The knife was still there, it may not be as present as it had been when it just had been stabbed in, but it was still there. He could feel it with every shifting in his body. He tried to look over his shoulder, only seeing the girl from the corner of his eyes. She had stopped crying but it was obvious the girl was still terrified. And Kaz could only agree.

His head snapped back as soon as he heard the woman's voice. Morning. It was morning according to her. So that meant he hadn't been asleep for long. Kaz wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing. His eyes first found her face, then the the bowl she was holding. He could feel the heat before his mind actually had registered what was inside. Fire. If he was still waking up, he would be wide awake. The ink poured over his hand, causing him to scream at the top of his longs, which inflicted even more pain as the silver was still stuck in his throat. It was now that everything hurt and it was now that Kaz realised in how much deep shit he actually was.

Don't look at her. Just.. look away and concentrate on something else. Allison would probably be worried, perhaps she would search for him or have sent out a patrol. Maybe Mort was roaming the streets as well, the woman had claimed she knew Mort so maybe his brother knew he was in danger. Or maybe they both didn't care.

The words of the woman settled into his head. He looked at the ground, silent, biting his lip to stop himself from screaming. What if Allison had given up on him, what if she didn't believe in him and thought that he had made a run for it? Absentmindedly his eyes wandered to the ring around his finger. Would the promise be strong enough for her to care? Or was he truly lost and on his own again?

Don't think. Don't think. He repeated the words over and over in his head but the more he did it, the less he started to believe. What if she was right? The pain had a strange effect on him. While it give him the motivation to show that he was unbreakable, that she had no chance of shattering him into pieces, it also made it known to him that while he might be a vampire and immortal, that this could last a lifetime.

He wanted to answer to her words, wanted to tell her how he would not break but before he even could open his mouth, the pain was back. The ink dripped over his hand, even making its way on his leg where it burned holes into his pants. Kaz whimpered, holding back tears and trying to concentrate. But the doubts had settled in and together with the pain, they were ruling him. Her sudden pull at his right hand made him look up. The ring. Kaz wanted to get up, forgetting for a moment that he was still shackled and he roughly got pulled back to his place again. She didn't dare, she couldn't. Allison would never forgive him. ''You're wrong.'' He hissed at her, but his words were softer than before, partly of his still burning throat. And it sounded like the fire inside him was dying.

How could she act so calm? How could she act like this was the most normal thing in the world to happen right now? Kaz thought that he had never really been mentally stable but this woman.. this woman was the cherry on top. The problem now was though, that she probably knew and he no longer posessed the energy to question everything she threw at him.

Fatigue together with pain and the paranoia setting in were the devil's poison. The more Kaz pushed those thoughts to the back of his head, the harder they seemed to return. The soft crying behind him from the girl didn't help either. The vampire closed his eyes again. He could still do this. He only had to wait until full moon, then he would be out of this place and everything would be normal again. These wounds didn't last, this moment wouldn't last. “Perhaps I could sell it,” His head shot back up again. He was not going to lose the last thing that kept him going. The ring was the last object he had on him that reminded him that Allison just wouldn't give up on him so easily. Kaz didn't say any words, but the look on his face said it all. Desperation.

Doubt was one of mens greatest enemies for it could break a human in mere seconds if the right words were said. And the woman was well on her way to planting the seeds in his brain. The vampire stayed silent, adverting his eyes from her, trying to think of something else than that perhaps he was indeed not saveable. Kaz bit his lip again, clenching and unclenching his fists as he felt how the ink had dried up and now was stuck to his skin like a second layer. The skin underneath was badly burned, redness spreading over his hand. It would be a reminder of what had happened here.

She might think she got him, that he would plead for mercy. But he wasn't that weak. No, she tried, but he was still standing. For a few seconds he shot her an angry glance, only to look away again quickly after. He couldn't look at her, because every time he did his mind recalled all the things she had done, all that was said. Kaz shifted in the chair, the schakles softly rambling, the dagger in his stomach pushing itself further into his flesh. None of this was good. And it probably never would ever be good again. The vampire lowered his head, resting his chen on his chest as he so desperately tried to tell himself that all would be fine. His belief in those words was long fading.

No words, no sneers towards him, no pain inflicted. Had she changed her mind? Had he shown her enough weakness that she thought that he deserved a small window of time to gather strength? He would be a fool to believe that. The moment the woman got up was the moment Kaz tried to push back the chair. He didn't want her any closer than she already was. But he was not the target. Without even paying much attention to him the woman had passed b y, obviously gunning for the girl. Kaz tried to look over his shoulder, but the screams of the girl were enough to tell him what was happening. The smell only later confirmed it even more.

And just like that, the woman was gone again, leaving Kaz and the girl behind. Confusion struck him. Was this a test? Or was this a small step towards freedom? And if it was, then what? He was badly wounded and would probably attract a lot of attention if he tired to get towards the castle. When he got out of here, no, if he got out of here, how was he going to save his own skin? Would Allison believe him when he would tell her that this wasn't his own doing? That he hadn't done anything to inflict this upon himself? Would she even still allow him in? His ring was gone, she could easily believe that he sold it himself. She wouldn't forgive him, that much was clear.

The thoughts consumed him as the vampire tried to silence the monster inside of him which hungered after the blood of the young girl. The silence between the two was spoken when she dared to speak up. Her voice was soft, insecure, scared, every emotion a human was supposed to feel right now. And Kaz shared them with her. ''What is going on, is she coming back?'' A small pause where she awaited his answer, but Kaz didn't say a word, staring at the wall in front of him. ''I have a husband I need to go back to, my son needs me, I have a life.'' The girl whined on, whimpering and softly trying to stop the tears flowing from her eyes. She had a lot of things Kaz doubted that he still had. And the fact that she continued on, only made those doubts grow. ‘’What did I do to deserve this?’’ A question Kaz asked himself with every passing minute.

The longer the woman was away, the more convinced Kaz became that this situation was starting to become helpless. No one would come look for him, no one would care. After all, she had spoken the truth. He was a thief turned royalty, a nobody and definitely not someone who was suited for the throne and ready for such a big task. Once a nobody, always a nobody. Allison said she cared, that she loved him, but meanwhile had put him in a position he didn’t even want to be in. Mort had said he cared for him deeply, yet he had ignored Kaz his wish to die and somehow his brother was responsible for this mess.

Where the girl might say she had a life, Kaz was starting to realize he had never had one to begin with.

And with that thought, he accepted defeat.

Footsteps. Her return. Panic arose in his chest as he pulled at the shackles who by now had irritated his skin that it started bleeding. Kaz was all out of energy and his body had nothing to heal the wounds with, making the wounds around his wrists and ankles only more irritating. But it was nothing compared to the pain in his stomach, back and hand. He wondered if she merely had forgotten that the dagger was still there, or that she just kept it in there to stop it from bleeding, to wear him out slowly but steadily. By now, anything would be possible.

As soon as the woman opened the door, Kaz looked away. He knew that the moment he would look at her she would know she had won. He could try, he could try and show her that he still hadn’t reached that horrible breakingpoint. But it felt like he was dangling off the edge, ready to fall. The vampire closed his eyes, feeling her words sink in. There was no going back to the castle. He was unwelcome, he would be hated and frowned upon. Once a nobody always a nobody. The woman had been right all along.

This girl. This whiney, scared little girl who cried out for her husband and son was finally silent. Perhaps the woman had killed her, perhaps the water had been poisoned. But then he heard her sniffing again and he knew that this torture wasn’t long over. By now he started to get irritated by her. She wasn’t the one who got boiling ink over her skin, got fed silverwater and stabbed with a silver dagger multiple times. This girl shouldn’t be complaining. He should.

But as he saw the other woman rummaging near the bookcase again, he knew that one spoken word from his mouth was one too much. So, when she sat down with the glass right in front of him, he knew that whatever he said, it wouldn’t be the right thing. Begging. She had taken a lot from him, the hope that he would get out of here unscathed had long been gone, but the hope that someone would be there for him, that someone cared, was shattering. So, when she gave him the choice, where the usual stubborn Kaz would come in and scold at her, perhaps try to spit at her again, he stayed silent. That was all that he had, and the only thing she couldn’t take away from him. Although he hoped.