Dashiell Elias (agentlebreeze) wrote in light_of_may, @ 2010-10-10 05:30:00 |
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Entry tags: | #flashback, #solo, dashiell |
I'm all out of faith, this is how I feel
Who: Dashiell & NPCed vampires + other victims
When: 2004
Where: Greece, across an ocean, a road trip and, eventually, New York
What: The first part of Dashiell's "missing five years"
WARNINGS: NSFW
His days were now a blur of fangs and blood. What had once been an idyllic existence with his family learning to master his element was now spent chained to one spot in a dark room. After his abduction from his home, he had been placed on a boat that had tossed him around like a leaf in the wind. Dashiell had lost so much weight on the boat because he had been sick half the time and the vampires had taken no pity on him. When the boat had finally stopped, Dashiell had been so grateful but he had only just begun to recover from his seasickness when he was shoved into the back of a metallic machine with wheels and a long road trip, which made Dashiell just as sick as the boat had, began.
He slipped in and out of consciousness as the days began to blur together. He was fed, of course, bread and soup, but it was hardly ever enough to sustain him for more than a few hours and then he was hungry again. He would fall asleep and wake up again to find that it was as if no time had passed and Dashiell would have to wonder if that was because he had only slept for a few minutes or if he had slept through the day and woken up the next. It didn't matter. His sisters were gone from him. His parents were far away. The entire temple had been...Dashiell tried not to think about it. If he didn't think about it, then he wouldn't cry. And if he didn't cry, then his abductors would stop hitting him across the face.
The long ordeal had finally ended when they reached a city of tall buildings and flashing lights. The lights had made Dashiell sick when he first saw them, though he would eventually get used to them. SONY. COCA-COLA. PANASONIC. Women on big screens speaking in a language Dashiell could not understand. Allowing himself to be dragged along because he had neither the strength nor the reason to fight anymore, Dashiell was only thankful to no longer be in a moving vehicle that made him sick. He was tired of the smell of his own sick. Once inside one of the tall buildings, they had given Dashiell a bath in foul-smelling water and stripped him of his robes. It was the last time he would ever see or feel his clothing from the mountains. Cleaned up, Dashiell was placed in a room with other people that he saw had been mistreated like him. They, too, were thin, naked and frightened. Dashiell was placed on the same pedestal as a girl that was about his age. Her lips were cracked and there were dark circles under her eyes. He introduced himself to her in his native tongue but she only looked at him with eyes that did not understand.
Pacing in front of them, a vampire began speaking to them. Dashiell did not know if he was one of those that had taken him or if he was new. He was too confused to remember. The vampire spoke in a language that Dashiell did not know, but the girl next to him seemed to understand because she paled at something that the vampire said. She looked at Dashiell quickly before looking away and started crying. The vampire that had been speaking came up to them and said a few words to her in the same strange language. When she did not respond, he struck her and pulled at her hair. All of this confused Dashiell. None of it made sense, especially the part where neither his father nor his mother came to save him. He had given up, however. After the seventh day (or what seemed like the seventh day), when neither Barnabas nor Diana had come to rescue Dashiell, he had given up. They would not come. And he had given himself to his new fate.
The speaking vampire said a few last words before the whole group of them left, locking the door behind them. Only those who were like him were left, each on top of their own tables, displayed like animals for the slaughter. The girl next to him was still crying. Even though the shackles that bound his feet and hands were heavy, Dashiell moved closer to her. Raising his arms above her head, he slid the chain around her to give her a hug. She struck him at first but Dashiell did not move. He started singing to her the lullaby that Diana would sing to him when he couldn't sleep. Soon, she stopped struggling and curled up against his chest. Leaning back, she and Dashiell fell asleep like that.
He could not tell how much time had passed but there was a sudden commotion and a few lights overhead flickered on. The girl scrambled away from Dashiell as if she had been shocked and held her knees tight against herself. Dashiell asked her what was going on but then he remembered she could not understand him. A finger pressed against her lips told Dashiell he should keep quiet. He sat up to watch the proceedings. A new vampire came into the room and looked all of them over before he grabbed the arm of a girl two tables away from Dashiell. He asked her a few questions in the odd language. She responded with a shaky voice and, after a while, he released her. He said something to the other vampires that had come in with them and they took the girl off the table as she screamed and thrashed. They took her out of the room and it was the last Dashiell ever saw of her.
More days like that followed, where a vampire or a group of vampires would come into the room, talk to one or more of the captives and some of them would be taken away. Sometimes, they brought new people in to replace the ones that had been taken. Twice, two vampires spoke to Dashiell but he did not understand any of it. He found that if he simply stared at them like he was dumb, they left him alone. One of the times when they were alone, the girl beside him pointed to herself and said, "Amalia." She pointed at Dash. "What is your name?" Dashiell had shook his head, not knowing what any of it meant. She pointed at herself again. "Amalia" and then pointed at Dashiell. Simply guessing what she meant, Dashiell responded with, "Dashiell." Amalia nodded and repeated his name. It sounded weird when she said it. When they went to sleep, she slept curled up next to him. They didn't understand the words they spoke but they understood the simple basic need that they each felt to not be alone.
The next day, a group of vampires came into the room. It was more vampires than Dashiell had ever seen. There were at least eight of them this time, when usually it was one and never more than three. The vampires fanned around the room and started talking to those around the room. One of them approached Dashiell and Amalia. She spoke to both of them. Amalia shook her head in response but Dashiell understood nothing. When the vampire repeated the question, Dashiell still did not respond. Then, Amalia said something in her language. "He doesn't speak English."
"What does he speak?"
"I don't know," Amalia responded.
"Parlez-vous francais? Sprechen Sie Deustch? Parla italiano? Nihongo o hanashimasu ka? Vy govorite po-russki? No?"
Dashiell simply stared back at her. It had worked before to keep him from getting taken. He figured he was fed and not hurt here. There was no reason to go anywhere else when he wasn't sure what lay before him. The female vampire paused and touched her chin as she watched Dashiell before she shrugged. She said something to Amalia, which made Amalia blush and she shook her head. The female vampire grabbed her, thumb against one cheek and her other fingers pressing against the other cheek. She said something in a lowered voice. Amalia nodded and turned to Dashiell. She turned him so that she faced him and then pushed him down so that he was on his back. Situating herself between his legs, a tear rolled down her cheek before she lowered her head down to take him into her mouth. Dashiell had seen animals copulate and he understood that it was all a part of the cycle of life. He had, however, pledged his life to Boreas and never intended on getting married and so he had stayed pure. Whatever Amalia was doing was...interesting. It was certainly a new set of sensations he had never felt before. She kept at it for a few minutes before she stopped. When she lifted her head, Dashiell saw that she was no longer crying. That was good, right? If it made Amalia stop crying, then that was good. She looked at the female vampire and shook her head. The female vampire came closer and then made a face at Dashiell before walking away. He did not understand that there was something strange about the fact that he had remained flaccid the entire time.
Amalia and Dashiell continued to sleep against each other during their nights but every time they woke up to the sound of the bolts being opened, Amalia would scurry away from him as if he had leprosy. Dashiell was convinced that neither one of them would ever be taken away from the other. As usual, fate decided to prove him wrong.
It proceeded as normal. Two vampires entered their room along with the traders. One was male and the other was female. The man wore a dark grey suit with a pink tie. He had pale skin and dark hair. His eyes were the color of emeralds. The woman was in a black turtleneck sweater and tight jeans. Her hair looked like fire but her eyes were cool water. The moment they stepped into the room, she froze and took a deep breath of the air and her gaze immediately fell on Dashiell. She walked briskly towards him and cupped his face in both her hands. She spoke to him in an excited voice. Amalia explained for him how he did not speak the language. This did not seem to confuse or worry the vampire, however. Instead, she simply pulled out a knife and nicked Dashiell's bare shoulder. As she tasted his blood, her partner came over to observe. When she pulled away from Dashiell's shoulder, she was smiling. Dashiell was glad he could make her happy. She turned to the vampire she had come in with and started speaking even more excitedly. "He's an air elemental. It's perfect."
Before Dashiell could understand what was going on, he was being removed from the table. He screamed for Amalia but she did not respond. She simply looked away as if she could not hear him as the traders dragged him into a separate room. He was forced into a chair and a needle was stuck into his arm. The liquid burned where they had stuck him. The last thing he remembered before he passed out was the look on the woman's face. It was more than excited. It was...hungry.