I sit there for a couple of hours or maybe minutes before my food is delivered. As I had expected, I hear the hatch slide open and a plate of food being pushed in through the slit, only to be pulled back when the other plate is in the way. I crawl silently over to the door and quickly grasp down around the hand that tries to grab the empty plate of food. Before the vampire has time to react and pull back, I bend down so my mouth is right in front of the slit, and then I scream as loud as I possibly can. I feel how the bones in the hand I am grasping start to vibrate violently, before the entire hand turns into jelly, as if all the bones disintegrated from the vibration.
At the same moment, I hear the sound of a lump of meat falling to the ground, and at that point, I stop screaming. I let go of the hand and not long after the door is pulled open with such ferocity, that it almost flies off its hinges. I am assaulted by the sudden regain of my sight and hearing, and for a moment I feel like I pass out due to the sudden onslaught of senses.
Almost in the blink of an eye, I feel myself being pulled up into the arms of someone. I feel like clawing my eyes out every time I open them since I don't know how to cope with the pain of regaining sight so suddenly. I only see flashes of trees and the sky, and even though it makes me happy since it means I am outside again, the feeling is almost too much to bear, and it almost makes me wish for death even more. Will I ever be the same again? The thought of me forever being only a fraction of what I was before, is almost worse than if I had stayed in that cell until the end of my time.
I try to plug my ears because the sound of the wind gushing right beside them makes me feel like a jackhammer is taken to my skull and slowly turning my brain into mush. I almost don't register as I am being put down on the ground, which feels incredibly hard after I have spent so much time in a cell padded from floor to ceiling. I lay in foster position for quite some time, as I feel a hand stroking up and down my back. My fingers are still forcefully pressed into my ears, and my eyes are pressed so hard together, that the pressure creates small white spots that dance around behind my eyelids.
I don't know how long I lay there rocking myself, trying to tell myself that I am okay and that I am safe. I don't dare open my eyes or remove my fingers, afraid that it will just prove to myself, that I am no longer who I once was. I don't have much of a choice however, as my wrists are grabbed gently by a set of hands, and pulled down very slowly, making me gradually regain hearing. The first thing I hear is a gentle breeze through the crowns of some trees. Then I hear a beautiful chirp from a songbird. Then I hear a soft voice, that I identify as Dom's.
"Athena?" he asks, and then waits a long while before continuing.
"Athena, can you try to open your eyes?" For a long moment, I am unable to get them to open, almost as if they were sewn shut. Then very, very slowly they begin to part, letting the sunlight filter in and pull me out of the darkness that I have been trapped in for so long.
For quite some time I just lay there, completely blinded by the light and unable to make anything out. It is so bright that it feels like needles being poked into my eyes, but I try and welcome the feeling, reminding myself, that it means that I am out. I am free.
I feel Dom's calloused hand brush down my cheek before he brushes some stray strands away from my face. He doesn't say anything, letting me regain my senses in peace. As they return, the relief slowly turns into anger as well though.
"How long?" I asked in a clipped and almost unintelligible voice, caused by the harm done to my voice cords from the screaming.
"Nineteen days," is the response from Dom. I am at once shocked, that it hasn't been longer, and then completely not shocked at all, because it could very well have been nineteen days. He sounds remorseful. Yeah well fuck that, I can't do shit with his remorse. It doesn't erase the pain of living a half-existence, wishing for death because it would be more merciful, than sustaining my life in that complete abyss, void of everything.
"Why didn't you come sooner?" I then ask, feeling the rage take hold of me.
"I tried. You have no idea how sound the security is. I wasn't allowed to be anywhere near the camp, so it was impossible to learn the routines and very very small windows I would have to spy each day." I cut him off from saying anything more, as I leap to my feet, jumping for his neck with my hands. I just manage to grasp him, still having a hard time seeing anything other than silhouettes. He falls on his back with me on top of him using every ounce of my strength to squeeze his windpipes and arteries shut underneath my fingers.
For a long time, I shit there, slowly losing my strength and grip, without Dom showing the slightest inclination to fight back. Just before I almost fall on his chest in exhaustion, he grabs my wrist once more and pry off my fingers, which are now cramped into claws, free from his neck. He sits up and positions me to sit sideways in his lap, as he then wraps his arms around me, hugging me tightly and fiercely, as he rocks us from side to side and gently strokes me.
The anger slowly melts away and turns into exasperation, as I feel like I have lost all grip on reality and myself. I feel the tears well into my eyes as I begin to sob uncontrollably, gripping onto Dom's shirt, needing to hold onto something real, so I don't slide away into nothing again.
We sit like that for a long while, Dom giving me all the time I need, shushing into my hair and letting me wet his shirt with tears, snot, and spit as I ugly cry for what feels like hours. When I no longer have any tears left in me and feel so exhausted, that I could sleep for days, Dom slowly lessens his hug and looks into my eyes.
"I am so, so, so sorry Athena. I should never have taken you to see them. I should have known what they would do, and I can't express how sad I am, to have put you in that situation. You deserved none of that. You have done nothing wrong, and I failed you. I swear on everything I ever have and ever will hold dear, that I will spend the rest of my life making this up to you. I am at your feet, and you will is my command." Dom has unshed tears in his eyes, and I don't know what to say, so I just nod. He lets out a relieved sigh and stands up with me bundled into his arms.
"Let's get far away from here," he says before sprinting off again.