"What I am doesn't matter. August is coming! Run!"
The door swung open.
"Okay." Anna held her breath and walked through the door.
Immediately, the door was shut and faded into the walls.
Meanwhile,
August walked into the room with the guards. Anna was nowhere to be found. "So she escaped too? Find her!"
Count von Burren emerged behind August. "Where is my daughter?"
"She escaped but worry not, she won't be far. I've sent the guards to find her." August gave the count a reassuring smile.
"She will be found, father. I trust August." Lexa clapped her father's shoulder.
Meanwhile,
Lucia skewered through the forest with her breath in her throat and the wind in her hair. She ran where ever her legs could carry her. The moon was her light and her mind, her guide.
She took a break when she heard the snap of a twig behind her.
Her instincts told her to hide behind a tree and she did. The sound of snapping twigs increased and she picked up a stone, ready to aim at whoever was there. The steps got closer and she lunged at the air. There was no one there.
"What the - " She gasped in shock.
"Hello, Princess." A voice saidm
Before she would run, a blow to the head knocked her unconcious.
Pain lanced through her body. Her eyelids felt heavy but she opened them anyways. The scent of meat hung in the air and her mouth watered.
"Oh look who's awake." A voice called.
Lucia's vision blurred but she could count who her captors were. They were huddled together around the fire. Goosebumps ran down her arms and she shivered.
"Aww. She's cold." Another laughed.
"We should give her a blanket. Boss wouldn't want his meal cold." The third man said.
Sleep left Lucia's eyes the moment she heard "meal"
"What - What meal?" She stuttered.
"You, of course. Boss prefer young maidens. 'Their blood tastes heavenly,' he says." The first one spoke this time.
"He's a vampire?" Lucia said in shock.
"Bingo." The man snapped his fingers at her. "Now, sit back, relax and wait. He's on his way."
"No." Lucia tried to wriggle free but the ropes that were too tight.
"Somebody help!" She screamed.
"No one will hear ya." They all laughed.
The ropes cut into her wrist and she winced in pain. "Let me go."
"No way. Boss will have my head if you don't stay put. In the mean time, shut up!" The leader, a short redhaired man, stepped towards her, forcing a cloth into her mouth.
Lucia spat it out. "Go to hell!"
"You little - " He is about to bit her when a voice suddenly interrupts him.
"Don't touch my food, Matt!" A deep voice reverberated through the forest, scaring the birds off the trees.
Lucia knew this must be the boss Matt was talking about. When the others were distracted with waiting for their boss to step into the light, Lucia took to her feet and bolted.
"Helpppp!" She screamed as loud as she could.
With a loud thud, she fell to the ground. The steps behind her were close and she feels herself getting lifted off the ground.
"Let me go!" She screamed.
The snarling sound behind her became quiet as she was suddenly let go. Without hesitation, she kept on running.
"I can't die here! Damian, where are you!" She screamed.
In his chambers, Damian heard someone call his name.
"Damian, helpp!" The voice screamed in his head.
His eyes went round. He knew who it belonged to — Lucia.
He tugged at the chains binding his hands and feet and pulled harder.
"Aargh!" He screamed.
Two guards threw the door down as they ran in. "What on earth are you doing!"
"Don't move, Damian or we'll be forced to resort to violence!" Another guard barked.
Damian ignored them, still pulling at the chains. They snapped in two and he escaped through the window.
"Lucia!" Black wings potruded from his back as he flew.
He followed the echo of the scream, the giant black wings behind him flapped the smoky air so he could catch a whiff of her scent.
His eyes rested on a immobile red figure and he flew down to it.
"Lucia!" He ran to her side and pulled up her up.
"Hey, wake up. It's me, Damian. You called for me." He cupped her bruised cheek.
Slowly, Lucia opened her eyes. "D - Damian? Is that you?"
"It's me, Lucia. I'm here." Damian replied, wondering what on earth she was doing here. He thought the elixir had wiped in her head every memory of him.
"Damian, you're here." She reaches out to touch his cheek and he winced.
She looked down. There were bloodstains on his shirt. "You're hurt."
"Shh…I'm here. It's okay. You're safe now." He pulled her into his arms.
"I got here first. She's mine." A female voice spoke behind him.
Damian stood to his feet, cradling Lucia in his arms. "Lucia belongs to me."
"Lucia? You know her? Well, this world must be a small place then. Where'd you know her from? The Head Hunt? The Marking Ceremony? Canterbury?" The strange woman said.
Damian whipped around. "Where I found her doesn't matter to you, Nelia."
"My men caught the girl. Give her here." Nelia wiped blood off her fingers with a kerchief.
Damian winced in pain when wings protruded from his back. "Back off! I won't tell you again."
Nelia has a frown on her face. "Fine!"
"Give me your coat."
"What?"
"The coat, Nelia!"
"By Dracula's blood! Here." She took off her coat and threw it to him.
Damian caught it and put it around Lucia.
"You still haven't told me your relationship with that human." Nelia crossed her arms across her chest.
"Last time I checked I don't answer to you." Damian carried Lucia in his arms the way a groom would his bride.
Watching this infuriated Nelia. "Are you sure in a good condition to fly with extra weight and with that injury? I recognize wounds inflicted by silver. What sin did you commit this time, King D?"
"I committed no sin." Damian flew to the sky. Nelia followed suit.
"Defying Jarlen attracts silver whips. Everyone knows that." She snickered.
Damian's face grew stern. "Keep quiet or the next sin I'll commit will be so mortal no penance can make up for it."