Be Careful When You Bite Me

Chapter 12

The more I walked the more I discovered, more closets, more rooms, more of everything, but still no

dungeon. I walked through the kitchen where Damon and Isabelle had been and wondered who

Isabelle even is. It was clear that she had a certain romance with Seth but there was something with

Damon too. Besides the Queen, she was the only other vampire girl I've met.

And been bitten by.

I had been walking for what must have been half an hour before opening up a pair of double doors that

led outdoors. Not completely outdoors, just a few meters of grass before large metal gates lined the

perimeters making it impossible to escape. I decided to take what I can get and walked on the grass,

breathing in the fresh air that felt like the only normal thing left in my life right now.

I squinted my eyes and looked up at the sun. I realized I hadn't actually seen or felt the sunlight on my

skin for days now and also realized that everything I had done outside the castle walls had been during

the night.

I wondered if it was true that vampires couldn't be out in the sunlight and if that's why the castle was so

quiet.

Are they.... sleeping?

I searched the trees in hopes of finding a bird or a squirrel, something to remind me of life before The

Underworld but I didn't see a living creature anywhere. I let out a soft sigh and was about to head

inside when I felt my shoes touch something that wasn't grass. I looked down at my feet to see a large

square piece of metal that almost resembled the doors of an underground tunnel. The word dungeon

echoed in my head as I reached down and slid my fingers underneath in an attempt to lift it up. I felt dirt

slide up in my nails but continued to pull at the piece of metal. I was almost convinced that it was

merely a piece of scrap stationed in the ground until the door lifted up abruptly, sending me flying

backward. I stepped forward and opened it all the way, revealing a dark wooden stairway leading down

into the ground.

My breathing quickened and I stood restlessly in confusion.

What do I do? Do I go down there?

Part of me was afraid of the journey down the creepy stairs but a majority of me was more afraid of

what I would find.

My head was racing with a thousand thoughts of images that should have sent me running in the

opposite direction. The sudden image of the lady in the village came to my mind. I saw her fall to her

knees and cry out for the guards to spare her son. The pain in her voice had been so desolated, almost

as if she had lost hope and they had already killed him.

I spun on my heels and looked around in panic.

If the vampires could somehow be sleeping right now...if the sunlight is the reason they aren't out right

now to shout at me for being out....if that man is down there right now...how would I sneak him out of

the castle if I couldn't even sneak myself out?

If I could somehow hide him until I figured it out or maybe-

It would be both our funerals.

I gazed up at the thick metal gates and wondered if he got up on my shoulders if he could somehow

reach, but there was no way. The gates had to be at least four meters high.

I still had to go down there. I had to see if he's alive and if he is, I could come back up and figure the

rest out later.

They would just go back and get him. There's no point.

I blocked off my thoughts ringing like alarms in my head and instead, took a step closer towards the

stairs and then another one down.

I felt the nerves begin to take over and my breathing began to quicken. I swallowed back the fear and

took a few more steps down until the light from the opening of the tunnel was above me. More steps

down and I was relieved to see a small flicker of light.

There was a slight echo and the sound of a breeze, almost like wind over a body of water.

I carefully took the last step down and prayed my feet wouldn't land in water or manure as I placed

them down now all the way down with the stairs.

I followed the flicker of flight and as I walked further, I could see that it was coming from a candle Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.

hanging from a ledge on the hard stone walls. I felt something scrape against my knee and winced in

pain. I looked down to see a large boulder and stepped around it.

I followed the corridor, now lit with even more candles, and walked until I was face to face with a metal

fence that closed off the rest of the path completely. I heard slight stirring and stepped back in fear that

it might be a guard. When the noise stopped, I grabbed the candle off the wall and held it closer to the

fence.

"Hello," I whispered," is anybody there?" I went to grab the metal fence when I heard a muffled manly

mumble," Don't touch it."

The sound of shuffling echoed throughout the walls and I left out a gasp when I heard the person stand

up and approach me.

I felt my stomach drop down to my knees and backed away. The man behind the fence was indeed the

same one that I had seen with the guards in the halls, the same man that Damon kidnapped from town.

I didn't know what to say or how I would even help. His dark hair covered most of his muddy face. What

was left of his dirty clothes were shredded," It will burn you." He continued. I couldn't see his eyes, only

a part of his face that was visible under the shadow of the light-emitting from the candle.

I felt my head begin to ring and searched my thoughts for ways to help. Seconds passed by and my

fingers began to burn. I snapped back to reality and threw the candle when I realized that the wax had

been melting off and dripping down my arm.

There was almost no light now.