In the beginning time, she had spent in the establishment, Heidi had expected Nicholas to come to find her quickly but as she spent more time there, the hope she held on to had begun to dissipate with time. No matter how brave she had tried to be, she had been scared knowing the outcome slaves were put into when they didn’t listen to the guards. Feeling Nicholas’ arms tighten around her body, bringing as close as he could to him as she heard him inhale. She couldn’t say how content and safe she felt at this moment. He had come for her in the end, it didn’t matter when but he had come and that was all she needed. The way he held her right now, quietly cherishing her in his hold gave her an impression that he was scared to let her go. She hugged him back, burring herself in him. Though he didn’t talk about it, she could feel his emotions pass through her. It made her think how much of a fright she must have given him that he had gone to the extent of chaining her to the foot of his bed. Not bothering about it anymore, she asked,
“How did you find me?”
“One of Rhys’ servant spotted you in the market two days ago,” at the thought of Heidi being put as an object to bid, Nicholas gritted his teeth in anger, “Did anything happen while you were there?”
Heidi shook her head, “No,” she pulled back to give him a small smile, “But I killed him,” her voice felt small.
“How do you feel about it?”
“I…”
“I won’t judge you, Heidi. How did you feel after killing him? Do you regret killing that person?” he asked, calculating her expression while also tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear.
Heidi cast her eyes on the buttons of his shirt, “I don’t know… Maybe, I am not regretful about it.”
“Then why is there worry I see in your eyes? Are you worried what I think about you now?” when she raised her eyes to meet his, the lord chuckled, “I think you were very brave back then for killing the man yourself. And if you didn’t I would have done the job, so don’t worry my sweet darling girl.”
He touched the chain that wound around her ankle which snapped open, “Don’t run away from me, Heidi,” he whispered above her lips, “I will accept you in any form, any day and any time without a single doubt. I will be your ally until life turns me to dust,” this brought tears in her eyes and she began to cry, the tears she had been holding back all this while, the dam finally broke and Nicholas rubbed her head, quietly listening to the hiccups until it died down.
After Heidi was fed, Nicholas carried her to his bath, setting her down in the water. One week and she had turned weak. He frowned when saw the bones sticking out of her body. It was when he turned her around did his eyes turn dark. There was whip-like mark that ran across her bare back now.
“Who did this?” Heidi could feel the rippling anger coming from Nicholas.
“The guard…that died,” she muttered unable to confess the words ‘the guard I killed’. She still found it hard to believe that she had done it.
“I see,” Nicholas closed his eyes as his jaws ticked. He wished he could have gotten there sooner to rip the man with his own hands.
“I feel your anger…”
“That is because I *am *angry,” Heidi turned back to look at him. Something untold lurked in his eyes, his face looked grave and his posture a little stiff. She smiled.
This time, she was the one to place both her hands on either side of his cheek and she kissed him on his lips, “I am alright. Something’s just cannot be undone and all we can do is look forward, hoping everything will get better.”
Exactly after a week, trials were held at the court of the council with Duke Dorian Scathlok being called in front of the whole council as he had tried to tamper with the truce which was placed by the council. He was also convicted for working with the black witches in an effort to create havoc in the empires by creating half vampires whose transformation hadn’t gone well, resulting in deranged vampires who were deemed not to be fit to live due to their volatile nature. It was also revealed that he was responsible for killing the councilman to persuade the divide between the humans and vampires.
Raymond Curtis was charged guilty for having taken a part in the Duke’s and the late Lord Norman of the South. The court council had its own punishment and prison. Though Heidi’s uncle was sent to the prison, the council saw fit, the Duke was sent to Bonelake as promised.
The dungeon that was located not far from the Rune mansion echoed with screams of pain and agony. After a very long time, it was a full house in the dungeon. With the number of people who were involved in sending and keeping Heidi there, the number of guests had only increased.
“Ahhhh!” the man screamed as a knife was stabbed into his stomach.
“This is a very special knife which master had gifted me after I served him for a year. I thought it should be an opportune moment to use it,” Stanley the butler of the Rune mansion blabbered, least bothered with the number of screams that passed through the chubby man’s mouth, “But then that’s not what’s making your skin burn. You see this,” he lifted a jar which looked like a polluted jar of water, “This is one of my very rare creations I have been meaning to use but we hardly have any humans here. It is very rare-”
“I will kill you, you little lowlife!” the man growled at him to see the butler raise his finger.
“Ah-ah-ah! Mr Wilford, you forget that I am not the victim and you aren’t the torturer. It is the opposite. I hope you like the next one,” with that the butler stabbed another knife bringing out blood from the man’s mouth. The butler wore a white apron which was now sprinkled with blood, his hair tied into his usual ponytail. He hummed as he dipped another knife into the jar, “It is an absolute privilege to be doing this to you. After all, I have always dreamed to settle our scores.”
Mr Wilford laughed darkly, “Why does it still haunt you? Being raped in the confines of the cell before you were sold.”
“You are wrong,” Stanley pulled out the knife from his body, “I actually enjoy being taken by men. It is a fan-ta-sy.”
“Ahhh!!!!” the man screamed, spluttering blood from his mouth before it fell on the ground.