She woke much later and knew Neil had been right about her not getting back up during the night. Fingers just barely pressed against her face, and she lifted herself to find Neil curled up on top of the blankets with his hand out to her cheek. The guy was out like a rock, and she tucked her blanket around him before running her hand against his cool cheek.

"You're quite close."

Silvia jumped up to Ares leaning against the wall, and she regarded him warily now that Neil wasn't conscious to protect her.

"You needn't fear me. I'm Neil's most loyal servant, and I did not realize how much he cared for you. Seeing him sleep by your side so comfortably makes it difficult to misinterpret his affection for you."

"Affection? I'm not sure I'd use a word that strong." Silvia slid out of bed and stretched, cracking her bones back into place.

"Don't sell yourself short. Neil's enamored with you but frightened of being hurt, so he may not show it the same as a mage would."

"Is that why he's so hostile. It's like he's half trying to get rid of me, half wants to kidnap me. Vampires are complicated." Silvia walked to Ares side, and he remained still against the wall. "I'm glad Neil has someone loyal by his side. I know he's having a rough time emotionally right now."

"Yes. The Arcs have recently changed heads, and it's difficult for him to fill the shoes of a man who was nothing like him and exponentially more powerful."

"And a deranged vicious monster. I know about Vincent Arc. When Neil said he was worried about becoming his father, I did not realize that was who he was talking about."

Ares was silent, but narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously, an eerie copper glow in the darkness of the room.

"I'm trying to understand Neil, even though I know a lot of what I'm going to find will be frightening. I like Neil, and I want to get to know him." An idea crossed her mind, and she fidgeted. "Perhaps maybe you can help me with that?"

"How so?" Ares stood, uncrossing his arms.

"I was wondering... what life is like for the blood slaves here, but I know Neil won't let me near them."

"Now is a good time." Ares jumped up with a smile and beckoned for her to come. It was much more energy than she expected, and she followed him. "Shower and clean yourself, and I will bring you clothes. I can sneak you in without anyone noticing if you really want to know. That is if you're committed to Neil."

"I am." Silvia straightened up, and it softened Ares expression.

With a bow, he left her, and she slid into the grey and white tiled bathroom. It had a walk-in shower with plain stone benches and a bath big enough to fit several people. She marveled at its sheer size, but shivered against the stone as she figured out how to turn it.

Her shower only had one nob, and Neil's had four. What for, she had no idea, but it was certainly more complicated than a television. Silvia smiled, supposing it was fair that they both couldn't use certain house appliances.

As she slid into the water, the bubble jets turned on on their own, easing her muscles as she stretched her toes in the water, and steam enveloped her. She knew she didn't have a lot of time, so she quickly scrubbed her skin and rinsed her hair, but she didn't know what shampoo to use so she just used water.

Just as quickly as she's jumped in, she hopped out and rummaged through the sink cabinets until she found a hair dryer that looked brand new and dried her hair. She didn't have as much as Neil did, so it dried quickly, and she wandered to the door with only a towel. Right outside, there was a neat stack of clothes and she grabbed it and pulled back into the bathroom.

It wasn't much clothes. The pants were long, flowing, and covered her to her ankles, but the shirt covered her chest and had small tufts at her arms but left her stomach, neck, and shoulders completely open. This was blood slave attire. Was this what he meant by sneak her in? Silvia swallowed as she dressed and crept out of the room to find Ares waiting.

Reaching out, he touched her chin, and she trembled as his strong fingers gripped her face. "You needn't worry. The new blood slaves are not fed from for a week. They are integrated with the others and forced to see our world in that time. You will be unharmed if you accompany them as a new slave, but you must maintain the façade.

"Damien is not as trusting of Neil as I am. It's not unheard of for humans with weak mage blood to be used for blood slaves, so just pretend that's what you are and you should be fine. Are you committed?" Ares asked again, and she nodded, taking a deep breath to stop her trembling. "Less of that." Ares nudged her face, and she looked up questionably. "Our blood slaves are terrified and unhappy about being here. Being frightened is fine."

"Very well. What do I call... vampires?" Silvia asked.

"Most humans don't talk to the vampires or refer to them. Some of the slaves who have been with us longer refer to us as masters, but those are few and far between. A new blood slave will be expected to be afraid and out of place. Don't worry about etiquette, just don't act like a confident mage."

"Gotcha." Silvia bowed her head, and Ares rubbed his eyes.

"Don't do anything stupid. Neil will never forgive me if you are disrespectful and get hit. I can't watch you. It would be suspicious. I have to give you to Damien, his second in command. The man won't harm you, but the other vampires around might if you are... impertinent."

"I won't talk to them like I talk to Neil." Silvia chuckled, and Ares bored his rust eyes into hers.

"I am trusting you, which I would never do, but Neil cares for you, and I want you to be good for him."

"Thank you. I won't get you into trouble." Silvia bowed again, and Ares nodded.

"Come." Ares walked out of Neil's room, and she trailed after him.

She gave Neil a silent affectionate glance and then followed his general out into the hallways. They went through a transportation spell to another building that was smaller and a little less grand. It had doors that looked to be made for the human blood slaves as well as the huge ones for vampires, but had the same color palette and statue assortment.

Ares led her down to a group of girls who looked to have just woken and gotten dressed as well. A tall vampire was with them, checking them off as present, and he flicked his pitch eyes up to Ares on his approach. Under the other vampire's dark ice-cold gaze, she wanted to get closer to Ares, but she was supposed to be frightened of both of them, so she inched back.

They were both at a height, but the dark energy coming off of the one in grey and pitch oriental clothes was absolutely overwhelming. They were both powerful, but Neil's second in command was definitely more powerful than his general. That made sense, she supposed.

"What is this, Ares?" The man came up to him, and Ares bowed his head.

"A strangler from one of the outer villages, Damien. It's best to integrate her now, though she may return to the complex she was assigned to for her service."

"Very well. Come." Damien beckoned for her to join the other girls, but Silvia was frozen.

It was impossible for her to approach a vampire that powerful. Ares moved quickly and yanked her arm so hard that it squeezed a whine out of her as he tossed her to the other girls. She skidded and fell onto cold stone, though not too hard onto her arms.

"Ares!" Damien hissed, and Ares regarded him with a hostile glare, not at all similar to the reverent bow he'd given him a moment prior.

"I haven't time to play with your pets. If you want them treated gently, teach them to behave." Ares stalked off, and a few girls helped her up.

As she regained her feet, Damien cast his gaze over to her what appeared to be apologetically, but it was quickly masked with focus as he ran his eyes over the five girls gathered before her.

"I don't condone violence from the vampires here against you, but if you don't listen, I can't guarantee you'll be unharmed. Do as you're commanded and you won't be mistreated. I gave you a day to yourself to calm down to your situation, but it is time you move forward. Follow, be silent, and obey," Damien commanded, and he turned to walk down the hallway.

The girls followed one by one, and Silvia joined after. They all looked similar, likely from the same village around here. The one who led them stood out the most, with bright blond hair that ran in waves to her shoulder blades. Two of the other girls were so close that they could have been sisters, with chestnut hair and eyes, and one was only a shade lighter with straight auburn hair. The last had black hair that was braided to her lower back and skin a few shades darker.

"What is your name?" Damien stopped, and the parade of girls skittered back, all except the blond girl who remained still.

"S-Silvia," she stuttered when she realized she was being spoken to.

"I see. Well, Silvia, I will show you your quarters later this evening. I already did so for these girls yesterday as well as covering what you should expect. There have been changes around here in recent years, so I ask you to cast aside what you've heard about blood slaves in the castle.

"You won't be beaten or mistreated, nor touched in any inappropriate manner. All you need do is feed the vampires when you are well enough and attend to minor chores while you are recuperating blood. Listen, obey, and don't speak, and life won't be very hard. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Silvia bowed her head, and he opened a door on the right. "Wait here and the more experienced slaves will explain it to you. You don't hear what I'm saying all the time." Damien spoke to everyone, and they filed into the room. "Behave." Damien threatened as he closed the door behind them.

The way he repeatedly commanded them was reminiscent of a parent trying to keep children in line, but Silvia saw why he was grinding into them if he didn't want them hurt. Neil said Damien had been a mage before he was his second in command, and she had no idea how it must feel for him to have switched sides. These were people he had used to save, and now he was corralling them like livestock.

The girls crowded to the far edges of the room that had cushions of various sizes and colors. There wasn't a couch or chair in sight, and Silvia wondered as she took a seat next to the blond girl. The other girls had sat away from her, and Silvia wondered why as she looked over. Silvia was surprised to find bandages wrapped around the girl's throat, and when she glanced up at her eyes, they were a glazed sky and visibly clouded.

"Are you blind?" Silvia asked.

"Differently sighted." The girl smiled kindly, tilting her head toward her. "I don't see things, but living auras. To most people, yes, I'm blind. I'm Lera, by the way. You must be Silvia. I know the feeling of the other girls. We grew up in the same village."

"Hush," an older woman said, coming over and sitting next to them. "I have little time to prepare you. The monsters here aren't so patient."

Silvia's eyes were plastered on the new woman who had vibrant, frizzy, dark red hair that was tied up into a spikey floof at the back of her head. Stray hairs escaped everywhere, striped with shiny grey hairs here and there. She was in her mid-thirties likely, but stress gave anyone grey hair.

She looked worn out and used with her shadowed blue eyes. There was a scar on her cheek that had yet to fade, and her arms and stomach had scars of old bite marks in places that looked painful. Vincent Arc had been known as a depraved woman abuser, so Silvia had no doubt this woman had been raped in the time she'd spent here.

"Why are we here?" The dark-haired girl asked, twiddling her braid nervously.

"You will witness the vampires feeding from us." The woman beckoned, and a few older girls came in from a back room and sat with them. A few of the girls with her covered their mouths as if they were sick. "Yes, it's horrifying, but the more you struggle and fight it, the worse it is. It's best to remain still and pretend you're elsewhere. I've fed these beasts for decades and have also been forced to do things that I'll never be able to forget."

"That vampire said we wouldn't be harmed beyond feeding them." The dark-haired girl seemed to be the only one who could speak aside from Lera who looked intentionally silent.

"Yes, however, that is new. Since Vincent–the previous master of this house–was killed, many vampires have been killed who followed his old ways, and no vampires are allowed to do certain things. That does not mean they will not try nor push the lines of what is permitted. The more accepting you are of being fed from, the less interest they will have in you. They like it when you struggle."

Some of the girls whimpered, and Silvia shivered as she imagined a vampire enjoying her struggle against them. In society, when she'd been frightened of Neil, she'd been able to run. These girls had no choice but to suffer under the treatment of multiple vampiress who Silvia doubted bothered with getting to know them.

All this older woman knew was Vincent's reign, but Neil was the house head now. Damien seemed commanding but not unsympathetic to their plight as a former mage. She wondered if Damien was as kind as Neil was when not required to be in charge of slaves. After all, he was the man who was frightened of Neil pulling away and decaying into his father's cruelty.

"Sit here in the back." the woman said as she descended with about ten other women of varying ages to the middle of the room. They weren't too old aside from the woman leading them, all around their mid-twenties, Silvia's age. The girls that had been brought were all so young that Silvia couldn't help pitying what their lives would be. In her teens, Silvia had been in high school and under Tide's tutelage when her father was too busy.

These girls had been born to a cruel fate.

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Word Count: 2555