18. Death Sentence
1534 Words
Jamie
There was a huff from Bree; I glanced over at her blearily. My throat ached as I moved, but that was forgotten as I saw Bree and remembered what’d happened. She’d punched the vampire. His teeth fell out. This must be their form of punishment…
Metal bands wrapped around her, holding her up against the wall, her feet were inches above the floor. I realized with a sickening jolt that there was no way she’d last long with metal straps around her throat and stomach… She could suffocate while she slept. And how was she supposed to eat?
"Bree... Wow... You beat up a vampire so bad they chained you up... That has never happened before." Were the only words I could get out of my mouth. I hoped she couldn’t detect the worry and sadness I felt, maybe not even realize how much trouble she was in. I had to get her out of here, and soon.
"Yeah... I don't think it was worth it but yeah it's cool I guess." She replied flatly. “At least my head stopped hurting. Then again, that might be too much tranquilizer.”
“You never told me your head was still hurting… You’re okay, right?” This wasn’t good. Her head wasn’t healed yet, she was chained to a wall in ways that nobody could survive for long, and she couldn’t eat.
Before she could answer, the door opened. We both flinched, glancing quickly towards the movement. Today wasn't a vampire day and the "food" had already come, who would be coming?
Through the door came a woman who had Bree’s hair, a man with the same bright green eyes, and a boy who looked like he could be Bree’s twin if he was a little older.
The look of shock on their faces as they walked in was actually a tame reaction for what they were seeing. I was worried now, they were obviously Bree’s family, would they leave her again? Treat her the same way mine had treated me? I looked over at Bree; her face had lit up with a smile that I’d never seen on her before. It was beautiful.
Her brother ran over. "My Goodness Sabrina! What the heck... Why are you the only one chained to the wall?" He was actually grinning like it was cool. Typical little brother reaction. I felt a pang thinking about my little brother… What I’d done to him. Oh, Titus…
Then I realized that Bree didn’t know that she couldn’t tell anyone about the vampires. If she did, her family could be stuck here too. And that couldn’t happen. How could I communicate that to her though?
"She was the only one with the guts to knock a bully's teeth out, they say she's too dangerous," I said, giving her a meaningful look, hoping she’d take the point. A bully, not a vampire. Normal prison. Please, Sabrina, please get the point…
Now her parents were over here too. Her ma had wide eyes and couldn’t seem to close her mouth all the way, unable to hide her shock. All the color was drained from her pa’s face.
"Bree..." Her pa started but broke off, he didn't seem to have the words to speak.
"Hi! I missed you guys a lot." She said brightly. She had her head up higher, her eyes had a light in them I’d never seen before, and that smile… Wow.
"Sabrina if you really want us to take you home you have to behave a little... If they have you in a cell and chained up, thinking that you're delusional and dangerous, what makes you think they'll let you come home?" Her ma said, her voice shook, but had sharp, cold edges that seemed to bring the temperature down.
"I'm sorry Mom... I just - It wasn’t fair. I'll try to behave now, promise." Bree’s voice changed from happiness to somber and wary.
"Mom, Dad, can I stay here with Sabrina?" Her brother asked suddenly. I would love to have him here for Bree, it would make her so happy! But that was not an option, I couldn't let another person be stuck here until they die.
Everyone looked at him. His parents seemed too surprised to speak, but Bree wasn’t. "No!"
"Aww why not? You don't like me?" He said with a pout.
"You can’t Alex, there are va-" Bree started to say, but I interrupted her, seeing where that was going… "This is a really bad place, you don't want to stay here. Trust me..."
The crazy guy on the other side of Bree started laughing as if to prove our point. "They'll eat your blood and steal your soul, they take your miiind." He said in a sing-song voice and went back to laughing.
The parents looked mortified. Maybe... Just maybe they'd take her home now.
"Take me home please..." She whispered, the pleading tone of her voice and the desperation in her eyes seemed to cut into my heart.
"Bree we can't..." Her pa said, and I could see Bree wilt.
"NO, you have to please!" Tears bubbled up in her eyes, and her breath quickened.
"Don't start this again!" Her ma snapped.
She fell silent, tears streaming down her face.
I couldn't let this happen to her, not like me. My parents left me here, but I’d do everything I could to not let that happen to her. Parents need to understand how much they matter to their kids, how each word can make or break them. "She doesn't deserve to be here... She isn't as dangerous as everyone thinks. The only reason Bree is here was protecting all of you, and she only hurt that man in self-defense."
"She's still a killer and going insane... We cannot take care of a psycho. We are a respectable family." Her ma whispered, fixing me with a disgusted glare and beginning to move for the door.
“She’s your daughter, your family. Nothing can change that, you can’t leave her here. You can help her, okay? How do you not see how much you mean to her?”
“I know what she did! What, you think you can make things okay? You’re in a cell too, how crazy are you? Who’d you kill? You’re a terrible, insane person too!”
I could barely see them leaving through the images flashing in front of me. Blood dripping. Head turned wrong. Crack. Screams. Smashed skull. Bloody fangs. Your fault, selfish, pain, crack, your fault. Get out of my sight. Ratbag. White-livered mollycoddle. Blood, broken.
"B-Bree?" I asked quietly as soon as the images and sounds were gone.
She didn't respond. She hardly even seemed to hear me, just staring at the door with tears streaming from her eyes. She was whispering something, and I leaned closer to hear, "I'm only here because of you, and I'm not insane yet but you're making me insane, what happened to I love you no matter what?"
She just repeated the words over and over, as though trapped in that piece of time when her mom could still hear her…
Bree didn’t stop until hours later when the door opened and the vampires trooped in. I noticed that the same one who had fought to go into her cell last time was at her door again, and watched him closely. That vampire. Nobody challenged him this time.
I watched the bars slide slowly up, and the vampire walked under and over to her. Strange.
"This is a nice mess... There is one realistic way I can get you out, but it's gonna change your life forever. Literally forever. I can change you into a vampire, then nobody can stop you from getting out." He whispered into her ear. I tried to struggle away from my own vampire, needing to know what was going on…
"I'd live forever?" She breathed.
"Yes." What? They’re talking about what? I fought to stay conscious as the vampire bit into me.
"Then just kill me, that'd get me out too. I don't want to live forever." She… No. Couldn’t die, even though I was selfish. I understood, but didn’t want her to be that way… I wanted her happy!
The vampire was silent for a minute. "Just think about it. I'm not a killer. I would... Never mind. I'll be back in a week."
The last image I saw before the blackness took over my vision was the vampire kissing her neck before he bit into her…
He kissed her neck.
Titus kissing her neck, running his fingers through her hair with one hand… Dumping something in her drink with the other.
No.
- Writer
