Samantha couldn't guess how many hours or days had passed since she was locked here. All the cell walls lacked windows or holes, making it impossible to estimate the time by the weather of the day.
It became so till Samantha grew accustomed to the darkness itself.
Whenever she closed her eyes, flashes of the torturing girl who was harshly dragged into the darkness kept replaying in her mind.
The lingering sorrow in the girl's eyes haunted her, and Samantha felt uncomfortable.
She wondered if the girl was alright….or probably dead since the punishment for trying to escape warranted a death penalty.
Presently, Samantha couldn't make out the actual monsters in the world. Humans, Vampires, they were all the same!!
Already emotionally drained with no more tears to shed, Samantha slept for a long time. Her cellmates would wake her up when the guardsmen brought scanty food for all of them to eat, and refusal to eat would trigger another type of punishment.
As starved as she was to the point her stomach cried, Samantha refused to eat what these people served them. She wasn't an animal who they could give dirt to eat and then punish when they felt like it.
Even animals are treated better than this.
"From the moment I saw you, I knew you'd be a problem to handle." The caretaker that crouched in front of her harshly grabbed her jaw, his hollow eyes that looked sickly red gazed right into the relentless green orbs of Samantha, and his eyes narrowed suspiciously like he noticed something.
"What unique eye colors you've got, they are indeed rare, are you sure you're not a witch?" He let out a throaty laugh at his own joke before letting his eyes fall on the plate of food that looked untouched in front of Samantha.
"Eat." He commanded, but Samantha gave no response despite knowing the consequences for her actions.
She was scared, so scared that her heart had refused to calm down, her breathing became labored, but still, she refused to give in to their demands.
"I said eat! You unfortunate twat!!" Taking a slice of bread from the plate, his hand that grabbed her jaw forced her lips apart, and he shoved the bread in, so deep to her throat that it elicited a cough from Samantha as she gathered her strength to push his hands away.
She immediately coughed out the bread, feeling her throat hurt from how he had forced it down her already sore throat. She massaged her neck, her eyes getting watery once again from the intense choking.
She was thirsty, hungry, weak, dirty, drained to bones. Why won't they just leave her alone???
"You are starting to get on my nerves!"
"Ahhh-!!!!" Samantha let out a shriek of pain when he grabbed a handful of her hair in his grip, pulling at it as he forced her to her feet.
Her cellmates who were already aware that this would happen tried to plead on her behalf, but one look at the unforgiving caretaker and their bravery diminished. Their gazes turned worry as he took Samantha out of the cell, unable to do anything.
"Let go of me!!" Samantha tried to free her hair from his harsh grip, but he pretended to not have heard her pleas as he just kept dragging her down the narrow path.
This time around, not too many slaves came forward to see what was happening, but does who did carried a look of pity in their gazes.
She hated it.
Samantha could barely walk, her knees were already buckling, but the caretaker freed her hair and carried her on his shoulder instead.
"Where are you taking me? Drop me down!!" She thrashed and squirmed, trying her possible best to get off his shoulder. Unfortunately, none of her weak blows or constant thrashing could do anything to save her.
Before Samantha knew it, she was being brought to an old rusty iron door, and immediately he opened it, he dropped Samantha inside. To her horror, the caretaker also stepped in while she skidded back away from his reach.
"Don't… don't touch me, stay away from me!!" Despite her attempt to get away from him, he reached for on the ground, his fingers grabbing hold of her neck as he forced her to her feet, only to slam her back against the wall, and Samantha could swear she saw her life flash before her eyes.
"I hate it when no one listens to simple instructions. It's been two days, and it's either you're screaming for help, or looking for ways to annoy me."
Two days??
Samantha's eyes widened at the thought of having survived in this nightmare for two days. Her shock only lasted for some seconds due to the thick fingers that still wrapped her slender neck, pinning her to the hard wall.
She could barely breathe.
Samantha wanted to speak, but her words cracked into meaningless syllabus. She could see black dots starting to cloud her vision before his hold on her neck released, and the minute she sank to the ground, he didn't give her the chance to recover as he gave her a kick straight in her abdomen.
"You stubborn vile thing!"
A short painful cry tore from Samantha's lips as he mercilessly dealt with her, an action she never saw coming, but that was it. She refused to give him that satisfaction of watching her cry and plead for his Mercy, so she bit her lower lip, stifling whatever cry that he planned on forcing out of her which he noticed.
"I see, you're more unyielding than I thought, and that's what makes it fun. Cry out, plead like your fellow sluts, ask for my mercy you green-eyed witch!"
And he delivered another kick when she refused to say anything or give in. Samantha clutched her stomach in silent pain, blood escaping from her mouth and staining the cold ground. Her vision had gone blurry as she folded herself like a ball.
Only the vague image of the caretaker was the only thing her eyes could make out, her ears rang, her bones hurt, her abdomen injured. Was she really going to die like this?
Would she end up like that girl?
"Get up you piece of shit! I'm not done with you just yet!" Before he could give her the last hit that Samantha was sure would be the kick that would send her soul to the afterlife, a feminine voice suddenly spoke from the entrance of the door, sounding shocked.
"What are you doing?"
That was the only voice Samantha's ear could grasp before she went limp on the ground, surrendering to the darkness that fogged her vision as her heavy eyelids sealed shut.