My mouth dropped wide enough to parallel park a Buick in. What the fuck, scooter! After dang near getting my head bashed in by a wanker welding, PMSing vampire, they still wanted to kill me? How was that even remotely fair! A growl formed low in my throat and I was about to give old Fingers McSwirly a piece of my mind, when Fanged stepped up.
"You are making a terrible mistake, Nicolai," he warned, pushing me behind him. "She is Vampyre and it's the Colony's responsibility to protect her."
"Do not begin to lecture me about responsibility!" Nicholai whirled on his heel, putting his face into Fang's grill. "Unlike some, I have devoted my soul to protecting this Colony and its people when others have turned their backs and walked away from that very duty," he hissed. "Where were you, Drake, when we were attacked and the people desperately needed guidance? Where were you when our kind were being hunted down and tortured by the humans seeking to destroy us?" He threw Fang a look of disgust. "Where were you, Drake, when the hard decisions had to be made so we could survive?"
I could hear the grinding of Fang's jaw.
"I was fighting, bleeding and rebuilding right alongside you." His monotone response sent a chill of fear running down my spine and I backed up a few steps in case he went all scary vampire.
"We have soldiers. What we needed was a leader." Nicholai snorted. "You refuse to become what your bloodline demands. What has been dictated by your lineage for centuries. But, you choose instead to hide behind your weapons and tuck your head into the sand." He shook his head. "Someone had to step up and the Elders took that responsibility to bring peace to our people. We gave them a sense of strength and security. I will not break the faith they have bestowed on us because you think it wrong. You lost the right to have a voice when you refused the throne."
Throne? My eyes darted to the gargoyle monstrosity and then back to Fang. Was he some kind of vampire royalty? I took in his leather clad form and tried to picture him in fur lined robes, a big ruffled collar and a crown sitting jauntily on his head. A giggle bubbled up, but I quickly swallowed it back as I remembered what happened the last time I got a case of the giggles. Besides, I cocked my head to one side and narrowed my gaze, if you replace the King Henry foo foo finery image with one like Aragron from Lord of the Rings...yeah...that was pretty damn hot.
"It was because of my weapons and those of others like me, that we were not hunted until extinction. We may not have stood behind pompous and paperwork, but we gave our blood to save our species," Fang growled, his diamond eyes flashing brilliantly. "I did not watch my fellow soldiers die over the centuries so the Elders could bring more death to our very doorstep."
"Then you should have done what you were told and killed her on sight," Nicolai said sharply, walking away and turning his back on Fang.
"I will not do your dirty work, especially when it's based on fear not fact."
Nicolai came barreling towards Fang like a tank. His long fangs bared and snarling. Holy Moses on a pogo stick! Druilla had nothing on him when it came to the badass department. Those black eyes of his were narrowed with pure hatred and though Fang did little more than spread his stance, I think I peed a little.
"She is an abomination!" He pointed a long finger at me and I wished I had bitten the damn thing off. "Not only did you not follow direct orders, but then you brought her here and put the very people you claim you would die for, in peril."
Peril? Now who's being the drama queen? Somebody get this guy a tiara and a sash, I snorted to myself. It's not like I was the one who went all Hannibal Lecter on the sacred statues.
"She is Vampyre and is in danger..."
Nicolai slammed his fist on the table Druilla still laid snoring like a hell hound on. A sizeable chunk of it broke off and clattered to the floor. "She is not a vampire! She is unnatural and is hereby ordered to die." He walked slowly up to Fang. "Let me make this perfectly clear, Drake." He straighten his bow tie which had become skewed from his temper tantrum. "She will either die by your hand or ours, it makes no difference to me. But...she will die."
Fang's snarl rolled across the grand hall, bouncing off the walls. "And let me make it perfectly clear, Nicolai," his name coming off his tongue like acid, "I will not allow you to kill her."
"Too bad you don't have the authority to stop it, soldier."
Fang leaned into Nicolai's face, his long canines bared. "I don't need the authority. It will not happen."
Nicolai's brows popped up. "Then you are against us."
"In this...yes."
Something inside me started to ring-a-ding-dinging like a car alarm. Call it a sixth sense, a woman's intuition, ESPN...whatever, but something told me some bad juju was about to go down. Stepping forward, I reached out and grabbed Fang's hand.
Just as I managed to snatch his paw, Swirly lifted his head up...eyes huge and glowing like two black lights from the 60's. I felt fang stiffen briefly and then relax as if he had been defrosted in the microwave.
"Sleep," Nicolai muttered and Fang dropped into a puddle at my feet.
"You asshole!" I screamed at him, bending down and lifting Fang's head into my lap as he let out a snuffled snore. I slapped him gently on the cheek a few times, trying to snap him out of it, but he only burrowed his head into my thigh and continued to snooze.
Jerking my head up, I glared at Taos who by now had polished off his bag of chips and was just standing there with a slightly dazed and confused look. "Why don't you do something?" I yelled at him.
Taos looked away from my angry scowl. Crumpling up the empty bag, he walked away from all of us. Tossing it into the fire, he watched the flames eat the bag in a greedy burst. "What would you have me do?" he said, without facing me, before walking out of the room.
"I would expect you to have a backbone, you little worm!" I shouted at his retreating back. I totally changed my mind. Doritos lover or not, that guy was officially on my shit list. One that was growing exponentially since my arrival to castle Greyskull.
"You care for him."
I looked up at Mr. Sandman, his simpering look making me want to barf. "What's it to you Nico-lame?" Okay...calling him names probably wasn't a real good idea right now, but I was pissed off and scared. Not a good combination when it came to having mouth control.
"It matters not, child." He smiled down at me, the coldness of it making me shiver. "But, perhaps I can use you to keep him more...agreeable."
I rolled my eyes at him. "Yeah...let me know how that works out for you, you anemic poser. When he comes to...he is going to kick your ass." I must have hit a nerve because a muscle in his jaw began to tick as if he was about to have a seizure.
"So brave...stupid...but brave." He bent down and ran his hand through my hair. His touch making my stomach roll. "You know, I was going to have you locked in a rather barren but pleasant chamber until your execution," he stood up and crossed his arms over his chest, tilting his head to the side," but now, I think I have a much better place for the both of you." Turning away from us he strode over to the open entry.
I started slapping Fang like our lives depended on it...because I had a feeling it did. "Wake up snaggletooth!" I hissed under my breath.
"Guards!" Nicolai's voice boomed through the room.
Within seconds, five burly vamps built like the Gruesome Gorilla came storming in and snagged Fang out of my lap. One of them tossing him over his shoulder as if he was nothing more than a sack of potatoes. The other four, however, surrounded me and I paled. Cussing like I had suddenly developed Tourette syndrome, they were on top of me and trundled me up like a Thanksgiving turkey.
My hands were bound behind my back and tied short to my ankles, making me resemble the letter U. Wiggling around, I realized these vamps must have been some damn good Boy Scouts and earned their knot patches, because no amount of tugging was loosening them. The only defense I had left, was my mouth.
"Wow...four big meat heads against one girl. Aren't you a tough guy?" I snorted at Nicolai. "Tell me Nico-lame, are you overcompensating for something?"
He came striding over to me as I hovered precariously on top of one of the Magilla Gorilla's shoulders. Giving me a wry smile, his black eyes began to devour the white. Though I felt my bones turn to ice as I stared at my enemy's face, I would be damned if I would give him the satisfaction of showing my fear.
"Sorry, Sandman. You're narcolepsy knack is wasted on me."
"Yes...I suppose it is. But, this is not." Without another word, he smashed his fist into my jaw and it was goodnight Irene for me as I slipped into the darkness. Did I mention he was an asshole?
Slowly...I came around and blinked my eyes open, wondering if I was dead. An answering pounding headache let me know I was indeed still alive and in dire need of some Tylenol. Snapping my eyes closed again, I moaned in agony.
The chill in the air let me know I was no longer in the cozy entrance hall and judging by the cold, damp stones digging into my back and the shackles around my wrists and ankles, I would hazard a guess I was in some sort of dungeon.
Taking a deep breath to try and ease my throbbing head, I got a snoot full of musty decay and God only knows what else. I had once used a porta-john at a Gun's and Rose's concert and that smelled down right dreamy compared to what I was getting a whiff of now. I went to pinch my nose closed from the stinky assault, but...yup...chained to the wall. Oh, the humanity.
Blinking my eyes several times to clear the tweety-birds from dancing around, I took my first glance at my surroundings. Groaning, I rolled my eyes at the clichéd torture chamber I was currently hanging in like a country ham. Seriously, somebody call Vincent Price. This would be his dream home. All it needed was some mangled bones and rabid mice.
As if on cue, something scurried in the corner. Two beady little red eyes winked at me in indignation before scampering into a crack in the stones. "Okay...we have rats...even better," I muttered, trying not to scream. Mice I could handle...but these were rats. Rats people! Gross, disgusting, plague carrying rodents. A shudder ran through me clanging the chains I was strapped to like Jacob Marley to his money boxes.
Testing the rusty manacles encircling my wrists, I gave them a tug. Or...I tried to give them a good tug, but because the heavy chains were secured high to the wall above me, I couldn't get much leverage standing on my tippy toes and they weren't long enough to allow me much maneuvering room.
Wait! Craning my head, I looked down at my feet. My shoes! Those bastards stole my shoes! A growl erupted out of my throat and my fangs dropped down as I thrashed angrily. My toes skidding and sliding as far as the shackles would allow against something incredibly sticky and gooey. It felt like the bottom of a movie theater after a showing of some Disney animated film. I then tried to curl my feet up and away from the disgusting grime, but to no avail. I was going to need a tetanus shot after this.
"Red? Is that you?"
Cranking my head to the right towards the rock were the voice had filtered through, I saw rust colored stains discoloring the stone. More of the stains were visible on the empty shackles hanging limply from their anchors curtsy of the burning torches. And not those cute tiki ones you used in the backyard either, but the ones the villagers always had handy when they went to grab their pitchforks. I was pretty certain those red marks weren't made by paint, but blood.
"Yes," I answered him. My eyes popping wider as my gaze landed on the many implements of torture lined up like soldiers just outside of my cell. I didn't know what scared me more, knowing they were there or the fact they seemed to be well used.
"Are you alright?" His voice sounding concerned though muffled.
"Oh, sure," I lied. "You know me, just...hanging around."
Drake and Mel are in a real pickle now. Will they manage to escape or are they doomed?
Stay tuned for the next installment of FANGED to find out. Don't forget to come join the fun on my Facebook page K. M. Halandras for sneak peeks!
Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I have enjoyed writing it. If you liked it please give it a vote and comments are always appreciated. If you don't see any updates here...check out my other two stories Bending Steele or When Roses Collide.