Diary of a Non-Conformist Vampire Victim

Chapter 2 | A flying castle

The first of my strange captors stepped forward and gave a little bow. He had chestnut hair and a blue pinstripe suit on. "I'm Blake," he said.

The other one stepped forward. He looked exactly like the first one. Right down to his brown eyes and caramel colored skin. "I'm Drake," he said, and bowed also.

I folded my arms. "And why am I here?"

"You're mine," Damien said proudly, as if he'd won a prize at the fair.

His words scared me, and from that fear came strength. "I don't belong to anyone," I said fiercely. "I want to go home. Now."

"Well that's the thing," Blake said, giving my arm a grandfatherly pat. "You can't."

"Why not?"

Blake and Drake exchanged glances. "It's sort of the rules. You're Damien's slave now. When he's done with you, if you're still alive, you can go home."

"I don't have to listen to you," I snapped peevishly. "Besides, I have exams tomorrow. I need to study. Invite me to your weird cosplay some other time."

I gathered together what was left of my pride, marched to the tall wooden doors that looked like an exit point, and opened the door. Wind whistled in to greet me, and I found myself peering down at a snow capped mountain top and several drifting clouds. There wasn't a thing holding the castle up. It was just floating there in the sky like some kind of gigantic stone balloon.

"This is definitely a dream," I said, staring.

"It's not," Blake or Drake said. I wasn't sure which one.

"Yes it is," I told myself, and jumped.

A split second later, I concluded that Blake or Drake was right and I was not dreaming. Damien swooped down after me and scooped me into his arms about a second before I splattered over the mountain tops.

"Thank you," I said weakly.

"You're an idiot," he informed me.

"I know."

He delivered me safely to the castle steps, and shut the entry door. Frankly, the fight had gone out of me. Blake and Drake stood against the wall, and let Damien march past, a steel grip on my elbow as he dragged me away from the hallway, up a sweeping staircase, and into a beautifully decorated room. "For your own safety, you are staying here until I have need of you," he said. He shoved me into the room, slammed the door shut, and locked it securely behind me.

For once, I actually agreed that I might need safe keeping. I pulled Magdaline out of my pocket and set her on the floor. At this rate she was going to get crushed in my pocket, and I'd rather think of her helping herself to kitchen crumbs in this strange little castle, than collect smashed bits of her from the inside of my coat.

I collapsed on the bed, and realized for the first time it wasn't just me and Magdaline in the room. A girl about my age, dressed in a school uniform I didn't recognize, sat at a desk, reading a book. I sat up again, uneasy that I hadn't noticed her the first second I walked in.

"Hello," I said cautiously. "Sorry about the cockroach, I'll pick her up. I didn't realize there was someone else in here." I paused. "In fact I didn't see you at all. Who are you?"

The girl looked up. "My name's Lilly. I belong to Malcum Windwalker. Who are you?"

My stomach twisted. She refered to herself as an item easily, as if it came from long practice. Magdaline crawled her way over to Lilly before I could stop her, and climbed right onto her leg. Lilly didn't so much as twitch.