The Guardian Vampire

The Guardian Vampire - 6

The Vampire Guardian - Ch.6

Tara looked around the dungeon and noticed three others in the dungeon with her. A young girl around the age of seventeen, a young buy around the age of eleven, and Nate. She ignored the others for now and hurried over to Nate. She kneeled by him and shook him lightly. she watched as he stirred and opened his eyes. Iceberg blue eyes stared back at her. She smiled in relief as she saw him regain consciousness. 

"Are you okay?" Nate asked her as he tried to sit up. Tara shook her head in disbelief and put her hand on his chest so he wouldn't get up. 

"You are the one who just got hurt and your asking me if I'm okay?" She sighed and smiled at his light shrug. 

"Just had to make sure you were okay. I wasn't sure if he would bring you down here or hurt you. I'm glad it was the ladder." He said as he place his hand on hers to ease it off. He sat up slowly as to not get dizzy." 

"As much as he would like to hurt me. He has guests tonight and he wouldn't do them while they are around." She said and helped him up. 

"I'm fine, really. It was all part of the plan." He whispered the last part. Tara raised a brow in question.

"What do you mean?" She whispered back. 

"You will see. Can't get much in to detail here." He told her as he nodded over at others in the cell with them. She nodded and followed his glance. 

The older girl sat close to the younger boy and held his hand. The boy seemed more stable even though he was younger. You could tell the girl had been crying and the clothes she was wearing were torn. The boy faired better but seemed small and frail. The expression on his face was one of protection. The girl must be his sister. Tara smiled at the boy and girl and walked over to them slowly. 

"Get away from us! You are one of them!" The girl yailed at Tara as she pulled her little brother closer. The boy shook his head. 

"She's not, Ashley. She seems different." The boy said. 

"Look at her. She's pail, beautiful, and those eyes...I'm telling you, Alex, she's one of them. Stay away from her." She warned her brother. 

"Your right. I am what you think I am, but I promise you I will not hurt you." Tara said softly. 

"I told you. She's not like the other ones. She feels warm. The others feel cold." The boy, Alex, said. 

"How do you know you won't harm us or worse." The girl, Ashley asked. 

"Because, don't you think she would have done it already?" Nate responded impatiently. Tara looked over at him warningly and looked back at Alex and Ashley. 

"Those people are bad people and they put me down here because I'm good. Again, I promise that I would never do anything to hurt the two of you. Can you tell me when and how you guys got down here?" Tara asked them politely. She noticed Ashley relax and Alex let go of her hand. 

Alex walked up to her and reached his hand out. She wasn't sure what the young boy was doing, but she sat still as to not frighten him. She felt him place a hand on the side of her neck and heard him sigh. She thought this peculiar, but let the boy continue. "She is warm, Ashley. And happy. Not cold at all." He said out loud. Tara looked up at the boy in amazement. 

She had heard of people in ancient times being able to sense people's auras and emotions, but she had never met someone that could do it. Therefore, she did not believe them to be real. Could this boy be one of them? An old friend had told her of the few that were found in Aztec tribes. Those times were so long ago that people with theses gifts were hardly ever found. She looked in to the young boys cat like eyes in amazement. She looked over at Nate to make sure he was seeing the same thing she was.

Nate had in fact noticed this and had come to kneel next to Tara. She had not even notice him there. Alex then went over to Nate and placed a hand on his neck. Tara noticed Nate flinch away and she placed a hand on Alex's arm before he touched Nate. "Sweetie, Nate is different from me or you. His aura might hurt you." She told him softly. Alex nodded and looked over at Tara. "I can feel that he is a mixture of hot and cold, but I know he won't harm us." He said as he went back to sit by his older sister. 

Tara smiled at him and she felt a sense of calm wash over her. Next to her, Nate stood up and went to sit on the other side of the long cell. She felt that something was bothering it and only part of it was to what he just saw. She stood up and brushed off her dress. "I'm going to go talk to him, if you guys need anything just let me know." She smiled at them both and hoped with all her heart that when she and Nate found a way to get out of here, she could help Ashley and Alex escape as well.

As she walked  over to Nate, the dim lights in the hall turned off completely. Everything went completely dark. It was so dark that even her enhanced vision wasn't helping much. "They turn the lights off in the early morning, just before the sun rises." Ashley said. Tara shook her head slightly at how scared her voice sounded. She then realized she would have to get to Nate in the pitch black. She tried focusing her eyes ahead and started forward. The cell wasn't big, but it was long in lenght. Tara saw a small flame flicker ahead of her and she smiled as she saw the silhouette of the person holding the fire. Nate. He had the small flame dancing in his right hand. She went to him and sat by him.

"Thank you. I could hardly see." She told him. 

"No problem. Didn't want you tripping over anything." He said as he released the flame and let it go out. 

"Vampires don't trip, Nate. We fall gracefully." She teased  as she bumped her shoulder against his. "You feeling okay?" She asked him.

"I'm fine. Just ready to get out of this place. I've already been here once and I didn't enjoy my stay." He said. 

"You have been down here before?" She asked him. She knew that Ethan had helped Lara escape and Nate was with them, but she didn't know that he was also a prisoner. 

"Yes. Almost a year ago. It was horrible times, I saw horrible things. Then Lara was put in a cell next to me and well, the rest you know." He said softly. Tara put a hand on his hand to reassure him. She expected him to ignore the touch, but instead he turned his hand over and linked his fingers through hers. She smiled softly and lay her head on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry you went through that and that you have to be here again, because of me." She sighed softly. She felt his hand on hers tighten slightly in reassurance. 

"I'm down here with you, to help you. That's worth the worst amount of pain." He said. Tara felt the warm familiar feeling she felt when she was with Nate. She was beginning to love the feeling. 

"Oh, Nate. How are we gonna manage to get out of here?" She asked, worried. Nate let go of her hand to bring it around her shoulder. She felt him pull her in closer to comfort her. "I already told you we had it figured out. Just rest for now and before you know it Ethan and the rest of them will follow through and get us." He whispered to her. She nodded in understanding and relaxed against him. She felt him rub her arm softly, which calmed her down a bit. A few minutes passed by before she remembered an important question. 

"Do you think we will be able to take Ashley and Alex with us? I wouldn't want to leave them here, especially not with Alex's gift." She said quietly. 

"I already knew you wouldn't leave them behind. I trust your judgement and as long as they don't slow us down we can all escape." He said. 

Tara sat there, in Nate's arms thinking about how Alex and Ashley got in the cell in the first place. There parents weren't around and she didn't want to think of what was probably already done to them. She shivered slightly and felt Nate bring her in closer. She smiled softly and was amazed at how he can make her feel vulnerable and safe when all her life she was used to taking care of herself. She did as she was told and relaxed until help came.