Chapter 5

The guards roughly threw Thedrick into the dungeon cell, causing him to stumble and nearly fall over. Catching his footing, Thedrick turned around to watch as the guards locked the cell door, barely even looking at his pitiful expression as they walked away, leaving him alone in the stone room, which was only slightly illuminated by the torches in the corridor outside. Not that it was any issue for Thedrick, as he could see perfectly in the dark.

What was a problem for Thedrick was how chilly the room was. The dungeons were sunk into the ground under the castle and were made of cold stone without much thought for comfort. Thedrick’s jester outfit was rather on the light side, to allow him to move easily when performing acrobatics, but offering next to no protection against the cold. It also didn’t help that the vampire was a bit cold blooded, and extremely thin, making him very sensitive to colder temperatures.

Thedrick wrapped his thin arms around his small frame as the cold already started to penetrate through the silk of his outfit. He wandered over to the small cot style bed that was the only piece of furniture in the cell and took a seat on it. It wasn’t too long before he started to shiver, while he desperately looked around the cell to try and find something to distract him from the cold, but found nothing.

The vampire ended up lying curled up on the bed, cursing himself for landing in this situation, whole body trembling from the cold. He knew he was thin enough to slip out between the bars, but if he was caught, he might only worsen his punishment. Plus, there was probably someone guarding the entrance to the dungeons anyway, so his chances of a full successful escape were rather slim.

Shivering alone in a cold dungeon was a familiar experience to Thedrick, and his mind was taken back to when it first happened to him, many years in the past.

****

It hadn’t been difficult for Thedrick to sneak out of the castle and slip into the smithy unnoticed. It helped that he could naturally see in the dark, so he required no light of a torch that might give him away. He was also small and easily able to fit through small windows. He had quickly found what he needed and then fled back to his room as fast as he could.

Now Thedrick sat on the floor of his room, staring at the pair of pliers he had pilfered. It felt like there was a heavy stone sitting in his stomach, making him feel more nauseous than usual. He knew what he had to do, he just wasn’t sure if he had the strength or resolve to do it.

He didn’t want to be a vampire anymore. Well, he had never wanted that, but now he hated that part of himself more than ever. He had been filled with self-loathing ever since he had tried to feed on his innocent sleeping brother in the middle of the night. Finn had kept trying to offer him more blood after that. Thedrick tried to refuse as much as he could, but sometimes he was too weak, and gave in. Afterwards he would always feel so terribly guilty.

Thedrick wanted to put an end to it, wanted to make sure he wouldn't hurt his brother anymore. He knew this wasn’t going to prevent his bloodlust, but there was nothing else he could think to do. Thedrick reached out and picked up the metal pliers, feeling their heavy weight in his small hand.

Then he opened his mouth and brought the pliers up to it, clamping them around his top left fang which he had unsheathed. He paused in place for a moment, breathing heavily, hands trembling slightly as they gripped the pliers. Then he started pulling as hard as he could.

The pain was instant and intense, but Thedrick didn’t stop until he ripped the fang out, dropping the pliers as soon as it came free. The little prince started crying while blood poured out of his mouth, dripping onto the rug he sat on. He quickly raised his hands to cover his mouth while he sobbed, smearing blood all over them in the process.

After a while of trying to stifle his crying, the intense pain started to abate, though it still ached. Thedrick pulled his hands away from his face, his skin now covered in a mixture of blood and tears. He tried to sniff back his sobs, looking down at the bloodstained rug where he had dropped the pliers and his fang. He reached out and picked up the fang, holding it out in front of his face and examining it while grimacing.

Glancing back down at the pliers again Thedrick winced. He didn’t know if he could bring himself to do that another three times, the pain was so awful. Maybe this was an even worse idea than he first thought.

Thedrick was attempting to figure out what he should do when he was suddenly startled by the door to his room opening. The prince nearly yelped in fright as he quickly looked up, and any small amount of colour he might have ever had in his skin drained away and the icy claws of fear gripped his heart as he saw who was standing in the doorway, looming over him.

It was the man he called ‘father’, the king, husband of Thedrick’s mother. He was quite a tall, broad man, with a ginger mane of hair and beard, and almost permanent disapproving scowl, eyes of icy blue looking out from under bushy brows. He was dressed in a fancy night robe.

The king stared down at Thedrick, eyes going wide as he saw the vampire’s bloody mouth and the fang he held between his fingers. Thedrick shrunk back slightly, as his father glared down at him, his expression a mix between anger and confusion.

“What is going on here?” the king demanded loudly, causing Thedrick to wince. The prince wanted to run, but he was frozen in fear.

Suddenly the large man was surging towards him, grabbing Thedrick’s bloody face and forcing open his mouth, exposing the three remaining fangs. The vampire made a muffled sound of protest as he was manhandled, and the fang slipped from his fingers and back onto the carpet as he tried to struggle out of his father’s grip.

A look of surprise and outrage filled the king’s features as he stared at the fangs in Thedrick’s mouth. “Monster!” he accused loudly, letting go of the vampire and standing up to tower over him. “I knew it, I knew you could be no son of mine, you pathetic little whelp!”

Cowering beneath his father, Thedrick hunched his shoulders up as the man loudly berated him. His breathing was speeding up along with his heart rate, and tears were forming in his eyes again. Suddenly there was a tugging on his hair, as the king grabbed Thedrick’s pale locks to force him to raise his head. Thedrick let out a yelp of pain, trying to pull out of his father’s grip, but it was too firm.

“You know, this is somewhat of a relief! Finnian was always the better choice of heir than you,” the king growled between clenched teeth, trying to make Thedrick look up at him. “Now you can spend your last night in the dungeons, and we’ll have you executed in the morning, freak!”

Then he was dragging Thedrick to his feet by the hair, which caused Thedrick to let out shrieks of pain and fear. He grabbed Thedrick’s arm instead, and started pulling him through the door, the vampire stumbling as he tried to get his footing. The prince wailed and cried as he was hauled through the castle corridors.

Queen Guinevere, Thedrick’s mother, suddenly emerged from a room, probably to investigate the screams. Dressed in a white nightgown, with her pale skin and white hair, she almost looked like a ghost. Her pink eyes widened slightly as she looked at her husband dragging her son along, the prince covered in blood and crying.

“Mother! Mother please!” Thedrick cried out, reaching out feebly towards his mother. Thedrick felt his heart sink in his chest as he saw her expression change to disappointment, and she sighed and shook her head.

“I’ll deal with you later,” the king snapped at his wife, and continued to pull Thedrick down the hallway. Thedrick tried to turn back and look at his mother pleadingly, but she just turned away from him.

Soon the king found some guards and ordered them to go and get a cage from the keeper of the hounds, as the bars on dungeon cells were too widely spaced to secure someone of Thedrick’s size. Thedrick continued to whimper as his father dragged him down into the cold stone dungeons, then held him in place while waiting for his men to arrive with the cage.

They placed the cage inside the cell and Thedrick was thrown in, landing hard on the floor. The king locked up the cage and then the cell, passing the keys to the dungeon warden. Then they all left, moving out of sight while Thedrick pulled himself into a sitting position. The little vampire sniffled, then wrapped his arms around his legs, burying his face into his knees.

This was it; it was all over. His secret had been discovered, and come morning they would be separating his head from his shoulders. He was trapped and helpless, and soon his short, miserable life would be ended.

It was very chilly in the dungeons, which Thedrick was particularly sensitive to. The vampire was only wearing very light silk clothing, and nothing on his feet. He couldn’t stop shivering, no matter how much he huddled up. Eventually he ended up curled up on the floor, unable to stop sobbing.

Hours later he was broken out of his weeping by a voice whispering his name from outside the cell. Looking up, Thedrick saw through the blur of his tears his brother's pale face, looking at him with concern through the bars of the cell.

“F-Finn?” Thedrick asked with disbelief, struggling into a sitting position again while he tried to wipe his tears on his sleeve.

“Thedrick, are you alright? How badly are you hurt?” Finn asked, staring at Thedrick’s bloodstained mouth with worry.

Thedrick shook his head. “Father… found out what I am… they’re going to kill me come morning, Finn,” the vampire attempted to explain between sobs.

“Not if I have anything to say about it,” Finn declared, holding up the warden’s keys. “Grabbed these off the warden, he’s taking a nap in his chair by the entrance.”

“Y-You shouldn’t even be down here… you’ll get into trouble… you should just go…” Thedrick protested while Finn started figuring out which key opened the cell door.

“No way, I’m going to get you out of here,” Finn said, his face an expression of steely determination.

“And then what?” Thedrick asked as Finn unlocked the cell door, swinging it open.

“We’ll run away together!” Finn stated confidently as he started unlocking the cage. “Who wants to be a prince anyway… we’ll find a new home, and have lots of fun adventures!”

The cage door squeaked slightly as it swung open, the sound echoing through the stone corridor. Finn reached inside, offering a hand to help Thedrick. The vampire took it, allowing his brother to pull him out of the cage and to his feet. Finn took his own sleeve in his hand and started cleaning up his brother's face. He had already grown to be slightly taller than Thedrick.

“Come on, we better be quick, and as quiet as possible. You can see in the dark, so no need for lights yeah? So let’s go,” Finn urged, taking Thedrick’s hand and gently pulling him out of the cell.

Sniffling, Thedrick nodded, and soon the two of them were quickly making their way to the entrance of the dungeons. Sure enough, the warden was still fast asleep in his chair. They tiptoed past him, and then started climbing the stairs.

Some parts of the castle were dark, and Thedrick had to lead his brother through them. But it was the well-lit parts that were probably more dangerous, where they could be spotted by patrolling guards.

They got about halfway to through the castle before they were spotted by a guard. Finn started running, pulling Thedrick along roughly behind him, but the guard was already raising the alarm, calling out to the other soldiers on patrol. The boys fled as fast as they could, winding down the corridors while they heard the shouts and clatter of armour coming from all directions.

Blood pounded through his ears and his lungs burned as Thedrick ran as fast as his small legs could carry him, desperately holding onto his brother’s pale hand as he dragged him along. The clattering of the guards' sabatons echoed down the corridor from behind them, along with the shouts. His vision blurred with tears.

They made it to the entrance, dodging past the startled and confused guards who were stationed there, and quickly hurried into town. Thedrick’s bare feet pounded against the cobblestones, and the chill of the night air bit into him just as it had in the dungeon. Finn led him on a winding path through the dimly lit streets, trying to lose the guards, though the pair of them must have stood out quite well in the shadows with their white hair and pale skin.

Then Finn slipped trying to take a corner, quickly letting go of Thedrick’s hand when he fell. Just as Thedrick was slowing down and trying to turn, he heard his brother call out, “No Thedrick, don’t stop! Keep running!” which caused Thedrick to pick up the pace again. He quickly glanced behind him as he ran, seeing his brother try to scramble to his feet as the guards quickly fell on him, grabbing him by the arms and hoisting him to his feet. Thedrick’s last sight of his brother was Finn watching on with distress as Thedrick escaped, shouting at him to not stop.

More tears filled Thedrick’s eyes as he kept pushing himself onwards. The ongoing shouts of the guards sent terror fuelled adrenaline through his frail body. They sounded further behind now; it seemed that Finn’s fall had delayed them momentarily. Thedrick ran out of the town and down the dirt road, then through the fields. When he glanced behind himself again, he saw the bobbing flames of several torches as guards poured from the town, still on his tail.

Heading for the nearby forest, Thedrick stumbled over mounds and divots as he sprinted through the field. Despite how much his muscles and lungs burned, he didn’t stop running. He could still hear the soldiers shouting behind him, but it sounded further away than ever, indicating they had probably lost sight of him for the moment. Thedrick kept going though, his focus on the safety of the cover of the trees he was approaching.

When the little vampire breached the edge of the forest, he slowed down a little, but still didn’t come to a stop just yet. He continued briskly walking between the trees, trying to put as much distance between himself and the edge of the woods as possible. His legs felt weak, and he was panting heavily, but he still had enough adrenaline for the moment to push onwards.

Walking until he could go no further, Thedrick collapsed to the ground at the base of a massive hollow stump. There was an opening at the base, and the vampire crawled through the leaf litter until he pulled his body inside, before letting himself go limp. He lay in the dirt, still breathing heavily while his heart continued to race.

Thedrick must have passed out for a while, because soon he was awoken by the sound of howls in the woods. Thedrick sat up with a start, and then kept still for a moment as he listened to the wolves calling out to each other in the forest. He realised with a jolt of fresh fear that they didn’t sound all that far away.

The woods were a good escape from the guards, but they posed their own dangers, especially to a small weak child. Thedrick needed to keep moving, to find somewhere safer to hide, as the wolves would likely sniff him out if he stayed here. He at least had his night vision on his side, which means he wouldn’t be stumbling blindly through the dark of the forest, the thick canopy blocking out most of the light of the moon.

Carefully emerging from his hiding place in the stump, Thedrick took stock of his surroundings; endless tree trunks stretching out around him, both up and down the slight incline the forest sat on. Thedrick had come down the hill, so he needed to keep moving downwards to get further away from the castle. He didn’t know how long he had been out for, and the guards may have already started combing the woods for him.

The vampire started moving, wincing as he walked on his bare feet, which he hadn’t even realised until now were all cut up and bruised from his escape. He must have been too adrenaline fuelled to realise the damage he was doing to them as he had run. As Thedrick headed down the hill, the incline became steeper as he went, and the howls of the wolves seemed to be getting closer.

While sliding down the leaf litter of a steeper incline, Thedrick heard a very loud howl that sounded like it was just behind him. He quickly looked back and saw a large wolf standing further up the hill, turning its attention back to him as it finished calling to its pack. Thedrick froze in fear for a moment as he stared up at the animal, its yellow eyes looking into his wide red ones. Then Thedrick glanced around and saw more wolves moving through the trees towards him.

Forcing his muscles to move, Thedrick turned back and started booking it down the hill as fast as he could, ignoring how much his feet hurt. A chorus of howls started up behind him, and then he could hear the wolves start to run after him. Thedrick pushed his exhausted body to the limit as the wolves hunted him through the forest.

He was thinking that they would catch up to him and gut him for sure, when he suddenly saw a light up ahead of him, through the trees. As he got closer, he realised it was the light of a campfire. Thedrick pushed himself to move faster, towards the small hope of safety. He kept nearly stumbling in his desperation, his eyes fixed on the light rather than looking where he was treading.

As he got closer, Thedrick could see that the camp in the clearing ahead consisted of no simple tents, but caravans arranged around the central campfire, along with various boxes and barrels and other such cargo or inventory of whoever these travellers were. Thedrick couldn’t see any signs of people as he approached though, only the flickering flames of the fire and a group of four horses gathered together.

Staggering into the campsite, Thedrick hurried over to one of the caravans, reaching up and banging a fist on the door, calling out for help as loudly as his overworked lungs would allow him to. But there was no answer, no signs of anyone stirring from within. Thedrick ran over to another caravan and tried pounding on its door instead, still calling out breathlessly, but received no response.

Turning back around, Thedrick looked around the campsite. Then he noticed movement within the forest beyond where the light of the fire reached. Peering into the darkness, Thedrick could see the yellow eyes of the wolves, staring out from the thicket. The vampire pressed his back up against the caravan behind him, locking eyes with the pack leader, unable to look away.

The wolves paced back and forth along the edge of the camp, but didn’t move any closer towards Thedrick. They sniffed at the dirt and the air, and stared at him and whined. Thedrick didn’t understand why, but it seemed as though the wolves wouldn’t, or couldn’t, step into the campsite area. The horses were letting out sounds of distress, whinnies and snorts along with pawing their hooves against the dirt in agitation from the nearby predators.

Eventually Thedrick moved away from the caravan, towards the fire. The wolves watched him but made no move to try and reach him. Thedrick shivered from the cold night air, and then hesitantly sat down next to the campfire to warm himself. The wolves stopped whining, and then slowly, one by one, retreated back into the woods, disappearing between the trees, leaving Thedrick alone at the unoccupied camp.