Page 18 of White Charms and Dark Secrets

One by one, the three men are led to join us against the wall. The once slumbering vampire brings up the rear, and he wears an disturbing smile as he's brought around, the expression sending a shiver down my spine. He relaxes against the wall, and I find myself grateful for the two men standing between us.

Two of the guards go back to the jeep, returning with several small, grey backpacks. They throw the bags at us, one landing at each of our feet.

“These are your new inmate packs. New supplies are dropped into the main pit every twelve hours. There are functioning toilets and shower rooms located in the places marked with a blue circle on your map. These are closed for three hours once a week on rotation. I am sure you will figure it out soon enough,” the bigger guard explains.

I can feel my forehead creasing in confusion.Main pits? Maps?I reach for my pack, lifting it up and unzipping it to peek inside. There's a small pillow, a thin grey blanket, a bottle of water, a small plastic zip-lock bag with basic toiletries, what looks like a few meal replacement bars, and the aforementioned map. This can’t be everything we're being given to survive. This is insane. I look down at my clothes. I’m still dressed in nothing but skimpy shorts and a suddenly way too tight t-shirt. They can’t seriously be throwing me in here dressed like this.

“There are no assigned cells. No assigned bunks. There are hundreds of cells located all over the facility, and they can lock from the inside only. Two bunks in each. Be careful not to step on someone's toes, the older inmates here don't take kindly to people trespassing on their territory,” he continues, his words sounding almost rehearsed. Or maybe he just says them so often they’re burned onto his tongue.

This can't be happening. It can't be.I open my mouth to speak, to proclaim my innocence once again, when the guard’s words spring to echo in my mind. 'You don't want to go in there unconscious and unable to defend yourself.'I gulp, choosing to keep silent despite my growing hysteria.

“All magic users have their magic locked prior to entering the facility. It is a precautionary measure against anyone attempting to break out of here. However, for those of you magically inclined, a word of warning – the other species incarcerated here are not cut off from their abilities. Shifters can still turn, and vampires still bite, so you may wish to take care and make friends, rather than enemies,” he advises, shooting a stern look towards the woman and the guy who'd been staring at the ceiling. They must be magic users.

I'm tempted to use my second sight to see what kind, and start to do so, when I realise that would be a bad idea. Whatever these guards are, they might sense it, and I doubt they'd listen to my protestations of innocence on the basis of me being a witch. From what they've said, it may be possible for magic users to find a way out of this place. So, I'll need to keep my magic unrestricted if I want to save myself from this mess.

“There is no escaping, so don't even try. Nobody has ever escaped our facility,” he adds, as if he could hear the thoughts running through my head. “Anyone have any questions?” he demands, looking at each of us.

When nobody else speaks up, I stay silent, my hands tightening on the strap of my backpack.

“Good,” he grunts, walking to the wall. He slaps his hand on the rocks, closing his eyes in concentration. The rocks start to pull away, leaving a gap in between them. A gap that leads into a small tunnel. “You will all walk into the tunnel. Once I have shut it behind you, the tunnel will open into an entrance room on the other side. It’s probable the other inmates will hear the rocks moving, so prepare yourselves to begreeted.”

The other guards step in closer, I’m sure in case any of us fancy staging a last minute break out attempt. It’s a bit surprising to me, but no one tries anything as we're herded into the tunnel. My breathing all but stops as the wall begins to close behind us. I've never heard of any creature possessing control over rock like that, but if I get out of here I swear to look into it.

Just before the rocks finish closing us in, he offers one final piece of advice. “Try not to die or kill each other!”

Well, that’s reassuring.

I swallow thickly, my heart racing in my chest as the wall on the other side starts to open. I notice the others standing with me are just as tense. Well, other than the vampire; he's looking pretty damn relaxed. A weird, green-tinged light shines on us as the wall comes to a halt, and it takes me a second to notice the people standing across from us, watching, are also bathed beneath the greenish glow. The other inmates. Trying to discern the source of the light, I look up and notice green luminescent crystals lining the ceiling of the cave. I’m sure I would be more impressed with the natural light source if I wasn’t so worried for my life.

The vampire moves first, prowling into the circular-shaped room with confidence. He stalks around the room and eyes all the inmates with circumspect before pausing in front of a man with sandy blond hair. He stands before him for a moment, just staring, but then drops to his knees in front of the man without warning.

Anxious, I wrack my brain, drudging up what little I know of vampires to try and understand what’s happening. Witch-vampires are still alive and much stronger and more powerful than vampires who were turned from humans, who are technically dead. I deduced the vampire that came in with us is the dead kind, due to his lack of breathing. Witch-vampires can go a while without breathing, but not while sleeping for sure. The vampire he’s kneeling before is a witch hybrid, I’d place money on it.

Don't the dead vampires worship the witch-hybrids?

“Trying to steal first bite of the fresh meat?” a voice calls from the furthest edge of the room, drags me from my thoughts. People shuffle aside as a dark-haired man approaches, coming to a halt a few paces away from the blond man. A prominent scar mars the left side of his face in a jagged line.

“Of course,” the blond drawls in response. If possible, his voice sets me even more on edge than I was. “I'm also doing a little recruitment.” He signals to the vampire still kneeling before him on the floor. “You may rise.”

The unnerving sound of something cracking reaches my ears all of a sudden. I turn and spot the shifter next to me has tugged off his clothes and shifts faster than I ever imagined possible. I stare, unable to look away, as his mass expands and fur sprouts out of his skin. I connect the cracking I heard with his bones breaking inside of him. Finally, a hulking grey wolf stands beside me. Wary eyes watch the inmates, but they seem to be ignoring him, instead, focusing their attention on the three of us still standing here like idiots.

He sniffs the air, before grabbing his bag in his jaws and sprinting from the room. Nobody stops him as he leaves. I feel dread pool in my gut.Why go after the wolf when you could go after the defenceless?

The blond hybrid levels us with the full weight of his gaze. “Now, I will only explain this once, so pay attention. It’s really quite simple: If you don’t give us a reason to, we won’t kill you. You see, we have certain dietary needs we wouldmuchrather fulfil with a warm body than a chilled blood bag. So if you comply and bare your necks whenever asked, we will allow you to continue your miserable existence. Do we have an understanding?”

Hell no. Nobody is biting me ever again.

I glance at the others, who have remained silent through his speech, to see what they plan to do. I don’t know them, but others fighting back too would boost whatever meagre odds of survival I have. They’re standing firm, but they’re also not making a move to strike either, as if undecided on what to do.

My magic pulses underneath my skin, as if wanting to remind me it’s there. That I can call it, and it will come to me. However chaotic my powers are because of my curse, surely any result from their use will be better than a slow death by draining, courtesy of criminal vampires.

The blond releases an aggrieved sigh, giving us a disdainful look with a shake of his head. He almost acts as if we’re his children, and he’s disappointed in us for acting out. “Teach them the hard way,” he mutters, waving his hand and turning on his heel to leave. The scarred man steps back as well, leaning against a wall as the other vampires in the room fan out and begin to close in on us.

I’m gearing up to cast a spell when a fist strikes the side of my head from nowhere. I stumble, and my neck rears back from the jarring movement of the hit as my face pulses with pain. Blinking, I try to clear vision so I can identify my attacker. I catch a glimpse of the other two I arrived with attempting to fight off attackers, but I soon lose them when a vampire steps in front of me, blocking my line of sight.The Ripper. Great.

“You talked too much,” he snaps as his hands clutch the front of my shirt and drag me towards him. He brings his mouth down to my neck, and I freeze. Suddenly, I find myself transported back to the night of my attack. All I can feel is the cold air blanketing me on the street that terrifying night and the vampire’s savagery as he tore into me, intent on killing me. The recollection of the helplessness I felt as I began to lose myself and fade away rushes through me again. I feel a tongue lap over my neck, shocking me back to the present and reviving my senses. He hasn’t bitten me. Not yet anyway. It’s just a memory; I can’t give up now. “Someone has tasted you before,” he whispers.

He shoves me away with such force, and the movement so unexpected, I smack into the wall, my face and left wrist taking the brunt of it. A cry of pain slips through my lips, just as I feel a hand grab my hair and yank me back. I twist in his grasp, trying to escape, clawing at his hand with mine in an attempt to dislodge his hold on me. Realising physical fight is futile, I take a deep breath and call on my cursed magic.

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