30 Nights

9

LILY

It was like he had switched into a different person and I saw him for what he was. Inhuman. That bothered me more than anything. More than this tiny cell that had no window, and a dirty thin mattress on the floor covered in stains. There were dark stains everywhere in this cold, stone brown cell and I didn't want to think about what they were. Over in the corner was where I guess you were supposed to go to the toilet. You couldn't call it a toilet, it was just a hole in the ground. It stank a lot. There was no sink.

I paced around for a while, not knowing whether I should be tired or awake. I felt that I'd lost all sense of time and space. I didn't know what time of the day or night it was, I knew it was night because the vampires were awake, but that was all.

I could see the vampire guard outside of my cell. He was rigid and didn't move. He could have been a stone statue for all he moved or talked. I couldn't bring myself to lie down on that filthy mattress so I continued to pace but after a while, I found myself leaning against the wall, then my legs started to ache and I ended up crouching in a huddle on the floor. What had I gotten myself into? He said I could leave, I could have run away, I could have escaped all this.

Even more time passed and I realised it was a long time since I'd drunk anything or eaten anything. Not since, his blood was pouring down your throat, a little voice inside my head said. The thought made me want to vomit.

"Hey," I shout at Mr Stone Guard. "Can I have some water?". Mr Stone Guard didn't move or react in anyway. I got up and stood by the old metal bars, giving them a hard shake for good measure, they didn't move either.

"What kind of prison is it this that doesn't even give you a glass of water?" I shout. And suddenly a voice replies, but not the voice of the stone man next to me.

"Will you shut up, some of us are trying to get some rest here," says a loud male voice. And I am pretty sure it is a human voice, it sounds too annoyed, too emotional to be one of them.

And then Mr Stone Guard inclines his head, just a little, towards me.

"You'll all get something to drink soon enough," and I thought I saw the corner of his mouth twitch in response.

"Wow, it speaks," I mutter, moving back to wall. I slump against it, I guess I was going to have to conserve my strength.

***

A sudden movement made me jolt. I can hear metal crunching and there are several guards moving about. And then my cell door is being pulled open. It must be Edric. He must have come to get me out of here.

But no, it isn't Edric, it is just two of the stone faced guards. I can't even really tell them apart. They all wear identical red uniforms, hats on their heads, white skin, no hair or shaved heads, no hair that I could see. They are all tall, big and muscular, and I couldn't imagine any of them cracking their faces with a smile.

"Come down," one says grabbing the chains that still bind my wrists and tugging me along. We walk a short way down a dark corridor. Did they not believe in light? I couldn't see anything and if they hadn't been pulling me along I would never have been able to see where I was going. As it was, I bang into walls many times. Then I'm thrown into a room and the light floods my eyes, making me lose my balance as I skid along the floor.

"Who the hell are you?" I look up to see three people standing and looking down at me. Two men and a woman, all in chains. Clearly the other participants.

I slowly get to my feet. "I'm Lily," I say.

"I don't care what you are called. What are you doing here?" I look up into the eyes of a clearly very angry man. He is much older than me and he is at least 6ft 6 and even when I am standing up, I feel like I am sitting down next to him. He looks bigger than the guards, and those metal chains we are all wearing look child-like on him. He looks strong enough to snap them off.