Hooked

Chapter Thirty: The Dark

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, N.L.PETIT 2015.

Chapter Thirty: The Dark

Time passed endlessly in the dark. All I knew was that my stomach hadn't stopped bleeding, and it wouldn't anytime soon. My shirt was so soaked in my blood that it sagged off my shoulders and dripped onto the floor, creating an endless, slow, tortuous patter against the cold and uneven cement. The room was so small that my breathing echoed back to me. The only other sound was my heart beating, and my head was starting to spin and haze over. 

When we'd crashed through the window, Will had taken the impact. A jagged piece of glass protruded from his cheek, creating a ghastly stain of blood that flowed down his face and dripped onto mine. I'd tried to stop myself from gagging, until he tore the shard from his face and tossed it in my direction, missing me by a hair's breadth. He'd dragged me around the house, shoved me into a car, and submerged me into the dark, and I hadn't moved in what felt like days. 

The door opened, and the sliver of light blinded me. The same metal tray as the days before clanged as the small woman set it down, and she said the same thing she did everyday in her small voice. 

"Please eat, Ms. Sophie. You need to build your strength to survive the bite."

The bite. She'd explained it to me the first day, and I hadn't been able to contain my horror. A bite that would force my body to become a vampire, that would steal every single memory I had ever made. It would make me crave blood and become almost unable to control myself for nearly an entire century, until I was old enough to be considered a "mature" vampire. It would end my life and force a new one on me, where I would be disillusioned into loving Will and believing we were soulmates. 

Don't worry, she had told me. Any prior Marks would disappear as soon as I received William's bite. 

That statement was what kept me from eating. I would rather starve in the dark than let William control my entire life and force me to lose Adrian's mark. To me, that life wasn't considered living. 

"Rebecca, you know I can't," I replied hoarsely. 

She pushed the tray closer. "Yes, you can. You just won't. I don't understand."

My throat felt raw and powdery as I tried to explain myself to her. "If I survive the bite, I won't be living. Existing under Will's control is not a life. It's slavery."

Every time I told her, she shook her head. Will had her so securely bonded to him that she couldn't budge, even if she wanted to. It was almost as if she had no personal thoughts or opinions, and I wanted so badly to help her. "But you'd be alive. Mr. William says you and he share a love so passionate it cannot be rivaled. How could you pass up such a thing?"

I shook my head, and my neck cracked sharply. I winced. "Outside of here, there's a man who loves me that way. Will and I haven't loved each other in a long time, and even then, it never compared to the way I love this man. I could never be happy here, Rebecca."

When she responded, her voice was quivering. "Mr. William will not be happy that you refuse to eat. He'll come here again and force you to."

Will had tried in vain to force me to eat three times since I had been here. For once, my stubbornness served a purpose, and each attempt failed. I could only hope he wouldn't try a fourth time. 

I didn't reply to Rebecca, and eventually she left with the tray. Once again, the blackness consumed me.

~~~~~~*~~~~~~

Three days passed, and I was not offered any more food or water. On the fourth, a man I had never seen opened the door and set the tray before me.