The Heir Of Mercury

Bards, Wizards, Sorcerers, Red Faced Men; Part One

Sam froze, his mind racing. He blinked, taking a moment to process what happened. Eventually, he came to a conclusion. "I deserved that."

"Yeah, you did!" She screamed, suddenly thrusting her hands in the air, palms showing. "Do you know what happened when they took you away? They took Lily! Our precious, baby Lily could be in a grave! And this." She motioned to herself, her features and voice growing sharper. "It took me years to earn the respect I have now. And where were you?" She shoved Sam, and he tumbled. His legs were already beaten, sour, and bruised from all that time in the box and trudging around.

For years, all Sam had to hold onto was coming home to Penny. The sweet, strong-willed Penny he loved and married. The smart, quick-witted young lady he had an adorable baby with. The one he depended on and leaned on in tuff times. One he desperately wanted to be with. She didn't even slightly want him back. She had no need for his pitiful existence. She was overjoyed and thriving without him.

He shook violently as scorching tears poured from deep within his gut. He fell on uneven ground, watching the world spin. He was stuck there, the atmosphere crushing his famished body, absorbing his lasting strength to stand. His whisper was weak, scratchy, and not his own from all those endless, sleepless nights. "It's okay. I'm ready to die."

"Oh, Sam." Penny's soft voice was barely a whisper. So calm, it could be a gentle breeze. She knelt next to him, placing a caring hand on his unmoving shoulder.

"You're so cold. You're not bleeding," she whispered as her hand became urgent. It zoomed from his trembling shoulder to his soft neck. Sam winced, as he sharply pulled away when she went over two puncture marks. "mama's" second favored drinking spot.

Penny gasped. "Vampires..."

The rest of her words were slurred away by Sam's overwhelming thoughts. He barely had time to register two furry hands seize his limp form and drag it along before sorrow and despair led his conscience away.

Sam had no reason to lift his heavy lids or care where he was taken. All that mattered was that his life force-Penny-thought of him like trash. She was all he dreamt about. His only reason to fight and live. And now, when he finally found her... She was no longer his. He should end his misery, sink away into the unknown. Leave the living. He was a waste of space. A waste of others' precious time, limited energy, and great effort.

Sam barely registered being gently set on a soft bed. He didn't care anymore. He was tired of fighting for something not there. All was done-through. Why hadn't Kaylit and Jiden just made a corps out of him? That would have spared him the pain of knowing Penny loathed him. Then he remembered what Penny had said. Right before the fog.

Maybe she would forgive him. What if she did still love him? Maybe he wasn't a waste of space. Maybe he should live.

"Sam." It was her voice. "Sam" her yelling pulled him out of his dark, musty thought fog.

The ground beneath him shook violently, launching him to full consciousness. He tried to sit, only to be stopped by his wrists. He desperately resisted the restraints as dust lingered and crept around him, forming mysterious swirls. There was something itching at his arm. Something he needed to scratch off. A needle-connected to a red, dense liquid.

Blood.

His eyes followed cracks that spider-webbed across walls. Entire chunks of ceiling sat on the ground, surrounded by their own spiderwebs. Dust swirled throughout the room, sneaking around the rubble and spiraling over Penny.

She walked cautiously to Sam, studying him. Her face was almost unreadable but Sam noticed him of disappointment. Sam was caught off-guard by how unalarmed she was with the rubble. Once she made it to Sam, she casually smiled. But, it did not reach her sorrow-filled eyes.