A Shade of Vampire 8: A Shade of Novak(36)

“Wait here,” I whispered, as we approached the dungeon’s exit. I peered around the door to see that it led to a staircase leading upward. There was nobody in sight. “Okay, follow me.”

I paused again once I reached the top of the stairs. We were now in some kind of kitchen—metal tables lined the room and in the corner stood jugs filled with a red liquid. Human blood.

Kristal’s trembling hand gripped my own.

“What is this place?” she gasped.

I held a finger to my lips. I walked along the edge of the room to the nearest exit.

The door was ajar. As I peeked through the crack, my breath hitched. Two vampires stood talking to each other in the center of a large dark hall.

I gestured urgently at the humans behind me to hide underneath the tables. I needed them out of the way while I figured out the best way to escape. With hindsight, I should have let them out of their cells only once I’d found a way out. It would have been less noticeable in case a vampire went down to the dungeon. But it was too late now for regrets.

Hiding under the tables wouldn’t do much good if they came in. I knew the vampires would smell our blood, but I hoped that it would be masked at least somewhat by the jugs of blood already sitting on the table in the corner of that room.

Once everyone had hidden themselves, I walked back to the dungeon door and pushed it closed as noiselessly as I could.

I walked to the door at the other end of the kitchen. Opening the door, I found myself looking around another high-ceilinged hall. This one was empty.

I crossed the hall and reached the other side, hiding in the shadows of the doorway. The next room appeared to be some kind of library. Bookshelves lined the walls and there was a round table in the center with tall piles of books.

I had just about reached the other side of the room when someone spoke.

“Can I help?”

Behind one of the large piles of books, a tall thin woman stood up. She had long black hair and cold grey eyes.

“Oh,” she said, scowling at me.

I rushed out of the door and into the next hall, only to find the same woman standing there, blocking my path.

This is a witch.

She reached up and gripped my ear, tugging me down to her level. As her fingers touched my skin, a burning sensation rushed through me.

I had to bite my lip to not shout out in pain.

“Where do you think you’re going? Stellan!” she shouted, her voice echoing around the room. “Stellan, come here this instant.”

No.

The ginger vampire who had pulled me through the hatch came rushing into the hall. His mouth dropped open when he saw me.

“What?” he gasped.

“Looks like you need to tighten up on security,” she said.

Stellan’s eyes darkened and he gripped me by the neck, dragging me back through the hallways. I struggled against him, but he kneed me in the gut, winding me. His hold was far too strong for a mere mortal to escape from.

He dragged me back into the kitchen and as soon as we entered, Kristal came rushing out of her hiding place.

“No! Ben!”

“No!” I yelled, pushing her back.

It was too late. She’d just given the game away.

Stellan’s voice boomed through the kitchen as he called for backup.

Five vampires ran into the kitchen and began pulling out humans from under the table. A sixth vampire came running into the room with chains. They lined the humans up against the wall and tied them up.

The witch entered the room behind me, eyeing Kristal, who had tears streaming down her face.

“Hm. Interesting,” the witch said softly.

She grabbed Kristal by the hair and forced her to the floor.

“I say we teach this young Novak a lesson,” she said. “Seeing that he might be with us for quite a while, if he plans to make attempting escape a habit, it will become very tiresome indeed.”

The vampires stopped what they were doing and looked over at us, Stellan’s grip on me unrelenting.

The witch withdrew a dagger from her cloak and held it against Kristal’s neck.

“No!” I yelled, managing to break free from Stellan, only to have three vampires throw themselves at me to hold me down. Stellan lifted my head to face Kristal’s trembling form. Jake shouted and struggled against his chains.

“Watch,” Stellan grunted, holding my head in position.

With one sharp motion, the witch drove the dagger into Kristal’s chest. Her scream was stifled as she choked on her own blood. Both my and Jake’s yells echoed around the kitchen as she bled to death in front of us.

“Now,” the witch said, letting go of Kristal’s hair. “Let this be a lesson to all of you. Stellan. Have your men collect her blood.”





Chapter 25: Rose





I was woken the next morning by another knock at my door.

What is it this time?

I found myself looking at Caleb’s harp. I supposed he’d thought it would give me something to do while I was alone in my room for hours. I felt grateful for the gesture. Then my eyes settled on the floor beside the instrument. A tray full of food. Not oatmeal. Real breakfast food. I pulled the harp into my bedroom. Then I returned to scoop up the tray and put it on my bedside table, and began to eat hungrily. French toast had never tasted so good to me in all my life. I gobbled everything up in less than five minutes.