Chapter CHAPTER THIRTEEN - TOBIAS
I coughed and gasped for air between jugs of water. My heart was racing as I fought against the chains. I have been strapped to the floor for days and every time my body starts to sleep they try to drown me. It started with one jug, but each time they seem to add on another as if it’s going to make me any less tired.
They haven’t let me sleep since they had dragged Willow into the room and tortured her in front of me, and I’m pretty sure that was about five days ago. I will kill Alexander for what he did to her, and I’ll kill Calliope for being behind it all.
The hunger inside of me has pretty much taken over. They refuse to feed me but they leave buckets of blood around the room to draw out the pain of starvation. Alexander said the only way out of here was to kill Willow and there is no doubt in my mind that he’s doing everything in his power to make it impossible for me to say no. Even now the thought of sinking my teeth into any part of her body made me salivate.
I can feel my body growing weaker with each passing day as the possibility of escape becomes increasingly impossible and the hunger continues to chip away at my humanity.
My eyes are killing me. Alexander has kept the lights directly on me since he dragged Willow out of the room and all I want to do is feed on someone and sleep for a week. I felt the consciousness slipping away from me as my eyes begin to close. I could hear the minions talking and barking orders to get more jugs ready.
I growled and began thrashing around on the ground. I was fed up with this shit, so help me God; if I got free I would turn this room into a blood bath and bask in all my glory.
“Give it up Tobias. You won’t be getting out of here and you are going to need the little strength you have left to kill that little blue haired whore.”
I’d love nothing more than to rip Alexander’s head from his shoulders. If given the chance I’d chain him down and repay him for everything that has been done to me, Amelia, and most of all Willow. I hated him for making me want to feed on her.
Alexander waved a minion over who brought him a small tray. On the tray were about five different needles; each of them were a different color and none of them were labeled.
“What the hell is that?” I asked.
My voice was raspy and sounded completely foreign to me. I wasn’t sure if it was an effect of being tortured, or if it was simply because I had barely spoken a word since Alexander electrocuted Willow.
“This is a little something some friends of mine cooked up and I’ve been dying to test it on a guinea pig.”
Alexander sounded way too happy about it. I watched him pick up the first needle which held a clear liquid. I fought against the restraints again as he jabbed the needle into my arm. Being stabbed with a needle didn’t really bother me, but the liquid felt like fire in my veins. It burned as it spread through my body.
I couldn’t see anything but red. I wanted to kill every person in the room. It felt like forever but eventually the burning sensation began to fade, or it became more bearable; I’m not quite sure which.
It wasn’t long after the pain subsided when Alexander stabbed another needle into my arm. This one hurt even more than the last, if that was even possible. I wanted to rip my own veins out to make it stop. My heart was racing and I could barely catch my breath.
“I wonder how Willow would react to some of these shots.” Alexander smirked while examining the third syringe that held a clear blue liquid inside.
“Don’t fucking touch her!” I grunted through clenched teeth.
I could feel my body over heating as my fury grew. I was covered in sweat and it hurt to breath. I felt my chest rise and fall against the chains that held me down with each breath that I took. I would give anything to be able to break free right now.
“Well, it’s a little late for that. You see; while you’re here refusing to kill her for your own freedom, she’s been all too happily negotiating her own release, using everything at her disposal, including that exquisite body of hers.”
I wanted to tell him to fuck off but the only thing that came out was an animalistic growl.
“Don’t believe me I’m guessing? That’s quite alright. But that tattoo on her shoulder looks great while taking her from behind”
I struggled against my restraints again. If he didn’t shut his mouth soon I was going to shut it for him.
“And that adorable little freckle by her belly button? The way she moans and arches her body when you kiss it. Mmm, quite the memory.”
I bellowed in rage as I pulled as hard as I could. I could feel the restraints cutting into my body but I didn’t care.
“You’re fucking dead!” I screamed and One by one I heard the restraints start to snap. I was going to kill him for touching my Willow.
Three minions rushed forward and tried to keep me pinned to the ground. One got close enough for me to sink my teeth into his neck and rip open his carotid artery. Blood flooded into my mouth and the metallic taste washed over me. It felt like heaven but I wasn’t able to feed on him.
I felt the sting of another needle being jabbed into me and it made me feel like I was being paralyzed. It wasn’t a full sedative but it was enough to make me weak. I growled in frustration as my limbs went limp against the floor and new restraints were put in place.
At least the starvation was gone; the hunger was far from sated, but it would have to do for now because God knows they definitely aren’t going to be feeding me any time soon.
“Well that was a very stupid thing to do; he was one of my favorites. Now I’m going to have to take out some of my frustration on someone. Should it be you, or your precious Willow?” Alexander’s eyes glowed with vengeance as he pressed his boot against my throat.
“Me.” My voice came out as barely a whisper.
“I’m sorry what was that? I couldn’t quite hear you.”
I choked against his foot as he applied more pressure.
“I said me! Take it out on me!”
My throat burned as I tried to scream out my words for him to hear me. I could barely breathe and I could feel my trachea being crushed. He finally pulled his foot away and walked away from me. I coughed and wheezed while trying to fill my lungs with air.
I heard someone banging on the door to be let in. I’d been getting used to that sound with the amount of people coming and going. I wasn’t sure where Calliope had found all these volunteers who enjoy watching people being tortured, but I had developed the habit of referring to them as minions. As soon as I was free I was going to feed on every single one of them.
Alexander opened the door and one of his minions dragged in a feisty Willow. She was covered in blood; some of it was dried and old, but some was fresh and glistening under the lights above. If it weren’t for her matted blue hair it might have taken a while to recognize her.
Both anger and hunger rose inside of me. Never have I felt such conflicting emotions; I wanted to rip her apart and feed on her until the rest of my hunger was satisfied, but at the same time I wanted to coddle her and kiss away her pain. It was my fault she was brought here in the first place and I needed to protect her because lord knows no one else in this God forsaken place will.
Willow had lost weight. She was pretty tiny to begin with but now you could clearly see her bones pressing out from her skin. Her eyes were dark and bruised, and even though her face was swollen you could see her cheeks were sunken in.
“Let him up.”
The minions jumped to Alexander’s command. The steel restraints that held me to the floor were unlocked and I was jerked to my feet by Alexander pulling on the chains still cuffed to my arms.
My legs felt like they were going to collapse underneath me. Whatever Alexander had injected me with was definitely doing its job. My throat still burned and I didn’t even have the strength to speak. I wanted to ask Willow if she was alright but by the looks of her that would be a very stupid question.
I watched as Alexander walked over to her and I wanted nothing more than to break his hand when he cupped her face in it. She closed her eyes, but she didn’t fight him off like she did his minion. It made me wonder if what he had said was true. I couldn’t see Willow doing something like that, but if he tortured her enough maybe there wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do to get out of here.
“Hey there princess.” Alexander said in a rather chipper tone before planting a kiss on her lips; she looked absolutely disgusted. Since Alexander was a vampire he didn’t care that her blood had gotten on him, instead he just licked it off.
“She’s absolutely delicious. You should have a bite.” He said before releasing her.
His minions chained her hands to the ground this time so she was forced to stay on her knees. I could see the tears in her eyes, but she wasn’t letting them fall. I was so proud of her and the strength she had. I wanted to kiss her for her bravery.
“Is that a no?” Alexander asked as if it wasn’t obvious. “Well, alright then.”
I watched as he pulled a knife out and placed it against her neck. I began breathing rapidly while trying to contain my anger. He knew pissing me off would force me to give control over to the hunger inside of me, which only increased the chances of me feeding on Willow until she was dead.
I had to clench my teeth together to keep myself from begging him not to hurt her. Willow kept her eyes on mine, which helped me keep myself in control as much as possible. Alexander didn’t seem too happy that his attempt wasn’t working, so he plunged his knife into her shoulder.
Willow cried out in pain but her voice seemed so frail that it broke my heart. She wasn’t meant to withstand this kind of torture; she wasn’t made to be immortal like the rest of us. We might feel pain but for us it is dimmed because we can heal a lot faster than everyone else. With her being completely human, she felt every prolonged minute.
I tried to pull on my chains but it was no use. I was being held in place by one of the minions and, with whatever drug he injected me with, I had the strength of a thirteen year old boy.
“Let him go. I’m sure he’s getting hungry by now.”
I dropped to the ground as the minion released the chains. I held myself up on my hands and knees before I crawled towards Willow. Alexander had walked away from her, but left the knife sticking out of her shoulder.
When I finally reached Willow I cupped her face in my hands and tilted her head up to look at me. She refused to look me in the eyes, but I wasn’t giving up that easily.
“Shh cupcake, it’s me.” I rasped.
Slowly Willow opened her eyes and I could see the tears she was holding back, but what really broke my heart was the fear I saw in her eyes. I knew my eyes were red because I was currently at war with the hunger inside of me. The smell of her blood made me want to devour her.
“I won’t hurt you Willow.”
I pulled her against me as best as I could. It was kind of hard to work around the chains that confined both of us. She buried her face in my chest and I could hear the muffled sobs as she finally let her tears free.
“Its ok baby, let it out. I got you.”
I squeezed my eyes shut as I cradled her against my body. I could feel her hands against my chest and I couldn’t get enough of her touch. It was extremely horrible timing, but being this close to her made my cock react instantly.
I took a deep breath as I examined the blade sticking out of her shoulder. It was at an angle where it missed all major arteries, but still caused her to lose a lot of blood. I grabbed the knife by the handle and pulled it out.
I felt her bite my chest to keep from screaming, which was perfectly ok with me. I dropped the knife to the floor and applied pressure to her wound. She would still lose a lot of blood but had I left it in, it would take a lot longer for her to start healing and there could have been a lot more damage done.
“Feed on her!” Alexander demanded.
“No.” I said through gritted teeth as I held her closer to me.
“Raise him up!” He gestured violently towards a minion.
I barely had time to release Willow when one of the minions wrenched on my chains. I flew backwards as he dragged me across the floor until I was on my knees ten feet away from Willow.
Alexander walked over with a spray bottle in his hand. I watched him screw the lid back on then adjust the setting to mist.
“I’ve always wondered how much this would hurt”
Alexander looked as excited as a child in a candy store as he walked over to me with spray bottle in hand. He lifted it up and pulled on the nozzle. As soon as the mist hit my chest I grunted through gritted teeth as I listened to the sound of my skin sizzling.
“Huh, doesn’t sound as bad as I thought it would. Let’s try that again.”
I kept my eyes at the floor as Alexander walked around me and began spraying my back with whatever concoction he had created. I kept my jaw clenched, but after the fourth and fifth spray I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I cried out from the pain as my body instinctively tried to pull away from him, causing the cuffs to bite deep into my wrists until blood began to run down my arms.
“Stop! What are you doing to him! Please, stop. I’ll do anything you want just stop!” Willow pleaded as she fought against her chains.
“Baby, no!” I spat out through gritted teeth which was only rewarded with another three sprays to the back.
“You’re telling me that you would do anything to protect him even though he’s a monster who has killed hundreds of people?”
“He’s not a monster, you are!”
Alexander walked straight over to her and held the spray bottle in front of her face.
“I’m not sure if I’m supposed to thank you for the compliment or take it as an insult. So let’s just pretend it was a compliment.”
Willow kept her mouth shut and nodded her head slowly without taking her eyes off the spray bottle. My burns would heal and fade; but, if he sprayed her, she would be scarred for life.
“Now, where were we?” Alexander asked and stood up again, pulling the bottle away from her face.
“Protecting Tobias.” She whispered.
“Oh yeah, you were willing to give up anything to save your little vampire play thing.”
Willow looked to me and I shook my head no trying to plead with her not to; whatever he had planned for her would hurt me worse than his acid water ever could.
“So tell me sweetheart, are you willing to give up your life to save his?”
“Yes.”
“No!” I tried to run to her but the minion held tight against my attempt.
“Shut up Tobias. This is between little blue here and me. Another word out of you and I’ll have to do this.”
Alexander held up the bottle behind Willow and pulled the trigger slowly so that only a few drops fell from the nozzle and landed on her shoulder where she was stabbed.
Willow cried out in agony and I had to bite down on my lip to the point that I was drawing blood. There were so many things I wanted to say to him and I wanted nothing more than to skin him alive, but I couldn’t risk hurting her even more.
I dropped to my knees in defeat and Alexander looked all too smug about it. Willow continued to sob silently and Alexander waved to one of his minions to drag her away. I watched them drag her from the room and I was filled with dread and horror at the thought of what they could be doing to her when she wasn’t here with me.
“If I didn’t know any better mate, I’d say she was in love with you. Why else would she be willing to give up her life to save someone who can’t die?”
It felt like someone dropped a ton of bricks on my chest. I couldn’t breathe at his words. Willow loved me? Surly he was mistaken. I didn’t know if I was elated or terrified.
Alexander walked away to put the spray bottle down, but came back with the tray from earlier with the remaining syringes and began pumping the liquids into me one at a time as he beamed triumphantly. The look in his eyes grounded me even though his face made me sick to my stomach; I swore to myself I would get Willow out of here alive.
If there was any possibility of Willow loving me there’s no doubt that it was all but gone now, but if there was even a sliver of hope that Willow could still have feelings for me after all of this, I would have to survive this at all costs.