Page 33 of Cinderella and Her Vampires (Dirty Paranormal Fairytale Haremlan 5)

CINDY

Silas was as good as gone, much to my growing annoyance. I really wished he would make up his mind. His back and forth was aggravating.

Outside of a strange sensation that almost overwhelmed me on the way to the mansion, I hadn’t seen a single hint of him. The sensation happened as I came to an alleyway. I had stopped dead center and stared into its darkness. A sudden urge to rush down the length came over me. I was instantly aroused beyond all belief. Then the sensation ended, and I was able to breathe.

I couldn’t have been sure that was Silas, but I didn’t see him. Not that I was disappointed. Not being hassled by him was just fine by me. But the fact he disappeared the second my back was turned pissed me off like no other.

He could have at least said goodbye. Sheesh.

Of course, it wasn’t beyond me that he could have known I was on my way and was making it a point to get there before me. But that was speculation, and I seldom liked doing such things. Never mind it wouldn’t have made sense for him to know my plans. I hadn’t spoken of them to anyone.

As it so happened, I made it to the mansion not long after that strange encounter with the alley and headed inside. This time, I wasn’t going to give up no matter what happened. I wasn’t going to fall to distraction. I wasn’t going to let anyone, or anything, stand in the way this time. I was going to find that man once and for all.

I had found the basement by going down the hall I had found blondie—aka Brock—turning from the first night I bumped into him within the hall. I figured he was hiding something behind him and was trying to keep the location of the basement a secret while trying to distract me with his presence.

I discovered I was right when I came to a staircase that spiraled downward. As soon as I was halfway down the winding staircase, I was smiling to myself. This was the farthest I had come. I was so close to finding out where that man was now and clearing my conscience. But the second my foot settled on the floor my smile faded.

Everything was covered with the black of night. Everywhere I looked, my eyes were filled was darkness. The air was moist, the area was dank, and there was a strong scent of must. If I breathed in too deep, there was also a hint of decay that mixed in with the moisture, and it clung to the back of my throat, making me gag.

I tried not to breathe so deep.

The basement was the opposite of how the state of things were upstairs. The differences were like night and day. The lowest level of the mansion was every part of what I imagined when I thought of a place being abandoned. Especially with the stories this place had come with. It was neglected and desolate and light wasn’t something that existed. Not where I was. This was the very appearance I had expected to find when I first came to this godforsaken mansion.

The reality to match the stories that ended up a lot closer to the truth than I was comfortable with. I tried not to think about that though. Whether the man realized it or not, he needed me and was depending on me to find him so he could escape.

I continued to move forward, gritting my teeth, rolling my eyes with every step I made. My movements were loud and sounded hollow within the desolate depths of the mansion. Not to mention they were a dead giveaway to my presence, and I couldn’t have those asshole vampires breathing down my neck any more than they already had. Especially down here.

My heartbeats drummed in my ears with an odd electrical sound constantly hummed through the air. Every breath sounded like a rush of wind. Seconds felt as though they ticked by slowly. Much, much slower than normal.

But as I cautiously made my way through the basement, my eyes became adjusted to the darkness, and I was able to pick out the shape of doors. Dozens of them. I walked up to one and saw that they opened to small rooms. Well, they were more like jail or prison cells.

“Barbarians,” I whispered. I could only imagine what the purpose of the rooms were for and I was appalled by everything within my vision that matched my suspicions. The whole idea made me shudder. I pushed the nightmarish thoughts to the back of my mind and kept moving forward, continuing to search for that man.

I approached another one of the cells and peeked through the opening in the door. I couldn’t see a thing. But one idea was becoming clearer by the second, and it was a fact I couldn’t continue to ignore… This wasn’t a basement. It was a dungeon.

A cough echoed to me. It sounded deep and dry, and it came from a man. Not unlike the one I just so happened to be searching for, though I had absolutely no idea what his coughs would sound like. Regardless, I sucked in a breath and snapped my attention in the direction of the sound.

Someone was down here. A man. And I was willing to bet he was the one man I had been searching for.

I started looking for the person who made the sound. I started rushing to each of the cells, desperately looking inside each of them, trying to find a hint of him. I started to feel the rush of hope flooding through my system, even though everything in me had reason to believe there was no reason to hope. Even if I found him, and I was going to find him, there was going to be nothing I could do to help him.

I wasn’t a doctor, and the closest thing to medical training I had was the CPR class I had to take for my business license.

Well, whoever it was, I wanted to save them. Regardless of how they got here or why. No one deserved to be locked up like an animal. Not even animals deserved to be locked up in a place like this. This place was hell on earth. A place of nightmares. Only evil, dark things could survive in a place like this. Only dark deeds could be done in a place like this.

Those retched vampires better hope they don’t cross my path. Or they were going to get a piece of my mind.

After the fifth or sixth room I came to, I finally found him. He was chained up to a wall, hidden in the shadows. I barely saw him. If he hadn’t moved when I glanced into the cell, I wouldn’t have found him. I entered the room and rushed toward him to make sure he was okay.

A chair covered in rust and blood sat in the corner of the room. I didn’t have to guess to know they tortured him.

The assholes.

He groaned as I approached him. He barely looked at me.

“I’m going to get you some help,” I said and touched his arm.

He jerked back from me. It was like he was repulsed by my touch. Or perhaps he was tortured and the idea of another human being touching him gently was unfathomable for him.

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