Spy: Quick update. I'm going to reply to your reviews once I get home from applebees, kay? Thanks. I really appreciated all the feedback! :D
For the Fenton's, the ride back home was agonizing. Rain fell in sheets, pummeling their van, while thunder boomed overhead, rattling the glass windows.
For a moment, lightning streaked across the sky.
"D'nni's got to be worried." Maddie whispered. "He's never seen weather like this. What if the power goes out?"
Jack was silent for a moment, his jaw locked as he stared at the road ahead.
"I think he's got bigger problems right now, Mads." The man finally whispered, turning onto their long driveway. "I'm not sure how we're going to tell him."
Maddie shook her head sadly.
"We can't." the woman replied. "We can't let those people have him like this. What do they think he is? An animal?"
"But the facility was nice, Ma--"
"He doesn't need a facility!" Maddie shouted, turning angrily to her husband. "He needs people, Jack. Do you remember how he acted when we first met? How afraid he was?"
"I know." Jack replied, keeping his eyes focused on the road. He could see the house in the distance, peeking through the trees. After another minute of driving, they reached it...and finally saw the damage that had been done.
The man came to an abrupt halt, quickly unfastening his seatbelt, jumping into the muddy drive, eyes wide open and staring.
The entire front window had been shattered, fragments of glass littering the ground. Jack approached the scene, cringing as he saw that some shards had been smeared with blood.
"Someone broke in." He said, feeling slightly numb. Maddie rushed past him, shakily unlocking the front door. After a moment of struggle, the lock popped, and the door swung slowly open, revealing the living room in all its ruined splendor. The floor was covered in fragments of glass, and muddy footprints...along with small droplets of blood.
"They lead to the stairs." Maddie whispered, holding her breath.
It was obvious that the intruder hadn't even tried to hide his tracks. He had left behind a clear trail, as if he didn't care who followed...A clear trail that led straight to D'nni...
"Nonono." Maddie mumbled as she entered his room, her heart seizing as she took in the mess of mud and water gathered on the floor. In the background, another crack of thunder shook the house, quickly followed by a flash of light...but even that couldn't blind her to what she saw...
The footprints were smeared, as if there had been a slight struggle. Puddles of water gathered on the floor...Gillie was tossed aside, her white fur stained...
And D'nni was nowhere in sight.
Maddie brought her hand to her mouth, pushing back the tears that threatened to come.
"Oh my God." Jack growled, surveying the scene, his hands fisted at his sides. The man crossed the floor, peeking into the collapsed remains of D'nni's pillow fortress. He checked under the bed; in the closet, even in Jazz's play room. Soon, he returned to his wife's side, the reality of what had happened closing in on him.
"D'nni!" He shouted, over the storm. "D'nni!"
But no one answered...
Heat…
It was stifling…
It felt like his body was on fire…
The Warm Blood's fire.
The boy stirred, giving a small whimper as he tried to edge away from the flames. He pulled himself deeper into the velvety cushions supporting him, trying to escape the dry heat that relentlessly licked at his skin.
"Maddie?" He called, his parched throat cracking hoarsely. Why was it so hot?
Sluggishly, he opened his eyes, wincing as bright flames flickered before him.
There was a fire, contained behind a metal grate, like a prisoner. D'nni watched it intently, feeling only slightly comforted by the fire's confinement. His throat hurt, and he wanted nothing more than to pry his band from his neck to relieve himself of its stifling embrace. But he could only do that in the safety of his room, when no one was around to see. It was taboo for anyone not of royal blood to see him without his marks of status. Instead, his fingers reached for the band around his wrist, and he was slightly comforted by its familiar symbols.
The fire crackled threateningly in the hearth, snapping angrily as it pushed against the grate…
Where was he?
"Maddie?" He called louder, cautiously inspecting his surroundings.
The walls were made of what looked like large tree trunks piled on top of each other. Animal skin rugs covered the floor, and the walls were lined in lush tapestries depicting the wilderness. D'nni gazed at it all in wonder. It was so different than the home he shared with the Fentons.
"This shall be your bedroom." A voice called from behind him. "I hope that it is to your liking."
D'nni's eyes widened. He knew that voice.
He could feel a pressure against his windpipe…he could feel his lungs blackening…panic falling over him. He could smell cologne and blood on the man's clothes…
He could hear madness in his voice.
D'nni skittered to his feet, whirling around to stare wide-eyed at the man before him.
"Don't look so terrified, beh dage." The stranger grinned. "I'm not going to harm you. That move I pulled was simply to get you out of that home. You're safer here."
Vlad took a step forward, and D'nni took one back, feeling his body trembling. Vlad had been within an inch of breaking his neck. He had held the power to kill in his hands…and yet, he had spared him.
Just like the Warm Bloods who kept him alive when the other hunters were slaughtered. Because he was a prince, he was a pawn to use...
"Keshiay…" The boy whimpered, turning away from his unwelcome visitor. "…go…"
"I'll leave you for now, D'nni." Vlad said, slightly inclining his head. "I apologize if the heat is uncomfortable. It's necessary. Trust me."
D'nni didn't want to trust him. He didn't want anything to do with him. He just wanted the man to disappear and never come back. He wanted him to go away…
He wanted to forget the madness he had seen in his face…
He wanted to forget everything…
Without another word, Vlad turned around, quietly shutting the door behind him. D'nni cringed as he heard the rough grating of a key turning the lock. With a click, he knew he was trapped…a prisoner just like he had been before, back home on the ice…huddled between two monsters, the hot flames making his powers useless.
D'nni let out a pitiful sob, wishing that Daeir was by his side, massaging his shoulders and reassuring him. Daeir had always been strong. Even when he had been beaten down again and again, there had always been a slight flicker of power in him.
D'nni needed him…
"Daeir, takihno…" The prince whimpered, cradling his head in his hands.
D'nni entered the small tent, kneeling by Daeir's bedside, a bowl of melted snow cradled in his hands. He held the bowl to Daeir's parched lips, carefully pouring it down his throat. The man slowly drank, his bleary eyes half shut.
"Gla-ra, Jei N'ni." The old king rasped, a small trickle rolling from the corner of his mouth. D'nni wiped it away with the edge of his shawl, smiling sadly down at his father.
"Beh b'eri fuy ri beh Daeir." He whispered, setting the bowl aside on the cold floor. Daeir smiled weakly as well, reaching out a pale, disheveled hand to touch the band at his child's throat.
"Beh b'eri fuy ri beh Jei Dage."
I love you, Little Prince...
Spy: I know it's a little short. I wanted to cut it off here thought. okay? Bye! and please review!