Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Forever ❯ Silver and Bronze ( Chapter 3 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Neona listened as her heart pounded in her chest. The man seemed to be watching her from where he stood in the shadows of the forest. She could only make out the silhouette of the man. Then she thought better, there would be no humans living in this cursed land.

He stepped forwards into the light of the golden moon and Neona took a step back from him. From what she could make out he was a tall man with slick black hair tied behind his head at the base of his neck. The man held himself with a sense of nobility, his chin raised while his eyes were cast down at her as though she were something unpleasant. She knew, though didn’t know quite how, that this man was one of the vampire lords.

“What are you?” He asked with a voice so cold she shivered. Neona couldn’t finds the words to answer his question. Her heart pounded though she seemed frozen by the mere sound of his voice. The vampire waited only a moment before he began to walk towards her. She barely had time to wince before he was upon her and she shrank away from him.

“I...” Her voice wavered as she searched for the name of the vampire Laila had given her. What was the vampire’s name? His eyes narrowed in annoyance, his dark pupils surrounded by crimson irises. She looked away, her instincts howling withing her.

His icy fingers wrapped around her throat and she choked on a gasp as he slammed her back against the gate, snarling at her with his ivory fangs. Neona tried to speak though his grip allowed not even the faintest of sounds to escape her.

“You will face me girl.”

“Lord Keahi!” Laila’s sweet voice rang out, and the vampire looked towards her. Neona blinked a few times as he released her throat and she swallowed hard, placing her warm hand where his had been.

“Slave girl, what is your business here?” The vampire called Keahi asked. His cold voice seemed to have melted, and was almost pleasant now. Neona stared at him and saw that his blood red eyes had turned to gold.

“I apologize, my lord. This girl here is my charge. I left her only to get permission from Lord Haimon to allow her to stay,” Laila said. She stood a few paces from Keahi, her hands clasped before her and her head slightly bowed so that she could still see him clearly.

“What did ...he have to say?” Keahi asked, sneering slightly at the name “Haimon”.

“Lord Haimon has given her permission to serve along side me. She is to share my quarters and I am to be held responsible for any trouble that she may cause,” Laila answered. She smiled sweetly up at the vampire and Neona thought for a moment that Laila was unafraid of him. However, when Keahi stepped towards her she sensed Laila tense and saw her sparkling eyes almost wince.

She held her breath as Keahi raised his hand and lightly patted Laila’s head, riffling her hair slightly before moving past her. He chuckled to himself as he walked onwards to the main house and Laila let out a soft sigh.

“That was close, Neona.” She placed a hand on her shoulder and frowned worriedly. “Why didn’t you tell him about Lord Haimon?” Neona stared at her, speechless. It had been years since someone had laid a hand on her without causing her pain, and much longer since anyone had looked at her with such concern in their eyes.

Laila’s frown faded away and she slid her hand down Neona’s arm to take her hand. “Come on,” she said. “I’ll take you to get settled in.” Laila gently pulled Neona along behind her. Giving her a reassuring smile over her shoulder.

Neona’s fingers closed around Laila’s hand; and she tried to smile back at her.

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< br> “There’s no need to be shy, Neona!” Laila laughed. The wolf scrambled to get away from the bear; regretting that she had ever trusted her in the first place.

Laila had led her to the deserted servant house, and into a back room where there were several water spigots were installed in the ceiling for a makeshift shower. Neona had no quarrel with washing off her acquired filth; however, she did mind that Laila seemed to want to help her.

She froze up when she hear the disheartening rip of the back of her top and then twisted around, throwing out a hand to effectively shove Laila back.
“I can undress myself!” Neona snapped, growling at her from behind her fangs. She held one hand over her chest to keep her ripped shirt in place as her thin sleeves slid down her arms.

“Well those rags don’t have any zippers or buttons, and they’re so tight on you that I thought...” Laila winced as Neona growled again.

“They aren’t rags!” she snarled. She clutched the ripped fabric in her hand. It hadn’t always been so tattered and worn but over the years...

“I’m sorry,” Laila said softly. Her eyes lowered and she hung her head a little. “I’ll just get the water going for you.” She turned and walked over to the wall where there were a few different levers and pulled one down.

Shortly after water began pouring down from a tap in the ceiling. Neona watched Laila from her corner of her eye as she walked under it. Leaving her clothes in a neat pile near the opposite wall.

“It’s hot!” Neona gasped, and cupped her hands under the water. She was so used to the cold rains that even thought the water burned a little at first it quickly began to sink in and soothe her weary body.

“I added some more cool water, and there’s soap there on the stand.” Laila gestured to a small table less than an arm length from where Neona stood. “I’m going back to my room for some clean clothes but you should be okay here. Everyone is working up at the main house.”

Neona nodded slightly and tried not to frown as Laila left her with only the sound of the falling water and the creak of the door as it opened and closed behind her. She remembered how well things had gone the last time she was on her own in this strange new world and sighed heavily, before she reached for the soap on the table.

She stepped back from the water to work up a good lather before she rinsed it all away and then repeated again for good measure. She tried to wash through the tangled mess that was her matted hair once but quickly gave up and dashed over to the lever to shut the water off.

Water flew in all directions as she began to shake herself and caught her hair in her hands to keep from whipping it into her face. She twisted it, and listened as water splashed down onto the floor. A few more twists and one good shake later she began to for another way to dry off.

The bear seemed to have forgotten to leave her any drying cloths, and she felt far to weary to venture from the room in search of something to help her while she was naked.

She eyed her old clothes but decided against using them or putting them back on, after all. They were as dirty and smelly as she had been. Luckily, she didn’t have to wait long on her own as she heard the door creak open.

She turned her attention to the door, ears pointed forwards and she wagged her tail a little, glad Laila was back. But heir tail paused in mid swing and she quickly raised an arm to cover her chest as a girl she had never seen before stepped into the room.

This girl was around Laila’s height, with bright blue eyes that darted around the room to take in everything at once. She had bushy brown hair that fell just above her shoulders and tall squirrel ears atop her head that were lightly tufted at their ends. Her tail was long and as bushy as her hair, standing straight up but curving slightly against her back.

She smiled slightly, nervously and shifted the thick white cloth she held in her hands before stepping inside. The girl sniffed in Neona’s direction and few times, as Neona did to her and the held out the cloth as though it were some type of peace offering.

Neona might have been weary of her had that girl not been trembling and watching her with widened eyes.

“Did Laila send you?” Neona asked, trying to keep her voice soft for fear of scaring the girl off.

“Yes,” She said quickly, her voice almost squeaking. “My name...” she paused as though she had forgotten what she was saying. “Its Aluna.”

“Aluna.” Neona echoed in confirmation. She slowly stepped towards the girl, carefully taking the offered cloth. “I’m Neona.”

“Um... It’s nice to meet you.” Aluna mumbled softly. Her voice was unsteady, but sweet sounding in it’s own way. Much differenent from Laila’s cheerful voice that seemed to ring out in every direction.

Neona found that the cloth, when unfolded was long enough to cover her body when she wrapped it around her shoulders, and seemed to draw in the water still dripping down her body.

She watched as Aluna fumbled with something else she was holding and then, as though the act caused for much bravery, (and this Squirrel seemed to lack the required amount) she held out a black leather band with a silver plate on it.

“You need to put this on,” Aluna instructed, the volume of her voice raising slightly. Neona took the leather band and examined it in her hands. It had a silver fasten at one end and holes on the other to hook it. She looked back to Aluna and noticed that the girl wore an identical band on her wrist.

“What is it?” Neona asked, fastening it around her own wrist.

“A marker. So everyone will know that you belong to our Lord Haimon.” Aluna touched the silver plate on her wrist almost fondly. “Everyone in the main house wears one. Silver plates are for Lord Haimon’s servants and Bronze are for Lord Keahi’s.”

Neona frowned at the leather band but left it in place. She had heard that some vampires would brand their servants, wearing an easily removable band was much more acceptable.

“Once more thing,” Aluna said, taking a pair of scissors she had been concealing from behind her back. The girl began to tremble again as Neona frowned at her.