The Royal Within

Chapter 15

Keep running. Come on.

My legs burned, but I kept going. My head was pounding from Luna trying to talk me out of it. I wasn't ignoring her because I was annoyed. I was ignoring her, because I knew she could talk me out of it.

It felt like forever before I could see the village. The sun was still peeking put over the hill, and I could see no vampires.

Sprinting through it, I saw the castle. The walls were so dark, that it was hard to see them, and it seemed to soar towards the skies.

My heart thumped repeatedly in my chest, as if telling me to go home. But I took a deep breath. Then I took another one. Nothing seemed to soothe my hurt. Rightfully so, I mean my friends were in captivity, and I was going to attempt to save them.

Which means their lives are in my hands.

Luna I'm going to to try to save my friends. You can help me or I can shut you out.. Please.. Help.

'I know. Which is why I have a plan. Now, I know a fox, who's master is a vampire. That vampire's name is Daniel. He is a guard, and is willing to help get you to the dungeons, and allow you through the tunnels, back to where I will be waiting. Now keep going straight and turn left when you reach the fountain.'

I did as she said, and knocked on the door of the house. It slowly opened, and someone whipped me inside the house. I felt myself flying towards the floor, but hands gripped my arms and pulled me forward.

Once I was standing, a deep voice broke the silence. "Are you ready?"

"Who are you?"

I heard a grunt. "I don't have time for this."

"I need to make sure you are the person I am supposed to be going with."

"Are you going to question everything?"

"It's called common sense. I don't want you to be a vampire kidnapper or something."

"If I wanted to kidnap you, I would have already done it."

"That's comforting. But please, can you tell me who you are, and we need to go."

He sighed. "I'm Daniel. My pet talked to me about you and how you need help."

There was still one question. "Why are you helping us?"

The lights flipped on, and the light burned my eyes. They adjusted, and I saw a pale man with short light brown hair. His eyes were a deep brown, that were on the verge of red.

He smirked. "Let's just say I owe someone a favor."

His smirk sent shivers down my spine, and he motioned me towards a painting.

He clicked the wall near a painting, and the painting slid over.

"Direct passage to the dungeons." He told me. I took a step to look into the dark tunnel. It had occasional torches, but it was dimly lit.

"Start walking." He grumbled.

"Oh no. You are walking in front of me." I have watched enough horror movies to know you never go first.

He looked like he mentally face-palmed himself, and he started down the tunnel.

I followed him, and the closer I got to the tower, the more nervous I felt.

After a few minutes, we reached another door.

"This is it." Daniel said while unlocking the door.

I stood there, and my trembling fingers reached for the door. They touched the cold metal, and the reality of the situation hit me.

I was going into a place with vampires. In fact, one was next to me right now.

But I had to do this. I needed to be calm.

'Be careful'.

I will try.

I looked to Daniel. "Thank you for helping me. I really appreciate you doing this." I looked back to the door. "Now I can try to save them."

"Yeah... No problem." I saw the smirk fade off his face, and it turned into sorrow. The more I looked, the more I realized it wasn't sorrow. It was guilt.

"You ok?" I asked. His eyes bore into mine.

"I will be." With that, his hand landed on mine, and pulled the door open. He tossed me like a doll into a dark room.

I hopped up, and ran to the door. It was too late. The door was shut, and Daniel was gone.

I looked around and saw that it wasn't a room..but a dungeon.

At least he wasn't lying. He did seem..off though.

'He's a vampire. Most are.'

I heard whimpers and grunts in the darkness, and instinctively, I felt for a wall, and pushed myself against it.

I felt a liquid seeping through the back of my shirt. I touched my hand to the wall, and I felt a gooey substance. I held it up to my nose, and even though I don't have a super nose or anything, I could tell what it was.

Blood.

I held in a gasp, and hoped that I was wrong. I stayed against the wall until I realized it was the prisoners making this sound. Then, I ripped myself away from the wall.

My eyes were adjusting, and I could verify what it was. It was blood on the wall.

I stared at it in horror, and tried not think that this blood came from a person.

"Ruth?" A strangled voice asked. There was what sounded like a rattle of chains. "Ruth?!"

I followed the voice, until I reached a cell. I couldn't make out who it was, until they stepped closer to the bars between us.

The blonde hair that used to reflect the sun was now covered in dirt and grime.

"Warren!" One of them is alive. Maybe that means there is another one. "Are the others ok?"

He shook his head. My eyes widened, and the ground looked like it was spinning.

They can't be.. No... They are alright. They're just fine. They have to be.

I put a hand on the bar to steady myself. "Are they-"

"I don't know where they are, or what happened to them." He said exasperated.

I almost cried in happiness, and the dizziness faded away. Nothing was worse than having people taken away from you that you care about.

"Warren just give me a sec, I will get you out."

He shook his head and glanced to the side. "Get out of here. These..things won't spare anyone. You need to go."

"But Warren-" I started.

He interrupted me. "No go.." He paused. "Actually, if you can, can you go and save Scarlet? I don't want her to be here."

I shook my head. "I am not leaving anyone behind."

Warren opened his mouth to argue, but he screamed instead. "RUN RUTH!!"

I stood there confused, and started to run. But it was too late. Too late for my friends. And probably too late forms as well.

A/N
Sorry for any grammatical errors, I just tried to get this chapter out fast for you guys.
Again, thank you so much for reading this! It really makes me so happy that I get the opportunity to share this for everyone!
Also, feel free to comment and share what you're thinking. I love to respond to them!! 😀