.A few days after dinner with Victor, I decided to visit one of my favorite cafes occupying my preferred table making myself comfortable on the plush one-seater chair folding my legs under me before I open my copy of pride and prejudice opening to the page bookmarked smiling at the sever who sets down my usual order of an orange muffin and with a glass of chilled water, not extravagant I know and I prefer it that way.
Absorbed in reading I don't notice I have company until someone lightly taps me on the shoulder, startling me. I look up to see Alex and a few of his friends standing in front of me.
"So nice to see you again, Astrid." He says to me and I give him a nod of my head in response before returning my attention to my book.
"I'm sorry if I took too much blood from you." He says suddenly taking a seat opposite me and I look at him blankly before I close my book placing it in front of me.
"No apologies needed." I say to him then take a sip of water.
"I want to show you exactly what being a part of our sorority means." He says with a charming smile.
"So you wanna take me somewhere?" I ask and nods giving me an eager smile.
"Boss, she's not worth it." One of his goons says earning him a punch in the face and a broken nose in the process.
"I didn't ask you." Alex says with a murderous look in his eyes as he stares at the guy.
"Sorry boss." The guy responds clutching his broken nose and Alex returns his attention to me, smiling happily.
"I would love to stay and chat but we have to leave now or we'll be late." He says looking at me waiting for my response.
"Can I use the bathroom before we go?" I ask and he nods in understanding. With a smile, I take my purse and book with me trying to come up with a plan as I pace the stall. I pull out my phone and am about to give Ralph a call but my fingers refuse to press the button. I try for a few more minutes then I remember Henry's compulsion command.
'Damn you, Henry!' I yell in my mind as I go through my contacts until I end up selecting James' contact letting out a sigh of relief as I can contact him via message. When I see it's sent I let out a sigh of relief but as soon as I exit the bathroom a hand covers my face with a cloth while the other injects me with something that immediately disorients me. I struggle to stay awake but it's no use. I hear someone ask if it's necessary that I am unharmed but darkness completely takes over.
I don't know how long I was out but when I come to my sense and I open my eyes I'm lying on a bed with an iron chain on my ankle connected to the wall. I look around waiting for everything else to come into focus before I stand shaking off the remnants of sleep. I approach the gate wincing at the mild pain where it rubs against my bare skin. Looking around I see other creatures also chained to the walls of their cells looking around in fear.
"You finally woke up." A voice to my right says and I turn to see a young female werewolf with a silver color around her neck connected to the wall also on her ankles.
"How long was I out for?" I ask her.
"Three days." She says and I look at her in shock.
"They gave you a large dose." She says shrugging her shoulders.
"But they treated you like royalty unlike the rest of us." A voice to my left says annoyed.
"You must be Darcia." I state as I turn to face her with a blank stare and she looks shocked I know who she is. Pale skin, blue eyes, and chestnut hair with a slim figure of 5ft4 in height.
"You know who I am? Finally a fan." She says straightening her already short denim dress.
"Not a fan just Henry compelled me to find you." I say returning my attention to the werewolf.
"What's your name?" I ask her and she smiles at me.
"I'm May." She says holding out her hand through the bars of the gate of her cell.
"Astrid." I say shaking it and smiling at her. I look around getting a look at everyone until my eyes land on a familiar motionless figure.
"Victor?" I mutter to myself as I shift to get a better look and it's indeed Victor. Just then a door opens and Alex enters playing with a key ring as he approaches my cell.
"I'm so glad you're awake my princess." He says looking at me sweetly while I resist the urge to barf while plastering a fake smile on my face meeting his gaze head-on.
"So why am I chained like an animal?" I ask him moving my foot so that he can hear the links of the chain brushing against each other.
"It's just a safety measure my darling." He says coming within arms reach and I don't hesitate to grab him by the color and with a swift tug hit's head hard enough against the bars to knock him out and also leave a dent in the bars.
He falls to the floor in an unconscious heap on the floor and I'm able to swipe the keyring out of his hands and unlock my chain and cell gate. I drag him into the cell and chain his leg before closing the gate then approach May's gate completely ignoring Darcia.
"May, I need you to help me, free everyone." I say as I quickly unchain her and she nods in agreement as I take the key which I think is for Victor's cage before handing her the key ring. We split up and I waste no time unlocking Victor's cage approaching his motionless form. There's dried blood on his lip and paler than a vampire should be.
Using the key I slice open my left wrist and place it against his mouth so that most of the blood ends up in his mouth instead of on the floor. After a few beats, I feel two sharp pricks of pain before it gives way to pleasure making me sigh, content until his eyes open and he pulls away from me.
"Astrid what are you doing?" He asks as he wipes away the blood on his lips while I try to control my labored breathing.
"You need to free everyone and get them out of here before Alex wakes up." I manage to say to him and he nods struggling to not get close to me. I rip the bottom of my shirt using the strip of cloth to bandage my wrist. I hear cries of joy more and more creatures are unchained then silence until someone grabs me by the hair and starts dragging me.
"Don't worry, I'll get them back once I've dealt with you." He says and I tense as I realize that Alex is awake. He lifts and bodyslams me onto a stone table before chaining my wrists and ankles securing me in place. I hear my labored breathing as I look up to see him holding a dagger with a curved blade resembling a semi-circle elicits a spike of fear in me as something powerful that's been lying dormant rises up in me wanting an outlet.
"Stop." I say my voice sounding ethereal and alluring with a hint of danger and destruction. Alex freezes as he stares at me entranced but I have no time to ponder it.
"Unchain me." I say and he places the dagger down and unchains my ankles and is about to unchain my writs when one of his goons enters the room kicking the door open with a bang breaking the trance.
"Boss, we have company." He manages to say before a loud feral roar is heard followed by screams.
"What's going on?" He asks as the dagger ends up in his hands again.
"It's the F.A.U. sir." His goon says and Alex lets out a scream of frustration before he stabs my left shoulder burying the blade up to the hilt before he lets go. The burning sensation is so overwhelming and painful that I let out an ear-shattering scream. Then a loud boom is heard as the wards are destroyed then James appears behind Alex in all his stone troll glory, eyes pitch black, and rips his head from his body in a bloody spray before he moves the goon who's trying to run, dealing with him with no hesitation.
"Astrid." Professor Jones says and James growls at him and he hoves on the left side of the table staring at me worriedly.
"Hey, welcome to the party." I say to him through clenched teeth.
"You mind telling your killing machine to head outside for a few moments?" He asks looking at James.
"Why?" I ask.
"Though he won't harm you, we need to get that dagger out and the rest of us aren't so keen on testing him at the moment." Jones says and I nod as I turn my head to look at James whose pitch-black eyes are locked on me.
"James, I need you to go outside and see if they need any help." I say and lets out a soft growl then nods at me before leaving the room.
"Well, it's up to you." I say to Jones and he approached me placing his hand on the hilt of the dagger and looking into my eyes. I nod at him then take a deep breath and with a swift, precise move he pulls it out and I manage not to scream.
"You handled that well." He says unchaining my wrists.
"I had a lot of practice." I say in response feeling too tired to move.
"We have a healer here." Jones says causing me to open my eyes and look at him. I look past him and see a handsome guy with chestnut hair with a boyish look standing behind it.
"May I?" He asks coming a few steps closer.
"Knock yourself out." I say to him with a small smile which he returns before placing his hand directly over my wound, a warm tingling sensation spreads over me and I let out a relied sigh closing my eyes. When he pulls away I open my eyes to him staring at me more precisely the scarring that's not well hidden anymore but there's no judgment in his gaze but understanding.
"Thank you." I say as I slowly sit up hit by a sudden wave of hunger.
'It's going to be a long night to explain all this to everyone.' I say to myself mentally preparing myself to answer questions.