Moonlit Surrender
Chapter Eighteen

A cold damp woke Lucy with violent shivers. Wearily, she rolled over and opened her eyes to a worn stone wall. Beneath her was a meager bed of hay on a matching stone floor with a cheap blanket thrown over it which she huddled under presently. She rolled to her other side and peered at her surroundings in disbelief.

Slowly, she sat up, pushing her way through the lightheadedness that threatened to throw her back down. She hissed as she felt a sharp pain in her thigh and looked down to replace her skin bruised and bloodied. She clutched the blanket around her tighter and saw by the light of a single lit candle that though she was no longer bound, she was held captive in an actual dungeon with heavy iron bars to one side and a small barred window on the other that overlooked a steep cliff dropping into some unknown large body of water. On the floor beside her, she found a wooden tray with a cup of water and a protein bar.

Where the fuck did they take me now? she thought.

"You should eat," came Doris' piercing voice from beyond the bars.

Lucy let out an audible groan. The only thing worse than being stuck here, is having to listen to her giddy bullshit. Lucy glared towards the bars, unable to see the woman beyond the meager sphere of light the candle afforded. "Eat. You need to rebuild your strength. For the time being," Doris added after a weighty pause.

"What are you going to do to me?"

"It's all part of the plan now," she giggled cryptically. "Once you're finished, I'll take you to get cleaned up. The master wanted you brought to him as soon as you woke." Reluctantly, Lucy pulled the tray to her and ate the plain meal with a voracious speed, famished from all her trauma.

"Good, now come this way," Doris instructed as she stepped into the light to unlock the heavy cell door.

No bindings? Maybe I can make a run for it. You don't know where you are or how many others there might be. It's too risky. It's all I've got. Be cool. Wait for an opening, then run like hell. Thankful for a plan, Lucy acted compliant for now. Warily, she followed her ex-professor down the tight stone hallways, clutching the ratty blanket from her cell tightly about her blood stained, naked body. With no windows or stray beams of moonlight, it was easy to feel the crushing weight of the world above them as they followed tunnels and a staircase deeper into whatever cliff the structure was built into. Doris led the way to a room beyond an arched wooden door with a heavy iron lock, using a skeleton key to open the way into a tight chamber possibly once intended for guards, but was now repurposed into a humble dwelling. A crackling fireplace brought light and warmth to the dank underground room and to her left tucked in the corner was a rickety cot, chair, and small table. In front of the hearth was a handwoven mat that had seen better days with a large brass bathtub atop it, steaming with hot water.

"In you go," her captor instructed. "Even the wild beasts in the forest around us must replace your odor offensive."

She rolled her eyes, biting back a snarky reply, and tested the bath water with her hand before letting go of the towel and gingerly stepping in. "Your master doesn't have modern plumbing?"

"Of course not. It's a very old castle."

"An actual castle?" Lucy snorted in disbelief. Can this asshole be any more cliché?

"Welcome to Castle Sheol, Ms. Beckett, abode of the vampire lord Lerexus Valerius. She has seen better days, but this place has remained hidden and stood the tests of time for some centuries now, a favorite dwelling of my lord and master." "Isn't this all just a little too on the nose?" she laughed irreverently.

Doris let out a hateful hiss, her face distorting into something animalistic and wicked as she barred her fangs at Lucy. "You will show the respect the master is due. I'm sure you heard about John's treachery?" Lucy recalled the tale he had told her of betraying the vampire who had taken him in, disclosing the cult's location to Venatrix Despina, and the decimation that followed. "Yes, but Lerexus got away." "The master burned and fought his way through fire and certain death to survive, scraping and clawing his way out of the ashes of his empire to exact vengeance on those that brought doom on his house."

"That seems a bit dramatic," she stated dismissively as she rinsed the soap out of her hair and scrubbed away the red blood stains on her legs.

Doris was at the lip of the tub in a flash, the palm of her hand landing hard on Lucy's cheek. "You don't know anything, you sassy little fool."

She looked away to hide the tear that slipped out of the corner of her eye and doubled her resolve to escape just as soon as an opportunity presented itself.

"Your darling John, who you think is so damn perfect and wonderful, is nothing but a snake in the grass. He was an ambitious fool. He wanted more power, more blood, but Lerexus saw he was not ready and refused. John betrayed his master and his coven. He is a liar, a deceiver."

"And I suppose it was Lerexus who told you this?" she stated more than asked, trying to illustrate the bias of the story the woman was repeating.

Doris caught this subtlety. "And you think John would tell you the true depths of his depravity? You have no idea who it is you've been gallivanting around with at night. He is a monster in a tie, a wolf in sheep's clothing. He spins his tales of loneliness and woe to gain your pity, then demands the world from you. These sick activities you indulge him in are nothing more than petty manipulation. He enjoys controlling and hurting the weak, he always has." She knelt down beside the tub and grasped the edge in her palms as she leaned in. "Think about it, Lucy, really look at the big picture here. You and I aren't so different, are we? The quiet ones, reserved, meek, vulnerable. We are prey to him."

She looked over at the ghost of the professor she once knew, the once awkward and self-conscious woman who had seemed to follow John around like a lost puppy, and she felt a shiver from the hint of truth in Pemberley's words. Doris' features softened to pity. "You've been manipulated, child. You've been defiled and swallowed up by the big bad wolf. He's taken away almost a year of your life for his vile games and put you in harm's way in addition." She paused, letting her words sink in, then added, "And what happened to that fiancé you once mentioned, hmm? Where is he in all this?"

Lucy felt a weight settling on her chest. "We... broke up."

Doris let out a tsk and shook her head. "Over Wright, I bet, yes?"

She nodded slowly.

Manipulated, toyed with and ordered about like a mindless puppet. Pemberley's words painted a very practical picture that was easy to accept, easy to accept by someone on the outside. Lucy knew better.

Doris watched the girl struggling with the new narrative painted over what she thought she knew and seemed content to let her stew in her doubt as she said no more, simply offering a towel and plain white dress for her to cover herself in. Lucy dried and dressed herself and kept her opinions quiet for possibly the first time in her life. Doris saw their activities from an outsider's perspective, as it became more obvious that she and Lucy were clearly not cut from the same cloth. Doris had dogged John ceaselessly for what she saw as a gift, seeking to use him for what he possessed, and when he had refused her, she had twisted him around her finger and blackmailed him. Though she played the part well, Lucy knew better than to accept such an absurd tale that centered around Doris being the victim in anything. She was a user.

Modestly, Lucy turned from the ever-watchful eye of her captor as she dropped the towel and slipped the lightweight dress over her head and let it cascade down to her knees in a waterfall of chiffon. It was a size or two too big on her and she found herself having to keep pushing the straps of the dress back up over her shoulders.

"Come," Doris instructed curtly, at last tearing her eyes away from the girl.

Lucy blushed awkwardly as she realized it was jealousy that turned the woman's mouth into a spiteful scowl.

At a leisurely pace, they made their way back up the winding hallways and staircases, accompanied only by the sounds of Lucy's bare feet slapping on the flagstones and the oddly muted click of Doris' heels, as if some strange magic quieted her movements. Their ascent finally brought them to the ground floor where their senses were suddenly assaulted by bright beams of moonlight spilling in the tall stained-glass windows they passed. Her escort sneered contemptibly at the overwhelming light, but Lucy found it comforting to see something familiar, even if it was only something as trivial as the moon.

She felt like she was in another world, another time, as she cautiously followed, her toes touching long stretches of carpet now as they passed massive paintings of people she didn't know dressed in various outdated fashion. A few sparse candelabra sat on decorative tables, offering an eerie flickering light that cast shadows over the dusty antiques and imposing architecture surrounding her. After a moment, lost in her own private thoughts, Lucy asked softly, "How did you know?"

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"Know what?" Doris asked as she plucked a candle from a table and led her up yet another flight of stairs.

"About what he and I do?"

"Because he tried to do them with me. I'll admit I was dazzled at first by him and indulged him for a little while, but I eventually came to my senses. He's a sick beast, Lucy. You should have settled down with that nice mortal boy when you had the chance."

"You called me 'princess' back at the... wherever-we-were."

She halted and turned around to face her, lifting the fluttering flame of the candle she held so that Lucy could see her face. Her once washed out green eyes now glittered with preternatural vigor and confidence, but they narrowed condescendingly as they settled harshly on her. "How did you imagine the master and I managed to lay in wait for the opportune time to steal you? I saw the repulsive little game you played for him. I can imagine all the other depraved acts you've partaken in that led to that. Nobody starts there."

She felt a nauseating twist in her stomach from the violation of privacy and the judgmental way the woman glared down at her. "Did... did he ever call you that?"

Doris let out a dry chuckle. "No, Ms. Beckett. I did not let that man debase me so far as to call me a nickname intended for a child. You've allowed him to strip away every bit of your dignity. Congratulations." She pivoted on her heel at the door they had halted in front of and opened it with a quiet reverence.

Lucy scrunched her face sourly from the blatant insult as she reluctantly followed her into a dimly lit study. Before she could ask where they were, Doris had vanished, locking the door behind her. Once again, Lucy found herself trapped. "Have a seat," a silky voice came from the darkness behind the heavy desk dominating the room.

Cautiously, she approached the low-back leather chair in front of the desk and slowly sank into its worn cushions. She could make out the silhouette of a man standing in front of heavily draped bay windows that offered not a single beam of light into the room. The only glow came from the solitary candle Doris had left behind on an end table by the door. Lucy squinted in an attempt to penetrate the darkness, but only made out the features of her Romanesque captor once he took his seat across from her and became barely visible in the meager light. For a long moment, they said nothing to one another. As the silence dragged on, Lucy squirmed uncomfortably as she recalled his icy hands on her body when he had inspected her. His piercing eyes seemed more violet in the dim light as he looked her over. He adjusted the crisp black robes he wore now and sat back in his chair.

"You are much prettier without all that black on your face," he commented, breaking their stalemate.

She had heard similar comments repeatedly through her life and resisted the urge to roll her eyes but could not bite back her sass. "Are you allowed to compliment a 'mere mortal'. Here I thought I disgusted you."

His ghostly face did not move an inch, his unnatural age rendering him immune to provocation. "Tell me," he continued without missing a beat, "where can I replace more of your ilk? I could do with a mindlessly obedient bitch of my own. I grow weary of this 'equality' nonsense. A freethinking woman is a burden. Not you though, hm? You are unfettered by the weight of independent thought."

Lucy's posture went rigid and she felt her jaw tighten. "I assure you I am capable of thinking for myself."

His lips twitched for a moment as if they might stretch into a grin but resettled. "That is not what I witnessed," he danced his fingers along his desk, "skittering to and fro at your master's behest." He leaned in. "So very eager to please were

you."

"Did you just bring me here to insult me?" she snapped.

"On the contrary, girl, it was a compliment."

"Lucky me," she mumbled as her jaw tightened further.

Lerexus was silent once more, then started on a new topic. "Whatever it is you think you are to him, I assure you, you are not."

She felt her face settle into what was shaping up to be a permanent grimace for the remainder of her stay at Castle Sheol.

"John is a restless creature," he continued, "prone to wander. He is filled with an unquenchable thirst beyond the siren's call of blood, a desperation for something lost. I am grieved to see him stooping so low to the unremarkable ranks of mortals in an attempt to slake this morbid desire."

"And I'm sure you yourself have never done such an unspeakable thing." She glared.

"Every saint has a past, as they say. But I repented and took control of such disgusting impulses. My Johnathan has not been so lucky. I might never have found him if he had not been so reckless as to spurn such a spiteful and bitter woman as Doris. You have spoilt him with your touch, girl. I once knew him to be a learned man, a detached scholar, content to study and roam, but now I replace him playing professor and masquerading about town as nothing more than a man, drinking that pig's piss bottled and distributed by vile vendors taking advantage of our need. It is shocking how far he has fallen since last I saw him."

"Even you were once a man," she retorted indignantly. "There's nothing wrong with John holding onto his humanity and wanting to live a normal life or love. He's happy now."

"Happy," he muttered. "Thank you for confirming that suspicion. Yes, I thought so, and that brings us to where we are now, all merry three of us." "Don't you mean four?" She nodded back towards the door Doris had left through.

"Doris is a pawn and nothing more, a calculated move to bring the three of us face to face, though she has the makings of being a worthy acolyte." "Well, I only see the two of us face to face at present."

"Don't get smart with me, girl. Johnathan only played at punishment. I'll give you the real thing." He tapped his long, pale fingernails along the top of his desk thoughtfully. "Possessing you will bring him here to me. It is not ideal, as I had hoped for him to realize the ephemeral nature of his pursuits and to return to me of his own volition, but this will do. Your existence can be suffered a while longer."

"So I'm just a pawn too. Why bother? Why didn't you just hide out and wait to attack him directly, why go through all these extra steps?"

"Attack? No, but I intend to make him suffer as he made me." A hint of anger darkened his honeyed voice, gave its silky tone a sharper more punctuated edge as he rose and paced the shadows of the room. "Johnathan took everything from me. I had spent decades building my coven, scouring the earth for souls worthy of ascension, and I counseled each one of my flock as if they were the fruit of my own loins - tedious training and education - Johnathan among them. So many gods wiped out before they could seize what was owed them. His selfishness deprived them of their destiny, of my destiny. For this, he must pay. For too long has he skirted my judgment." He halted behind his desk, standing still in front of the black of the bay windows as his violet eyes settled on her. "Whatever happiness he has, I intend to burn it down into so many ashes, starting with you. Without these vapid distractions, he will see the error of his ways and return to the fold." So he does plan to kill me, good to know.

"All that happened so long ago, centuries. Why now? How can you still be holding onto this?" she asked incredulously.

His white skin seemed to glow against the shadows and the deep black of his robes. "You are but a speck on the timeline of the universe, girl, a vapor, here one second and dissipated in the next with no trace." He snapped his fingers for effect. "Vampires are immortal, undying. Long after the nations of this era have torn each other asunder and the ruins of their great capitals lay in waste deep beneath the earth and their names are no longer spoken on the tongues of the next age, we will remain. We will endure. Do not speak to me of centuries when you know nothing of eternity." Lerexus' eerie gaze peered past her to the door. "Doris. Come."

The door opened almost immediately and Lucy turned to see the woman standing eagerly at attention.

"Return her to her room," he instructed coolly, then settled himself back into his desk chair. "My curiosity is sated."

Doris grabbed Lucy by the arm and tugged her quickly out of her master's presence and began the long trek back down into the castle's undercroft, neither of them speaking a word for the entire descent. As she was roughly plunged back into the windowless room with the now dying fire in its hearth, their silence ended.

"This room is a luxury, a gift," Doris hissed at her. "Abuse the master's kindness and it will be taken away just as quickly as it was given. Try anything and you'll wind up right back in that dark, shivering cell you woke in. Understood?" She did not wait for Lucy's reply, slamming the heavy wooden door closed with a turn of the skeleton key beyond it as she locked the girl away.

Lucy huddled up on the rickety cot and its straw-stuffed mattress and tucked her knees under the hem of the thin dress and tried her best to keep warm beneath the tattered blanket she had been given. As she watched the fire in the hearth slowly dying until it was nothing more than glowing embers, she wondered to herself if Lerexus had not only plucked her from her sleepy little town, but also out of time and back into whatever age he had known. She wondered when the fearful albino vampire intended to complete his plan for her and end her life. As her eyes grew weary and could no longer watch the glow of the embers fading away or the shadows in the corners slowly taking over the room, she wondered which version of John was the truth and whether or not a rescue attempt was even feasible at this point.