Theron

Theron

   He reeled in silence as he paced the expansive underground room, his footsteps echoing off the bare hollowed walls as his boots connected with concrete. Dread and annoyance filled him as he debated what waited for him at the end of the hall. He inhaled gasping on the burnt stench that darkened that hall and left lingering memories of days passed. Days that had left him facing the cold, bone chilling, sweat drenched dreams of his past utterly alone. These walls had once confined him in a life of nothing while they beat their new captured pets into submission. The life he had once known was gone to him; no longer holding the precious gift of freedom.
   He caught a look at himself in one of the long mirrored walls and realized how disheveled he appeared. His black hair had grown in too quickly and came down hiding grey-green eyes, his clothing was worn and filled with wrinkles from repeat wear, and his thin mouth was set in a hard line. He wasn’t remarkably tall but he was also not short, and he appeared to be less than what he was. A monster. He could bend and mold his appearance to suit his needs, but today the mirror held the image of a man he didn’t know because the man he remembered had been replaced with this one. This sad excuse for a being.
   He turned back to the hall; he’d made the decision to go even though it had already been made for him. His boots came down harder with each step as he followed the empty corridor, bringing him closer to the door. His stomach churned at the thought of being confined to a room with one since he hadn’t spent that much time so close to a fanged demon since they had captured him here so long ago. Her scent still lingered in the hall way from when they had carried her down to the room.
   He paused, hand brushing the cool knob. The paint had long since fallen away leaving only the solidity of gray metal. Only a little slice of metal between him and the vampire they seemed so afraid of. He hadn’t heard a fight, in fact the air was so still it seemed like death had washed over the secluded tin building, killing all that lay in its path. His fingers trembled on the knob, pulling away quickly. He glanced down at his hands as he tried to force the shudder out of his bones. Still only the well worn, dirt stained fingers of someone who has spent their life doing the dirty work of someone else. There was nothing to fear beyond the sickly sweet smell of vampire death, and something too fresh to be anything but a kiss of cold and very unlike anything he had inhaled before. The scent drew him in further.
   Grasping the knob tightly in his palm once more he twisted and quietly opened the door to let himself in. The scent was stronger, and not what he had expected. It was quite… intoxicating. He couldn’t remember the last time something smelled so good. Like fresh frost on a winter’s morning when the snow had fallen from peaceful clouds all night creating a delicate winter world as perfect as a new snow globe one that he longed to put fresh paw prints in. He followed it further into the room, which had been staged to represent someone’s idea of a child’s princess room.
   The large canopy bed was filled with small girlish pillows, and sickly pink satin bedding. Someone had drawn the long pink curtains back and tied them to each post. The small pastel fireplace roared with new warmth and flickered its light to the small pink chaise before it. There were several books piled in stacks around the chaise, none of which looked familiar to him, but they somehow seemed in place with the other furniture. The white vanity beside the bed, faced him and he glared angrily at his own reflection. Between the curtains that enveloped the bed sat a small girl whose eyes fluttered as she straightened herself on the bed. Giant blue doe eyes staring back at him, hair falling sweeping down the sides of her thin face and something clicks. Deep inside he feels the change, life changing. She stares holes into his flesh; batting long princess lashes at him, smiling with child-like innocence at his confusion.
   “I’ve been waiting for you.”