• CHAPTER 184 - PRISONER

    The first day is always the worst.

    After the anesthetic had worn off, I was still exhausted, but I stayed up the whole first night at that prison, unconsciously tracing circles on my baby bump. I was in a daze; I still couldn’t process what was happening or what was going to happen to me. I was stripped of my home environment and home life and forced into the life as a prisoner; I was food for those monsters. It was only a matter of time until they would eat me, and I would probably be prepared; I knew there was no way to escape this time.

    Even though I feared for my life, I was happy deep down. I knew Kai was safe; he went back home safely and no longer had a part in my doom. They had originally planned for him to watch me die in front of his very being. Maybe Hisao possessed a soft spot somewhere in him and opted to spare Kai any more agony. Not only was it bad enough that he would have watched me die, but he would have had to watch our unborn children die with me.

    Speaking of the babies, we still never named them. We never knew the genders, but I was confident of the genders from the dream I had. The most beautiful children I had ever seen and they were mine; Hiro and Yasuko. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the picture of the ultrasound from the other day and unfolded it. It was almost dawn outside and there was only one torch lighting my prison cell, so it was difficult to see the images of my babies.

    For a while before I pulled the picture out, I kept an apathetic appearance and managed to drain my emotions. But when I saw that picture once more, my emotions immediately resurfaced and I broke down. I buried my face in my hands and sobbed loudly; I was petrified of what was going to happen to me. Couldn’t they at least have waited until I gave birth? No; they had already grown impatient enough after having to wait for two and a half years.

    “My babies…” I sobbed, not even caring who could hear my agony.

    It was torture already; I just wanted to die instantly rather than have to wait. I would be a fool to try suicide again; I could only imagine how many of my friends and relatives would be disappointed in me. I had tried it multiple times; there was no way I would try again. Maybe I could try to negotiate with Minoru and Kaiba—or Hisao. Maybe I could convince them myself to wait for another couple of centuries for the next girl. But, then again the next girl would probably be like me; she would have a lover to worry for her too and suffer her pain. But there—hopefully—wouldn’t be another man like Kai, who would have to suffer with bringing the girl to her death. I didn’t know who the last person was that the contract was bound to—nor do I know if there ever was another besides Kai—but I couldn’t have another one suffer as he had.

    “You’re awake?” I heard Minoru call out to me from outside of the prison cell. “Have you been awake this whole time?”

    I glanced over at him with tears still streaming down my face and I looked down and nodded, quickly putting my ultrasound picture away, “I can’t sleep,”

    “I assumed the anesthetic would have knocked you out again,” he tsked. “I assumed wrongly.”

    “Kai is home?” I squeaked quietly, timidly looking up at Minoru again as he stood at the cell door with his arms crossed and leaning against the bars. “You sent Kai home?”

    A moment of silence went by and Minoru’s face went from apathetic to having a smug grin across his face, “Yes, we sent him home,”

    “You promise?” I pleaded. “You promise me that he won’t watch me die?”

    Minoru chuckled, “I promise. He returned to an empty home; either way, it’s torture for him.”

    I smiled halfheartedly and sighed in relief, “Thank goodness he’s okay…”

    Minoru pulled out a key from his pocket and unlocked the prison door. I would have done the cliché thing and tried to escape the room, but I knew I didn’t stand a fighting chance against him. If I couldn’t even elude him in my dreams, what made me think I would be able to pass him in real life? Especially considering how he and Kaiba nearly killed me before in the mirror room?

    The door shut and he locked it once more, ensuring my lack of escape. He glided over to me and seated himself next to me. I curled up in a ball to try to avoid him; even though he was a little more than a foot away from me, I was still incredibly uncomfortable; who knew what he would want to do with me?

    “Six more days,” Minoru spoke up, not looking at me.

    I looked up at him, “What?”

    “You’ve been granted six more days to finally prepare yourself,” he peeked at me from the corner of his eye.

    I blinked a couple of times, “Six days until you…kill me?”

    He nodded, “But don’t assume we granted you a week because we feel sorry for you; Kaiba and I are supposed to deprive ourselves from blood.”

    I gulped, “Wh-why?”

    He turned his head towards me with a smirk on his face, “Isn’t a quick death a better death?”

    My heart stopped for a few moments and my body went hot and then cold. I could feel the color drain from my face and I clutched my stomach. The way he worded it made me feel like death; they were starving themselves so they would be able to drink my blood faster and kill me easier. They were starving themselves so that their craving for my blood would be as high as ever.

    Minoru chuckled and leaned in closer to me, “Your body temperature is changing; are you that petrified already?”

    With a trembling hand, I covered my mouth and shut my eyes, “It-it’s so immoral,”

    He chuckled again in amusement, “Morals are nonexistent to Vampires, sweetheart,” he leaned in closer to my ear. “The whole concept of immorality started from the existence of Vampires.”

    “P-please get away from me,” I pleaded.

    “When your time comes, your heart will be pounding asperously,” he brushed some of my hair away from my neck. “In return, your blood will be hastening though your veins at an incredible rate.” He leaned in close enough for me to feel his breath against the skin on my neck. “Just as it is now, but faster.”

    “Stop it…” I squeaked; I didn’t possess the physical power to push him away.

    “Kaiba and I will be incapable of resisting any longer,” he kissed my neck on a spot where Kai had left a dark hickey. “Our teeth will sink into your flesh and we’ll feast. You’ll hear your blood leaving your own body and being ingested by us.”

    The thought was making me sick; I wanted to vomit. I closed my eyes again and looked away, “Stop it; don’t tell me this stuff…”

    Minoru reached his right hand over to cup the left side of my cheek and he pressed his lips against my cheek and then my ear. I could feel his lips pull into a smile, “As soon as your blood is drained from your body, you will only have seconds left until you slip into unconsciousness. With the last of your breath, you’ll call out the name of your lover. Or, perhaps, my name.”

    That was when I lost it. I turned around and slapped Minoru as hard as I could physically manage at that point. He seemed slightly startled and he stared at me for a moment in irritation. How dare he have the guts to tell me something so foolish and explicit and immoral. As I was burning him in my head, his hand swept across my cheek quickly and caused me to fall to the ground. He gripped my bicep and sat me up again and hovered his face close to mine.

    “If you’re going to be a guest in this event, I expect better manners from a grown woman,” he sneered comically.

    “Burn in Hell, you piece of s**t,” I hissed at him with tears brimming my eyes.

    “I won’t be going to Hell because, after you’re dead, I’ll never die,” he chuckled. “Silly girl.”

    A sob eventually built up in my chest and I let it all out silently. I bowed my head and glanced down at the ground, “Why me?"

    “The Fates just opted to choose you,” Minoru shrugged, still holding onto my bicep.

    “I don’t believe in fate; fate is bullshit.” I hissed. “It’s an excuse for our wrongdoings and for what happens to us. If somebody dies prematurely, everybody makes themselves feel better by saying their lives are already planned by a higher power. My life wasn’t planned like this.”

    “It’s unfortunate for you that Kai was unable to pull you out of this contract,” Minoru shook his head and tsked again, changing the subject.

    “He tried all he could,” I bent my knees up and rested my arms on top of them. “He tried his hardest for me.”

    “Did he?” Minoru challenged, raising an eyebrow. “Did he truly try everything?”

    “He did,” I hissed and glared at him.

    A chuckle rose from Minoru’s chest and he leaned back against the wall, “I wouldn’t be so sure about that. If he loved you as much as he claimed, he would have gotten you out of the contract.”

    “He couldn’t get me out because you guys are greedy bastards!” I snapped at him. He was getting to me again; he was trying to convince me that Kai didn’t love me as much as he claimed.

    “If he truly loved you, he would have attempted everything in his physical power to pull you out,” he smirked. “How shameful of him to abandon you while you’re pregnant.”

    I shot my head up and looked at him, “How do you know I’m pregnant?”

    “I can hear their heartbeats,” he chuckled. “Twins; what a surprise. Perhaps it’s better you be a single mother; with how untrustworthy Kai is, he would be a heinous father.”

    I stood up immediately and slapped Minoru across the face again. I was beyond pissed off; angrier than I had been a moment ago when he was reading off my own death. As soon as he looked up at me in apathy, I turned and ran for the prison door. I knew it was locked but it was at least better to be on the opposite side of the room as Minoru. Just as I reached the door, Minoru had teleported and ran me into the door. My head knocked against the metal bars and my wrists were held against the door. His lips pressed against the left side of my neck and I could feel his fangs caressing it. My eyes squeezed shut and I let out my tears again; there was no end to the torture, and it was only the first day. My wrists were being squeezed harder and I groaned as I could feel blood trickling down my face from the cut on my forehead.

    “If you continue to provoke me any further, I’ll have to punish you,” Minoru hissed. “And you won’t enjoy it.”

    “Then don’t dare to stand in front of me and call Kai a bad father!” I cried. “Don’t you dare tell me that he’s a bad lover!”

    Minoru turned me around and his eyes faded to red as soon as he spotted the blood on my forehead. He pricked the tip of his right index finger and smeared his blood against my cut. I was disgusted; the last thing I wanted at that moment was his blood on my skin. But at least the wound was numbing; but what were my chances of him possibly attacking me?

    “I’ll start a bath for you and you can clean yourself off,” Minoru released my other wrist.

    He teleported out of the prison cell and left me alone again. The sun was starting to peek through the tiny window, proving how long Minoru had sat there and tortured me. I was exhausted; I wanted nothing more than to collapse and fall asleep. But who knew what would happen to me if I were to fall asleep? I lowered myself onto my knees and grasped my tummy again, feeling my heart and stomach wrenching.

    “Don’t listen to him…daddy is a good person,” I cried. “He would never allow this to happen on purpose…”

    Even when Minoru wasn’t near, I could still feel his eyes burning into me. I knew he had intentions but I wouldn’t allow them to happen. I didn’t know where Kaiba was but I was sure I was safe from him. Minoru’s eyes were sinister, heinous, thirsty, burning. Even as I had lowered myself into the bath he prepared for me, I looked up to see him staring at my bare skin. I was trapped; there was nothing I could do any longer. I only had to deal with it until the end.