Kindled

  Turning away, she sat on her bed as she poked through the contents of her tray. There was a bowl of soup, a large piece of French bread, and a tuna fish sandwich. She had never been a big fan of soup or tuna fish, but her rumbling stomach didn’t care what her taste buds desired. Picking up the sandwich she was about to take a bite when it occurred to her that they had probably drugged her food too.

  She paused with the sandwich halfway to her mouth. Dropping it back down, she stared at the food, trying to ignore the loud, protesting rumble of her stomach. She couldn’t recall the last time she had even had the opportunity to eat. She wanted to push it away, wanted to refuse the food that may very well be laced with even more drugs, but she simply couldn’t.

  She was starving, and she needed some kind of nutrients if she was ever going to escape from this hell hole. Biting deep into the sandwich, she ignored the taste of it as she chewed and swallowed quickly. The soup was cold, but tolerable if she used the bread to sop it up first.

  Her stomach was still rumbling after she finished, but she felt a little better. When she rose again, she didn’t almost fall over. She dropped the tray by the door and turned toward the bathroom. She had noticed a small shower stall in there the other day, and right now that sounded like a little bit of heaven to her.

  She turned on the light, blinking against the harsh glow. The shower head and two knobs came out of the wall. It was set up like a shower on a boat with no curtain, or door; there was simply a drain beneath it. Cassie glanced at the small counter by the sink. There was a travel size bar of soap and shampoo set next to a towel, a brush on the other side. There was no mirror above the sink.

  Cassie stripped quickly out of her soiled clothes and turned the shower on as hot as she could stand it. She stood beneath the water, relishing in the heat and pounding spray as it helped to soothe some of the tension in her knotted muscles. The water was turning cold before she abandoned it. Her body felt much better, her muscles were looser, and not as twisted. Though she was not back to normal, she could now at least move without wincing with every step.

  Beneath the towel she found a set of blue medical scrubs. She stared at them for a long moment; she was loath to put anything on that they had given her. Glancing back at her soiled, stained, stinking clothes that she had no idea how long she had been wearing, she realized that she could not put them back on. They reeked of vomit, BO, and sweat. Wrinkling her nose at them, she grabbed hold of the scrubs and quickly slipped them on.

  She found a toothbrush and a small tube of toothpaste; at least her teeth would not rot out while she was here. She brushed for a long time, eager to get the lingering taste of bile and fish out of her mouth. She worked the tangles out of her hair, wishing that they had thought to leave her conditioner but knowing that she had already received more than she could have hoped for. They had probably only given her these things because they had also grown tired of the stench of her.

  Feeling almost human again, she made her way slowly out of the bathroom, turning the light off. She was surprised, and relieved, to find the light in Julian’s room was on. She hurried toward her bed, kneeling upon it as she peered eagerly into the room in search of him. By the door was a small bag of blood. Cassie turned swiftly away from it, the sight of it making her feel slightly ill again.

  Glancing down, she found Julian lying upon his bed, his arm draped over his eyes. He was also freshly showered with a pair of blue scrubs on. Though he looked clean, and somewhat refreshed, there were tight lines around his mouth, his eyes were squinted shut, and his jaw was clenched. It was obvious that he was battling lingering remnants of pain also.

  Julian moved his arm, peering up at her with one eye. She frowned down at him, her eyebrows drawn together questioningly. “You weren’t here earlier,” she said softly.

  “No, I wasn’t. You’re looking better than yesterday.”

  Cassie started in surprise. “I was here yesterday?” she croaked.

  Amusement flickered across his features. “You were here, but you were barely functioning.”

  Cassie slumped down on her bed, shock left her immobile. She didn’t even remember being in this room yesterday. How bad had she been? What had they done to her that could possibly be worse than the unending volts of electricity she had received today? “What did they do to me?” she whispered.

  Julian was silent for a moment, and then his head appeared over top of the window. “I don’t know princess, but it wasn’t pretty. You were a slobbering, blubbering mess.”

  Cassie glanced sharply at him, her eyes narrowing at his assessment of her condition. “Well, I don’t remember it!” she retorted sharply.

  He grinned down at her, the lines on his face easing slightly. “Don’t get so defensive princess; I’m just stating a fact.”

  Cassie looked at the door behind her, drawing her knees up against her chest. She rested her chin on her knees as dread and horror filtered through her. “How long have I been in here for?” she whispered.

  “I don’t know,” he admitted reluctantly. “Just as I don’t know how long I’ve been here for.”

  She turned her attention back to him. “What have they been doing to you?”

  He frowned at her, shaking back his still damp hair. “Different things. The same as they’ve probably been doing to you.”

  “I don’t remember a lot of it,” she admitted reluctantly.

  He quirked an eyebrow, his eyes full of questions as they scanned her. “You’re lucky then.”

  Cassie shuddered, clinging even tighter to her legs as she began to rock slightly back and forth. “If you call this lucky.”

  He issued a sharp bark of laughter. “No, I call this a bunch of bored men who have too much time on their hands, and some severe mommy and daddy issues. I call this insanity.”

  Cassie couldn’t help but smile at him as she shook her head. “You’re right. Aren’t you going to eat?” she inquired, nodding toward the bag by the door.

  “No, I don’t trust them not to have drugged it.”

  “Neither do I, but you need to keep up your strength. Besides, I ate the food and I’m still standing. If they want to drug us all they have to do is pump it into our rooms. Eat Julian.”

  He hesitated for a moment before shaking his head. “Maybe later.” Cassie sat back on the bed, resting her head against the glass. “You ok princess?”

  “No, are you?”

  He settled in next to her. “Better than before. Apparently they’ve decided to leave us alone for awhile.”

  Cassie snorted softly. “Probably so they can play with the copious amounts of blood they drained from me.”

  “Hmm,” he muttered.

  “Did they take blood from you?”

  “Yes.”

  Cassie’s hands clenched upon her legs, a sharp pain in her arm drew her attention back to it. Though it had stopped burning, it still felt strange, tingly. Releasing her legs, she pushed back the sleeve of her scrubs. Her arm was puckered and bruised with needle marks, but one mark was dark blue with streaks of purple winding out to highlight her veins. She could see whatever they had put into her working its way through her bloodstream.

  Her breath exploded from her, horror tore through her as a strangled cry escaped. Julian’s head snapped toward her, but she couldn’t stop the strange, animalistic noises escaping her. Bolting upright in bed, she clawed at her arm, trying to rip the purple from it. When that didn’t work, she began to squeeze it hard, trying to push the poison, or whatever it was, back out of her body. Because even if it wasn’t a poison, it most certainly was not natural, and it did not belong in her!

  “Cassie! Cassie!”

  She was dimly aware of Julian’s shouts as she pushed harder and harder. Her arm began to bleed as she clawed at it, small gasps of pain and terror tore from her. Cassie bolted off the bed, scrambling to get away. But there was no escape; she could not escape her own skin. She stumbled blindly forward, tripping over her own feet she fell to the floor. He
r knees screamed in protest, but she barely felt it over the mind numbing horror consuming her.

  The discoloration seemed to have stopped spreading, but it was not receding from her veins. She was unaware of the tears spilling down her face until they plopped onto her arm, mixing with her blood. The mewls and squeals coming from her were not normal, but the noises of a frightened, cornered animal. And that was exactly what she felt like.

  “Cassandra!” The loud bangs reverberating through the room finally pierced her terror filled, panic stricken mind. “Cassandra!”

  She blinked, choking back the sobs that clogged her throat. Clinging to her arm, she began to rock back and forth, trying to calm herself. The shaking that racked through her left her muscles aching and her bones full of pain once more. She curled up tighter, leaning over her arm as she clung to it, closing her eyes against the ugly discoloration.

  “Cassie,” Julian’s voice was softer, tinged with worry. “Cassie look at me”

  She took a shuddering breath, trying hard to regain her rapidly unraveling composure. Though she realized she was on the verge of losing her sanity, she could not bring herself to care. “Cassandra, look at me!” he ordered sharply.

  Ever so slowly, she lifted her head, trying to focus her attention upon him. He was staring back at her, his eyes wide with worry, his hands resting above his head on the glass. His shoulders slumped slightly in relief as she focused upon him. Tears continued to slide silently down her face.

  “Come here,” he said softly.

  Closing her eyes, Cassie took a deep breath as she tried to gather her shaking muscles. She continued to cling to her arm as she stumbled to her feet, holding it away from her as if it were a poisonous snake. Which at this point, to her, it was.

  “Let me see,” he said roughly when she was close enough.

  Cassie bit her bottom lip, unable to look again as she held it out to him. She watched his face, saw his pupils dilate at the sight of her blood. Fangs extended briefly before he shook his head, clearing away his hunger, and fierce desire for her blood. His eyes narrowed upon her arm, his forehead furrowed.

  “What does that feel like?” he demanded.

  Cassie shuddered. “It burned when they put it in,” she whispered, unable to keep the tremor from her voice. “Now, now it just is.”

  He glanced up at her, his eyes rapidly scanning her face. “And how do you feel now?” he asked softly.

  Cassie shook her head, biting hard on her bottom lip. “I don’t know. Freaked out, scared.”

  “How do you feel physically?”

  His voice was harsher than it had been; his eyes more intense. Cassie stared back at him, surprised by his forcefulness. “Like crap, but I suppose that is what happens when you have been blasted with electricity for hours on end.”

  He relaxed slightly, but she could sense a current of tension running through him. “Do you know what caused this?” she asked quietly.

  He glanced sharply back at her, his eyes distant and thoughtful as they met hers. “No.”

  Cassie couldn’t shake the unsettling feeling that he was lying to her. Taking a deep breath, she sat back on the bed and dropped her arm to her side. She refused to look at it again, terrified by what she might see there. “Did they give you anything like this?”

  He lifted his eyebrow, tilting his head slightly to the side. “No, they didn’t give me anything like that.”

  “But they took your blood too?” she inquired.

  He nodded as he ran his hair through his platinum hair. His eyes were distant, troubled. “Yes, they did.”

  Cassie folded her hands in her lap, careful not to look at her arm again as she curled up on the bed once more. “I think I’m going to lose my mind,” she admitted softly.

  “You can’t do that.”

  “And why is that?”

  “Cause I can’t be stuck in this hell hole by myself.”

  She chuckled softly, but a single tear slid down her face as she rested her head against the glass again. “If it weren’t for this glass you would rip out my throat.”

  He laughed. “I’m not so sure I could take you princess, and like I said before, I do enjoy my existence.”

  “But you would give it a try?”

  His eyebrow cocked in amusement. “I do love a challenge, but no, probably not.”

  She turned her head to look at him, surprised to find him curled up next to her again, his head resting above hers, his shoulders pressed against the glass by hers. Once again she was struck by the fact that if the glass wasn’t between them, they would be touching. She found that the thought didn’t make her stomach turn as much as it once had.

  He was not such a bad guy, for a cold blooded killer, she amended silently.

  “Then why did you come after me the night of the homecoming dance? You had touched me before that night. Hell, you almost killed me before that night.”

  His grin widened, his eyes twinkled brightly. “Yeah, that was a good night,” he replied wistfully. Cassie shot him a fierce look that only made his smile widen. “Oh come on princess, we had fun that night.”

  “Yeah it was a blast,” she muttered.

  “It was,” he agreed, remembering the night with a lot more fondness than she did. Then again, he hadn’t almost bled to death. “I didn’t get much of an impression off of you that first time we met. If you do recall, I barely got my hands on you.”

  “Just enough to slit my throat open, and don’t tell me that was fun,” she muttered.

  “Not as much fun as our fight at your homecoming dance. That was a blast.” He only grinned at her as she scowled back at him. “That was when I really discovered what you were. And if you do recall, I tended to stay away after that.”

  Cassie was silent, her head bowed. “Yes, you did,” she whispered. “Do you think Devon is close to finding us?”

  Julian snorted softly. “He’s not looking for me princess, at least not here anyway. But no, I don’t believe so.”

  “Are you always so pessimistic?” she inquired.

  He grinned at her, his eyes twinkled with amusement. “Just pragmatic. We don’t even know where we are, for him to track us down...” He shook his head, his eyes closed briefly. “Would be a miracle.”

  Cassie was silent for a moment, trying hard not to let her doubt and fear swamp her. “I believe in miracles.”

  “No, you believe in Devon.”

  Cassie looked at him in surprise. “Excuse me?”

  “You don’t believe in miracles, you believe in Devon.”

  She stared silently at him, contemplating his words. She did believe in Devon, she did have faith that he would find her. That faith was the only thing getting her through this, the only thing keeping her sane. She nodded briefly. “Yes, yes I do. He will find us. He won’t give up until he does.”

  “No, he won’t.” Though he agreed with her, she could tell that Julian didn’t put much faith in the words. “But the likely hood of him finding us is small; we need to come up with a plan. We need to get ourselves out of this.”

  “How?” she whispered miserably, her gaze darted toward the dark mirror opposite her. She was afraid that they were listening, that though she couldn’t see them, they could still hear her.

  “You.” Her eyebrows drew questioningly together as she slowly turned toward him. “When I touched you it was a shock of power unlike any I have ever felt before. If we’re going to get out of this, you are going to have to find that power…”

  “I can’t control it, and they have me drugged,” she interrupted sharply.

  “You can break through it, I know that you can.”

  Cassie met his fevered gaze. “You don’t want me to,” she said softly.

  “Yes, I do. We need to get the hell out of here princess, before they kill us, or turn us into something….”

  Cassie frowned as his voice trailed off, her heart turned over at his words. “Turn us into something?”

  His eyes were hard as they met
hers briefly before nodding toward her arm. “What do you think they gave you?”

  She refused to look at her arm again; she would vomit if she did. And she sure as hell didn’t want to think about what they had put in her. She would go crazy if she did. “I don’t know. I don’t want to know.” He was silent for a moment, his eyes hard, and the band of white momentarily flashing red. “Should I be worried, Julian?” she breathed.

  He shook his head, his eyes becoming normal again. “No princess, you’re fine, but they will give you more. Maybe even something else. We can’t stay here and be their guinea pigs.” Cassie bowed her head to her knees; she had to fight against the fierce shivers that wanted to wrack her. Her flesh was chilled, goose bumps covered her skin. “I know you believe in Devon, but you have to face the fact that he may not be able to find us. Between the two of us, we can get out of here.”

  “Or I could turn on you,” she replied miserably.

  He was silent for a moment, his jaw clenched tightly. “I can take care of myself princess.”

  “Yeah, that’s why you’re here,” she retorted, tired of being called princess.

  He stared at her, his eyebrows raised sharply. A muscle twitched in his cheek before he burst into loud laughter. Cassie’s mouth parted in surprise, his laugh was actually very nice. It was warm, and bright, and had a surprising amount of humor in it. She found herself watching him in fascination, unable to stop herself from smiling along with him.

  His strange blue eyes twinkled with amusement as his laughter faded away and he turned his attention back to her. “Very true princess, very true. But let’s not worry about me in this; let’s worry about getting our asses out of here.”

  Cassie continued to grin at him. “You know, you’re not so bad when you’re in here. And you have a nice laugh.”

  He chuckled softly, resting his forehead against the glass as he stared down at her. “I don’t remember the last time I laughed,” he admitted. “And you had better be careful, it almost sounds like you’re flirting with me princess.”