THE ORGY CHRONICLES
By Jennifer Likes
Chapter 10
And I long night it was! I spent most of the night watching the shadows on
the wall from the one flickering torch that the guards had left lit.
Obviously they were very into getting a certain kind of ambiance that meant
no electrical lighting. I listened to the sounds of Noelin's guards pacing
back and forth, making sure everything was in order, the keys to the cells
jingling on their belts. Amir was asleep, or at least appeared to be, in
the dark cell beside me. But even as he slept, I noticed he was still very
aware, ready to pounce at the slightest noise. I contemplated everything
Amir had told me only hours before. How well they'd disguised their pasts
to protect us. While both Nicole and I thought it odd to not know of any
other vampires, they had certainly thrown us off when they went out to find
others the night Nicole killed Corrie. Why had they done that though? To
throw us off? They knew all vampires were here, under Noelin's command, so
wasn't it pointless to look for others? Or were they looking for other
escapees? I had so many questions, every time I opened my mouth hundreds
flowed out, yet I didn't know where to begin. Questions about this place,
these people, and about Nicole, Bobby, Paige, Ryan, and Jay. Jay... Was it
really only yesterday that he'd promised to tell me what had been on his
mind, why he'd been so distant? He'd seemed so anxious to tell me, so
worried when I'd gone out to feed like I'd done hundreds of times before.
Did he know something was wrong? That Noelin was on to them? Nothing was
making sense. If Jay had known, why wouldn't he have just told me? Because
he was trying to take care of everything himself, carrying the burden so we
wouldn't have to. As difficult as he could be sometimes, that was always
something about him that would never change. He was considered the leader
of the seven of us, and with that responsibility, he tried to take care of
every task, small or large. Amir said Jay finally couldn't take any more
and got the other four and got out of here, was that why he was considered
the leader? I had always wondered, and the only explanation I had was that
he was more vicious than the others, and had simply put fear into them. But
there had to be more. The thoughts swirled around my brain at a dizzying
speed, and I turned over, trying to get some-what comfortable on the wooden
bench/bed.
"Will you stop thinking so much and try to go to sleep?" Amir said in a
drowsy tone. "You're making me nervous."
I had to laugh. Amir always knew when something was on my mind.
"I can't help it!" I whispered into the darkness. "There are so many
things I want to know!"
"And you'll get your answers, all in due time." Amir said with a
yawn.
"QUIET!" A guard screamed at us.
I sighed and turned over again and tried to push all thoughts out of my
mind, trying my best to get some rest.
After a very uncomfortable night, and countless dreams of being trapped, I
awoke not feeling very rested or refreshed. Amir was already up, and
probably had been for a while. He was straining to see through the bars on
the front of his cell, but the chains weren’t allowing it.
“What are you looking for?” I mumbled sleepily.
“Just trying to see where we are exactly.” He replied, his mind obviously
on things other than answering me.
“Do you know?”
“Somewhat. I guess Noelin’s had some renovations done since last I was
here.” The bitterness in Amir’s voice tugged at my heart. He was clearly
upset to be back here, understandably, and trying so hard to conceal it,
possibly for my sake, but more likely to protect his own pride.
We heard footsteps and the now familiar sound of keys jingling, and Amir
immediately resumed his place on the wall, the chains going slack.
“Out! Both of you!” The guard screamed at us.
“Ummm...” Amir said. “I’m kind of chained, if you hadn’t noticed.”
The guard glared at Amir with great animosity. “You’ve grown bolder in
your time away.” He snarled. “But bolder or not, you’re still a weak
little nothing, and that’s all you’ll ever be. I’m surprised you’re this
brave now. After all, your ‘protector’ Jay isn’t here to give you courage!”
In a fluid motion that was quick as lightening, the guard had wrapped the
chain attached to Amir’s wrist around his neck, cutting off his air, which
wouldn’t kill him, but would make him extremely uncomfortable, and probably
pass out. “Beg for mercy!” The guard barked.
I’d never felt so helpless. What could I do from another cell? “Do it.”
I silently prayed. “Do it before that monster does something worse.”
“Mercy.” Amir finally murmured through clenched teeth.
The guard removed the chains from Amir and sent him to the ground gasping
for air. He wouldn’t meet my eyes, either from shame or mind boggling
anger, I’m not sure which, but I was guessing the latter from the completely
evil look he was giving the guard. A terrifying look that said “Some day,
you bastard. Just wait.”
The guard unlocked my cell and yanked me away from the bars separating my
cell from Amir’s, where I had remained, waiting for him to say something.
The guard caught me by the wrist as a struggled away from him and dug his
fingers into the veins in my wrist. “You’ll behave if you know what’s good
for you. And your friend.” he said, jerking his head in Mir’s direction.
His threat silenced the smart-ass remark that had almost sprung from my
lips. Empty threat or not, Amir and the rest of the guys were all I had,
and I wasn’t about to put any of them in danger. Amir too was yanked out of
his cell, and we were lead down a dingy stone corridor and up a seemingly
endless set of winding stairs. Eventually we reached a richly decorated
hallway, and to two huge, elaborately carved wooden doors, with two of
Noelin’s vampire gestapo guards on either side. Speechlessly they pulled
the doors open as if on que, and we were shoved inside. What I saw took the
very breath from my body. A huge ballroom type room unfolded in front of
me, filled with vampires, thousands of them. Conversing and laughing,
carefree as anything. But the words and laughter were empty, even I could
see that. A sadness seemed to be covering the whole room.
“They only appear happy and carefree.” Amir whispered to me as we stood in
the doorway, surveying the room. “Looks can be tremendously deceiving.” He
said with resentment.
I continued to scan the room in disbelief. Fangs glistened in the glowing
firelight, false happiness radiating from empty eyes. I’d never seen
anything like this, and I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to again.
“Unbelievable.” I whispered beneath my breath. Suddenly my eyes met with a
truly gloomy pair, and when I looked closer I saw they belonged to Ryan, who
sat in a corner with Paige, Nicole, Jay, and Bobby. All five looked as if
they would rather brave a sword through the neck than be here. And I didn’t
blame them a bit. Amir followed my gaze and settled his own on our five
unhappy friends. He took my hand and lead me through the crowd and over to
them. As soon as they caught sight of us, we were swept into a group hug
that was out of sheer desperation more than anything. Clinging to the ones
you know, hoping somehow to get through it all. There were frenzied
questions coming from all five, making any chance of answering them
impossible. I was surrounded by “Where were you two?” “We were so worried!
What happened?” and so on, until I gave up trying to even listen, and just
enjoyed being with people I cared about instead of in that horrid cell.
Amir managed to tell them we had been locked up in cells until now. The
others told basically the same story, they’d just been let out a small while
earlier. Suddenly I felt eyes on me, and I turned to see that our little
reunion was quite the attention grabber. People watching us out of the
corner of their eyes, talking in hushed tones about the “new ones.”
“My dark children!” A voice boomed. I looked up from where I was clinging
to Bobby for comfort to see Noelin standing on a platform in the center of
the room. “Welcome! Welcome to my soiree of evil! As you may have
noticed, we have new members in our midst! Well,” Noelin continued, his
stare settling on the seven of us. “two new members, and five that have
come back to us.” The five men protectively positioned themselves in front
of Nicole and me, but I could feel the uneasiness among them. The
stare-down ended with Noelin breaking it and looking around at the rest of
his “children.” “Enjoy yourselves, by all means, enjoy yourself! We shall
rejoice before we feed for the night!”
“He has to let us out to feed!” Nicole whispered, excitement rising in her
voice. “And that means-“
Jay cut her off before she could finish. “He won’t let the seven of us
out, not even Noelin is that stupid.” The utter contempt and disgust in
Jay’s eyes as he watched Noelin be adored by the mindless vampires that
filled through the room was almost vicious, as if he was trying to contain
the primal violence in him. “No.” He continued, straining keep his anger
in check. “He’ll have people watching us at almost every moment, he won’t
want to risk letting us out until he’s positive we’re no longer a risk.” As
Jay spoke, he never once took his eyes off Noelin. How much he must hate
him, I so wanted to know the whole story. Jay’s loathing of Noelin seemed
deeper compared to the other four men. Somewhere before they’d escaped,
something Noelin had done was still with Jay. Something personal. The look
on his face told me he wouldn’t rest until he’d made peace with it, only I
wasn’t sure how he was planning on doing that.
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