Darkened Skye

[Ash]

“Skye.” Alton’s voice called out in a pleasant way, for once addressing her instead of the main prize. As soon as she looked over, his cane was pressing into her jaw so he could examine her neck like every morning. He clicked his tongue, pulling the cane aside. “I don’t understand why he’s not taking the bait.” He said, out loud. Which Skye thought was odd, but he has been talking like she wasn’t even there for days now.

“Not that it’s my place, sir.” Said the thug with the beard, and Alton looked over with an over exaggerated look of shock, but didn’t stop the man. “But if I were to guess the problem, I think it might be the smell.” He suggested.

Before Skye could fully feel insulted, Alton was reacting. “AH!” He gasped, then turned back to the girl. “Is that what that stench is?” He looked her over, or at least faked it. “No.. I think you are onto something. I’ve never seen a lady look so worn out and filthy!” He used the cane to half turn away from her. “Do we have some soap and water?”

“Of course, sir.” The man said, holding up a large wooden bucket, on cue of course.

“Excellent.” Alton said, sounding pleased. Then with that same grin as before, he pulled back out of the way. “Clean her up.”

“Happily, sir.” The huge man said politely, then grabbed the bottom of the bucket and with a strong arm and as much aim as you needed for water, he heaved the contents through the bars and at Skye.

She had no time to react, distracted momentarily by the idea of them actually allowing her to clean up. Then she saw what he was doing, and she barely got a word out before freezing cold water rushed over her. She went to scream, but the other man had a full bucket as well. She caught a big gulp of the disgusting tasting water as she was knocked down. She rolled over, coughing violently and trying to get the taste out of her mouth with a third and fourth bucket full was thrown over her. Knocking her into the floor of the cage.

It seeped into her armor, soaking most of her body through. It was cold, as cold as ice, and it only got colder by the moment. She picked herself, gasping and choking as she watched the water roll off her and caused part of the hay to spread. Just as she was thinking they were done, she felt someone grab her leg.

-

Before anything could happen, the water under her moved on its own. Two bucket’s worth of the water gravitated quickly towards the bars, and solidified instantly into ice. All three men were forced to jump away, Alton even fell to the earth below him with an unpleasant sound of pain to avoid three foot wide spikes of ice from spearing through them. When they all looked up to see what happened, including Skye, they saw the vampire standing next to the girl. His eyes were glowing, focused, and as sharp and cold as the ice he’d created. He clenched his fists tightly to restrain himself from saying anything, but the message was clear.

Alton saw the defiance in the man’s face, and his own face grew dark. “So.. You have taken a liking to her.. Is that why you haven’t killed her?” He was met with silence. Silence that only amplified the friction between them. “Alright boys, let’s move out.” He said, then allowed the two to help him back up before the left.

Eventually they weren’t in sight anymore, and almost as soon, the ice fell against the ground as water and Skye was helped up. “Those bastards don’t know when to quit.” He said, checking her out. “Are you okay?”

Skye was shivering uncontrollably and looked like she’d just been pulled out of a lake, she was coughing and spitting up soapy water, but she nodded. She managed to cough up a thanks. He sighed.

About that time the sheet that protected him from the sun fell into place. “Come on, get out of these.” He instructed, and began to help her out of her armor and clothes. He noticed she didn’t argue, either didn’t have the breath, the will, or the mind to. When she was in just her panties he lead her over to the corner he’d taken up as his own and wrapped the cloak around her. He left her side long enough to do some remodeling.

Skye watched Barsig as he pushed half of the hay into the corner she was in, laid her belongings on the wood to dry, and then returned to her side. “I’m sorry..” She said when he approached, still shivering, still standing.

“For what?” He asked, adjusting the bedding to make a makeshift bed. He didn’t have a real plan, but he knew now he couldn’t leave her by herself. He finally looked back up at her, she was still trying to answer his question, looking more like a mermaid with her mouth trying to form some words. He looked her over again, her hair was still dripping, what little had been soaked completely. His hand reached up, and stopped when she flinched. He wasn’t surprised.. He picked up a lock that was wet, squeezing the water of her blue hair.

Barsig squeezed the water out of her hair and then laid her down in the bed of hay. Next, he laid with her, his back to the rest of the cage, his arm pulling her into his chest and holding her there. She tried to pull away, but his grip was solid. “Relax.. I’m not going to do anything. But you’ll dry faster if we share body heat.” He waited until she finally relaxed, and pulled her in closer, his hand rubbing her upper back. “We can keep warm like this, too.”

-

Skye would be lying if she said she didn’t like being pressed up against the man’s body. Her body eventually stopped trembling despite only being in just a blanket, combined with his scent with every breath, she could probably have fallen asleep. Especially with him holding her like this..
He had pushed her face into his neck, and she has been very aware of her heart beat since.

“I’m sorry..” She repeated, finally

“You never answered me when I asked about what..” He said, his voice was gentle, but loud in her ear. His breath hot.

“For dragging you into this..” She admitted, slowly. “For not just running away when I had the chance..”

She felt his hand start to rub her back. “I know what it feels like to be desperate. You probably felt trapped for a long time. I don’t blame you.” He said honestly.

Skye pulled her head back, to look him in they eye. She was searching for something, as to what was lost even on her. She looked away. “He called you a monster.. But I can’t help but laugh at how funny it is that the kindest person I’ve met is a vampire..” He chuckled at that. She smiled, then let it fade, her eyes come back to him. They were like emeralds. “I don’t even know your name.”

“Barsig.” He said, plainly. “Barsig Crimson.” He met her gaze.

Skye stared at him for a long time, able to see the hints of her own reflection in his eyes; they were pools of crystal blue water. She looked him in the eyes until she couldn’t any more, be it guilt or lack of confidence that was bold enough to match his.. She lowered her eyes to his mouth. The first thing that came to her mind was nothing, she was just averting her eyes. But then she noticed what she was looking at, and part of her was curious if he really was a vampire, did he have fangs? But as the seconds ticked by, her imagination turned to kissing him. It was only natural, to think about that while being so close, but it felt wrong. It felt more wrong the longer she did.

Barsig smiled, she could almost see his teeth. She felt heat explode against her face, and she lowered her eyes. He grinned a bit harder, showing off his the fangs unconsciously. “We’re you just thinking about kissing me?” He teased.

Skye stiffened up, and then instantly hated herself for it. Now he was going to know she was. “Not at all.” She lied, hoping if she lied so good he wouldn’t know she really was. “I was just curious about your fangs is all.” She added, her heart rapidly beating against her rib cage, announcing to him she was lying through her teeth.

Still, his voice was gentle. “Is that so?” He reached his arm from around her, and grabbed her by the chin gently, lifting her to face him. “You can’t see them while you are looking at my chest.” He explained. Skye’s cheeks bloomed with a hot pink. “Ready?” He prompted her, but before she responded, he opened his mouth for her. He tilted his head back and opened just wide enough that when she looked, she could see the two elongated fangs. Skye let out a soft gasp, but then leaned in a little. Without realizing it, her hand moved up and she pressed a finger to the flat side of his fang. He pulled back with another chuckle and took her finger. “Careful. That’s how you lose a finger.”

Skye blushed harder and retreated, she started to pull her hand back, but he held firmly. He adjusted his grasp to hold her forearm, and then pressed her wrist to his mouth. His lips pressed into it, before they pulled back and left his fangs against her exposed skin. She watched, mesmerized. She heard him sigh longingly, and that made her realize he was hurting.. “Are you going to bit me?”

-

Barsig could hear her heart racing, it was a symphony of excitement. He didn’t even mind that she lied to him. It soothed him, strangely. But when he was bold enough to press his fangs against her skin, he regretted it. Her pulse pounded against them, instinct told him there was never a better time to do it, she was in the perfect condition to sink his fangs in, and it was painful to deny his body what he craved. What he needed..

“No.” He said, with a hint of sadness as he pulled her hand away and then let it go. “At least..” He said, remember the rations. He could give her half now, and half afterwards. Maybe that would be enough.. Or maybe he was falling into the madness already, trying to rationalizing attacking her to make it okay to do so.

Luckily for them the debate would be cut short. Unfortunately.. It was abrupt and painful.

During this all neither noticed that the cage has stopped, neither of them noticed the large shadow on the side the sun was rising on, and no one was going to notice the large figure on the opposite side. But when both large men grabbed the sheet and wrenched it off, Barsig was the first to notice.

He didn’t feel the cold air filling the smaller space, actually the opposite. He felt a burning sensation like he hasn’t felt in a long time. The sun’s beams were like acid on his skin and his reaction was to rip himself away from Skye and to the safety of the shadows. He yelled out when he didn’t mean to, but with his back pressed into the bars she grabbed his right arm with his left. There were three large sized blistered patches on his exposed skin, where the sun - in a matter of minutes - ripped open the flesh and began to burn into the raw skin below it. It took but a moment to do the same damage it would take two days in the Titan Desert during the summer. He dug his nails into his shirt sleeve as he tried to cope with the crippling pain, breathing heavily now.

“So the big man does feel pain.” The shorter of the two said from his position in the sun. “Interesting burns though, I think the boss will enjoy learning about that.” He taunted, but when there was more movement in the hay, he glanced over. His eyes landed on Skye, sitting up quickly and adjusting what looked like a blanket around her naked figure, pulling her arms out to fold over the top. He looked very upset to see this, then took assessments of the rest of the cage’s contents. He quickly came to the conclusion that she was either naked under that, or very close to it. He grabbed the bars, and tried to shove the whole cage against the mountain face behind them. “YOU FUCKING WHORE!!” He screamed.

This got Skye’s attention, but she was already getting to her feet. The man felt rage reach up into his throat and make him scream again. She moved between him and the vampire.

“You bitch!” He shoved the cage out of anger, and it moved. His friend with the beard yelled out a warning. “You’ll lie with a mother fucking vampire, after rejecting me!” He screamed, clearly butt hurt. “I’ll rip out your tongue right out of your lying whore mouth, and I’ll feed force feed it to that bastard!”

Skye took the verbal abuse a lot better than you’d think a woman who’s been physically abused over the past week would. She stood a bit taller, and made sure so back up a bit closer to Barsig.

“You think he can fucking save you!?”

“No.” Alton said, the cane’s tapping apparently drowned out by the fit and the yelling.

His thug turned around as if he was ready to punch the master in the face, but when he saw who it was he hesitated long enough to stop himself. “But if you touch my vampire, I’ll do far worse than ripping your tongue out.” He assured the man, who backed away, but still mad he glared into the cage and walked away to cool down. Alton followed him with his eyes before turning to the two. “So the sun does hurt you.” He said, looking past Skye at the heavily breathing male. “I’ve also heard that a vampire heals through consumption of blood. I doubt a little burn will convince you to turn on your..” He cleared his throat, “Your whore.” Then he motioned to the sky. “But if I take away your protection, and tell you that you have 2 hours before we reach the top of the mountain where there’s no place to hide from it, maybe then you won’t be so picky.” He nodded across the way at his other employee who just chuckles and walks off. “Two hours.” And then he also walked off, happy as can be.