Chapter 55

Daisy and Noah were with Garret as he told them all that was going on. Noah tried to go and rush over to the hall, but Garret stopped him.

“You can’t, without an invitation or a key; there is no getting in there; spells bind it. Not only that, but Michael is in there, and you could mess up what he plans on doing.”

“Garret, Michael is alone with how many other vampires in there? He can’t take them all on by himself. They will end up killing him.”

“Sit down, son; He isn’t the King of the vampires for nothing. I don’t like sitting here any more than you, but I know what Michael can do if he is pissed. We will have to wait.”

Noah sat back down with a sigh; Daisy put her hand in his to comfort him. We can’t do anything to help save them, but we can do all that we can to be there for when Michael brings them out.

It was then that Garret let out a hiss, and then his eyes glazed over as if he was somewhere else. Noah went up to him, but Daisy pulled him back.

“Noah, I don’t know why but I think we need to let him be; something is going on that we don’t understand.”

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Michael watched them all. It made him sick to think that there were this many of them. When the lights dimmed, a curtain was opened to a stage.

Spotlights shone on ten terrified girls from the floor, six boys, and one gagged and tied Enid. Everyone began to cheer and clap as another vampire came into view.

“Ladies and Gentlemen of the court, I give you the annual offerings of sacrifice to do with as you please. As you can see, we have a wide selection this year; the bidding will start momentarily. All transactions are final; no trades or money will be returned once you make your purchase. It is final.”

“As usual, once your purchase is made, it will be taken to a holding cell where you can retrieve it once the party is over.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, Choose wisely!”

With that, the curtain closed, and the man left the stage as they all started whispering excitedly about what they saw as this year’s offerings.

Michael was coming close to losing his rage; he was doing his best because he had to wait till the end of the bidding so that innocent victims would be out of range of his killing darkness.

He had no intentions of leaving anyone alive, including anyone who participated in capturing the victims. He no longer cared about the courts; tonight, he would be the judge, jury, and executioner.

Michael watched them in their excitement. They were like animals showing their teeth, drinking blood, and letting it fall over their chins and chests. It was disgusting.

A gong sounded as the lights on the stage came back on, and the curtains were pulled back, revealing a young girl. She had to be around twelve years old and human. She looked severely beaten, and the baby doll dress they had her in didn’t fit her right.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, as always, we start with the ripest and freshest of virgins. She is a bit tenderized, {he let out a giggle} but as you know, if it came willingly, then there was something wrong with it.”

“Shall we start the bidding at five thousand?”

Calls began to ring out from the crowd as the price was finally settled on twenty-five thousand dollars. The girl has dragged off the stage, and this time, it was a young boy.

He couldn’t have been more than five or six; he was naked and was shivering from fear and cold. The auctioneer was a very lude individual as he poked and prodded the little boy.

The bidding process went quickly, and finally, they were to the last victim. Enid.

He could tell that she had been beaten into submission, she was still tied and gagged, and the look on her face was pure rage.

“Tonight, this is our final sacrifice; who wants to start the bidding, she isn’t the usual type that we offer, but she is a fighter and should provide a lot of entertainment for those who like something a little more exciting.”

The bidding began a little slower till finally, it went back and forth between two of the oldest members and the sickest. Enid was eventually sold for fifty-five thousand dollars. She was dragged off stage.

The curtains closed as the auctioneers bowed and announced the end of this season’s sacrifices.

A cheer went up as the crowd began to go crazy; Michael flew back up to the high spot on the wall and watched for a little bit; he knew that Garret would want to see that it was taken care of, so he linked his mind to Garrets.

He felt Garret let out a hiss as his eyes were filled with all that Michael was seeing. He became a silent witness to the end of the old days.

They were all dancing and drinking from each other some of the females were naked and were letting several of the males do all kinds of sexual acts with them. It was an orgy of monstrous proportions, and not one of them noticed the fly on the wall changing into something terrifying.

The wall behind the party members turned an inky back, it started high on the wall, and thin tendrils were snaking about and gathering ground.

The rocks themselves looked like they pulsated with black-filled veins.

It moved down and onto the floor; no one noticed as it tangled itself onto every being in the room. No one was spared. All were now part of its web of death.

When finally, the last tendril made its way to the last member, Michael showed himself to them all; the boisterous revelry turned into screams of horror as the tendrils began to burrow into their bodies.

“You are all condemned to death by order of your King!”

They all began to wither and convulse on the floor as the black tendrils sucked out their souls. Only silence and dried-up husks littered the room when it was done.

Michael shook himself as if to get any of the evil that lingered in the room off of him, and then he cut the link with Garret. He ripped open the door that led into the hall where the victims were taken.

Guards were waiting at the other end, and the auctioneer was behind them; they had all heard the screams of terror from the Dark Hall; Michael walked to them without any fear or hesitation as more tendrils shot out of him.

They all tried to run but could not escape him; he was relentless and viciously quick. They all dropped to the floor as the others did, empty husks and soulless.

He stood at the door where the prisoners were held and could sense another five guards inside; he let his tendrils slither under the door and dispatch them.

Calming himself so he didn’t frighten them more than they already were, he opened the door and took the keys lying by one of the empty husks’ shriveled fingers.

“It is alright now, everyone; you are safe; those that have done this to you are no longer upon this earth.”

He unlocked all the doors and untied a very agitated Enid; it didn’t stop her from doing what she did best; she made sure everyone was physically alright and then began to move them as she followed Michael out of the Dark Halls the past.

Once they reached the gardens, Garret, Daisy, Noah, and many servants waited to give aid.

Garret ran to Enid and gathered her in his arms; he carried her back into the castle and up to his room. They wouldn’t be seen for three days, though they knew someone was raiding the kitchen at night.

Daisy even baked them dinner and dessert and left them outside Garret’s bedroom door.

Unfortunately, none of the families of the children could be found, so they were all fostered out to either other human families or vampire families.

Michael still had a feeling that there was still something else lurking out there waiting; even though they were all dead, he wasn’t a fool to think that they didn’t leave something behind to bring torment and death.