Page 56 of Only Human in Strangeville

I really hoped the one that did not led to a bathroom.

The effort of getting there almost left me unconscious again, but I made it and sighed with relief. A bathroom.

Relieving myself, then cleaning up in the sink and drinking water helped drastically. By the time I left the closet-sized room, I was only staggering a little. I tried the handle on the other door, just in case.

It didn’t turn, but moments later, I heard the lock click and someone shoved it inward. I jerked back with just enough balance left to not fall on my ass, but it was a near thing. I cursed the dumbasses who had hit me with tranquilizer. They were lucky they hadn’t killed me. Well, okay, I was the lucky one. They probably didn’t care. They had Nimbus, and while I’m sure they were really pissed off at me, having me dead likely wouldn’t break their hearts. It wasn’t like I had information they needed or anything. My use to them was likely purely revenge.

I just had to figure out how to stay alive long enough to rescue Nimbus and Katsuro if he was captured.

The dumbass from before was the one staring at me. I was pretty sure, anyway. My brain was still a little fuzzy.

“Come on.”

I let him grab my arm and drag me out of the room, staggering more than I needed to, though I was far from steady.

We looked to be in a house of some sort. A big one, judging by the hallway dumbass pulled me down. The floors were old wood and creaked under our feet, and the dark wooden paneling seemed like it should have been decorated with tapestries and paintings, but the walls were bare like the floor. The lighting fixtures were oddly cheap-looking compared to how expensive everything else seemed.

It was a puzzle that didn’t really matter. Likely, the current owners of the house had nothing to do with the light fixtures.

Dumbass jerked me to a halt and shoved open another door.

I wanted to bitch about the treatment, but right now, I kept quiet.

What I saw on the other side of the door stole any words I might have had, anyway.

Katsuro lay sprawled on the floor, a stake shoved through his chest. I could only assume he was still alive based on the little real information I had on vampires and a wealth of lore. He lay in a tangle of limbs. His lovely black hair was no longer contained in a tail and obscured his face. His shirt was ripped, and his pants stained with dirt.

I covered my mouth with my hand to keep my gasp from escaping.

Even worse, Nimbus was in the room. I’d have been happy to see him, but he was still curled up in a little fluffy cinnamon roll, trapped in a glass cage with air holes. He was unconscious, and a golden leash tethered him.

I could nearly feel his torment, though his eyes were shut and his breathing even and slow.

Rounding on my captor, I balled my fists.

He just laughed. “Careful, or we’ll wake the vampire up and lock you in here with him.”

I couldn’t help myself, throwing out a clumsy punch to his face. I knew how to hit people, but my body still wasn’t responding right.

Dumbass just laughed and shoved me to the ground. “We don’t really need you, bitch. Boss wants to play with you a little before we feed you to your boyfriend, but if you make too much trouble, I don’t think he’ll care if we end you early.”

I didn’t get up, defeat draining any energy I had left.

“Gonna leave you here, but just so you don’t go getting any ideas, I wasn’t lying about feeding you to fang face over there. They wake up hungry and out of control. You pull that stake out of him and you’ll do us all a favor. And that cage, well, if you touch it, you won’t live long enough to enact any of those escape plans I’m sure you’re forming.” He leered. “Now be a good girl and sit and stay until we’re ready for you.”

Speechless, I watched as he turned and slammed the door behind himself.

I didn’t get the impression he was lying about anything he’d told me, and I suspected the only reason I was in here was to torment me awhile.

The room didn’t give me a lot of options. No windows, only one door, and Katsuro and Nimbus were here.

Well, it didn’t give me options, but an ancient vampire?

Fuck it. If he killed me, well, hopefully, he could at least rescue Nimbus. I went over to Katsuro and kneeled next to him. It didn’t take much to roll him onto his back, and I brushed some of his long, silky hair off of his face.

Taking a deep breath, I wrapped my hand around the stake and hoped he’d forgive me for dragging him into this mess. There was always the possibility that he wouldn’t kill me, after all.

“Just make sure you rescue Nimbus,” I said, hoping he heard me as I pulled.

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