Vampire's Prodigy

How did I end up here again?

You don't remember?

Barely.

Let's do a recap then.

Okay.

You were born.

Yes, I know that. What happened next?

Your father left.... and never came back.

Okay.

Your mother died when you were 12.

You and your sister were evicted from your apartment when you were 13.

That makes sense.

Your sister left you at 15.

And I was found, captured by vampires, and sold to a pet shop.

Mhmm. And you've been here since then.

How old am I?

What?

I've been here for Lord knows how long. My birthday could've passed 3 times over and I would never know.

...

Ches?

Remember 3 weeks ago when the pet master took you to the back room and beat you, he called it "your special gift"?

Yeah.

It was your birthday, you turned 16.

....

Oh.

-----

I sat, curled up in the back of the small box they called a cage. My knees pressed up to my chest and my arms wrapped around my legs. I rested against the wall and looked at the shadow talking to me.

"Do you think I'm going to be bought soon?" I saw him shrug his shoulders.

"Hopefully. It'll be better than this hellhole."

Hopefully.

Hopefully, it will be better than this awful place. But of course, hope doesn't solve everything. No matter how much I pray for God to get me out of here; it seems like God takes His time.

A lot.

I can say one thing though, the talking shadow has been a tremendous Godsend.

Although I like to think of him like a shadow, I have no idea what he is. Vampires aren't known to be able to transfigure into shadows and other things and I've yet to know a wolf-blood who can do what he can.

I might not know what he is, but in all honestly, I don't care. All I know is that he showed up when I was captured and has been with me since.

He is more than a figure on the wall. There are multiple times when he has come off the wall. Sometimes he was in the form of a man (most likely his actual figure), except he was still dark. Every detail of his body was covered in black sand. While other times he'll come in the form of a cat. A black one with green eyes.

Always to comfort, never to harm.

He never told me his real name though, he only said to call him Cheshire.

"What are you thinking about?" I looked on the wall to see Ches tilting his head to the side like a cat.

"Nothing," I answered simply. I could feel his eyes giving me a blank stare.

"I was just wondering what would my next master would be like. Cruel, violent, rageful--"

"Nice," I slowly turned my head and peered at him. "What?" He shrugged his shoulders, "Not all vampires suck."

"Sure, and I'm not a pet," I stated sarcastically. "Oh c'mon," he laid stretch out on his side, facing me. His head resting on his hand and his elbow holding up the limb.

"I doubt that you, or any other human or wolf, are pets due to a continuous hate or arrogance that was brewed generations before."

I crossed my arms, "you do hear yourself right?"

"Think about it, it's culture. Like wearing rip-jeans or doing the latest dances; better yet, it's taught, learned behavior. Need I remind you, vampires have parents and were raised just like you," Cheshire -hopefully- finished in a matter-of-factly tone.

I rolled my eyes, "are you done?"

"Yes." He said, now laying on his back.

"Why give them the benefit of the doubt?"

Cheshire visibly tensed at my question.

"I mean, are you that naive?"

"No! But, uh... well--um, you know that saying: 'innocent until proven guilty'?" He asked, trying at his defense.

"They're guilty."

"Yes, but--"

"Guilty."

The cycle of me deadpanning his explanations went on for a while until the Pet Master slammed open the door that separated this room from the front room. I tensed. The last time he heard me talking to Ches he beat me so hard that I couldn't move. I had to get dragged back to my cage.

My body began to shiver as I curled up into the tightest ball I could form. I felt Cheshire's hand rubbing circles on my back trying to soothe my worry. He whispered sweet words of consolement as I tried to calm my breathing. The Pet Master worked his way down the hall, kicking and banging each cage as he went, jump-scaring each pet he came across.

"Rise and shine!" his voice boomed as I tightened my already tight ball. Cheshire continued his attempt to soothe me. I didn't dare to look up when the Pet Master walked past my cage, making me jump as he banged the front of it.

"Shhh, it's alright," Cheshire whispered in my ear. I bit my lip to contain my whimpering.

The Pet Master was the utmost cruelest thing I've ever come across. Anything and everything can make that creature snap. Making a sound, giving him eye contact, moving too much, not moving at all, and all of the above will make him beat a pet. Sometimes he does just because he feels like it.

Just like him, usually, the evil vampires become pet shop owners. Don't get me wrong, all vampires are evil, but it's the sadistic ones that take up this profession.

I mean, think about it, kill a vampire, get arrested; kill a human, buy another one. There is no punishment for this.

Rotten sons of bitches. What idiot relinquished our power to them anyway?

This is pitiful. Here I am complaining about their very existence when I would never have the balls to say it. The Pet Master neared my cage again and I decided to glare at him.

Well, my mind decided this, my body on the other hand was still curled up in its ball and shivering like crazy.

Like I said: pitiful.

The Pet Master crouched down in front of my cage and stared. Head tilted and eyes squinted; he held a familiar dark glint in his eye that always left me feeling confused: I couldn't tell if he saw something obscured or was thinking something demented.

But if I had to guess... it was the latter.

A fiery glint, overcoming the previous dark one, erected in his dark purple eyes as they wandered me. He gripped the lock on the cage door. My heart stopped as the air in my lungs grew thin. I felt Cheshire grip me tighter as we waited in anticipation for his next move.

Ding dong!

The bell over the front door sounded, alerting the Pet Master of a customer. Meaning one of our lives will be taken from one hell to another.

Pet Master grumbled as left his position to address the customer. They both returned chatting about business.

"Are you seeking anything specific?"

"No, nothing specific, just browsing to see what I can find," The man asked as he looked at me briefly before continuing.

The Man looked very sophisticated--- as if he were a businessman. He looked as if he was in his late- twenties, his jaw was chiseled and his chin was smooth and free of hair. His face showed no blemish of any kind. He had short, sienna brown hair and his eyes were a dark silver that I could tell wore stone glare most of the time.

His lightly tanned skin glowed under the dim light as he stop to look at other pets.

"You're staring," Cheshire broke my train of thought. His grip remained firm yet gentle on my arms.

Can you blame me? Vampires are natural beauties and that man--no, vampire-- image was nearly impeccable. Nearly. His being a vampire was his biggest imperfection.

"Can't help it. He's beautifully terrifying and terrifyingly beautiful," I said watching the stranger's every move; when he placed his hand on another pet's cage when he laughed at something the Pet Master said.

I swear that bastard is such a suck-up.

"Kiss ass," Cheshire commented and I giggled making him turn his head towards me

Both vampires snapped their heads towards me. But before their gaze can fully settle on me, I tightened my ball and hid my face, just as I was before as if nothing happened. Once they figured nothing was out of the ordinary, they ignored what they once heard and went back to their conversation.

I let out a quiet sigh of relief.

"So Mr. Bra--"

"Please call me Jonathan," Jonathan said, cutting off the PM.

I held a scowl on my face.

Ches patted my side and I curled myself more into him.

I looked up at him, "vampires are stupid."

"A little immature, don't you think?" Ches countered playfully.

"Sorry, it's just--" I sighed, "It's aggravating."

Cheshire started to rub circles on my back. Giving in to the touch I started to fade.

Jonathan, it's a simple name. A good name--- Hebrew I think. It's just irritating coming out of it. Like really, did he deserve such a simple, good name.

"You're in deep thought again," Cheshire snapped me out of my thoughts once again.

"It's nothing, I was just thinking about who he's gonna buy," I lied.

Give me a break, I'm human.

"Hmm," he hummed, moving his hand from my to my shoulder blade and continuing to rub there.