Found (Book #8 in the Vampire Journals) by Morgan Rice Page B

Pollepel, and she was overwhelmed with emotion.
    “Yes, it is me,” came a voice.
    Caitlin wheeled, and was shocked to see standing there, barely a few feet away, the man himself.
    Aiden.
    He wore a long white robe and hood, with his flowing gray hair and beard, and stared back at Caitlin with his large blue eyes, as if he had just seen her yesterday.
    Slowly, he broke into a smile.
    “I thought you would get here sooner.”
     

 
     
    CHAPTER ELEVEN
     
     
    Scarlet felt herself being pushed and prodded down the dark stone corridor of the prison, as they descended lower and lower into the earth. Her hands were clasped tightly behind her back with silver shackles, while Ruth was being led beside her, a muzzle over her mouth. Scarlet was terrified as they went, hearing the distant shouts of prisoners, getting ever closer. They sounded like vicious people, and she felt as if she were being led into the depths of hell, right towards an insane asylum.
    As she was shoved again, hard in the back, Scarlet caught a glimpse of her warder: he was a huge man, with a big fat belly, unshaven, with missing teeth. She could smell his awful breath even from here.
    “Keep moving, you little brat!” he said.
    He then wound up and kicked Ruth hard in her back, sending her flying forward, too, and banging her head into a stone wall. Ruth yelped. There was nothing she could do, though, with the muzzle securely over her face.
    Their warder laughed. Scarlet felt her rage well up, but there was nothing she could do: she tried again to twist her arms, her wrists, her hands. But she couldn’t break free. They were securely bound behind her, and the silver made her powerless.
    Scarlet thought back to what had happened earlier, to her rampage, her first feeding, her fighting all the soldiers…. She regretted hurting anyone. She really hadn’t wanted to. But the need for feeding, for blood, had consumed her so completely, she hadn’t been in her right mind. No one had ever taught her how to feed. What to do. She had to fend for herself, and she did the best she could.
    But she did not regret hurting those mean soldiers, and she was still furious they’d caught her in a silver net. She didn’t feel that she deserved to be thrown into this dungeon. She felt more alone than ever. She could only imagine what horrors awaited her down below, as she was led deeper into the darkness, the corridors lit only by flickering torches.
    “You’re a feisty one, aren’t you?” came the guttural voice behind her. “They told me to take you to the lowest chamber, to the silver room. Lock you up behind silver bars. But I don’t see how you need it. You’re just a flimsy little girl, aren’t you? No harm to anyone, are you?”
    Scarlet felt his fat, sweaty palm suddenly grab the back of her neck, and then run up the back of her head, under her hair. She could hear him licking his lips, swallowing.
    “Before I bring you down, I think I might teach you a thing or two. Break you in. Have my way with you, if you know what I mean?” he said with a laugh.
    Scarlet felt the hair rise on her arms; she despised the sound of his voice. Beside her, Ruth snarled.
    But she was helpless. She yanked again and again, but couldn’t break free.
    Suddenly, the man grabbed her and threw her into a side chamber. Scarlet sensed that he was defying orders, not doing what he’d been directed to. That he was going to take advantage of her, for his own means. She looked up and saw the lustful look on his face, as he stared down, licking his lips. She realized that this would be bad.
    He suddenly grabbed her by the shirt and tore open the buttons.
    Scarlet squirmed, turning her back on him. She could feel her body shaking, and was more afraid than ever.
    “Don’t you touch me!” she screamed back. But she knew it was useless.
    The man smacked her hard in the back of her head, and she cowered from the pain.
    She then felt him undo the silver clasps binding her wrists,