Dark Hunger

"Ahhhh!" Laurel screamed as a burning pain stung her skin. "Are you insane?" she yelled. The skin where the belt lashed, was bruised with a red mark and blood oozing out. She scrambled back from Vaden. In her entire life she hadn't been treated like this. Even the king was very nice to her, and yet this bloody demon had the audacity to hit her? Laurel was considered to be a beautiful woman in Ixoviya and the demon was hell bent on making her ugly. And why wasn't her magic coming out? Who was suppressing it?

"Insane?" Vaden growled. "You shithead!" He lashed another strike with his belt. 

Laurel screamed loudly as her entire body recoiled with tremendous pain. "Wh— what are you doing?" she said, her eyes wide and shocked, numbing her state of mind. She started crying. "Why didn't you pick up Elize when I had pushed you in front of her? Even if the king had cast his glamor on me, why would I push myself to you and not the queen? Did that get into your brain?" Another strike fell on her and Laurel screamed and cursed him. "Stop!" But Vaden wouldn't stop. He lashed her again and again until she was bleeding. 

"It was because of you that we lost such a fantastic chance!" Vaden growled, peeling his lips back from his fangs. He took a step closer, dragging his blood-soaked belt. "It was because of you that my king will stay in his feral form! Had we got the vampire, he would have fed on her and regained his human form." He hit her again and Laurel shouted more. "You call yourself a sorceress? You are nothing but a filthy bitch who wants to whore her way to the throne of Ixoviya. You are of no value to us in this mission. We see no use of keeping you alive." Saying that he hit her again and this time the belt slashed across her face. Her blood curdling scream echoed in the cave. She was on the dirty and damp floor with her blood sprayed everywhere and with an inch broad red mark across her face. She was howling with fear, with anger, with frustration. She was numb with pain. From the corner of her eyes, she saw a crow entering the cave. The moment it touched the ground, its wings exploded and black smoke surrounded it. When the smoke dissipated, a demoness emerged. 

"Vaden!" A female's voice stopped the demon midair. He whipped his head towards the source of the cold voice. 

"M'lady," he said and bowed to her. "This woman has failed us. I am so sorry, but I tried my best. The sorcerer king took the vampire away, and we can't find him. He switched his wife with this sorceress using his spells." 

When Arryn had got the information that Vaden had returned, she flew back to the cave in her feral form. She was excited that the vampire queen was finally captured. She would offer it to her father and then demand her freedom, but when she saw that instead of the vampire, he had brought the sorceress, rage filled her chest. She walked up to the sorceress. She gave a very cold stare to the weeping woman and said, "Chain her to the wall. My father will feed on her. At least he would be able to regain some of his magic! This would be her punishment for not fulfilling the deal she made with us."

Laurel was sobbing and howling with excruciating pain numbing every part of her body. "No. Please don't!" she whispered. Her lips were swollen and there were red stops in her vision. She had thought of becoming the queen. These people would have killed the vampire by now. Had things gone okay, she would have been with the king, in his bed, but now… now she is on the dirty, cold and stony ground of an unknown cave, all bloodied up. All at once, two demons came and they dragged her to the corner of the cave, where they chained her to the wall. 

Arryn called Vaden and said, "I am going to meet someone. When my father comes, show him his prey." Saying that she walked to the center of the cave. She dropped into a crouching position and when she shot up in the air, she had shifted into a crow. She flew out of the cave. 

--- 

"How is Dawn doing?" asked Elize with a big smile. "I would love to see her." 

Daryn's face beamed. "She is as pregnant as one can be," he replied. "But let me tell you man—her mood swings are dangerous!" 

Elize stared at Daryn with narrowed eyes. "Do you want me to tell her that you are complaining about her?" 

Daryn paled. "Hell no!" He rubbed his hand over his mouth. "Women in our family are dangerous creatures!" He looked at Caleb for support, but his big brother seemed to have stitched his lips. Caleb only stared into space. 

Suddenly the flap of the tent lifted. Panting and slick with a sheen of sweat, Cole dashed in. His shock was evident in his widened eyes. He looked so flustered that Caleb, Daryn and Elize knew that he had seen Auril. Elize got up from her place seeing his scattered expressions and disheveled looks. His locks had fallen over his forehead. 

Cole pointed outside. "I saw— I saw—" He looked from Elize to Caleb to Daryn. Would they even know what he saw? What if they ridiculed him? What if they never believed him? "Th— there was a man on the outside." He still blurted it out. 

Caleb's expressions grew serious. His brows furrowed. Did Auril try to meet Cole? 

"He— he was standing beneath a tree. I— I have seen that man in Yorkshire. How come he was here?" asked Cole with baffled expressions. He went to Elize. "I saw him when Dawn and I were living in that apartment. Elize, do you remember?" 

Elize blinked at him, feeling utterly sorry and trying to hold her tears. "You have to explain to me properly, Cole," she said and held his hand. She guided him to sit on the bed. She looked at Caleb who immediately got up to fetch water for him. When Cole sat down, Elize patted his back so that he caught his breath. "Tell me all about it, slowly."

Cole stared at her for a long moment and then started. "I saw that man for the first time when I was eleven. He saved me from a bunch of bullies at school who had followed me and hit me. I don't know what happened but after he saved me, none of the bullies dared to hit me again. I wanted to thank him for his generosity, but I never got the chance because I never got to meet him again. I thought this was just something out of blue and had shoved the incident at the back of my mind, but bam! I saw him again two years later. And after that… I saw him today. And he was standing right over there." He pointed at his back with his thumb. "And when I— I—" she swallowed his saliva. "And when I ran to meet him, he disappeared!" He gazed at everyone in the tent. Did they even believe what he was saying? He held Elize's hand. "You believe me, don't you?"