The Vampire’s Servant
Chapter 48

[Echo]

I woke up with a headache. Normally, after getting hit, I didn't fall unconscious and never hurt for longer than a few minutes. I'd always healed fast.

Looking around, I started to grow terrified. I was in a stone room with a bare bulb high in the ceiling. In the corner was a sink and toilet. I was laid out on a mattress with a blanket that was not quite thick enough to fight off the cold of the room. The door looked normal. It wasn't a cell door with bars, but it also didn't seem to go up to anything. There was no way this room was above ground. It had the scent and the feel of a basement. There were no windows to confirm it. Tears welled up in my eyes. I didn't remember what happened, only an impact. What had I done that got me put here? This wasn't Victor's basement. It wasn't the one at my parents' house.

I got up off the mattress and went to the door. Testing the handle, I could feel that it was locked. I needed to get out. I needed to go home.

Regret washed over me. There were so many things I still had to do and learn. Why was I in this place? I wanted Victor. I wanted Gray. I wanted my siblings and friends.

I started heading to the mattress again, when there was a rattling at the door. I stayed back from it, out of arms reach. A man entered the room.

He wasn't familiar. He was a little taller than Victor, with dark hair and eyes. His frame was lithe, but muscular. In his left hand, he held a sports bottle.

"Good, you're actually awake. Sorry Matt hit you so hard. He thought you could take a punch since you're part vampire and wanted to make sure he knocked you out. He's lucky you aren't human. That hit would've killed you." The man chuckled. "Please." I said softly. "Let me go home. I won't say anything about this to anyone. I'm only seventeen. I have school on Monday. My guardian will be worried about me."

"Don't try that, kid. I know the truth. Your master is probably looking for you, but he won't find you. The boss has this place spelled up. Nothing can find us unless we want it to. Now, the boss wants you fed. You can come take it easy, or I can force it. I'm not above either option." He said.

I looked at him, but he only had the bottle in his hand. There didn't seem to be any food anywhere. I glanced from the bottle up to his face.

He popped the top and held it out to me. I inched closer. Through the nearly see through top, I could see something red and thick. The scent of blood hit me and I backed off, shaking my head.

"No. Please. I need real food. I'm only part vampire. I don't drink blood." I told him.

"You either get over here and drink or I come over there and make you. The boss says you're on a feeding schedule as soon as you wake up. I'm not gonna be the man to piss him off."

I kept backing up. I wasn't going to do that. I couldn't drink blood. The thought of it made my stomach twist.

He sighed and advanced on me. The door was wide open. If I could get to it, I could lock him in and run. I didn't know where I was, but anywhere else was better.

When he was far enough from the door, I bolted to the side and tried to run past him. He was much faster than I'd expected and was in front of the doorway in a matter of moments. I yipped and tried to change direction, but I wasn't fast enough.

His hand grasped my arm and I found myself pinned, with my back against the wall and his arm holding my shoulders and chest down. I wiggled and tried to get free, but couldn't budge him.

"That was a bad choice, kid. You're not as fast as a vampire and nowhere near as fast as a rogue wolf." He growled.

A whimper escaped me. A rogue wolf attacked and nearly killed Victor. I didn't want to die. I wasn't ready to be a vampire.

"Open up, bitch. I won't tell you again. I'll shove this thing into your mouth."

The sharp edge of the stones in the wall was burying into my back. I didn't have a choice. I couldn't escape, I couldn't fight back. I opened my mouth.

He put the spout in and started gripping the bottle tighter, spraying blood into my mouth. At first my throat didn't want to work and I choked a little. He growled at me and I focused on swallowing the blood he was squeezing into my mouth in strong streams. Soon, the bottle was only giving blood tinged air when he squeezed. I was barely able to control my stomach. It roiled with the heavy liquid. I hated it. I hated him. I hated whoever his boss was.

"Good girl. I'll be back in a few hours with your next meal. Don't fight me next time. I will wrestle your ass to the ground and do this all over again. Boss doesn't care how we get it in you, just as long as we do." He told me.

I nodded, not trusting myself to not throw up if I tried to speak. He looked satisfied and released me. I fell to the floor without him holding me up against the wall anymore.

"There's a cloth by the sink. Clean yourself up. You got your food all over your face." He said before he closed the door.

I sobbed, feeling so violated. It took a few minutes before I was able to pull myself off the cold floor and make my way to the sink. I ran the water until it was hot and washed my entire face. I didn't want even a speck of that blood on my skin. When I finally felt clean again, I made my way back to the mattress on the floor and bundled up under the blanket. None of the things anyone had ever done to me had made me feel so disgusted. My tears hadn't stopped since he left. Was this my life now? How long before they came in to make me do other things? I curled into a ball, crossing my arms over my chest.

Someone found out what I was. Victor told me what they do to female dhampyrs. I thought I was safe with him. I was too trusting of other people.

The memory of what happened flooded back to me. Mr. Martin must be the Matt person the man was talking about. He hit me. He took me from in front of my home.

"Please, Victor, please come save me again. I'll be better this time. Please find me." I whispered.

I drifted into a fitful sleep. Crying had left me exhausted and I didn't have any reason to have to live in this reality when I could slip off into my dreams. I could only hope that my dreams would be happier than the real world.

-

I was awakened by the sound of the locks on the door being thrown. Quickly, I sat up. It couldn't be time again already, could it? I didn't want to drink more blood.

The man entered the room again. He had the sports bottle in his hand again. A stifled sob escaped me.

"Crying isn't gonna work. You gonna come drink, or do I gotta make you drink again?" He sighed. "Please. I don't want it. I don't drink blood." I whimpered.

"Is that your final answer, girlie?" He asked.

I bit my lips together. He gave me a disappointed look and advanced on me quickly. I had time to pull my arms from the blanket to try and fight him off, but ended up with him sitting on my hips and holding my arms above my head in one hand. He pulled the spout open with his teeth and put it to my lips. I kept them sealed. The man growled and his grip on my wrists tightened making me cry out. He used that opening to get the bottle tip into my mouth and start squeezing.

No matter how much I struggled or fought against it, the blood made its way into me. I ended up drinking it all again. I needed to make this stop. There had to be a way to get him on my side. Some way to make him see me as a real person.

The man pulled the bottle from my mouth and smirked. "We can keep doing this all you want, kid. I'm always gonna win and you're always gonna drink. You should make this easier on yourself."

"I'm not a full vampire. I need real food." I told him, my voice quivering.

"The boss knows more about you and your kind than I do. I'm gonna listen to the guy who pays me and not the girl who lies to me."

"I never lied. I swear. I'm not my master's human servant. He's taking care of me until I'm eighteen, I just work around the house to pay him back." I said.

"Not gonna give it up. I get it. You think lying is gonna keep the boss from doing you. Nothing stops him from what he wants." He snickered.

"My name is Echo Nightshade. Victor Nightshade is the master of this territory. He's going to come for me and it'll be easier on you if you let me go." I told him as firmly as I could muster.

He laughed and got very close to my face. "The only vampire I answer to is the one who pays me. I ain't afraid of your master. You keep forgetting, he has to find you first."

"Please. I'm... I'm the mate of a werewolf. My mate is the brother of an Alpha. A whole pack of werewolves is looking for me too."

"You're good. That didn't smell like a lie either. Doesn't matter, though. I don't give a fucking damn about pack wolves. They're house pets, disconnected from the world. Too bad for your mate, sweetheart. Once the boss marks you as his, your mate can find another. He'll forget about you, the vampire will forget about you, and all you'll have left is the boss and whatever he allows you to have. I'll be back in a few more hours with your next meal. Don't fight me again... or do, I like pinning little girls to the floor and watching them squirm beneath me." He chuckled and got up.

A shiver went through me. There was no appealing to men who didn't fear anything. I was nothing to him. Not even a person. Just a possession.

It made me think more of Gray. I'd been so harsh to him and planned to use him for my own purposes. He really wanted me to love him, but I didn't even consider his heart.

Guilt washed over me. Maybe I deserved this. I didn't deserve to have love from either Victor or Gray.

I curled up in a ball again. My heart felt empty. All I wanted to do was hide away from everything, my thoughts, my memories, all the hope I foolishly had for the future.

"I'm sorry, Gray. I'm sorry I didn't give you a real chance. I'm sorry I didn't reject you right away. I hope your next mate is a better person than me. I knew I wasn't meant for you." I murmured as I stared at the lines of the stone walls.