When I woke up on the cold floor, I was hurting my back. The pain itself made it hard for me to get up.
Before I got up, something below me made a jump, and I fell back to the floor. I groaned due to the pain.
Confusion washed over me like water, and I tried hard to think back on what happened.
Where am I?
My mind flashed to painful memories, where I watched my best friend die before my eyes, and I fought miserably against that golden-masked monster.
And I lost, which is expected.
I was able to sit up, and darkness surrounds me like a cloak, and my body keeps jumping over and over.
But I can sense I was moving in something, a carriage or a cart. And more bodies surround me, warm and slicked with heat.
I spoke in a raspy voice, "Who's there?"
A small silhouette in the form of a child spoke in a scared voice next to me, "It's me, Kaden."
Kaden's voice sounded young and high-pitched. His body was slicked with sweat, and I asked. "What happened?"
Kaden said in a low voice, defeated. "The vampires killed so many of us, but those who didn't fight were left spared. They took us and pushed us into these strange boxes, then they put a black cloak over the box."
His words brought confusion in me, and I said nothing. I tried to crawl despite the trembling beneath me, and steadily I was able to reach the black wall in the shadow.
When I reached out to touch the wall, it wasn't a wall; it felt more like a cage with holes in it.
My hands moved over it, and I realized with dismay that we're truly trapped in here, with no escape.
That masked man left me alive for one purpose. To make me suffer for my actions.
I laid down against the cage, and my back throbbed from the movement.
Hours later, my eyes felt sleepy and tired. Voices echoed beyond the black cloth, and the next moment, my eyes burned from the light.
The cloth was removed from the cage, and I looked around me and saw nothing but green—trees, plants, and grass.
Our bodies were drenched in odor, and the vampires surrounded us like a fence, and they stared at us with menacing, sharp red eyes.
I looked around and saw the people in the cage with me, people whose clothes were tattered and almost naked in the spot.
I looked down at my clothes, and blood was soaked on me. The blood was dried and sticky.
One vampire in the front spoke to the others, his eyes cold and expressionless, "Go get them cleaned. We can't bring them into the palace like this."
Everyone, including me, scooted backwards from the front cages when another vampire walked to us and unlocked the cage.
The front cage made a clicking noise, and they dragged each person out of the cage.
A couple of the humans like me whimpered on the spot, terror on their faces.
I was the last one when they pulled me out, their hands pulling me by the hair, and I groaned from the pain.
I pursed my lips tightly so I don't scream out. They dragged me across the woods, and later I saw clear, crystalline water.
They took each of us and threw us in the water like dirty dogs.
When I fell in the water, my eyes burned due to the salty water, and I tried to stand on my shaky legs.
My chest heaving, I wiped my face, getting water out of my eyes.
The vampires didn't step in the water, and they stood there like bodyguards, and the one in the front said,. "Take your clothes off."
I felt a cold shiver throughout my body, and I clenched my hands tightly.
I wanted to refuse, but I knew I had no choice. I looked at the others with me, and I saw them with hesitation on their faces.
The vampires weren't pleased by this, and they sneered at us, "Don't get any wrong ideas. We're not into pathetic worms like you."
I felt my hand grabbed by my leg, and I looked down. It was the young boy trembling on the spot, Kaden.
Although it was dark awhile ago, I recognized his blue eyes. And his face.
I took a deep breath, and I started stripping my clothes. I told myself over and over I just needed to get clean.
There's nothing to be ashamed of; we're all captured people, and we might as well get it over with.
When I got naked, the water below me covered my regions, and everyone around me stripped themselves, and we started washing ourselves with nothing but water.
I splashed my face to get rid of the blood, and my body felt cleaner, but my heart was still heavy from the loss of Jake's death.
As I was lost in my thoughts, the vampires spoke again. "You had enough time."
I looked up, and confusion radiated from me. They must have gotten some towels when I was lost in my thoughts.
They forced us out of the water naked as the day we were born, and they threw the towel at us, along with some clean clothes.
As soon as I dried myself and got dressed, I turned to see Kaden struggling to put on his clothes.
I sighed and lowered myself to his height and helped him put the shirt over his head along with his pants.
Then the vampires stepped forward to us, and my eyes widened when I saw a large chain in their hands.
They cuffed the chains around our wrists; it was cold and hard-line metal. They pulled us away from the water, and Kaden beside me almost fell from the pull.
I carefully held his young shoulders and warned him, "Be careful."
The vampires in front of us got mad when we slowed down, and one of them struck out a whip, striking my back.
Pain flared throughout my back, and I fell to the ground.