Bride To His Darkness-Chapter 310: Stick Together

Back in Carmela’s fortress, the little children remained helplessly cramped in the confines of their cage. With a calm air that bellied his tender age, Alain remained quietly seated in his cage, his impassive gaze focused on the grotesque guards to the eerie dim-lit surrounding. His Amber-brown eyes surveyed the fear-stricken children who remained huddled in their cages, and he noticed how they flinched in fear when the secret door suddenly creaked open.

The sound of her footfalls erupted gasps of terror, whilst the children instinctively hid away. Her baleful presence only meant one thing, and as expected, a cage was opened and a girl was dragged out this time around. Her terrified screams echoed within the dungeon as she was being carried away, and inside the cage was an older blonde-haired girl about twelve, who had rushed out to hold the hand of her crying sister.

"Leave my sister alone! Please!" Pleaded the girl as she came to kneel before Carmela. "She’s only five, I– I beg of you not to hurt my sister!" Cried the girl as she lifted her tear-filled eyes to look at Carmela. To her dismay, her pleas fell on deaf ears as one of the grotesque guards stepped forth to carry her as well, returning her to her cage, whilst she struggled with all her might to free herself.

"No! Let me go!" The girl kicked her leg wildly and wiggled, but her efforts ended up being completely futile, because she was back in her cage. She watched her sister get taken away into the room where those who venture in never come out from, and her helpless cries echoed within the dungeon. Soon after, other children followed suit, already scared to the bones, and Alain simply blinked in cluelessness, whilst observing the scenario that was happening before his very eyes.

Liam, a tousled haired boy who shared a cage with Alain, had been silently watching him since the moment he was shoved into the cage with them, and with a demeanor so unreadable, Liam couldn’t stop himself from inquiring with a quivering voice.

"You don’t look... scared?" He subconsciously raised an inquiring eyebrow.

Alain turned his head to gaze at the boy who was staring at him with wide eyes, and then they heard a sniffle coming from the little girl who was also in their cage. She was huddled in a corner, her tiny arms rubbing away the tears from her eyes as she tried to stifle her cries.

"It’s scary in here. I want to go home." Her soft voice came out as a trembling whisper, and she lifted her head up to gaze at her fellow companions. "I don’t want to stay here, do you think our parents will come find us?"

"My papa always says plans help when things are bad." Little Alain finally murmured, moving his back away from the cold iron bars. "I don’t understand why everyone started to cry when she took the girl away."

"That’s because those who get taken in there never step out." Mark, the freckled boy amongst the three of them, met Alain’s softened gaze with his eyebrows furrowed. "How did you end up here? You don’t seem like someone who would be caught so easily."

"I was caught... off-guard." Alain added the last statement after thinking about it, and he wasn’t lying.

"But... Why are you so calm? The next one to be taken could be one of us. The ones who get taken never come back." Whispered the little girl, as she was too frightened to speak boldly like the rest of them. Alain’s eyes shifted back to the girl who remained shakened, her fingers gripping the edge of her disheveled dress, whilst she struggled not to cry out loud. For her to be this shaken-up, Alain could guess she has been here long enough to witness the horrible scenes of this place.

Regardless of his innocence and cluelessness concerning what was happening right now, Alain understood the gravity of the situation, and he realized that having someone whom he could take daring actions with was crucial. He needed to get out of here and find his family, that much he knew.

"My parents will come for me." Alain answered confidently, "they always do. My Papa is a very strong vampire, and my Mama will tear this place down when I tell her how mean the witch is to me."

"How do you know they’ll come?" Asked Mark, and Alain shrugged.

"Because they love me. And when you’re genuinely loved, someone always comes to save you. My Mama told me this." Alain’s eyes scanned the rest of the sobbing children, and he added, "our parents will come, but we can’t wait. If you’re terrified of something, find means to run from it."

"I thought it was to face it head on?"

"I don’t think we can face those monsters." He pointed out, "making a run for it sounds like an action we’re all capable of doing."

"Then we should stick together from now on, all four of us." Liam nodded to his own suggestion, his messy hair framing his determined eyes, "if we stay together, we can come up with an idea, just like when we play games."

"Teamwork makes dreams work, my big brother says this." The little girl had stopped crying and joined in on their little circle, whilst she found solace in their presence. A spark of hope twinkled in her eyes when all three of them smiled her way, and she felt the safety that had been amiss from her heart.

"I’m Lily." She innocently introduced herself.

"I’m Liam."

"My name’s Mark."

"You can call me Ali."

"Are we really going to be free from this place?" She asked, her eyes shifting to Alain who nodded his head.

"Just picture yourself as one of those heroes we read in storybooks, you’ll feel better."

Once again, a smile that eased their soul was shared amongst the four of them, but they immediately scattered when Carmela stepped out of the darkest path in the dungeon. She seemed to be in a hurry because she was out of the dungeon a lot quicker than usual. Alain’s gaze followed her till he caught sight of the grotesque guard who had the keys to the cage swinging from its waistline.

The sight of it immediately gave Alain an idea.

—-

Climbing up the stone staircase that led to the fortress’s balcony, Carmela held onto the hem of her gown so she could avoid tripping. Her face was contorted into one of obvious irritation, and after making her way to the balcony, she found Marius sitting comfortably on one of the chairs, his leg crossed over the other, and in front of him was someone whom she had warned never to step foot into her fortress. freёnovelkiss.com

"I see," she halted at the entrance, gaining the attention of both Marius and the man he was easily conversing with. "Once more, you’ve decided to act without my knowledge, is that how it’s going to be from now on?" She queried, her hazel eyes fixated on Marius who was playing with a crystal that glowed with an ominous light.

"I thought we agreed that we’ll have nothing to do with this vampire!" She pointed a finger at Draven who remained unaffected by her unwarranted slandering. His gaze moved to the oddly calm Marius, and the demon let out a soft sigh before saying.

"Is it that you do not trust my intention, or is it that you feel that I might stab you in the back once you turn around?" He asked as a matter of fact, but he didn’t wait for a response, "he has offered us more of his help, Carmela and you know it. He’s the reason I knew about the Orb turning human in the first place, he’s the one who helped me get her out of the Palace, as I could not walk past their gate. He’s also the reason behind Alistair, if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have known a wild vampire was born as part of the Chevalier family, so he is helpful to our quest for world domination."

"That doesn’t change the fact that he’s still a vampire." She folded her arms, eyeing the vampire from head to toe, but Draven simply lowered his head in a bow, as if she wasn’t the one she was presently glaring at with pure disdain.

"I’m a vampire, but I lead in Vesunard, not for the Chevalier’s." He explained firmly, "I also want to see their reign crumble into ashes and smoke, and if you can make that achievable, I do not mind switching sides and offering you the assistance you need. But I’m afraid Ivan is more attentive to things than his late Father, the royal family archive in Vesunard has been sealed with a magic I can’t break through, and the only ones capable of accessing it are people I dare not meet. I believe he is still wary of me."

"Didn’t he go into a coma in GreenHollow? Why are his test results in Vesunard?" Marius arched an eyebrow, finding it off-putting that his results had to be taken and sealed in the royal family’s archive.

"It was an order from his Mother," Draven answered, "as far as I know, all the necessary documents concerning the Chevalier’s are sealed in Vesunard, out of reach even to the enemy. If Ivan has a piece of the Orb in his chest, shouldn’t that make him your puppet?"

"It should, but due to some promises I made with his Mother before she died, I have no control over him." His mind went back to the promise, and he hadn’t realized it until now that the scheming woman played him twice.

Their conversation came to an abrupt stop when a maid stepped onto the balcony, and she quickly lowered her head in a bow.

"My Queen, Your Majesty, the runebound council are here as requested." She let them now.

Carmela exchanged meaningful glances with Marius, and the Demon rose from where he was sitting to stand in front of her.

"Shall we?"

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