Free The Dark Gifts Birthright by Willow Cross Page A

what’s inside. If it’s bad enough
to scare a vampire into locking it up, then it’s not anything you
need to know about.” Her mental scolding did her little good;
curiosity got the best of her. Cautiously moving to the closest
door, she flipped up the clasp holding the window shut, and pulled
it open. A thick metal grate covered the hole. She rose on her
tiptoes and peered in. A thin streak of light cut a narrow path
through the darkness beyond. At first, she thought the room empty,
but her ears picked up the distinct sound of breathing--heavy
breathing. As if some over worked gargantuan had decided to slow
down for just a second, before continuing the destruction of a
city. She knew she should shut it and go, but she just couldn’t
help herself. “Hello?” She whispered. “Who’s there?”
    Clear as a bell, a child’s voice returned her
salutation. “Mommy? Is that you?”
    Liz immediately grasped the locked door and
pulled with all her strength. The iron creaked, but the door did
not budge.
    “Mommy, please,” the young voice continued,
“I won’t be bad anymore, I promise. Please let me out.” The
youngster’s voice cracked as words transformed into a soft cry.
    Liz’s heart beat furiously as her fingers ran
over the bar holding the door fast. Desperation filled her as she
struggled to free the crying toddler. In her mind’s eye she saw a
disheveled five year old with long matted hair and dirt smudged
cheeks. No matter how hard she tugged, Liz could not get the door
open.
    “I’m not your mommy little one,” she said to
the small voice inside. “Please don’t cry, I’m trying to get you
out. I’m coming; I just need to figure out this door.”
    Liz stepped back and looked the door over
again. She knew there had to be some trick to it, something she was
missing. Inside the room the crying stopped. The child spoke to her
again, “Where is my Mommy? Where did they take my Mommy? Why did
they put me in here?”
    “It’s all right. My name is Liz. I’m going to
help you. What’s your name, can you tell me?”
    “Mommy, is that you? Mommy?” The child was
obviously not quite right in the head. Liz wondered if she’d
suffered some serious mental damage from being abducted by vampires
and held in this cell. Was this that 'private supply' that Athena
was talking about? This young child locked behind the door had been
her lunch? Her stomach clenched with revulsion. Finally, she saw
what she had been missing.
    A small key-like bar that had to be fitted
into a hole just on top of the mechanism, hung from a metal chain
just to the side of the door. Liz had it in, turned, and unlocked
in a flash. She pulled the door open and rushed in to grab the
child. She didn’t know where she would go, or what she would do,
but she knew she couldn’t leave her in there.
    Except for the swath of light cutting through
the center of the room, the cell was pitch-black inside. Blinking
hurriedly to allow her eyes to adjust, she gazed into the darkness.
The heavy breathing came from the far corner.
    “Where are you? Come to me quickly, I’ll get
you out of here!”
    Something akin to a steam roller slammed into
her and knocked her to the floor. She barely had time to register
surprise before dagger like claws ripped into her side. Pain seared
through her body as the crunch of bones and the sound of tearing
flesh echoed in her ears. Blow after blow pummeled her face and
head. Stunned, she didn’t even think to fight back. Growling with
rage, the thing behind the door attacked her unceasingly and
without mercy. As she lost consciousness, she remembered Michael’s
warning, “Stay away from the dungeon, Liz, it’s dangerous down
there.”
    ***
    Liz’s forced return to consciousness was a
tossup between the burning pain, and Michael’s ranting and raging
around the room. If she hadn’t remembered being attacked, she’d
have been certain she’d been run over by an eighteen-wheeler. She
knew before she opened her