Chapter 2 WELCOME TO HELL
It was night for humans but morning for vampires. Leo began to drag his feet, these vampiric scoundrels had them marching for hours. The dark creatures that resembled the shapes of humans were all in front with none guarding the sides or the rear. Any one of the captives could have just made a break for it but they were given a single warning, “you run, you die.” The fleeting red forest behind them grew more and more enticing with each step they took, and eventually, one of them gave in. A hunter near the rear of the line suddenly broke from the formation and started sprinting in the opposite direction, towards the distant red forest. Leo looked back at the front to see what the vampires would do, maybe this was it, maybe they could fight back here! Expecting a big alarm or a multitude of them running to chase, the vampires instead were… laughing? The creatures were laughing and exchanging coin? After a series of exchanges one of the vampires who had given coin disappeared before a scream was heard behind the group, Leo turned his head and saw that the one who disappeared was already killing the hunter who was now flailing his arms and legs on the ground while repeatedly being clawed at. Once he was killed… No, he wasn’t killed yet, his arms and legs were shredded and rendered unmovable, to which the fiend fed on him alive. The hunter’s skin started to dry up, his eyes sank into his head and eventually, his entire body turned into another dark husk just like Marcus. Leo couldn’t bear the sight anymore, returning his gaze back to the front of the line where he saw the other vampire’s continuing onward, uncaring and unfazed as this was a normal occurrence.
After seeing how fast that hunter was killed the group was completely demoralized and reality really began to set in on how outmatched they were. Any hope of ‘waiting for the right opportunity’ was extinguished in mere seconds. The speed and awareness of these things were inhuman, unfightable, unwinnable. Nobody else would attempt to escape from fear of sharing the same fate. The only remaining choice was to commit to this death march.
Leo was dreadfully thirsty, all of their weapons and gear were confiscated and the vampire who killed Marcus, who for some reason brandished a vydian cloak, sounded quite familiar to Marcus. Barking orders to the nightly parasites directing them which route to take through this deadened land. Maybe eating Marcus’s heart transferred some of his dialect. (“Damned monsters”) Leo thought to himself.
Eventually, they reached their destination, hell came into view.
The biggest gothic castle Leo has ever seen was floating and surrounded by black clouds. Nightly horrors flocked around the area mimicking birds. Rivers of blood poured from the castle’s windows forming what would be elegant waterfalls if they were that of water and not blood. Leo feared the fate of him and his group, he looked at some of the older hunters for reassurance and they seemed just as scared as he was. It wasn’t reassuring at all.
The group was led to a stockade just outside of the floating castle, near a blood river.
“Move it!” The vampire leader yelled at the group.
They arrived at their destination; the stockade contained wooden animal pens, outer walls made of reddened bricks that wrapped around the outer perimeter, and the middle of the stockade held a small white building on a hill. They were made to stop just at the bottom of the hill. Under view of the white building.
“Stop and look at me!” The vampire leader yelled at the group of captives.
When Leo made eye contact with the vampiric leader, he felt a cold sweat like he’s never experienced before. His thoughts ran adry, his body went numb and an increasingly stinging pain was felt in his neck as vision began to fade. Leo was a small sailboat trapped in a whirlpool as all the surrounding light, including his own gaze, were being sucked into the unbreakable orange eyes of the fiend. Before falling to the jaws of the gaze, one last attempt of resistance was made to shut the light out completely, Leo struggled, but the blinds that were his eyelids didn’t work. His brain had already been rewired.
He had no choice but to submit.
“Remove all your clothings, and line up for the quartermaster!”
He heard the voice echo in his head but witnessed not any movement of the vampire’s lips, nor could an objection be made. The order wasn’t his to resist because his body was no longer his. Possession took hold, controlled by a being far superior to him. With every strip of clothing removed, the foreign feeling of self-preservation was whispering to Leo in attempting to repossess the body, but that only increased the speed of completing his task. He knew this body was tired, exhausted, and thirsty but his needs didn’t matter. The order took priority over his basic needs; for that is the role of servant to a master.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Leo didn't even notice everyone else had been given the same exact order, they were eventually all standing naked, in line, right in front of the white building.
Shortly after, the ‘quartermaster’ emerged from his white reprieve. A short but sturdy looking man wearing a red checkered shirt with overall straps. Leo found solace in knowing his master was far superior to this ‘quartermaster’.
“Good haul. Where did you find them? That can’t be the whole bunch?” The ‘quartermaster’ of the stockade, who had a large list in hand, asked the Master.
“The Former Vampire Lord was hiding this lot in another one of our settlements.” The Master said.
“Is that so?” The ‘quartermaster’ showed a hint of disbelief.
“Yes, a pity that the Lord not only starves us but then allocates lots like this to himself.”
Was that a lie? Leo caught on but didn’t give it too much thought.
“Well how much quartermaster?” The Master asked as the ‘quartermaster’ was looking them over from head to toe.
“You are lucky, they are quite fed. Healthy too. Twenty bloodkin tokens each, thirty for the kid there.” he nodded at Leo.
“Sounds good.” The Master agreed and coin was exchanged.
“I’ll enslave them now.” The ‘quartermaster’ said, taking a few steps up the hill.
“Very well.” The Master nodded before issuing his final command.
“Look at the quartermaster.”
Leo’s eyes snapped to the ‘quartermaster’ whose eyes flashed orange. The hypnotic gaze was like diving from one whirlpool into another, except this whirlpool, resistance wasn’t possible. It felt as if a switch was flipped, this new power was instant, even invigorating.
“You will refer to me as quartermaster.” The quartermaster was way stronger than his former ‘master’. The fact that his former master was even resistible sickened Leo to his stomach. “Reclaim your clothing and walk into the empty pens behind you.” The quartermaster ordered, the order was so thorough and direct. As Leo hunched over to pick up his clothing a tear fell onto his clothes. A smile had formed on his face. He was happy, happy that his new master was so strong. The quartermaster's power felt like a wall that protected him from his vulnerabilities. His old ‘master’ could not even provide that. (What a pathetic excuse for a noble) He thought to himself. Leo didn’t know how he knew that the vydian cape wearing-piece of trash was a noble but he somehow did. Leo also smirked thinking (how much of a bargain they were given up for.)
----------------------------------------
A few days later….
Leo was chained in an animal pen by himself and it felt worse than jail, he was fed animal feed once a day and water twice a day. He felt awful.
Leo just laid on the floor of his pen drawing lines in the dirt. These vampires were smart, they would feed them just enough to keep them alive but not enough to let them care about anything other than food and water. Not enough energy to move, think, or escape. Not to mention the terribly powerful control the quartermaster inflicts on them. Maybe being killed was the merciful way out. He was starting to regret not fighting back in the red forest.
“Psst, yo Leo.” Leo heard someone calling through the wood of the pen. It was Jared, one of the hunters who got captured with him.
“Jared? What's up?” Leo crawled up to the wall, he could see through the gaps in the wood, Jared in the next pen.
“Don't ‘whats up’ me, we need to get the fuck out of here! I was talking with another prisoner and they said after a while they will turn us into thralls, zombie like monsters so they can feed on us over and over again. I don’t know about you but I won’t be waiting around for that. We are going to try and escape.”
“What's the plan?” Leo whispered through the crack.
“I don’t know, that’s why I’m telling you, help us figure something out, the guy next to me said that there are very important people coming tomorrow to ‘browse’ us. Heh, those sick fucks.”
“But Jared, the quartermaster, would be able to instantly stop us… Fine, let's say we managed to get out the stockade. Even if we were to make it past the walls, what do you figure we do once we are outside? Outrun them? They are too fast.”
“What are vampires afraid of the most?”
“I don't know, silver?”
“No Leo the sun, we wait till sun and escape then.”
“There hasn't been sun here for like 3 days man. Those black clouds around the castle are blocking the sun.”
“We just make it out from under the black clouds, and then they won't be able to pursue us for a couple of hours.”
“I guess…maybe there is hope. I’ll try to look for something. If I get the chance.”
“Good that's all I needed to hear.”