Chapter 60 : A Day to Day

The surroundings were dark. All she could feel was her breath.
"I'm alive," Rakiza mumbled. Then her eyes adjusted to the darkness. And she began to notice her surroundings.
What exactly is this place? Why is it so cold? She reflected.
Rakiza raised her hand and grasped a railing. "Am I in prison?" She mumbled again. Trying to bring her thoughts back to what had happened. Then she heard a moan and then silence.
"Hello?" She yelled. "What is this place? " She tried to get up to get a better look at the situation, but her right ankle was restrained by a chain. She was shackled. She gradually recalled the cabin, her mother, and Theo.
"Oh, no!" She stood up and shook the iron bars of her cell. "Help! " She made a brief noise, but no one responded. She was the only one in her cell. She was also chained like an animal. She sat back in the corner, thinking. The small rock window lets in a little light. Only birds could fit through the window.
Rakiza was concerned about what might have happened to Theo. She witnessed the vampires cruelly dragging Theo. They were assassins. And she was pretty sure Theo was already dead, so her tears began to flow. Her mother had also gone missing. Then she began to despise vampires and Nikolas.
*I know Nikolas was involved in this*. She thought solemnly.
***
Lupe, Nikolas's trusted driver, was hurrying across the lobby.
Nikolas's room
Lupe walked in while Nikolas was sitting on the couch.
Nikolas said solemnly, "Tell me some good news, Lupe."
Lupe was serious when he said, "If you don't want to hear some bad news, sir, I should go back out."
Nikolas exhaled a sigh. He was overcome with emotion. "All right, I'm ready."
"Our people found the cabin where Rakiza was taken," Lupe began his report. "However, when they arrived, the cabin was already deserted. There isn't any Rakiza in there. "
"How did that turn into bad news?"
"The place was a battleground; the remains of marks were clearly from a fight involving werewolves," Lupe paused. "Claw marks and vampire's spears, as well as a sword, were discovered outside the cabin, sir."
Nikolas remained silent, pondering what had occurred in that location. And he knew her mother was to blame for what happened. "Did you see my mother?"
"The last time I saw her was after you had an argument with her," Lupe replied, and said, "She most likely went to her chamber during her day of sleep."
"She wasn't there," Nikolas raged, and asked again, "Did you ever find any evidence of Rakiza's presence in the cabin?"
Lupe drew a sword from his back and laid it down, saying, "We only recovered this."
Nikolas examined it for a few moments before picking it up. He sniffed the grip and whispered, "Rakiza," a worried expression on his face. He then turned to Lupe. "Lupe, tell our people to find Rakiza discreetly. "Let them do it during the day."
"Yes, sir," Lupe said as he excused himself and walked out.
Nikolas had a feeling Rakiza had already been captured by his mother's general. And he needed to find her before her mother's witch doctor touched Rakiza. He was well aware that the witch doctor possessed the ability to conceal evidence. As a result, Rakiza would be difficult to locate. *Rakiza, where are you?*
***
Rakiza jerked awake when she heard footsteps approaching. She sat quickly after lying on the cold floor. The steps were coming from the steps going down. A torchlight was descending on stone stairs in a dim part of the dungeon.
And she noticed vampire soldiers coming down the stairs. And before them walked a beautiful woman in a black silky gown, who smiled at Rakiza and asked, "How are you?"
"Are you talking to me?" Rakiza inquired.
"Is there anyone else here I could possibly ask?" The lovely lady stated.
"Who are you? Why am I here? " Rakiza asked.
"Well, maybe we should get to know each other first," she said, smiling again. "You can call me Tessa."
Who is this lady? What exactly is she doing here? Rakiza pondered.
And I'm here to meet you in person. You have no idea how relieved I am to see you now. "You're a blessing to us," Tessa said with a smile.
"Are you a vampire as well?"
"Yes, I'm a certified one, and I'm proud of it." She was ecstatic as she watched Rakiza. "Do you want to eat?"
"I'm not sure," Rakiza said as she returned to her seat.
"Didn't anyone explain why you were here?"
"Please tell me," Rakiza groaned.
"Tessa was holding one of the iron grills in Rakiza's cell; her eyes were red in veins and were visible to Rakiza even in a dark place like her cell.
What exactly do you need from me? " Rakiza clenched her teeth."What did you do to Theo?" She exclaimed, "Where is Theo?!"
Tessa Augustus smiled as she said, "Just calm down, Rakiza."
"How did you know my name?" Rakiza was shocked.
"Well, money could buy all the information in the world." Tessa's side smiled.
"Where is Theo? What did you do to Theo? " Rakiza demanded.
"Don't worry, if you just do what we say, he'll live."
"What are you chasing me for?"
"Your bloodstone powers! That's what we need, "Tessa growled angrily.
If that's the case, Theo is correct: you want to enslave all werewolves and rule the entire world. "
"Is there anything wrong with that ambition?"
"Yes! You intend to exterminate all non-vampires, don't you? That is the issue! "
"It's possible, but Rakiza, we're not going to kill everyone."
Tessa abruptly clapped her hands. Rakiza noticed some vampire soldiers dragging someone out of the darkest part of the dungeon.
"Theo?" cried Rakiza.
They also shoved Theo in front of Rakiza's cell.
Theo moaned in agony. Rakiza noticed multiple wounds on his chest and he was wearing nothing but a top.
"What did you do to Theo?" Rakiza crept closer to him, who was unconscious and fainting.
Theo only moaned in agony.
Rakiza's rage was futile, and she snapped, "Do whatever you want me to do, just let Theo go! Leave him alone before I do what you want! "
"What do you want me to do?" she demanded angrily.
"First, tell us about your knowledge of bloodstone."
Rakiza turned to face Tessa. She did not respond right away. She was still deliberating. "I don't know anything about it."
Tessa's face twitched, and she stepped on Theo's injured chest.
Theo screamed in agony, and blood poured from his mouth.
"Don't hurt him!" Rakiza was perplexed.
"If you don't want me to hurt this man," Tessa said sarcastically, hissing, "cooperate."
"My grandfather told me about the bloodstone story," Rakiza exclaimed angrily, "but the bloodstone is just a myth."
"What if I told you that it wasn't a myth?"
Rakiza just stood there staring at Tessa.
"Hundreds of years ago, there was a story about a female hunter named Dali, who had a daughter named Zella.
Rakiza remembered the names Dali and Zella, which she had already heard.
"Dali was a vicious hunter of vampires, including werewolves," Tessa continued. Because of her celestial power, which she inherited from her celestial patron. "
"That's the story in the Book of Zella," Rakiza wondered. "I recall."
"Dali was a good healer, but she had turned against all of us, vampires and werewolves. Dali gave us a headache. That's why we punished her by turning her daughter into a vampire like us. "
Rakiza sighed deeply and added, "And the bloodstone derived from her."
Tessa burst out laughing when she heard Rakiza's name, "Yes! Rakiza, you are a wise woman. That is the truth. Dali devised the treatment for her daughter Zella. That's exactly what we're looking for. "
But why did I get involved in this? " Rakiza frowned, "What do I have to do with the bloodstone?"
"You are what our prophet saw, Rakiza."
"How come?"
Tessa fixed her gaze on Rakiza and abruptly changed the subject. "We'll find out soon," she said, her gaze shifting to the soldiers who were holding Theo. She said as she left the dungeon. "Take him back to his cell, and don't give him food, just water and also Rakiza."
"I'll do everything I can! "Please, let Theo go!" exclaimed Rakiza.
Rakiza's prison cell fell silent. The only thing that could be heard was her sobbing. He called out to Theo. "Theo, tell me what we're going to do to get out of here!"
"Let's just hope for help," Theo groans in the distance.
"I'm sorry I didn't immediately believe what you said, Theo."
"Try to come alive when help arrives, Rakiza," Theo struggled to say.
A few moments later, someone came down the stairs: a woman carrying a bottle of water.
"Please help us," Rakiza begged. "Can you tell me what this place is?"
Rakiza was staring at the woman in the white gown. She also noticed that the woman's eyes were blank. And she was disappointed.
Rakiza, on the other hand, was not easily defeated. She and Theo needed to know where they were imprisoned.
"I just want to know where we are; are we in the city or in the province."
The woman poured the water on the floor near Rakiza's cell, and it was already dark where Theo was.
"Don't leave; tell me the name of the building, and I may owe you a will that I will pay in the future."
"Please help us," Rakiza begged. "Can you tell me what this place is?"
She just stared at the woman in the white gown. Rakiza noticed that the woman's eyes were also blank. And she was disappointed.
The woman left without ever providing Rakiza with any information.
This is a major issue that will be difficult to resolve.
"What am I going to do now, Theo?"
Silence responded.
"Answer me, Theo," Rakiza said, perplexed."Please don't make me nervous."
"Wait for what happens next, Rakiza," Theo said.
Rakiza could barely hear Theo's voice, which was more than a whimper, exacerbating Rakiza's anxiety.
Soon after, another group of soldiers arrived, opened Rakiza's cell, unchained her, and dragged her upstairs.
"Where will you take me?!" she raged, but she knew it was already her fate at the hands of the vampires to "die."
Rakiza knew she was going to perish. And she closed her eyes and accepted whatever was waiting ahead for her.