The Blood Painted Cage

I sat in the dank darkness alone as I stared at the body of the assassin, waiting for him to wake up. I had tried numerous times in waking him but his mind was powerfully blocked and whenever I tried to wriggle in, those small gaps were quickly filled. It worried me. No one should be able to stop me from entering a mind if I truly wanted to.

I sighed and rubbed my head lightly. The throbbing was starting to die down after pushing myself a little too much in creating the seal on Susan’s matter. I don’t know why I pushed myself to such an extent that I could barely stand any sound afterwards. It might have been something to do with my confusion about Vincent though.

Just when Susan made my new worries of Vincent go, Vincent himself decided to create something new for me to worry about. Now I didn’t know whether he was attracted to me or not after his strange show of affection in his parasite state then rejection after his sanity returned. My heart was aching with confusion and pain at the realisation that when he kissed me in my fear, it was only to distract me. My frown strengthened and the urge to cry filled me when I remembered that look he had given me when he realised what he was doing. It was a look of horror.

The sound of the door swinging open caught my attention. I looked up sharply, burying that memory away, and smiled weakly at Dana.

“Is he still not awake?” She asked as she stepped towards me, never letting her eyes leave the caged vampire.

I shook my head lightly. “I can’t get through the mental barrier either.”

Dana bit her lip hard. “I don’t like this Lady. The assassins and now a mental barrier.” She sighed heavily and gave me a sorrowful look. “I hate to say it but I think someone’s Lost now.”

Denial and anger blossomed instantly. “No, I had Jonathan’s word. He told me he and Vasco were sane.” I said firmly. “It’s someone else.”

“There is no one else, Lady. Even a powerful Witch would have problems keeping you from their puppet’s mind.” She said then sighed when she noticed the stubborn glint in my eye. “Just be wary of them, Lady, until we can prove you right.”

Having warned me and gave the assassin one last glance, she turned and left me to my worries. I sighed lightly and let my frown returning. Brooding about Vincent and Dana’s words, I slowly dropped off to sleep in the arm chair with my mind lightly latched onto the assassin.

At first I slept normally and without dreams but slowly something began to snag in my mind. Fear began to grow and the sense of bloodlust and rage filled me. Fingers stroked me neck and gently circled my throat. I knew what was going to happen next, I just couldn’t wake up no matter how much I tried. The nightmare continued; bathing me in fear as the sensation of fingers began to tighten. I mentally battered the nightmare, trying my hardest to release myself from the enforced sleep. Whoever was clinging to me was not letting go and tightened their grip on my throat, cutting off the air to my lungs. I physically couldn’t breathe. The nightmare was strangling me, killing me slowly. My consciousness dwindled slowly and my head throbbed horribly. Before I fell unconscious I felt something entering my mind, forcing itself into the nightmare and filling my head with a roaring headache. It took a moment for me to realise Susan was fighting for me, filling me with Matter to stop the induced nightmare.

The hands tried to hold on but the burning of the poisonous energy forced him to let go and allowed air to fill my lungs. My nightmare fled to be replaced by unconsciousness as Susan unintentionally overwhelmed me, putting me into a blank sleep.

*

Pain was the first thing I felt. My whole body ached and screamed and sweat covered me. I felt much too hot and tried to push the blanket that covered me away however large hands grabbed my hands and held them tightly.

I heard someone murmuring to me in a low, soft tone as they wiped my forehead clean of sweat. Wearily I opened my eyes and stared blindly at nothing before I focused and found Vincent leaning over me looking quite angry.

I swallowed hard to wet my dry throat before I mumbled his name. His eyes hardened and he wiped away the few strands of hair that littered my face before his fingers delved into my white hair that fanned my head. We remained like that for a while as he waited for me to win my struggle against exhaustion. Once he felt I was as focused as I could be, he asked the question I sensed crouching in his mind.

“Care to explain what happened?” He asked me testily.

“I went to sleep.” I said weakly, trying my best to stay awake. “I had another nightmare and someone tried to strangle me.”

“They did, Eva.” He said. “Susan found you.”

“You were virtually dead.” Susan said from her corner in the room, letting her silent presence be known. A little smile tugged at my mouth. It was the first time I had seen Vincent and Susan in the same room together. I found it strange that she wasn’t ripping out her throat.

She hopped over to my side with her arms held behind her back and gave me a look of contempt. “I thought you were powerful with your mind.” She muttered.

“I am.”

“Then why couldn’t you defend yourself in your sleep?” She asked.

I remained silent. I wasn’t quite sure how I couldn’t defend myself but Dana’s words were whirling in my mind. She knew there was nothing else in this world that could mentally harm someone. Only a Silver was capable of such a thing which only left Jonathan and Vasco.

“I’ve lost one.” I said as realisation hit me. Tears welled in my eyes as panic and sorrow filled me. “I’ve lost one of my Silvers Vincent.”

His face grew stern and he gently let my hand go to wipe away my tears. “Are you sure?”

I nodded numbly. “I didn’t believe it, I didn’t want to but no one else can invade my mind. Whoever was controlling that assassin was still connected to him and defending his knowledge. I fell asleep connected and left my mind open. To get into my mind by using another would need a huge amount of mental power. Only a Silver has that.” I said, chocking throughout my explanation.

A growl rumbled out of his throat and his eyes darted up to Susan. “Witch child, go find Dana. Tell her what the Lady has just said. She will know what to do next.”

Susan opened her mouth to argue but decided it was better not to by the hard expression on Vincent’s face and the dark atmosphere. With one glance at me and she darted away wordlessly.

Before the door even closed behind her, Vincent’s attention was turned on me. With one large hand, he cupped my face and forced me to look at him. He looked furious but his parasite was calm as it would ever be.

“We saw this coming, Eva, and we will deal with it.” He said firmly.

“I know but I didn’t want to lose either of them.” I hiccupped. “I never wanted to have to kill my Silvers.”

The sweeping motion of his thumb across my cheek froze abruptly. “You?” He echoed darkly then shook his head firmly with his anger growing. “You’re not killing them Eva. You’re not going within a mile of any sort of battle.”

“I have to Vincent. It’s what the Sinclairs are for. We can never become Lost unlike other Silvers so we hunt down those who have become mad. Killing is the only time they feel anything after they lose the feeing of life. They become addicted to the small sensation of emotion they receive after every kill. Soon they become very dangerous.”

“I don’t care Eva. I won’t have you in danger.” He said darkly.

“Vince,” I whined gently in protest. “I have to. No one else can stand against a Silver and whoever is sane cannot take down the Lost. It will cut down their time limit of sanity considerably.”

“I don’t care.” He snapped furiously and stood sharply, pushing a hand through his hair in an agitated motion. “I am selfish man, Eva, and I refuse to go through the experience of nearly losing you again.”

My face grew pink then bright red when his eyes locked onto me with quite a passionate gaze of rage before the memory of his rejection bubbled to the surface. Pain flittered in my mind and Vincent felt it in our un-severed connection I realised when his anger increased. Looking down at me with a sharp gaze, Vincent spoke in a low tone in an attempt to speak to me calmly.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

Flustered, I looked away and pulled the quilt up. “Nothing.” I stammered.

“Then why did I feel pain.”

I remained silent and embarrassment filled me. I couldn’t believe I was thinking about Vincent when I had far more important things to think about like figuring out which of my loyal Silvers had betrayed me.

Vince sat down again and leaned back in the chair he had been using. From the corner of my eye I watched him warily until Dana burst into the room. She nearly tripped over her feet in her rush to reach me.

“You’re awake Lady.” She said in relief.

I smiled lightly. “Yes, I am okay.”

“We were worried when Susan forced Matter into your body. It forced whoever was strangling you to let go but also made you come down with a fever.” She said quickly, rambling. “How is your fever? Has it died down completely?” She asked, turning her attention to Vincent who shrugged.

“She is awake and not muttering to herself anymore.” He said, shooting me a meaningful look.

Trying to batter away the panic and embarrassment at what I might’ve said in my fever and taking a mental note to ask him when he was in a better mood, I turned to Dana. “Did Susan pass on the information to you?”

Dana’s face suddenly became stony. “She did. I will be leaving for the Domain shortly while Livia and Sonia will try and see if they can get anything out of the assassin. The sooner we find out which Silver is now our enemy, the better.”

I nodded in silent agreement.

“What will happen once we know who he is?” Vincent asked.

Dana hesitated and glanced at me sadly. “As the only Sinclair, it is Eva’s duty to purge the world of the Lost Silvers. We will have to take her to him for her to eliminate him before he becomes addicted to killing.”

He snapped his strong teeth together audibly as rage began to grow again. “I won’t let that happen.”

Standing up straight, Dana stared down at him coldly. “You have no say in the matter, Blackburn, nor do you have a say in anything with the Lady’s life and duty. You are nothing more than a guard. Guards guard, they don’t dictate someone’s life.”

Vincent rage exploded and he just about managed to stop himself from launching himself at Dana and caged the parasite in his mind. Following her with a black glare, he snarled to himself horribly when she left the room after a brief bow to Eva.

At first he stood stiffly and brooded to himself until I hesitantly reached out and stroked his hand. He jumped slightly but calmed when his eyes darted to capture my face staring at him earnestly. He held my hand and let the pad of his thumb brush my palm, soothing both my fears and his rage. Slowly, tiredness settled in and I found myself barely clinging to my consciousness.

I vaguely sensed Vincent place my hand on my chest and stroked my face and air before he spoke to me softly.

“In answer to your question; yes.” He said softly before he stood and left, leaving me to the grips of sleep.