Chapter 14 - Into The Darkness

Even if I had wanted to, I could not have said a thing in the car. I might have underestimated the wrath of Damon and I suddenly wondered what happened to the man who was in Akbur Hills with his father's doll. There is no way this is the same person.
I was anxious to exit the automobile when I got home. I kept thinking that I would end up like the vampire girl if I kept pressing his buttons too much. But Damon kept venting his anger, calling someone inside the house by the name of Bullet. The burly maniac that had brought me here the first night was still there; his appearance had only changed slightly; his thick, matted beard appeared much more dishevelled.


With a modest bow, he asked Damon, "Yes, alpha?" His further remarks stopped me just as I was ready to leave them alone and head up the stairs.


"Take Ava into the cell; keep her there for 15 hours.."


"What?" I cried out, but Bullet was already lift me up. "Stop! What the hell is wrong with you? Put me down!"
I could hear my screams ringing across the hall as he slung me over his shoulders like I was a feather.


As Damon continued, "Maybe this will teach you a lesson about defying me." I let out an even louder scream.


Bullet unlocked a door leading to creaking, dark stairs and led me down a passage I had not previously seen. I was afraid I might fall off as he sped down the stairs, plunging us deeper into darkness. It smelled like mould, and we were in what appeared to be an unfinished basement. I was surprised that such an unappealing location existed in a mansion like this. We continued down the short corridor until we came to a metal-barred box. The bullet had unlocked a gate and thrown me onto the icy, uneven ground. He secured the jail cell by locking its gates.

"Please, you can't keep me down here," I said as I got up and walked over to the bars. I can't see anything.

The bullet was already disappearing.


"Stop, come back! Please let me out."


The ground was wet and uncomfortable, the minutes seemed to last forever, and the only sound I could hear was the steady drip of water. One lightbulb provided not much illumination. Before I knew it, I found myself tracking cracks in the ground, and I saw a word engraved.
Emily.


Already, it seemed that our fates were the same as I imagined the girl from Akbur Hila sitting here in my place, receiving punishment from Damon's father.
I wondered how many times she had been forced to stay here and for how long. Would it be longer the next time I disobeyed Damon, who stated that it would take fifteen hours this time?


Evan's number was still written on my arm, though it had somewhat faded, as I lifted my sleeve. For the majority of the time, I tried to commit it to memory.
The person who came the next day to let me out was Tessa. She appeared unaffected by this, as though she had done this innumerable times before. I almost took a whiff of the glass of water she was holding.


She muttered, slightly amused, "What did you do?"


"He told me to stay somewhere, but I left."


"You made an attempt to flee? Are you crazy or stupid?"


"I was just..." I had no idea how to respond to her inquiry. A gnawing hunger roared in my belly.


"Mom made you lunch," Tessa answered.
There was a plate in the kitchen that Maria had put out for me, wrapped in parchment paper. It contained a piece of chicken, bread, and some side vegetables.


With a whispered "Eat up," Tessa left me alone.

I ate so much delicious food that I hardly chewed at all. I looked around and noticed that there was a landline phone at the door, hanging on the wall. I read Evans' number again in my head. By now, it had completely vanished from my skin, and as I sprinted for the phone and started dialling, all I could hope was that I had memorized it correctly. Evan became aware of the first ring.


"Ana?"


"It's me, but I don't have much time, I don't think I'm supposed to be using the phone-"


"Where are you?"


"Home-er...Damon's house, did you talk to my dad yet?"


"Not yet; the last time I visited, he wasn't home. Was Damon upset with you? Are you okay?"


"I don't want to talk about that. Tell me more about what you know about Damon," I said, looking around to make sure I was alone.


"He believed his father was a human lover who was too kind and sympathetic to us till he recently died from a vampire attack. Damon thought that killing the humans would lead to the death of the vampires, as they couldn't consume werewolf blood once he became alpha.


"This is insane, he can't kill every single human-"


"He can; Akbur Hills is only one of many werewolf prisons in which we are all imprisoned. However, Damon requires a specific amount of votes from Alphas worldwide in order to carry out his plans, tho the other packs are opposed to this.


"How many votes does he need?"


"The majority, totalling seven, there is an alpha for each continent." "He needs four votes without including himself."


"How many does he have?"


"3."
My stomach turned to mush and my heart fell to my knees.


"He needs one more vote?"


"Yes, and more vampire attacks are happening every day all over the world, which means it's only a matter of time before he gets his final vote."


"We can't let that happen, we have to stop him-"


"The only way to stop him is to prove to the others that a mortal could take him down, we have to kill him."


"Are you aware of his strength? To even harm him, it would likely take a hundred of you-"


There are other ways. My neighbour has previously created a werewolf poison to eliminate a wolfman who had attempted to kidnap her daughter ten years prior. It takes several weeks to assemble the materials and brew it, yet the majority of the ingredients are missing."


"What do you need?"


"Silver, napellus, and wolfsbane—I'm not so sure of the precise list."


"I don't even know how I would find any of that-"

"But, you are in a better position than us. We are shut in and under guard here."


"Even if I do find them, how do I get it back to you?"


"You have to find a way to bring the them back-"


I immediately said in a whisper, "I'll call you back, I have to go," as I heard footsteps getting closer.
With a clank, I slammed the phone down and quickly ran back to where my half-eaten meal was. Maria entered a few seconds later and gave me a suspicious look.


"Who were you talking with?"


"I wasn't talking with anybody."


She seemed doubtful, but she went on fast. She started loading the dishwasher with the dirty dishes she was holding and asked, "What did you do to end up in the cell?"


"I stumbled off when he asked me to stay put while we were out, apparently I am not supposed to ever disobey Damon," I said, chewing large bits of potato while I spoke.


She said with a faint laugh, "You are fortunate that he sentenced you to such a short period of time." I've seen others suffer worse fates for much lesser reasons."


"It sounds like the problem is not me but Damon himself."


"Get used to it; they are our gods and overlords. If they say that the sky is green now, then we all have to agree and smile."


For some minutes, there was a contemplative quietness between us, broken only by the sounds of my noisy chewing and her dishes.


"In any case, where were you? I was shocked when he consented to let you out."


"I went to see the Stationary and Akbur Hills."


"Damon took you to Akbur Hills, and you wandered off?" She asked, her hands freezing as she looked at them in disbelief.


Now that her eyes were wide open, I nodded and said, "It wasn't easy to convince him, it was almost impossible-"


"Tell me everything you saw," she said as she walked carefully toward me and put her hands on my shoulders.


"I saw everything—people, housing complexes, and small businesses." I got to know Emily."


"What is her state of health? Is she fine, healthy?"


"She's fine, she was a mess when we left, Damon was telling her about his father...her mate."


"Indeed, she was his doll; the unfortunate girl was infertile, so they simply dumped her. She spent most of her first year in the cell.


"Do you know a boy named Evan?"


"You don't?" she asked with a gentle smile.