Lottie leads me into a cupboard full of cleaning materials and turns to shut and lock the door behind us; I’m surprised when she doesn’t approach me for a hug.
“What’s happened to you, Lottie?” I stroke her hand in mine as she continues to look down at the floor, her tears dripping in a staggered rhythm onto the carpet. For a moment, she looks as if she were about to say something but only sniffs and goes to wipe her nose. “Talk to me, don’t worry you’re safe.”
“No I’m not! I not safe, I’m never safe! They will find you anywhere, there’s no where I can go!” I jump back at her sudden outburst, I never expected someone like Lottie to be like this; she’s shaking violently and there’s nothing I can do to console her.
“It’s ok, they won’t harm you while I’m here, Liam will make sure of that.” She snatches her hand away from mine,
“The vampire is protecting you?!”
“Only while I’m here, it’s not for my benefit I assure you, it’s because I’m property of Block Four. They’d give you a hired guard if you visited me.” She reaches out and I pull her into an awkward hug.
“Is Block Four better than here?”
“It’s… more decorated than here…and the vamps are older and feed less frequently…”
“Can I visit you sometimes?!” Her eyes are suddenly full of desperate hope; her life here must really be shit.
“Errrr… if they’ll allow you, I’m sure that’ll be okay with my lot”, I’ll find a way of working this favour out with Covas.
“Okay”, the hope is still there in her eyes, just on a back burner for now.
“So what do you do around here in your free time?”
“I hide in here and read…but sometimes…” Her tears are back again.
“What?”
“Sometimes… they…lock me in this…cell thing.”
“What?!”
“It’s downstairs somewhere…”
“They just lock you in there all day?!”
“Ye…and vampires come throughout the day to...you know…”
“But why? They can just do that in your room… why cause you more stress?!” I stroke her hand, angry at their treatment of her.
“The vampires that come to the cells aren’t… the regular ones.”
“What do you mean?”
“They’re rougher, they…take more….and sometimes the big lights on the ceiling come on to make them stop.”
“Lights on the ceiling? Aghhh, sunlight…but they shouldn’t need to be stopped… This isn’t a newborn Block…”
“I don’t know, Mina, it’s not my business to know…I’m just food.” I take her by the shoulders.
“Don’t you ever think like that, Lottie, don’t let them take away your humanity! You are of just as much worth as they are, and one day, I promise you they will know it!” Her eyes are wide and for a moment and I wonder if my outburst has frightened her further.
“You’re planning to get out of here…” She says this as almost a question, so I answer it; never so sure of myself as I am now.
“I will get out of here, we will.”
“But they can find us, Mina, faster than we can run away.”
“Then we’ll have to make sure that won’t happen. We’re going to need help though, I’ll try and work on my friends in Block Four over the next few weeks and you do the same here, but only if you can without getting in trouble; I do not want you getting into trouble!” For the first time, she smiles at me, and nods. “Come here.” I pull her into another hug to seal the deal, and when we’ve broken away from one another, the room seems much calmer.
YOU ARE READING
The Blood Bank
Vampire~ He leans down and brings his lips to my ear, his breath brushing against my skin, causing havoc to my heartbeat. My eyes close of their own accord... ~ Mina lives like any other person with a messed up family, she just gets on with her life...
