Chapter 29 Finding Your Beloved
If I thought that Genevieve is scary and intimidating, then William is near to spine-chilling terrifying. He has requested for me to stand as he shall now hand down my sentence. Never did I imagine that I shall be so eager to accept punishment, but there is only one punishment I wish to receive. And looking at this Council member, I am about to receive the worst that he is willing to give.
But Damien nor I could foresee what he shall say next.
“It does sadden me deeply that I need to hand a sentence down such as this to The Master’s beloved. I do expect his full wrath to come down on me once he gets word of what I have done.”
He goes silent for a few moments as if he seems to be troubled with the very own words that he is about to say.
“Cassidy, your behavior was reckless, to say the least. Should a human have come across the remains, I fear to say that we could have been exposed. Not even to mention The Vampire Hunter that shall come after us. With saying this, I hereby order that your fangs shall be removed.”
The other Council Members are completely horrified by what William suggests. Damien, who has now joined my side, is even paler than his shirt, which is threes hades of a white bright. He immediately objects and does not fear to speak out of turn.
“William, please, can I ask for council.”
“Damien, I am afraid my decision is final.”
“Then I am informing you as second in command; I am opposing this sentence.”
“I am not sure if you are allowed to.”
“Then you shall seek council with the Council Members and decide if this shall be allowed.”
Then to even worsen the suffocating anxiety that fills the room, the other Council Member steps closer to William and whispers in his ear. He considers what he has been told and once again turns to address Damien and me.
“Cassidy’s fangs shall be removed. You are not in the position to overturn this sentence. The decision of three Council Members is sufficient to make this stand.”
“That is a death sentence,” Damien protests with a deep rage that comes rumbling from inside him. “At least put her in the dungeon at least.”
“So she may come free and do this again?”
“She only acted this way because,” Damien hesitates as he does not wish to reveal the true intention behind my actions. “She was acting foolish, for The Master was out of town.”
We both watch as William considers what Damien has just told him, but this does not change his resolve.
“Damien, my decision is final. It shall be wise if you do not protest any further.”
“At least put her in the dungeon until The Master returns. I do believe he would wish to say his goodbyes before you so viciously mutilate her.”
Damien looks down next to him to where I am standing; he sees the tears are forming in the corners of my eyes, waiting to stream down like a raging river bursting its bank. He leans in and softly whispers in my ear.
“Cassidy, do not cry. The Council cannot see who you are.”
I only but swallow my tears and grind into my teeth to hide every ounce of emotion I am feeling. William turns to the other Members, and they discuss Damien’s proposal amongst themselves. After what does feel like an hour, William comes to the middle of the room, where Damien is firmly standing his ground next to me.
When William does speak, his voice does seem sincere, but whether it is truly how he sees it is not quite clear.
“You shall go to the dungeon until The Master returns.”
I have never seen so much relief on a human’s face, let alone what I see on Damien’s. He turns to me with a very nervous smile on his face.
“Let us hope they take you to the same one as which Lucas is.”
“But how are we both going to survive in there a month?”
“I shall speak to Genevieve once she is back. Hopefully, we can get both these sentences revoked.”
“Thank you, Damien.”
With that, William comes to take my hand and immediately leads me to a black vehicle with dark tinted windows that are waiting for us to depart to the castle where this dungeon is where I shall be kept.
We drive for what seems to be hours until we get to a small little white house that seems like that in which a guard shall be stationed at a front gate. William turns to me and holds out a blindfold.
“Please, could you put these on, Cassidy?”
I go to protest, but I soon decided against it, for I do not wish to anger this man any further than what he is. As I place the black blindfold over my eyes and tie it at the back, my entire world disappears, and nothing but fear sets in. The next time I take this off, I pray that it is in front of Lucas.
We come to a stop on a gravel road where we make our way up a fair amount of stairs. The air is even colder out here, and I can smell what is possibly a dam or a nearby river. The rain is beating down hard on our skin, drenching my clothes even before we come to a door. He swings it wide open, and I am caught off guard by the ghastly smell of rotten flesh that seems to be coming from everywhere.
William takes me by the hand and leads me down an endless hallway; all you can hear is the tapping of my stilettos that echoes through the empty spaces that fill the air. We soon find ourselves at a set of what seems could almost be fifty stairs that leads down to what I guess will be the dungeon. With each step I take, I make a wish for Lucas to be on the other side, healthy and alive and happy to see me.
Then finally, we come to a stop in front of a steel door, I can hear it is steel for the keys beat against it. He then tells me to take my blindfold off and almost looks sympathetic when he speaks to me.
“Cassidy, I do hope The Council can decide before something truly tragic happens to you.”Original content from NôvelDrama.Org.
I only but nod my head and give him the best fake smile that my lips allow me to carry at this very moment. And then he locks the door behind me, leaving me with nothing but excited fear. I wait until I can no longer hear his footsteps before I head deeper into the dungeon to see if I can indeed find Lucas inside of here.
… Lucas POV…
I find myself in a far side corner of this godforsaken place to where I had to nearly crawl myself for my limbs did not want to work the way it is required to do. With each dreadful minute, all my power seems to make way for only but the most agonizing pain. I can feel as every vein in my body is slowly but inevitably drying out to a point where I shall be nothing but flesh and bones. To worsen this horrid situation, I find myself moving in and out of varying stages of consciousness and insanity.
My only wish is to see Cassidy before I completely perish, but I fear that after my rejection, Genevieve shall not make her way down here very soon again. I should have just overturned the sentence for who am I trying to fool? My love for Cassidy shall always come before the Vampire code. Not in all my years as a mortal did I ever feel this way about anyone, let alone a woman. I love her more deeply than immortality itself. With that thought, I peacefully drift into the darkness once again.
I can hear her heavenly voice as she walks through the pathways of my mind. I can almost feel her soft, warm touch against my icy skin that has seen this cold room for one day too long. What is the most glorious memory of them all is tasting her blood as it is slowly dripping on my lips and finding its way over the tip of my tongue. I hear how she slowly urges me.
“Drink Lucas, drink. ”
I do wish that this was not only silly trickery that my mind was playing on me. But as wicked as the human body can be, I only continue to feel how every drop for drop of her blood keeps on falling at the back of my throat, slowly making me regain my sanity and building the power that I so desperately need. Then I hear her soft voice more urgently demanding me to drink.
“Stop messing around and drink, Lucas.”
But as I go to take her wrist, for what I fear is only my mind playing a sickening joke on me, I am shocked to my very core. As I open my eyes, right in front of me is, in fact, Cassidy, as clear and in full-body as what mine is, half living on the floor.
“Cassidy! My beloved, how did you get in here?”
“Don’t worry about that now; just drink and get your strength back.”
“But what…”
“Lucas, stop being difficult and drink.”
I gratefully accept her soft hand as she kneels down and sits next to me on the muddy floor. I slam my fangs almost too eagerly and sink them far deep into her skin. I find myself immediately drowned from top to tip in her blood; it streams effortlessly through me into every single part of my body. My body growls of pleasure as I nestle even firmer and suck a bit harder, causing her to twitch, but she only pushes her wrist deeper into my mouth.
Once I feel far better than I felt only ten minutes ago, she comes to sit on my lap and stares with her loving eyes into the parts of my soul that she can only reach.
“I nearly thought I was going to lose you.”
“I did so too. But how did you get Genevieve to let you in here?”
“Uhm… yes… about that.”
“Cassidy, what did you do?”
“I kind of got sentenced in here. Actually, not completely, only until they know what to do to me.”
“Please don’t tell me you tried turning someone again?”
“They are calling it four humans hungry.”
“Oh my god, Cassidy! Did you…?”
“Yes.”
“For me?”
“Yes.”
“And let me guess they want to…?”
“Yes, but they are waiting for you to come back.”
“But I am not gone; how can they not know I am in here?”
“I don’t know; this William had no idea that you are in this dungeon. Damien said he shall speak to Genevieve when she comes back.”
“My beloved, I think we have a problem.”