, he found that his neck, waist and legs were also shackled in silver. He was in a cage, inside some sort of chamber. Spell materials and such littered the countertops and tables in the large room.

The two vampires and the prince were gathered about one of the tables talking quietly but Zin was too tired to focus his energies to eaves drop on them. He hung quietly in the cage by his shackles with his legs folded beneath him, letting his eyes roam around. Suddenly, a oddity caught his eye. There was no blood. He had been wounded by both the vampires and should’ve been bleeding. The cage floor should have at least had a small puddle by now. Curiosity got the best of him, he bit his tongue hard enough to make it bleed then let it drip onto the cage floor. The small crimson droplet hit the cage floor and settled. Zin blinked at it then withdrew his tongue and closed his mouth, feeling a little stupid.

A few seconds later, the droplet was quickly absorbed by the metal. Zin bristled and looked up at the contents of the room. Something was very wrong here. Then he spotted it, a large glass vase with golden characters painted on it. He watched it carefully and saw the small crimson droplet fall into the vase’s half full belly. He tried it again then watched as the droplet went through a clear tube and into the vase. They were collecting his blood.

He shuddered; he was too tired to really do anything about it at the moment. He would have to rest a little while before trying to play hero again. Closing his eyes and preparing for a short dormancy, he expanded his senses enough so that he would awaken if anything happened.

The sound of feminine voices awoke him a short while after he’d fallen dormant. He was still in the same room except the vampires weren’t there; it was just the prince and a few girls. He looked over his now half healed wounds, or the ones he could see at least, and then looked around the room. A group of about eight young girls catered to the young prince and his not so willing pets. The prince sat in a large velvet padded chair with a large goblet of whine. Each of the girls held a small glass of whine and were quite drunk, it seemed. The prince; however, was very sober.

At the side of the prince’s throne chair, as his unwilling pets, were the large blue k9 from earlier and a silvery white k9. The blue k9 didn’t seem to happy, if anything it looked a little hateful or fearful. The shackle about its neck gave no slack, and neither did the chain that prince kept it on. It sat quietly, keeping any and all distance from the prince that the chain would allow. Closer to the prince’s chair was a second large k9 but this one was a silvery white color and had bright golden eyes. It was also chained but lay still near the chair as if bored or waiting for something.

Zin was feeling a little better now and focused his senses on the conversation between the drunken girls and the prince. From what Zin could make out, the girls were indeed from the Five Star Villages. Aside from drunken banter and flirting, nothing was of much interest was said. Zin sighed lightly and tried not to look at the girls too much; eyeing pretty women usually made his mind wander and that was something for different circumstances.

A soft, almost inaudible feminine voice filled his head, “Who are you..? ..Why are you here..?”

Zin started and looked around the room from the source the voice and found nothing different, except that k9. The silvery k9 was staring intently at him with its ears poised and alert. “I am a mercenary sent to get the villages’ women back…” he answered through telekinesis, hoping it worked.

“I see… But who are you..?” The voice asked again.

“Zin- wait who in hell are you? Don’t tell me I’m talking to a sad excuse for a prince’s pet.” he spat back with a glare at the k9.

The k9 bristled sharply and pointed silvery her ears forward but didn’t snarl or flash her fangs. “I am not this bastard’s pet! Do not refer to me as such, human!”

Zin grinned wide, “If you’re not his pet, then what are you? His mistress?”

The k9 flattened her hers and twitched her fluffy tail at him. “I am nothing to him but a creation.” She responded lowly.

“So you’re the creation he was talking about when I first showed up here.” he blinked at her curiously. “Are you under a spell or something?”

She paused for a few moments then responded, “We are, he hired the vampires to help him in his plans and yes, we are under a spell. A quite powerful one too. We are only allowed to be in our normal forms when the prince wills it so and the only way to break it is by their deaths.”

“Is that what the blood pendant on the prince is for?” he shifted his vision from the k9 to the pendant on the prince’s choker.

“Yes and no.” she answered quickly.

“Explain if you can.” Zin wanted his answers and he wanted to make sure of whether he was right or not on his assumptions.

“The blood pendant contains my blood and my sister’s blood which allows him to control us through a certain spell that was put on it. If it is broken, the pendant I mean, then we die.” she replied in a cold, serious tone.

“Is the blue k9 your sister?” he asked, switching his gaze between the two. They didn’t look or seem to act alike.

“Yes, she is. We are sisters.”

“No offense or anything, lady, but you two look nothing alike. You don’t even act alike.” he glanced between the two then locked a challenging glare on the blue one as she stared back at him, as if daring him to try her.

“Don’t ask about something you don’t want answered.” the silvery sister responded with a cold glare then turned her attention away from him as she severed the mental connection.

The prince suddenly sent the girls away then rose, keeping the chain in hand as he walked over to the vase of blood. He grinned, as if he’d already won this battle. “It is almost finished. Not much longer before you are completely drained, Chimera, then after you are gone we can complete the ceremony.” the prince smirked and continued, “It’s a shame will not be here to see the spectacular show, my friend. Don’t fret, though, your blood will be going to a good cause. The vampires will gain so much from your special blood and the left over blood will be used to make you a minion. Isn’t it grand? I think it’s rather splendid, myself.”

Zin knew the prince thought him dead already, so playing the role made getting information a little easier than using force. Especially when you’re dealing with arrogant idiots like this one. Zin waited until the prince had left the room with his pets before he grinned to himself and started on his plot of escape.

He was still very weak from the serious blood loss, so he would have to play this out very carefully. He tossed around a few different possibilities but unfortunately, they all involved him needing more strength to do. He growled under his breath then resolved to rest a little longer, just long enough to regain some of his strength enough to force open the cage.

He barely had time to go back into dormancy when the sound of fighting, loud roars and snarls reached him. At first, he ignored it and tried to go into dormancy but the sounds grew nearer and nearer. He looked up toward the doorway and focused his hearing. Swords clanging and vicious snarls reached his ears along with the shouts of the prince and the two vampires. His ears elongated and perked as his eyes widened, something was so very wrong.

A feminine command came from the passage leading to his room and he bristled. Suddenly, a young girl of about seventeen rushed in and skidded to a stop in front of his cage. She was odd looking, with her shaggy blue hair and bright green eyes. She fumbled with the lock on the cage a little then smashed with the hilt of her sword. She crawled into the cage and Zin backed up, unsure of what was going on.

She crawled in and broke his shackles with the hilt of her sword. “Come on, my sister needs help!”

Zin’s eyes widened, “You’re that blue k9, aren’t you?”

She rushed ahead and out into the passage after saying over her shoulder, “We have no time for introductions, lets go while we can!”

Zin growled under his breath and rubbed his slightly burnt places where the shackles had been then followed after her. He unsheathed his sword and regretted following her for as he stepped out of the long passage from his room a brutal scene met his eyes.

Blood flew and swords clanged as the two girls tried to hold off the two very angry vampires. The prince was aiding in the fight when he could, but apparently his sword skills were a little weak. The prince seemed to have control over the beasts as well, and used it to his advantage against the two sisters. The two sisters were back to back with their swords in constant motion, either slicing at beasts or trying to kill the vampires and prince. They seemed to be getting nowhere.

The silvery haired sister was taller and much more badly injured than the shorter, blue haired one. Both were already badly injured, though. Slices and gashes littered their bodies and they were tiring out fast.

Zin rushed over to help them. He blocked a few blows from the vampire and tried to hold them off so the two sisters could hopefully take care of the beasts and the prince. His hopes were drowned when the younger vampire went to protect the prince. Zin tried to block him but the older vampire wouldn’t let him stray from the fight for anything.

The two sisters were back to back again. One was facing the growing number of beasts while the other faced the vampire. The swords met fur and metal as they fought. They were tiring visibly now, the beasts even saw it and started to pan out and circle them to make things more difficult on the two sisters.

Zin’s movements were off and his vision was blurring slightly because of his blood loss and weakness but that didn’t spot him from noticing the beasts. The girls sliced them with blows that could possibly kill them, and as the beasts fell they changed into women. “Don’t hurt the beasts! They’re just the girls in disguise!”

The two sisters seemed to ignore him as they fought on and tried to break through the ranks to reach the prince. The silvery sister grew impatient quickly and forced her way over to the prince. The prince stepped back as the younger vampire got in front of him and moved to slice the silvery sister. The silvery sister was taken by surprise and sliced down the middle, cut was not enough to kill her immediately, though. The slice cut the front of her white, ragged dress open and left a gash a couple of inches deep in its wake.


Zin wasn’t sure how she still stood but wasn’t able to help them either, as the elder vampire kept attacking him non-stop. He felt helpless as the sounds of swords clanging and metal biting flesh came to his ears. He felt bad because they had helped him escape and without them, he might not get paid. Suddenly, a loud shout and the sound of slicing flesh followed by the hiss of blood flowing freely from a new wound took him by surprise. The elder vampire took the opportunity to slice open his stomach. It was clear the elder didn’t really want to kill him. If the elder did want Zin dead then he would’ve taken off Zin’s head by now.

Not even a few moments later, Zin spotted the younger vampire fleeing through the corner of his eye. Suddenly, the elder backed away from the fight, “Until next time, Chimera.”, then the elder vanished from Zin’s vision.

Zin paused then turned to where the girls were fighting before. The fight was clearly over; the beasts were all turning back into girls and rising as if from a deep slumber. What was even stranger was that their wounds dealt to them by the sisters were gone like they’d never really been there at all. The prince’s body lay prone on the floor with long gashed cut into his torso and deep stab wound to the heart. Blood slowly streamed from the prince’s gaping mouth and also, blood trickled from the corners of his fright filled wide gaze and nose.

Zin sighed lightly, leaning heavily on his sword with one arm and holding his badly opened torso with the other. He looked around for the two sisters, blinking as his vision started to blur then fade in and out.

The two sisters hobbled over to him from somewhere he couldn’t see, for his vision was still dancing. The silvery haired one put her hand to his chest and steadied him. He started slightly; the touch didn’t hurt even with all of the wounds and issues his body was having. She seemed to be focusing hard, and then her hand started to glow white.

Zin felt a warmth spread through his veins and throughout his body. It relaxed him and made him forget the pain of his wounds as they slowly healed into scars. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling then, within a few moments, it was gone and he opened his eyes to find the two sisters supporting each other’s weight. He, himself, was alright but was still weak from the blood loss. He sighed and sheathed his rapier.

It wasn’t until then that he didn’t get a good look at the two sisters in their human forms. The elder one had long, straight silvery hair that reached her hips but now had spots that were blood stained. She had tired but bright golden eyes and pale skin, Zin guess it was because of the battle.

The other sister had shaggy, shoulder length midnight blue hair. The hair started black at the roots then slowly faded to the midnight blue then to the white at the tips. Her eyes were bright green instead of golden, but were also dulled from exhaustion. The both were pale and wore torn, shredded white dresses.

Zin didn’t have time to thank them for helping him as the other girls started to bombard him. They called him ‘my hero’ and hugged him and even a few tried to kiss him. Usually, he would have loved this kind of attention but it would have to wait for when they got back to the village. He grinned at the girls and started ushering the crowd of lovely females out the front door.

Upon reaching the frontal castle grounds, more women were looking around as if confused. He sighed lightly then managed to uncuff and unshackle the outside crowd before continuing to the gate. He looked back over the crowd to see the two sisters trailing behind, still supporting each other’s weight but their wounds appeared to be healing quickly. Within a few moments the sisters were walking on their on feet with effort. He had to keep the crowd in check so he couldn’t go back and cater to them before getting out the front gates of the castle. Of course he felt guilty for it, but he also felt he couldn’t help it in the current situation.

They were near the gate and the two sisters seemed more able to walk on their own, their wounds were slowly healing to scars. Zin started and bristled when the elder sister yelled for everyone to hurry. The crowd turned in time to see the younger vampire atop the castle with a loaded crossbow in hand. The arrow in the crossbow was lit in a strange black and gray flame. The crowd of village girls screened then turned into a trampling frenzy as they all rushed to get out at once.

Zin backed away from the crowd and tried to find the two sisters. The young vampire started letting arrows fly one after the other so swiftly, Zin had trouble dodging them and blocking them from the crowd. A loud cry caught his attention long enough for an arrow to lodge its metal point into his stomach. He coughed up a little blood and tried to remove the arrow. After he’d finally got the arrow out, he looked around for the source of the cry. The younger sister was trying to pick up the limp form of the elder sister as she pulled the two arrows from her elder sister‘s chest and back. Zin wouldn’t be able to make it over there fast enough to save either of them like this. Streams of fearful women were blocking the two from him, and he was losing blood fast because of the arrow wound.

He opened his mouth to shout at the sisters when the young vampire shot another arrow, aiming for the younger one. The younger sister stood just in time for the arrow to hit the ground where she was just sitting. The arrow had broken a large hole in the cobble stone walkway. Zin growled then barked a quick command at the sister, who was on her feet and trying to carry the elder one, before making his way over to block any other arrows the young vampire may use.

The burning from the flaming arrow that had lodged itself inside his stomach made him much slower. It was so odd; a strange sensation burned its way through his veins and made everything feel like lead. He made it over as the vampire was readying another set of arrows and setting them aflame. Zin was weak but he’d be able to carry the elder one and make the work a little easier for the younger one.

At first, the younger sister resisted him then reluctantly handed over her unconscious sibling. Zin moved her so the sibling lay over his shoulders, like a stray lamb over the shoulders of his Shepard. He tried to make the younger sister follow him behind the crowd, which waited in the safety of the forest for them.

The sister tore away from his grasp and stumbled a little as she moved close to the castle, stolen sword in hand. Zin would have stopped her, but her eyes had changed and it sent a small chill down his spine. Her eyes used to be green but they were fiery blue and glowed faintly. Zin moved to secure the elder sister over his shoulders more then slipped out of the gate to deposit the sibling in the forest with the rest of the crowd.

It didn’t take long to find the girls. They all had gathered in the clearings that lay before the tree line. He found a vacant spot amongst some of the girls and set the sibling down then ask the girls to watch over her until he returned. With that done, he left the clearing to retrieve the younger sibling. He was still slow but any help is better than none and he couldn’t return without all of the girls. With the way that village elder seemed to work, he’d say Zin was reckless and refuse to pay.

The younger sibling was blocking and swatting away the vampire’s arrows with her sword. Zin was making his way over to help her; he ran at as swift a pace as he could in his condition. Before he could reach her, she threw her sword up at the vampire on the roof. It flew so fast Zin hadn’t seen her movement, its absence followed by a ragged cry helped him register what had happened. She hadn’t killed him, though. She merely wounded him and disarmed him. The sword had gone through the young parasite’s stomach, cutting through the vampire’s loaded crossbow in the process.

Zin called for her to follow him out of the gate as he opened and held the gate open for her. He was leaning over slightly as he held the arrow wound, for some reason the damned thing wouldn’t close up. The bleeding hadn’t slowed either and his skin was losing its color. The sister paused at first, as if unsure of him, then slowly hobbled her way over to him. Her eyes were normal again but her demeanor seemed to change completely. Her eyes were sad, lost and she seemed fearful or nervous. Something had changed and it worried him. A girl could change moods quickly, sure, but not such a dramatic change in so little time without evident cause.

As she approached, he moved to put his arm around her waist and her arm over his shoulders so he could help her support herself but she flinched away from him. He blinked at her and she stared back at him like he’d burned her or something. He shrugged it off, it wasn’t his concern. Zin waited until she had passed through the gate to close it. He made his way into the forest to find the crowd of girls gathered in a circle. He raised his eyebrow at them, their expressions were of disgust or was it loathing?

He stiffened when he noticed the younger sister hadn’t been behind him anymore and that the girls were glaring at the ground in the center of the circle. He moved closer and looked over the girl’s heads at the center, it was good to be tall sometimes. The younger sister crouched in the middle. He pushed through the crowd when he remembered the elder sister’s condition. He made it to the center of the circle and his breath caught.

The younger sister was leaning over her elder sister’s still body. Small crystal tears slid down the younger girl’s face and fell onto the elder’s sickly gray blue cheek. Zin sighed, he was hoping he wouldn’t lose anyone but it was too late now, it couldn’t be helped. The least he could do now was help burry her body. He moved to pick the body up but was stopped by the younger sibling.

“We have to burry her, we can’t leave her body in the open like this”, he growled out softly. Zin didn’t want to scare her or anything while the younger girl’s emotions were probably so jumbled.

“She will be fine. Cresia is a chimera, like you, but unlike you, she’s a human-vampire-elemental fay mix. Her body will turn to ash.” the younger girl said softly.

Zin paused for a minute then blinked as the girl directed his attention to her sister’s body as it glowed a soft white. His breath caught as he watched silently. The glow suddenly stopped then a dull pulse was heard as the body turned into a silvery colored dust. Zin moved to touch the dust but the younger girl batted his hand away then returned her attention to the dust and began to chant softly.

She held one hand over the dust and closed her eyes as the chant started to carry over the wind. A soft wind blew down and swept away the dust with it, carrying the silvery dust like a mist into the sky above. Suddenly, the younger girl turned toward him. She seemed to hesitate and Zin blinked at her, he was confused to say the least. Then her hand went to the wound on his stomach and he flinched at the contact. A soft chant reached his ears and he looked up at her face to see her chanting a healing spell. Her hand glowed softly as the wound started to close up. Unfortunately, the warmth didn’t come this time. The wound just healed.

The younger girl sighed and wiped her face before getting up to leave. She pushed her way through the crowd, with her face downcast so her eyes were shadowed by her shaggy bangs. The girls all sent cold looks or glares at her back as she passed them.

Zin didn’t know what it was, but something was wrong. He pushed himself up and started through the crowd and toward the road. The girls were following behind him, still trying to cater and praise him and such. He loved the attention from the women and kept himself there throughout the trip back.

They walked until noon came when the girls started to complain about being tired or hot or whatever else had been bothering them. He sighed; he had to stop unless he wanted to hear them complain the whole time. He agreed to stop for a break and took a seat under a large tree and the girls all gathered around him. He grinned as they all began to try flirting with him or chatter amongst each other.

The younger girl stood on the road and looked about. She wasn’t ready to stop moving and she surely didn’t trust those girls. If they believed her one of the Unforgiven then they would surely reject her or attempt to kill her. Just like they had done her sister. She wasn’t as blind as that man they all were trying to flirt with. She saw and even smelt the poisonous plant liquids they had coated her sister’s wounds in. Bleeding Hearts were not incredibly deadly to their kind, but with so much damage already done and so much blood already lost it could prove deadly enough. They even went so far as to use hemlock poisons in some wounds. Falee knew she would be better off away from them but she wouldn’t get far in her condition and should she stop for rest, someone may kill her. Fable decided that maybe stopping a passing cart or stealing one might end better. It would definitely make the trip shorter and easier.

She stood beside the road as if lost with her tattered and ragged white dress that was still blood stained and dirty. She had made makeshift bandaged out of torn ends of her skirt or sleeves and the bandages were stained and soaked with blood as well. Luckily, the bleeding had stopped and her wounds were slowly passing the scarring stage to healing over completely. Her torn skirt was shredded to mid thigh on the right side and reached right below her knee on her left side and around the back. The top and middle of the dress was shredded and torn so badly that it barely covered her and was nearly sleeveless. She wore no shoes and her still slightly pale skin made her look like a sadder site than she already was. Her bright green eyes were sad and lost. The hair was the only problem. It was black at the roots for a few inches then slowly faded to midnight blue all the way down to her shoulder blades and finally, almost transparent white tips at the edges. Of course, it was spattered with blood patches but still.

She watched quietly but no carts passed by. It seemed like this was a deserted road. She sighed and resigned to the idea of walking with these people. She waited patiently for them to finally get up but when they did, it was almost night again. As they gathered on the road to start walking again, she took her place at the back of the crowd. Zin at least had the sense to make sure they made up the difference in distance by not letting them rest until they had caught up with where they should have been. She was thankful for that, at least some blood got to his brain every now and then instead of staying where gravity seemed to hold it.

They walked until midday without stopping, and the girls didn’t seem very happy about that. Zin assured them they were close to the village but they insisted on stopping now for rest. Apparently, he didn’t have the balls to tell them ‘no’. Falee sighed and followed them to a large clearing just off the road then found a sturdy tree to sleep in. She made sure to stay high in the branches but not too high.

It was well into the next morning when Falee was woken by the sound of Zin trying to wake up the girls. They seemed very stubborn and most refused to stay awake, either rolling over or waiting for him to move to the next person before they went back to sleep. She let this be her entertainment for awhile, even smiling or smirking every now and then. This man was so entertaining, he treated these cretins so delicately, as if they would break or something like that.

After a few more moments of this, she was bored of it and decided to help him. She reached inside her soul for the shape shifter part of her herself and changed into a panther. She balanced herself on the branch beneath her then moved quietly into a thick set of leaves to hide so she wouldn’t be seen. After digging her claws into the bark of the branch, she bristled and took a deep breath then let out a loud roar that sent the girls cowering and skittering around the clearing. She chuckled to herself then changed into her normal form.

Zin was even started, he hadn’t smelt or heard any predators nearby but he did hear the roar. In no time, the girls were all awake and skittering about like mad, all hiding behind things as if inanimate objects would save them. He looked about and sniffed the air then sighed, there was no panther.


It took some coaxing, but the girls were backing on the road again with him leading them back to the village. The younger sister was still following behind the crowd, Zin wasn’t sure why she did it but it irritated him. Things that that usually meant someone was shy or quiet, and shy people irritated him because in his mind, shy people had no guts. He wouldn’t have to deal with this long, though, they would reach the village later today. Then it hit him, she couldn’t be from one of the Five Star Villages. Her hair was tri colored and her eyes were a lime green color. He hoped she was from one of the villages; he didn’t want her tagging along with him while he broke his neck trying to find her home. He flinched slightly as his conscience spat back at him for being so mean about it when she’d lost a lot in trying to help him with the escape and rescue.

By dusk they had finally reached the village. The crowd of girls was overjoyed, well the brunettes were at least. The others seemed to feel uncomfortable. It was alright, though, because the elder had arranged five to ten wagons for each village to receive their women in. it must have cost a lot, though, because it was large wagons drawn by four horses apiece and there was about twenty five or so wagons full of girls.

“We are very grateful that you brought our women back to us-” the elder started then paused to give a sideways glance at Falee, “But I am not sure where she belongs. She is not from any of the villages.”

Zin sighed, “I was afraid of that. Anyway, what about my payment?” he asked with a big grin.

“Thirty gold pieces, as promised.” the elder said as he handed a purse of coins to Zin.

“It was thirty gold pieces and ten silver pieces.” Zin argued with a dark glare at the elder.

“You took too long and the girls told us that you lost one in the rescue process.” the elder stated simply.

Zin growled under his breath but he couldn’t really argue it. “So, what about the last girl?” he asked, pointing at Falee, who stood right outside the city’s gates. He wasn’t sure why but she didn’t seem to want to enter the village.

The elder looked at Falee then shook his head, “I suggest you take her with you. She will have no place here and you never know, there maybe a reward for her return home.”

Zin sighed. That was not what he wanted to hear, reward or not. Then again, if the reward was big enough he wouldn’t mind at all. With that done with, he concluded the meeting with the elder then went to retrieve the girl at the gate. “Why aren’t you coming in the village? We don’t have all day to admire scenery.” he asked curiously at first but the statement was sarcastic.

“These people...They aren’t nice people-” she started softly but Zin cut her off.

“They’re fine people, a little weird but it’s not like they’re going to slit your throat or anything.” he said back then grasped her arm and pulled her into the village.

She stumbled a little and resisted more than he figured she would. He tightened his grip on her arm and pulled her forward to the inn he had stayed in before. She was so stiff and tense when they entered the inn, it surprised him. She was deadly afraid of people, it seemed.

He paid for two rooms next to each other then got the keys and left for their rooms. He brought her to her room first, hoping it would settle her down some. He opened the door to her room and pulled her inside then shut the door behind him before letting her go. “This is your room. Make yourself at home, until we move on, at least.” He said from behind her.

She was still so tense and stiff. He guessed her eyes were the only things that moved right now. He sighed and walked over, he placed his hands on her shoulders and it earned him a soft gasp. He tensed as well at this, he couldn’t help it, though, he wasn’t used to girls acting this way around him. Even her sister didn’t seem this bad. “Come on now, let me show you everything before I leave to go do…take care of things.” he said softly as he guided her to the bathroom and opened the door to show her the room. Then he showed her the wardrobe, bed and table for her things. She seemed a little less tense and even slightly relaxed. He was glad; he would be so damned irritable if he had to deal with someone who was constantly tense.

After a few moments, she settled enough to sit on the bed but she was still nervous and preferred to keep her gaze on the floor. She sat on the bed with her fingers laced tightly and her hands resting on her lap. For a short while, she looked up long enough to see that man pulling a white robe from her wardrobe. He walked over and set it down next to her on the bed before disappearing into the bathroom. She heard running water and got up to see what he was doing.

He leaned over the bath tub and tested the water as it filled then shook off his hand and turned to face her, “Where’s your robe?”

She tensed a bit and pointed at the bed.

He moved passed her to retrieve the robe then handed it to her, “Take a hot bath and put this on when you’re done. A hot bath might help you relax some, if you stay tense all the time, you’ll end up hurting yourself.” with that said he left the room.

She blinked at the closed door then looked at the robe then the filling tub. With a soft sigh, she went into the bathroom and undressed while the tub filled. “It’s been awhile since I’ve had a hot bath…” she said softly to herself.

She leaned over and turned the water off after it was deep enough then slipped off her dress and bandages. The places her wounds once occupied were still a bit sore when moved but it wasn’t too bad. She stretched a little bit then slipped into the hot bath water. She winced at first then relaxed with a sigh. It felt so good to get a nice hot bath after all that was finally over.

She had been without a nice bath for at least a month. The prince wasn’t always the nicest person ever and he made sure they were always around him. If they weren’t near him then they were caged, which was usually the result of some disobedience or sarcasm. They were never able to take a bath because they lacked the time with that bastard around. Sometimes the vampires kept the prince busy long enough for them to slip into the hot springs. The only thing she, herself, held against the two vampires was that they helped create her. They did nothing to her after her creation to irritate her, if anything they helped her.

She sighed then found the wash cloth and soaped it up before beginning to wash herself. She winced every now and then as the rag passed over her sore spots. It didn’t take long over now. She guessed that over all she must have been in there for over an hour. She pulled the plug at the bottom of the tub then got out and slipped on the soft white robe.

The robe was long and went down to her ankles, and it was soft and comfortable. She hugged it to herself then tied it tightly. Quietly, she moved into the bedroom and turned off the light then got in the bed to sleep. She smiled as she lay down on the bed, it was so soft. She was out in no time, nestled under the thick comforter.

A few moments after she’d fallen asleep, odd sounds from the room next door woke her up and startled her in the process. She bolted up and looked around as sounds of moaning and screams came from the room next door. She put the pillow over her head and tried to force sleep but it didn’t work. The bed started to shake gently as something banged against the wall in the other room. She heard the headboard of her bed and the large picture frame above her bed clatter against the wall in rhythm.

She sat up and hugged her knees, trying to block out the sounds of ecstasy which were steadily growing in volume. She pressed her palms to her ears to help block out the noise. The rattling of the wall and furniture worsen until the picture frame worked its way loose and the flat bottom of the frame hit her head.

All she knew was a sharp pain in her head then total darkness as she lost consciousness. The picture frame lay on the bed in front of her, glass scattered about on the bed and floor and mingled with her light trickle of blood from her head that stained the sheets.