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In the dimly lit and desolate room, I began to examine my surroundings in search of any potential means of escape. The walls, lined with aged and worn stone, seemed impenetrable, and the heavy wooden door remained as steadfast as ever. I carefully inspected the room’s corners and crevices, my fingers tracing along the rough surface of the walls.
As I explored every inch of the room, my eyes finally fell on a small, barely noticeable crack near the floorboards. It was a faint glimmer of possibility, a potential weakness in my prison. I knelt down and examined the crack more closely, my heart racing with a surge of hope.
But just as I was about to pry the floorboards loose, I heard the sound of oncoming footsteps. I quickly moved back to the center of the room, waiting for the door to be unlocked. I thought about attacking the guard, even if there were two of them again. I wanted to take the risk and see where it would lead me. But on second thought, I assured myself that I needed to bide my time. I couldn’t act rashly. I would probably get only one chance to get out of here. I needed to make it count.
The door opened a few moments later, and the same two guards appeared. One of them entered the room, while the other remained in the doorway, keeping an eye out on the situation. Once again, I knew that I would take the first one easily, but the other one would quickly sound the alarm. And just like the previous time, I knew that I had to wait.
The guard entered, holding a tray of foul-smelling gruel. The acrid smell filled the air, and my stomach churned at the sight of it. He didn’t say anything. Not that there was much to say anyway. The only person I wanted to talk to was Constantine, and even if I did talk to him, my answer would still be the same.
With a disdainful look, the guard placed the tray on the floor before me, the thick, slimy substance sloshing in a crude bowl. “Eat up,” he grumbled in a cold, disinterested tone.
I was even more nauseous now than before. I couldn’t help but feel a mixture of revulsion and resignation as I stared at the unappealing meal. I honestly wasn’t even hungry, but that was probably because I was still under the influence of adrenaline and rage at what I’d found out. Not to mention that I was feeling utterly helpless right now. All those sensations had a tendency to kill your appetite.
I frowned at the offered food. “I’m not eating this,” I stated firmly, my voice carrying a tone of defiance.
The guard didn’t say anything. He looked at the poor excuse for food he had just brought, then back at me. I thought he would threaten me or something, or maybe even force me to eat it. But he did no such thing.
“Take it back to your master,” I added. “Maybe he’ll eat it.”
For a moment, I thought that he might strike me, but he probably knew better than that. The guard’s eyes bore into mine, a silent standoff between his authority and my refusal. After a tense moment, he begrudgingly picked up the tray and left the room, leaving me alone once more, the taste of rebellion still lingering on my tongue.
The fact that they brought me food meant only one thing. It was an indication that I was to stay here indefinitely. At least, they were not starving me, but with Constantine, that was just one of the many possibilities. He was a man who was used to getting his own way, and I knew that he wanted me on his side, on the vampires’ side.
The very thought of that was ridiculous. Was he really expecting me to turn my back on everyone I had vowed to protect? Including my own wife and child? He must have been mad to think that.
But at the same time, I knew that I didn’t have much time. The doppelganger spell took me by surprise. Up until that moment, I was holding onto the hope that Lilith would realize I was gone and along with her father, she would send our guards to come and look for me. But now, I wasn’t sure such a thing was possible.
I raked my fingers through my hair nervously and started to pace through the room. I felt like a caged tiger, unable to do anything about the predicament I was in. I didn’t even know that the doppelganger spell was possible to do in this day and age. It was an ancient spell, one that required practice and wisdom, and not only that. Only the right person could conjure a doppelganger. A witch born of supernatural parents, a wizard and a vampire. Such unions had not taken place in ages. But it seemed that Constantine managed to track one of them down.
I sat down on the worn out couch, and tried to focus my mind. I knew very little about the doppelganger spell. I had no idea how accurate this depiction of me would be. From the little that I knew, he would be a spitting image of me. So, physically, there would be no distinction.
But, mentally… that was where my hope lay. Lilith knew me well. She knew my heart, my mind, my soul. She knew my every thought and was able to read me like an open book. Some part of me hoped that she would see a change in my behavior. I wasn’t a violent, aggressive person. If she noticed that about me, she was bound to figure out that something was wrong.
But at the same time, that meant putting both her and Cass in danger. I had no idea how violent a doppelganger could be. Would he truly hurt Lilith or even Cass? I couldn’t take that risk. I had to keep him under control on my part, even if that meant helping him be more inconspicuous.
I rested my back against the couch and closed my eyes. All sorts of scenarios started to swarm inside my mind. It was difficult to keep my anger under control, but I knew that I couldn’t act rashly. I had to talk to Constantine again. But if I refused his offer once again, he would just throw me back in here. Eventually, he would probably stop sending me food, even if it was moldy porridge.
I had to come up with a plan, but that was easier said than done. I looked around the room and remembered the loose floorboard. It had been a glimmer of hope, a potential means of escape, and I couldn’t afford to let the opportunity slip through my fingers.
With renewed determination, I knelt down beside the crack, my fingers probing the edges. I realized that if I could loosen the floorboard and pry it free, there might be a hidden passage or a way to access the castle’s inner workings.
As I worked on the floorboard with growing anticipation, my heart sank when I realized that there was no hidden passage beneath it. It was just a piece of the castle’s aging infrastructure, a false glimmer of hope in my desperate attempt to escape. The disappointment weighed heavily on me, and for a moment, it felt like the walls of the room were closing in, trapping me in a seemingly endless cycle of captivity. I had to stifle a sigh of frustration. I probably should have expected that it wouldn’t be that easy to find a way out of this room.
Suddenly, my stomach reminded me that I hadn’t eaten in a while, but the memory of what I was offered for nourishment immediately made my appetite sink. I knew I couldn’t give up. There was a way out of here, I just hadn’t found it yet. Cass and Lilith were constantly on my mind, their sweet faces fueling me to keep going, no matter what. They were my reminder that I couldn’t give up, that I had someone to fight for.
Before them, I’d been alone most of my life. It was easy to fend for myself and never think about others. But Lilith changed all that. The moment I became her protector, something inside of me evolved. I became a different person, a better person, all because of her. And when Cass came into our lives, I felt happier than I ever thought was possible. I didn’t think someone like me deserved to be that blissfully happy, and yet, here I was.
I smiled at the thought of Cass’ face. I closed my eyes, extending my hand into the empty space before me. I could almost see her, touch her. I wanted to hold her in my arms and tell her that it would be alright. I wanted to do the same for Lilith.
The very knowledge that they were with my own dark side troubled me greatly. Something assured me that Constantine would not arrange it so that either of them would get hurt. Otherwise, he would have no leverage. Hopefully, he knew that much. Without the two of them, he had nothing to blackmail me with. That soothed me up to a certain point, the knowledge that as long as I was of interest to him, they were safe… hopefully.
I thought of demanding to be seen by him again, then somehow attacking him, but with all those guards around him I didn’t stand a chance. I wouldn’t be able to get close enough to touch him, let alone to cause him harm. No. There had to be another way, I just wasn’t able to see it yet.
I was too exhausted and too angry to think rationally now. Besides, I knew that hunger was slowly starting to have an effect on me. That, and thirst. I knew that Constantine had many ways of torturing his prisoners, many ways of finding out what he wanted to know. Withholding food and water was child’s play from what I’d heard of his methods.
I banished the thought, not wanting to think about that right now. If I was put in such a situation, I would do something. Yes, something, whatever that might be.
My eyes remained closed, with Cass’ sweet, smiling face still in front of them. I had conjured up her visage and I was now unwilling to let go of her. I could almost hear her voice, calling out to me. Daddy, daddy. It broke me that I wasn’t there for her, that I wasn’t there for Lilith as well, when I promised them both that I would always protect them. I gritted my teeth angrily, fighting a sudden onslaught of tears, stemming from sheer powerlessness that I couldn’t control.
