Eternal

A woman, yes a very old woman sat in the corner. My eyes took minutes to adjust to the light, but the silence had faded. The shuffling had stopped, but the sentence she had spoken hung so heavily in the air it could’ve shattered the world.

It was if the walls had eyes and I was under their scrutiny.

“Hell? What, where? How drunk am I?” I mumbled. All I remembered was that man, that last night, the drinks….

“Well, not the literal place. No, you’re not drunk. No, this isn’t a bad dream.” The woman shuffled towards me. Sitting up, I edged away from her. Something rattled.

In the light, I made out the shackles around my wrists. They hung heavily and were attached the wall behind me. It seemed like I was prisoner, but for who? Why was I here? I was just some unnoticed girl from my village. I was nothing special, so why had that man been so interested with me!?

“Hell is yet a place, undiscovered by the mere mortals, but here, we are trapped as an unknown face.” A sing-song voice called out in the light. The poem was haunting and tragic. It seemed to come to my left side. I shuffled away, becoming increasingly frightened.

“Please, I’m not supposed to be here! I’m no one special.” My feeble voice begged out. Although I tried to stand, dizziness forced me to a knee. The woman shuffled over to my side, laying a wrinkled hand on my shoulder. The cloak I once wore was gone. All I was left in was a shirt and ragged shorts.

“Calm, child. You must not make much noise, else the Masters will come.” Her voice soothed urgently. As if in a trance, I fell silent under her command. As if the entire room fell quiet to her command, I sensed the presence of multiple bodies. My eyes scanned the cell in the absence of another task.

It was about teen feet by twelve feet wide. To the left was a cement wall with bars about eye level as a window to the next cell. An iron door was our only gateway. Each wall was iron bars.

It literally was a cage.

Outside the cell, I could make out the shapes of other forms in another cage across the prison area. There was a fairly large open space separating us, about the size of three cells. Another door led out of the jail and to wherever we were encamped.

“A man, a man indeed. Who will save us from wretch, when will we be freed?” The same sing-song voice asked. Footsteps, as light as a feather, approached the door. We could hear the pitter patter approach the door. Suddenly, it swung open on silent hinges and a figure walked into the room.

“Free time. Welcome the new blood into the family. Lynn, stay down here to help her adjust.” A gruff voice commanded.

“Yes, Master.” Lynn responded easily. The man went around to each of the cells, opening the doors. Figures emerged, yet they made no attempt at escape.

Were these people mad to not run!?

At last, our cell door was open. The man, a stature with half his hair white and half black, came in. As soon as he approached, I backed away. Normally, I would want to stand my ground and show him he couldn’t just take me away from my family and then lock me up like a dog!

Yet, there was an air about him that told me not to mess with this man.

As soon as the shackles were free, Lynn grasped my arm. That woman had somehow sensed that I was about to take off and had stopped me from doing so. Grumbling, I followed her tight grip as she led me to through the door. The outside gateway slammed closed. Ten people gathered in the middle of the room. Lynn and I made twelve.

“Welcome to the family, new blood.” A man about as tall as I was with long hair greeted me. Everyone sat down in a large circle. The chattering died down and their eyes fell on me.

When I had thought earlier that the walls had eyes, I was mistaken. It was these people.

Biting my lip nervously, I followed Lynn’s lead. She seemed to have experience with this. Her eyes wandered blindly around as her frail frame sat down next to me. By my side was the man who had greeted me.

“So, what’s your name?” A long, brown haired girl asked. Her chocolate brown eyes were warm in the pools of light. It was much brighter outside in the open than in our dark cells.

“Um, Jynx…Jynx Merida.” I stuttered slightly. Everything seemed to be crashing down on me. I wasn’t with my family. I was stuck here. They called me family and I had no clue who any of them were.

“Well Jynx, welcome to Castle Volcan.” The same girl responded perkily. Why was she so happy to be a prisoner!?

These people were strange.

“Um, thanks? Are you guys normally this friendly?” I asked cautiously. Lynn, the old woman, chuckled. Her grey hair shone in the flame’s light.

“Well, it’s been quite a while since we’ve had fresh blood down here. I mean, the last girl barely survived a day. It’s even more surprising that Master Austin brought you down here.” Everyone froze at the name.

“Master…Austin?” I questioned. The name felt heavy in my mouth.

“Yes, your Master.” She responded patiently. The man beside me patted my knee. I whipped around to face him.

“Have you heard anything of the Volcan clan?” His soft voice asked me. I shook my head. The name was foreign and seemed to only belong in this cold undercroft.

“Oh man, we have a lot to teach her.” A blonde sighed sadly. Her blue eyes sparkled like the bright sky I longed to view again.

“We’ll get to that in a minute, but it’s time for introductions.” Lynn cut in. Everyone nodded, accepting the ruling of the elder. It seemed as if everyone looked up to her and followed her command. Curiosity of her story perked inside of me.

“So do this as normal, guys. Say your name, general information, and explain about your Master.” Another girl with silver eyes interjected to go along with Lynn. Everyone sighed in quiet understanding.

“Well, I’m Vic Fuentes and I’m a worker for the castle. I came from Hirods, the major city to the south. Being a worker means I do general chores that the Masters assign us. My brother is Mike and my friends are Tony and Jaime.” He grinned down to me and nudged my shoulder playfully. The tension from what had happened after I woke up started to ease away.

“I’m Annabelle Warson. I’m sixteen years old. My cellmate is Luna. I came from a small village to the west and I Alex Gaskarth’s feed-sub. Alex treats me well and loves to joke around, especially with Jack Barakat. They’re pretty cool guys and haven’t harmed us.” A blonde haired girl with icy blue eyes spoke softly. I could already tell she was a little reserved, but must’ve paired well with whoever Alex was.

But a single question stuck at my brain.

What was a feed-sub?

“Blue is a color, a beautiful color. A name for a girl, a name for a world.” The girl next to her spoke up sweetly. So this was the girl that spoke in poems! The words flowed evenly, as if the verse was as natural as the sky. I guess sometimes they rhymed, sometimes her poems didn’t rhyme. The figure had dark blonde hair, deep blue eyes, and a gaunt face that was strikingly beautiful.

“That’s Blue Derux. She’s seventeen, comes from the same city I do, and she only speaks in poems and verses. Isn’t that right, Blue?” The man next to her chuckled. Blue stuck out her tongue and shook her blonde mane that flowed like dirty gold over her shoulders.

“Speak how you wish, I won’t change. Let the bird be the bird, let the fish be the fish.” She spat back, although her tone was playful. The man beamed. It was quite amazing how the girl could just speak in poems that came off the top of her mind.

“Oh, and her Master is Ghost and cellmates to Misty and Grey-Girl. Ghost understands her just fine. He’s the man you just met, but he’s not that scary. Just don’t hurt Blue and you’ll be fine.” The same man chuckled.

“Himes, oh Himes, what shall we do? Jokester to all, and best friends to Blue!” The girl chuckled. Himes? Well, we’d get to him in a little while.

“So my name is Grey-Girl Wystern, but you can call me GG! Chris Motionless is my Master and he’s one of the heads of the castle. We’ll explain that later,” The brown haired girl with the intoxicating silver eyes winked at my confusion before continuing, “I’m from just north of the western border by the Juno Mountain Range. My cellmates are Misty and Blue.” One of the men across the circle winked to her, causing her to roll the silver orbs.

It seemed like each of the men had their own girl best friend.

“I’m Luna Mornson. I come from just southeast of here. My cellmate is Annabelle, my Master is Jack Barakat. They’re pretty cool. Alex is one of the heads, but Jack likes to share his opinion with the other castle heads as well.” The soft voice barely rose above the flickering of the torches. Her soft golden eyes ducked down to take a sudden interest in the tiles as her index finger stroked a long crack in a brick.

“I’m Misty Ronan. I’m Balz’s feed-sub and I figured since I’m stuck here until I die or am drained, I might as well screw with the night hounds!” She chuckled. Everyone chuckled quietly.

“She’s a daredevil.” GG beamed.

“I’m cellmates with GG and my girl Blue! Hey, we’re all stuck here, so why not be friends? I came from the same city as Blue, but hadn’t known each other before now. Balz is pretty funny, kind of perverted, and a little bit sexy.” Everyone burst out in whistles and claps at that.

“What?” I asked, joining in with my own uneasy chuckle.

“You’ll find out the perverted part as soon as you step foot outside those doors.” The rebel girl leaned back on her elbows, kicking her feet out into the middle of the circle. We had finally finished with the girls and had gotten to the cluster of boys sitting on the other side of Lynn.

“I’m Tony Perry-“

“I’m Jaime Preciado, or Himes-“

“I’m Kellin Quinn, but you can call me Epic Man-“ The boy got a smack from Jaime as soon as he was cut off.

“and I’m Mike Fuentes. We’re all workers for the castle. We came from our village that was burnt down and then Master Alex, Austin, and Chris found us, taking us into his castle.” Mike explained. I enjoyed his friendliness. Actually, all of them were very welcoming and accepting of me.

It really did feel like they had welcomed me into this new life.

“I’m Lynn West. I came from an old town just east of here. I’m sixty four years old, blind as a bat, and retired from being a feed-sub. I’m one of the only one allowed to roam upstairs in the actual castle. Typically, the Masters don’t bring us up there, but I go up frequently.” She explained. As soon as she was done, everyone looked at me.

Hey, I was caught off guard at the fact she was blind!

“Oh, I’m, um, Jynx Merida. I came just west of here, I guess. I have a little sister named Sparrow back at home. I don’t really know what a feed-sub is, or who my Master is.” I confessed. Everyone nodded solemnly.

“Time for a quick explanation!” GG called out. She was one of the older girls, I could tell, and quick dominated the conversation.

“Okay, so the Castle Volcan is known for not hunting humans so much as capturing them and using them as slaves…” Mike started out. Vic, his brother, nodded in agreement.

“Your Master is the one who bit you. Austin bit you, so you are his feed-sub, or the one he will feed off of.” At his comment, I reached my hand up to touch my neck. I could feel two quickly healing pin pricks from where the man had bit me.

“So he just feeds at will?”

“Yes. If a vampire doesn’t feed for many days, he gets Bloodlust, or the urge to feed. It’s so great that he, or she, will attack any living thing and drain it immediately. Oh, and by draining, it means sucking all the life out of you.” Misty added in, as if it were the easiest thing in the world.

I gulped.

“And since you’re in a cell right next to the door, you would be candidate number one.” Annabelle added in unhappily.

“Well don’t I feel loved.” I muttered anxiously. Nervous sensations filled every nerve in my body.

“Our Masters love us very much, I mean, why else would they have chosen us?” Luna murmured, adding her thoughts to the conversation. It was a little hard for me to think of anyone who had bit me to love me, but okay. Whatever floats their boat…

“So all the Masters are vampires?” I asked them. Tony and Jaime nodded.

“Yep. Another fact about them that you’ll want to know about is that a vampire is most powerful at time points: during Bloodlust, and during Blooddrunk. Bloodlust is the highest peak of uncontrolled power. They have such an incredible urge to feed, that it’s impossible to control one under Bloodlust. Blooddrunk is the peak of controlled power. It’s when a vampire is filled so heavily that they have all the energy they would need to take an entire army out!” Tony exclaimed. My eyes widened at the thought.

“Aren’t you the scholars.” Annabelle rolled her eyes. Tony hit her shoulder and she whacked his chest. He whimpered out of false pain.

“Footsteps, listen close! Listen closely, for these steps mean the most!” Blue exclaimed. Everyone fell silent as we did in fact listen. True to her word, there were footsteps coming towards us.

I guess our free time was over.

“Quick, come back here.” Lynn guided me as everyone shuffled to a corner by their cells. Two men came into the room, laughing and giggling. One had blonde streaks in his hair, and the other had light brown swoopy bangs.

“Hello, Master Alex.” Annabelle instantly perked up from her quiet self as soon as she saw her Master. He went over and hugged her tightly. My brain, for the millionth time today, was sent into a confusing spin.

First they talked as if the Masters were the best things in the world, then the vampires are the most dangerous creatures alive, and now they’re hugging.

What has this world come to?

“Good morning, Little One. Did you get acquainted with the new girl?” I heard them mutter. Jack, or the other man next to Alex, quietly smiled and stroked Luna’s hair. She cracked a faint smile. It was the first one I had seen from her.

“Oh yes, she’s very nice.” When Alex wasn’t looking, Annabelle winked to me.

I guess in the loneliest times, when all hope seemed lost for the minutes you’re in darkness, you can find a friend standing with you.

Or you can find eleven new friends.

“When they lock the door, go to the far corner of your cell and wait for them to leave or give you a command.” Lynn whispered to me. I nodded, although I felt foolish afterwards. She couldn’t see me!

As soon as we moved to our cells, Jack and Alex locked up each of the doors. I did as Lynn instructed. I guess I was a fairly quick learner!

“I’ll be back, Annabelle.” Alex murmured to his feed-sub and then left. Lynn turned to me, patting my back and wobbling over to her spot to sit in.

“Thank you for the introductions. That, uh, cleared some stuff up.” I laughed softly. Lynn bobbed her head, the milky gaze shifted towards the ceiling.

“No problem, child. You’ll learn the ways of the cells quickly. There are rules, but you’ll catch on.”

And with that, I was thrust into my new life of rules, subjugation, and Blue softly whispering poems to herself and Misty humming along.

Notes

Hey all my wolves! Sorry this chapter is SUPER long, but it's meant as introduction to the characters, get to know them, and get to know the Masters a little!

I hope you enjoyed it and please don't forget to leave a comment and don't forget to rate!

Remember: Rate, don't hate!

I'm sorry, I just came up with that! XDDD

Anyways, stay beautiful!