The attic was vast and damp. At first glance, it looked like an old prison ward with countless cages scattered around. Their silver coating glistened from the small rays of sunlight coming from the tiny cracks through the ceiling. Lynn was lying locked up in one of those cages. His eyes slowly adjusted to the new setting as he woke up from the horrible screeching of the other prisoners.

They were anxiously pacing back and forth, observing the newcomer with their bloodthirsty eyes. Some were angrily bashing their head against the bars, consumed by madness, burning their sickly pale skin in the process. Others just sat there quietly, waiting for the effects of their starvation to take hold. There were very few of them, however, as the majority of them were already far gone. Leaving every semblance of humanity as just a distant memory.

Lynn knew that he would soon join them if he didn't figure out a way to escape from his cell. For a second he struggled to remember how he even got to this point. The unimaginable pain he was in, was enough to make a normal person break down in tears and spend the rest of their short life wallowing in misery. His thoughts however were preoccupied with something much more important to him. His attention then shifted to the tiny footsteps coming in his direction.

"The mistress told me to check if you are still alive." Said Marcus as he sat down on a wooden crate next to his cell. "I'm surprised she didn't finish you off."

"Where is Ava?" Said Lynn in a hoarse voice.

"You mean Sellen? She is probably dining with the boss. Hey, don't you have bigger concerns right now?"

"I cannot sit here any longer knowing that she's in the hands of this psychopath."

"After all these years you're still more concerned about others than yourself. Somehow I'm not surprised."

Lynn tried to crawl closer to the boy to hear him better. His already quiet voice was dulled out by the screaming and scratching of the rogue vampires. The sounds they were making were loud enough to wake the dead. Just being locked up in the same room as them was enough of a torture.

"You need to get me out of here Marcus... " Said Lynn, clenching the iron bars, then quickly retracting his hand. In his tired state, he was too distracted to notice that they were coated in silver, burning his skin in the process.

"Even if I could, what makes you think I would ever do that?"

"I'm sorry for what I did to you. I don't expect you to find it in your heart to ever forgive me..."

"Oh, you think I'm still mad at you for turning me into a vampire?" The boy stood up from his seat, consumed by anger. "You left us, Lynn! All of this is your fault! What she did to Elenor, Edwin, and the others. None of this would have happened if you just stayed."

"I had no choice. Rules are rules..."

"Fuck the rules!" Marcus kicked the wooden crate, turning it into pieces. "Do you know why Ella is like this? Ruby scrambled her brains. She turned her into a vegetable, right in front of my eyes!"

"Even so, you obey every word of that monster. She made you into her right-hand man, am I wrong?" Lynn's eyes spelled a mixture of rage and disappointment. He kept his voice down, however. "Edwin loved you like a son. How could you betray him like that?"

"You want to know why I'm her second in command? Take a wild guess."

"..."

"Nothing? Okay, I'll tell you why: she finds it amusing that I'm an adult trapped in a child's body. Guess I have to thank you for that."

Lynn kept silent. There were no words he was able to find to express his sorrow. The memory from that day was engraved in the back of my head like a stain. The day he last saw Edwin and the others. It was a decision he never thought he would regret, not until now. The fact that he might be the reason for his friend's demise was enough to break his heart, making his body lose every last bit of strength and swoop to the ground.

The boy squatted down to take a better look at his face, feeling sorry for the man he once saw as an uncle.

"I didn't come here to put salt in your wounds." Marcus sighed, reaching with his hand into his back pocket. He pulled out a blood bank and tossed it into the cage. "Just know that I haven't forgiven you for everything. I simply cannot bear to see you turn into one of those disgusting creatures. Drink up, and when you're done - hide the pack somewhere, so no one will notice."

Lynn quickly removed the cap using his teeth and downed the liquid without giving it a second thought. It wasn't much, but it was enough to begin to heal the broken bones in his body. After a few attempts he even mustered the strength to get up.

"Why are you helping me?" Said Lynn, wiping the small amounts of blood dripping from his mouth. His tone of voice already going back to its normal sound. "You'll get in trouble if anyone finds out."

"You saved my life once, that's the least I can do. I'll be coming tomorrow with more, just keep your mouth shut."

"Of course... If it's not too much trouble, may I ask you to check up on Ava for me?"

"I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you."

And so the two parted ways. Night came. Lynn laid down, using his coat as a pillow, and looked at one of the large windows in the ceiling. The stars weren't as visible as when you gazed at them from the forest due to light pollution. He thought to himself: "What wouldn't I give to see those stars again..."