Turned

Chaper 10: Welcoming Jail Cell

Kate groaned and rolled over. Every bone in her body ached and her temple was on fire with pain. She dragged her hand up to her head and held it there. Knocked out again? She thought.

Slowly she peeled her eyes open and took in her surroundings. Where am I? She thought to herself again. Her surroundings were alien to her. She was laying on a dirt floor, or else the floor was buried under sand and dust. The walls were made of clay bricks and the roof was lined with dark wooden arches to support the dirt ceiling. There was a black mat in the back corner that looked to be made of a scratchy cotton, the bed she assumed. Shafts of light entered through a metal door with a small opening lined with metal bars.

"Some kind of jail?..." Kate murmured to herself.

She forced herself to a sitting position, keeping her hand pressed against her temple. The simple motion made her joints flare with pain and the room swim around her. She sat still until the room decided to stop doing the backstroke across her vision.

She gingerly removed her hand from her temple to see it was stained with old blood. The seen flickered. The blood was fresh. Is was his blood. Kate had just-No! She refused to go back to that. The scene returned back to the brick and dirt room.

She wiped the blood off her hand into the dirt furiously. Tears blurred her vision and threatened to tumble out, but she ordered them to stay. Kate blinked away her tears and stood up.

Kate had to wait for the room to stop spinning before she could move. Tentatively she inched towards the barred window of the door. Kate stepped into the light, then quickly jumped back as she remember the burning sensation of the sun light on her skin. She approached the barred window again, this time inching around the slivers of light on the floor.

She reached the window and was about to put her face up to it when she reared back. What am I thinking?! She thought. Putting my ace into sunlight? That'd burn... Assuming it was sunlight...

Cautiously she moved her fingertips into the rays of light. She winced, half expecting them to go up in flames, but they didn't. Kate gingerly moved the rest of her hand into the light, it still didn't burn.

"Guess I only burn in day light... So this must not be sun light. Maybe it's candlelight?" She asked the light, but it didn't answer.

She moved her head into light and peered through the window. Kate saw a dirt tunnel on the other side leading down the right and left of her cell. Tree was a oil lantern hanging by a hook embedded into a wooden arch. Kate assumed the whole tunnel had the wooden archaic supporting the dirt ceiling overhead.

What is this place?... She thought. "Hey! Anyone out there?" Kate shouted into the tunnel, hoping someone would let her out.

After a few minutes without an answer she sighed and glumly sank onto the mat in the back of the cell. Just as it appeared, the mat was scratchy cotton. She rubbed a corner of the mat between her thumb and pointer finger, staring at the grain. Upon close examination, she realized it was actually a dark greenish-black color.

Kate thought back, day dreaming her parents where alive and she was fine. Vampires didn't exist, neither did werewolves or other creatures. Roberto was alive and she'd occasionally see him around town. It would all be normal.

●○●○●

Golden Eyes marched through the woods towards the tunnels. He smiled, his golden eyes shining brighter as he thought about returning back home. Even if it was for a moment, he'd see old friends and family. Then his thoughts turned to the new blood.

The new blood was puzzling. Why would it run right into town and knock itself out? Maybe it just stupid. Or maybe it was rampaging?

Most new bloods threw a huge rampages, known as a first craving, killing anyone and everyone around for a mile. It takes a few days for them to settle down. Even once a new blood settles it's still highly unstable. Some of the most powerful vampires first craving could kill millions and last for weeks. But this one had been different.

It had to be a day old or two at most. It smelled so human... Maybe it was different... He shook his head, lost in thought.

"I'll just figure it out myself." Golden Eyes murmured to himself.

He crouched at the roots of a tree and beat a rhythm on the trunk. The roots spread open, revealing a wooden shute that lead down into darkness. He hoped in with ease, having done this many times. The roots shifted behind him, closing the opening and sealing him inside.