Fated Fangs

Chaoter 8: Trapped

Eleni finished eating the strange meal, if it could be called that, and began to wander around the room again. She tried to open the windows but found them locked and barred. She really was a prisoner, then, unless vampires normally barred up all of their windows.

There were several long wall hangings that she peaked behind, but there were no secret doors, much to her disappointment. She pulled on braziers, candelbras, and crown molding, much to the same effect. She moved the furniture and searched under the rugs for any trap doors, but all in vain. This wasn't a fairy tale book, it seemed.

Eleni sat on the floor, propped up against one of the couches huffing and puffing. The panic was subsiding as she ran out of energy. There was no way out. Great. She had ended up back in the sitting room after tearing the beadroom apart. She had made quite a mess of the place. Hopefully, she wouldn't get in too much trouble.

Eleni chuckled. Here she was, imprisoned by vampires, a coworker having been brutally murdered the night before by one of her regular's hench men, she was probably going to be turned into a vampire and forced to kill people herself and she was worried about being in trouble with these monsters. She began to giggle at the ridiculousness of the entire situation.

Eleni laughed so long and so hard that she began to scare herself a little. She was probably losing her mind, she thought, eliciting a fresh peel of laughter. Really, anyone in her situation would do well not to go a little crazy. If she was turned into a vampire, she would have all of the time in the world to laugh. This final thought sobered her up, and she stopped laughing at last.

Would she really live forever if they turned her? How long was forever? It seemed like an awful long time to her, having only reached young adulthood. She thought about all of the really old people she had met in her short lifetime. They all seemed miserable. Would she be miserable forever, or would it get better after so many centuries of being insane?

Eleni's body felt like lead. All of the frantic searching for an exit had fully exhausted her, and she didn't feel like moving a muscle. After everything she had been through, she already had the right to be exhausted, but now even her hair felt tired. Her eyes roamed about the sitting room aimlessly as her arms hung heavily at her sides.

There were several paintings adorning the walls. She lazily looked at each one in turn while trying to muster up the energy to get up and eat some more food. They were all fairly boring, and Eleni felt like her brain was wasting away just looking at them. She looked over to the small built-in book shelf next. She had thrown all of the books on the floor in her haste. She clicked her tongue in annoyance and slowly rose to her feet.

She didn't know how long she would be there, so she may as well put the room back to rights. She snagged a bag of beef jerky and practically dragged her body over to the books. She began picking them up in piles but stopped when she read the title on the top of the first pile: "Moonshine Fairy Stories by Lord Brabourne, Illustrated by William Brunton.

The book was old but in decent condition. It was a pale blue with black drawings on the cover. Eleni gently put the rest of the stack down and skimmed through it. It was just a bunch of fairy tales, but it made Eleni curious. She put it on the bare shelf and picked up the next book: Ingoldsby Legends, by Thomas Ingoldsby, Illustrated by Cruikshank, Leech, and Barham. It was red with gold letters, a strange symbol, and a small silhouette of a bird.

She leafed through this book and found it to be a little more interesting. There were all sorts of legends and myths in there that felt worth reading, so she sat down on the loveseat that she had not turned over and began to read. She spent the rest of the day in this fashion. She snacked throughout the day, getting up periodically to set something else to rights, looking through the books on the shelf for anything that might give her more insight into the situation she had somehow landed in.

Eleni had been an avid reader growing up. It was what made her want to be a writer in the first place, but she never read anything scary, so she didn't know almost anything about the paranormal. She had always prefered adventure, and she supposed she was in the middle of a good one, now.

The room got tidier as the day wore on, and Eleni slowly learned little bits here and there about vampires and all other manner of creatures. Nothing was adding up, though. Eleni sighed in frustration as she tossed the last book on the ground behind the love seat. She felt stupid looking to fiction for facts about vampires. None of them were based on true events, just peoples ridiculous ideas.

Eleni closed her eyes. Her mind was buzzing with questions and confusion. She had known Bram for so long, but she realized that she didn't really know anything about him. He seemed to be the leader of wherever she was. She had only seen him, Tuer and Cassandra, but there must be more of them.

From what she could see out of the windows, the building she was in was quite large. It could be a masion for all she knew. That meant a lot of scary things for her. Bram had seemed so normal, but he was scarier than she could have ever imagined. Tuer was also very clearly dangerous. Cassandra, though....

Eleni could picture Cassandra clearly in her mind. Her short, curly hair that seemed to be perfectly in place and a tossled mess all at the same time, her strong arms and shoulders, her gentle caramel eyes hooded by long, black lashes, and her ruby red lips.

Eleni sat up and opened her eyes abruptly. She really must be going crazy, picturing the woman who helped kidnap her in such a favorable light. She was really beautiful, though. It must be part of the vampire charm, Eleni thought uneasily. That's how they got you. Athan had been strikingly beautiful as well, but it didn't stop him from being a murderous monster.

Eleni was growing frustrated. She stood up and began pacing the room. What did they even want with her? They were treating her kindly enough, but she was still being held captive. Maybe they were just keeping her for food. It was all questions and no answers. Eleni looked out of the window. It was getting dark. The day had felt like an eternity, and like it had passed in a second at the same time.

She didn't know if she was relieved or terrified. She would have answers soon. As soon as this huge house, potentially full of vampires, woke up from their slumber. It was so quiet and had been all day. Maybe they did sleep in coffins all day, more dead than alive. She didn't feel like she was in a house full of other people. That was for sure.

Eleni was sick of snacking, so she kept pacing around the rooms she had access to. She didn't have a change of clothes, so a shower was out of the question, and her cell phone was long gone. There was nothing to entertain her as she waited. She would have liked something to write with, at least, but she didn't think she could even do that at the moment.

The last rays of light slipped behind the tree line. Eleni watched the thinning strand of light, the only safety she had felt, slip away, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. It wasn't long before she began to hear faint noises in the rest of the house, and then it came. The dreaded knock on her door.

Eleni breathed in deeply. There was nothing else to do but face whatever grim fate awaited her. She turned to the door, unsure if she should go answer it or not. Was it impolite to stay still and silent? It didn't matter, for the door opened before she could decide what to do.

Eleni wasn't sure what she was expecting, but it definitely wasn't the small woman who was standing nervously in the doorway. She was wearing a black pant suit with her small, pale hands clasped together before her. Her hair was blonde and straight, pulled back into a low ponytail. She wore no jewelry or make-up, but she was still a beautiful woman.

"Good Night, Miss Eleni. I hope everything has been to your satisfaction today." The woman said in a high, gentle tone.

To her liking? Was this woman mad? Eleni had been held prisoner all day. This was definitely taking a weird turn.

"Uh." was all Eleni could manage.

"Please come with me, now. Master Bram wishes to speak with you." The woman practically begged.

Eleni swallowed whatever outrage she was feeling and nodded. She could take it out on the one responsible for taking her away from her life. It was time to discover what was in store for her.