Children of the Goddesses (completed)

Purpose

Laila’s POV

            I woke up alone to a sparsely furnished room and the sound of beeping machines. My head still ached from beatings during my time with the two humans at the auction house and my fingers were still throbbing in pain but I realized that the pain had become manageable. When I was in the car with the vampire who bought me, it took a lot of my energy to ignore the pain in my body but it was now like a dull reminder of my time at that auction house. Before I could panic if I was healing supernaturally fast again due to sun exposure, the door swung open and a vampire came in. He was wearing a white lab coat and didn’t seem surprised at all to see me, nor was he intrigued by my appearance. It was as if I were just another patient in a hospital and he proceeded to perform checks on me.

            “Where am I?” 

            The vampire shrugged nonchalantly at my question as he took out a springe to draw my blood. My guard immediately went up as I knew full well what they could do with my blood, and if they were smart enough or had witches working with them, they’d figure it out too.

            “Where am I and who are you?!” Anger rolled off my words as I pulled back and hugged myself tightly before turning my body away from the vampire. 

            “I’m here to check that you’re fine. If you don’t want to suffer permanent damage to your broken fingers, I suggest you be a little more cooperative and reserve your questions for later.” The vampire’s voice betrayed no emotions as he reached over to grab my arm roughly, before sinking the needle into my arm. 

            After he had completed the checks and put my fingers into a new splint, he forcefully injected something into my neck and soon my eyelids became heavier until I could no longer hold them open anymore. 

            Laila? Can you hear me? 

            A soft but clear voice echoed in my head and slowly, the darkness was lit up by a pair of glowing honey brown eyes. 

            Ethan? Is that you? 

            Yes, it’s me! This isn’t a dream, Laila, and we don’t have much time. I need you to tell me everything that you know about where you might be. Ana from the Tahoe Coven is here with me and so are your brother and father, and we’ve been trying to track you down but those who took you have been able to cover their tracks very well. Your father managed to get in contact with the auction house where we think you might have been held. Do you remember anything about it? 

            My brain was going into overdrive trying to process everything that was happening. Ethan was looking for me? Wasn’t he the one who had betrayed me to Mr. Ailsworth and his despicable company of traffickers? My family and friends were also looking for me? This meant that Brenna, Lovis and Father knew that I was somehow still alive! A small spark of hope ignited in my heart before becoming a full blown fire. 

            The owner of the auction house is Mr. Ailsworth. He was the vampire who made the deal with me that night and he sold me to the Vampire King. That’s all that I know. I’ve no idea where I am right now.

            Darkness clouded the glowing honey brown eyes as anger and remorse touched my heart briefly like a passing breeze. 

            I’m sorry, Laila, I screwed up but I’ll find you. I promise that I’ll find you, so please hang in there for me. 

            Ethan was like a puppet master and his words the strings tied to my heart. The bloody mess within my chest became whole again, fluttering to each and every word that he spoke, but I refused to allow myself to give in to this moment of weakness. 

            I’m fine for now, but please hurry, I don’t know what they have planned for me. 

            The sound of metal clicking made my vision blur again as the pair of glowing honey brown eyes dimmed before completely fading away. 

            “I’m sorry! Did I wake you?” A pair of grey eyes gazed at me in shock as I rubbed my eyes groggily. 

            “It’s ok, I seem to have slept a lot already anyway,” I said casually as the gears in my head started turning again. The female vampire standing beside my bed was holding a basin with water and draped across her forearm was a washcloth. If I assumed right, she just wanted to help me clean up a little and if I were to make a wild guess, I would guess that she was a prisoner just like I was. 

            “Oh, that’s nice of you to say,” she said timidly as she helped me to sit up on the bed before wetting the washcloth in the basin. 

            Before she could start, I reached out my hand to take the washcloth. Even though I only had one functional hand, I had no issues cleaning up after myself. 

            “Let me help you, please,” she pleaded and I frowned, unsure why she was so jumpy. 

            “It’s fine, really, I can do this myself,” I insisted. “Look, my left hand is completely fine!” I lifted my left arm and wriggled my fingers to prove my point, drawing a small smile from the female vampire but her grip on the washcloth didn’t relax one bit. 

            “Look, I’m an able bodied vampire. I don’t need help with washing myself and you don’t have to fear me, ok?” I assured the female vampire as I realized that the strong scent in the room was her fear. It was crippling her and I couldn’t understand what she was so afraid of. 

            “I can’t. I’m sorry, but it was a command from Lady Reina herself. She told me that I would be serving you from now on and no one here disobeys Lady Reina.” 

            I reached out and held the trembling hands of the female gently even as I struggled to find the right words. Female vampires had always been equals of male vampires and there were no ranks among vampires based on gender or birth, except for the Royals. For all other vampires, our rank within the army was earned based on our contributions to Lady Lae’s cause and I had no idea who this Lady Reina was and what I had missed in the two years and two months when I was in a coma.

            “Hey, I don’t know who this Lady Reina is, but whoever she is, you have nothing to fear. If you don’t tell, I won’t tell, ok? What’s your name? My name is Lai-lynn, by the way,” I said in the most friendly tone that I could muster and I hoped that the female vampire hadn’t noticed the awkward pause when I was introducing myself. I had decided at the last moment not to reveal my real name. The werewolves might not have known who I was just by name, but I couldn’t say the same about vampires. 

            “I’m Hanna,” the female vampire said shyly before finally handing me the washcloth. 

            “Do you know where we are, Hanna?” I tried to make my question sound as casual as possible, hoping that Hanna could give me some answers and if Ethan managed to come into my dreams again, then I would have something useful to share. 

            “We’re in the fortress of the Vampire King. That’s all that I know,” she said nervously. I sighed as I took her hands in mine before giving her the most reassuring look that I could manage. 

            “Everything said between us stays between us, alright? I’ll never do anything that brings harm to you, Hanna, I promise!” 

            The door swung open again, startling the both of us. Hanna tensed up once more and pulled her hands away from mine before her eyes widened in horror as she stared at the washcloth in my hand. 

            “What are you doing here? Who let you in?” The accusing tone of the male vampire with those familiar black eyes set something off in me and before I could hold myself back, the words flowed out of me with a confidence that I thought had died along with my spirit when I was taken. 

            “She’s here to help me, and as you can see, I’m completely fine, so don’t talk to her like that. We’re equals, don’t treat us like we’re anything less.” A fire burned within me as I realized in that very moment that everything that had happened to me since I was taken was not personal. I was just one female vampire being subjected to the greed and evils of the slave trade in the struggle for power between different supernatural beings, and this was the reason why I was sent back.