Chapter 4
Tom’s days crawled by. There was no window so he couldn’t see the sun and his watch and phone hadn’t been on him when he was taken so he had no real way of knowing how long he had been there. His only way of marking the passage of time was the visits from Lorna. She came by to drop off food every few hours and would sit with him for a few minutes to talk. The food had thankfully improved drastically, going from bagged lunch on that first day to home cooked meals that were as good as anything his grandmother had made.
He got into rhythm with his days, waking up when Lorna brought his first meal, them doing body weight exercises. He would start with a stretching and a short warmup, followed by fifty pushups, moving directly onto fifty crunches then, after minute’s break he would move into twenty-five burpees, followed by fifty air squats. After three sets of each, he would finish with a plank lasting for three minutes.
After that, he would wash himself in the sink, getting as much of the sweat and dirt off of himself as he could without soap. Right around the time he was done with his workout, Lorna would stop by with his lunch and they would sit and make small talk again. During these conversations, Tom would poke and prod subtly, trying to get her to divulge more on what she had alluded to after she had moved him to his current cage. Unfortunately for the captive human, Lorna saw through his efforts and Tom gained nothing usable.
Tom was getting antsy. The waiting had always been the worst part for him and Tom knew he wasn’t the only one. His fireteam had many conversations during times of calm when they were stuck in the middle of the sand, covering everything from their times in the strip clubs surrounding Camp Pendleton to family to sports. Their favorite topic was by far bitching and moaning about whatever their particular aggravation was on that given day. Usually, it was the incompetent officers or staff non comms or the sand or the heat or the God forsaken stench or even those bastard children that threw rocks at them when they patrolled past.
The lack of any type of major events was concerning, if only because it was an obvious sign of a larger plan in motion rather than some simple snatch and grab. As for what that plan was, Tom could only guess. Either way, he knew it was only a matter of time before his captors showed their hand and Tom was determined to ensure he was ready for whatever came.
Finally, on his sixth day of incarceration the cards hit the table. The cell door buzzed in the middle of Tom’s workout and in stepped Lorna, followed closely by Akane, the latter leering at Tom as though she were a fox hound who had finally caught her prey.
“You have been invited to dinner with my father” Lorna said, her face a controlled mask of calm in contrast to Akane’s sneering visage.
Tom paused in the middle of his second set of pushups, his bare torso dripping sweat onto the rough concrete floor of his cell. Before he answered, he finished the set and pushed himself to his feet. He picked up the small hand towel resting on the bed and wiped down his face, then his chest and arms while eyeing the pair of women standing in front of him.
“Well, I’m stuffed right now from my last meal so I might have to take a rain check on that. Give the good man my sincerest apologies.” Tom said dryly, turning his back on the pair. Something slammed into his back, right between his shoulder blades. Stumbling forward, he grunted as he hit the wall in front of him before whirling around as his guard came up. Akane was on him before he completed his turn, her hand closing around his wind pipe like a vice.
Tom’s breath was cut off mid inhale, his esophagus tightening under the immense pressure. Gagging, Tom’s mind accelerated to lightspeed, too much happening in too little time to make any of it coherent. The familiar waves of adrenaline began crashing in on his mind even while the blood from his carotid was failing to make it to his brain.
“You will address him with the proper respect, if you are to address him at all. You are not even fit to shine his shoes you pathetic rat!” the enforcer hissed through her clenched teeth.
With his strength waning fast, Tom had to do something before his brain was shut off. Using his core muscles, he arched his body up and hooked his legs around the arm that was now holding his weight with ease. His left leg went over the top of his right as he twisted his body into position for an armbar. His back strained as he arched, forcing her elbow back against its joint.
The grip loosened ever so slightly, letting a small amount of air and blood to circulate throughout the struggling man’s body. He got a short second wind and was determined to make use of it. He redoubled his efforts, the joint straining against his herculean struggle.
A pop reverberated throughout the small enclosed space as the joint finally gave out, dislocating and bending backwards. Vampires may be overall significantly stronger than a human, usually the equal of two or even more men in a fight. However, when it was something such as merely an arm versus Tom’s entire core and back, even Akane couldn’t compete.
Tom’s back smacked into the floor, air rushing back into his lungs like the high tide covering the beach. Rolling to his hands and knees, he gagged again, a long skein of phlegm and bile spattering the gray concrete floor beneath him.
Akane stood over him, looking at her now hyperextended arm. She let out a long, low chuckle that trailed into a maniacal cackle.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“So, the prey has some fight in him after all. Good! Then this will be so much more fun.” The amazonian woman said.
With grunt and a flex, her inverted elbow snapped back into place with a sickening crunch. She gave the limb a few test flexes before taking a step towards Tom.
“Are you two quite done? We do have a bit of a schedule here. And Dad will be very disappointed if we’re late or his guest is injured, won’t he Miss Yamato?” Lorna said with a sigh as she took a step forward.
Akane paused for a moment, her eyes going distant before letting out a frustrated hiss then whirling around and stalking out of the still open door, her footsteps echoing down the long hallway.
“Are you alright?” Lorna asked taking a step toward him and extending her hand toward him.
Nodding, Tom took the hand and was pulled to his feet by the much shorter woman. He grabbed the cloth from where it had fallen and wiped the bile from his face, feeling the tender flesh of his throat ache as his neck moved. There were going to be some nice bruises the next day.
“Alright, come on. We have to get you presentable.” Lorna said and led him out of the cell, turning left when they hit the hall.
A pair of guards stepped in behind Tom as they walked, hands casually on their MP5 sub-machine guns slung across their chests. He was led through the door at the end of the hall and up a set of stairs that resembled an office building. Finally, they reached the top of the steps and buzzed through one final security door before walking through a door into the open air.
The cool night breeze caressed his skin as they emerged from a small concrete shed and he closed his eyes, taking in a long, slow breath. The air was filled with the scent of the forest, rich earth and sweet pine trees. Wind was whispering through the surrounding tree tops, sending them dancing back and forth. He looked around at his surroundings, trying to see what his best route of egress would be.
“Don’t even think about it kid.” One of the guards said, the click of his safety echoing in the quiet night air.
Tom turned back towards the large house set in the middle of the clearing adjacent to the small hut they had just emerged from. Lights gleamed across the well-manicured lawn, leaving oases of illumination in the dark void of the grass. The house was much smaller than the one that Tom and his team had raided years ago, though he suspected it went much deeper into the ground if the dungeon he had been kept in was anything to go by.
They continued around the side of the house to a back door that opened into a large kitchen, the smell of cooking food wafting through the air enticingly. As he was led through the inside, he noted that the interior looked much more like a luxury apartment building than a mansion as was the case with the compound they had raided four years ago. The kitchen led to a massive communal dining hall filled by long trestle tables; each place set uniformly.
Many of the spots were taken up by small groups of vampires, their conversations melting together into a steady thrum as they tucked into their meals. The chatter tapered off as the outlandish group entered the rooms, eyes locking on Tom as if he was an injured fish in the midst of a feeding frenzy of sharks. Gradually, murmurs began to ripple through the hall as heads leaned closer together. Several of the faces were twisted with mixtures of disgust and hatred, while others looked at him with open hunger, while still others kept a mask of cold neutrality.
After the dining hall, he was taken through another large hall, then several hallways, passing several common areas and meeting rooms as well as a small movie theater. Eventually they entered another wing secluded from the main part of the structure by a set of locked doors with more guards patrolling the hallways outside.
They entered the new wing and finally came upon a hallway with simple but elegant wood doors lining the walls. Lorna led Tom to the far-left door of the hall and opened the door and gestured for Tom to go inside.
“Thank you, you both can wait outside.” Lorna said, turning to look at the two guards flanking Tom.
The two goons hesitated for a moment before nodding and turning to flank the door. Lorna followed her charge inside and shut the door behind them. Tom paced the room with his hands in his pockets, inspecting it for anything he could use to his advantage. He did a smooth about face and said:
“So, what’s the deal? Obviously, your dad didn’t bring me up here just for a complimentary upgrade to the presidential suite. He wants something doesn’t he?”
The small woman shrugged and pointed at the bed
“I have no idea. As far as I know he just wants to meet the man that gave aid to my mother. You should find a new set of clothes in there.”
Tom picked up the clothing bag, unzipped it, revealing a simple but elegant black suit. Tom rolled his eyes and let the bag flop back onto the neatly made bed.
“I don’t suppose there’s a more casual option? I’ve spent way too much time in monkey suits so far and I don’t relish the idea of playing dress up again.” Tom said, thinking back to his days in the Marine Corps and the stifling dress blue alphas.
“Oh, don’t be such a baby. You’ll be fine. You have about an hour and a half before dinner is served so get yourself cleaned up.” Lorna said as she rolled her eyes at him yet again.
“I’ll be back when it’s time. Don’t try anything, the door is being guarded and the windows are sealed.”
With that, she turned on her heel and walked into the hallway, the door swinging shut behind her. Sighing, Tom flopped back onto the soft mattress and closed his eyes, forcing his body to relax for a moment. He let himself drift into the dark void of his own mind, allowing all thoughts and worries to slip away. After a few moments he sighed and sat back up, kneading his eyes with the heels of his hands. He looked at the alarm clock beside the bed and saw it read 10:30
The security of the facility had been very solid so far with no major weak points that he had been able to see, not to mention the fact that he was sure he hadn’t seen all of the security measures that they had in store for him. For now, he would have to bide his time and wait to gather more intel on the facility.
He stripped, leaving his sweats in a pile next to the bed as he walked into the bathroom. He turned the hot water on and steam instantly clouded the mirror. Inside the shower stall were his usual bottles of shampoo, conditioner and bodywash which he assumed they had taken from his shower in his own apartment the night he had been taken.
On the counter sat the rest of his toiletries including toothpaste, toothbrush, deodorant, cologne and even his electric razor. He stepped inside of the shower and moaned in pleasure as the hot water splashed over him, rinsing away the tension and grime from his body. Sighing, he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes again, wallowing in the glorious sensation.