Take Me

8DAWN

And I thoughtthings were bad before this. I would have sworn I had seen everything there was to see of how demented and twisted Synians can be.

Hadn't I learned by now there's always something worse?

Like a feeder tank. I had only ever heard of these before. We didn't have anything like that back at the auction house. No, the Synians preferred their maidens out in the open, easily accessible at all times of the day or night.

Here, the maidens were cared for—even pampered and bathed using scented soap and shampoo, massaged, and fed a rich diet. They were only used after being taken to the surface, so their Synian masters could keep their activities behind closed doors.

It was amazing what you could hear if you kept your ears open and your mouth closed.

There was no way of knowing if it was day or night, locked underground the way I was. The way we all were. At least we weren’t filthy anymore, covered in blood and grit and the dried-up fluids Aldric preferred to leave on my skin while we traveled. I was dressed too, a big step up from the nudity Aldric enforced on me.

Not that it mattered. Not that I hadn't been through worse. This was only one more thing to add to the list.

I'd lost track of how many of us there were down there. They kept us in some sort of dormitory with rows of beds lining two walls. None of the beds were strictly assigned, though, with so many maidens coming and going at all times. That was why I couldn't keep track, because somebody was always leaving, and somebody was always returning so they could rest up, replenish, and be used again.

This wasn't the only room of maidens, either. Sometimes, I heard voices on the other side of the wall, other women and men whispering, gossiping.

Begging. There was a lot of begging.

A lot of agony and attempted bribery too.

“Please, just for a little while!” A girl who didn't look like she could be any older than fifteen knelt on the floor in front of the locked door, banging weakly against it with her fists. “I'll come right back! Just one bite, please! I'm so...” Whatever she was about to say was drowned in a great sob that racked her body and rang throughout the room.

I had to turn away and try to ignore her agony. It was all too easy for a maiden to lose herself to madness down here.

On one of the beds, a male maiden sat with his legs pulled up to his chest, his arms wrapped around them. He’d tucked his chin in so only his eyes were visible above the tops of his knees. Eyes that glittered, hard and sharp. He was rocking slightly, well beyond the point of addiction. His blond hair was darker around his temples thanks to the sweats. It was the same for all maidens once they were deep in thrall to the Synian bites.

The first level was light, almost easy to miss if you didn't know what to look for. A maiden would lick their lips almost obsessively until the skin chapped and started to flake. Every once in a while, they would groan the way people did when they were starving, arms folded over their stomach and their face contorted in discomfort or even pain. There were a handful in here like that…in the early stages.

This was followed by the cold sweats and rocking to self-soothe. That was the stage that my friend with the glassy eyes was at, along with the majority of those of us sharing this chamber. They came back looking dizzy, breathless with bliss, but then became increasingly unhappy to be away from their masters.

After that, it didn't take long before the twitching started. The begging for bites. That was what the girl at the door was now suffering. The sound of her broken sobs threatened to tear my brain in two.

Even putting my hands over my ears wasn't enough to block her out.

I was in that state too, thanks to the constant feeding from Aldric as we’d trekked the Covern Mountains. He had needed his strength, or so he’d told me, not even stopping when I was too weak to stay on my feet and needed to rest, eat, and recover. Instead, he'd carried me over his shoulder. He was that determined to reach Syn.

There was nothing left at this point but to bite myself or beg others to do the biting for me. Chasing a high that could never be reached.

The young maiden’s sobbing turned into an overjoyed squeal as the big, heavy lock clicked, signaling the entrance of one of our guards. A Synian, of course, one who would have made sure to glut himself before coming into contact with hungry, desperate maidens.

He wheeled in a cart full of food on platters and trays.

The maiden who had just been pounding on the door crawled after him on her hands and knees. She didn't even have the dignity to stand on her feet as she begged. “Please, I can give you what you need. You can drink from me. Fill yourself with my blood. Only please, don't leave me like this!”

When she made the mistake of closing a hand around his ankle, he shook her off like she was an annoying little gnat. His shoe made contact with her face, and the most empathetic sentiment I could summon was that at least he didn't break her nose.

At least he didn't draw blood.

Because if he had, I don't know if he could have controlled himself. No matter how well he'd fed.

“Come. Eat,” he said gruffly. Not much for conversation, these Synian guards. Then again, what were they going to talk about? The weather? Current events?

I was no fool, though. I marched straight to the cart and picked up a small platter that smelled good enough to make my mouth water. I needed sustenance. I needed to get my strength back.

Especially if Aldric planned on feeding from me again.