Turned

Chapter 11: Great To Be Home

Golden Eyes landed in the entrance way of the tunnels. The tunnels had brick walls, dirt floors and ceiling with wooden arches to support the roof. The main entryway had roots poking in and out of places and over the brick wall. Lanterns hung from the arch ways, painting the room in a golden glow of the burning flames. People milled about, heading towards morning jobs, getting ready to switch guarding shifts, and preparing to go on a hunt. Guards in full chain armor, lined the walls and watched entrances.

A person with blond hair noticed Golden Eyes and shouted, "Hey it's Luke!"

People stopped and turned to face Luke. There was quiet gasp before shouts and cheers came from the crowd.

"Luke is home!" Cried someone from in the crowd.

"Our beloved young prince has returned!" Shouted someone else.

Other shouts and whispered conversations took place. A few dashed off to find Luke's parents and tell them of the great news.

Luke raised one hand, his golden eyes gleaming. The crowd fell silent.

"Now I know I've been away for a long time in this war, and it's not over yet. I am only here for a short time to follow orders." Luke spoke loudly for all of them to hear, his voice rang out crisp and clear.

Sighs and murmurs of disappointment followed his statement.

"But," Luke began again in his crisp voice. "Even though I won't be here long, it's great to be home!" Luke smiled in genuine happiness.

He lowered his hand and people went back to business. Some walked up to him, had small chats, or gave him greetings. He excused himself from the crowd and walked up to one of the few guards he recognized.

"Magnus!" Luke waved trying to get the guards attention.

Magnus turned and smiled when he saw Luke. "Luke! It's great to see you're back."

"Great to be back. Now could you do me a favor?" Luke rocked back and forth slightly on his heels, a bit on edge.

"Anything sir."

Luke lowered his voice, "I need to get to the new bloods cell."

Magnus expression changed and he furrowed his eyebrows. "Sure I can get you there... But may I ask why your interested in the new blood?"

Luke shook his head. "It's nothing really... Just a hunch."

Magnus nodded and took out a key ring containing keys to every locked door in the tunnels, which was at least a hundred. He began to flip through the keys and lead Luke through a certain hall.

"The new blood arrived last night. It was a sure queer one, not even a day old I believe." Magnus said.

Luke hurried behind Magnus. They went down a hall line with metal doors. Each metal door had a small window with bars on it. Every now and then Luke caught a glimpse of something shifting inside the cells and hissing. Most of the time the cell was empty, other times they contained humanoid figures that would growl or hiss.

The farther down the hall they got, he worried more that he might be wrong. It could just be a stupid new blood... He thought, just an idiotic, clueless new blood.

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Kate hadn't noticed how much time had passed, or that she'd drifted off to sleep. But when she heard people approaching she jolted awake. Her senses were alert as she listened to two separate heart beats, and they were getting closer.

She shuffled to a standing position and peered out the small window. She couldn't see them, but she could hear and smell them. They're were moving quickly, as if they had somewhere to be. Then she smelled something funny though... Not human and not like an animal. They're smell made her nose wrinkle in disgust.