Cadaceus
"You're not going to get her. She won't come," Falomi stated, trying hard to thwart my plans. I smiled at him. "You and I both know that's a lie. She'll come because she loves you. She'll do what ever it takes to prove to you her loyalty and to set you free." I'd listened in amusement as Falomi attempted waivering my thoughts on the situation.
He and I both new that his daughter at any moment would be here, however, he continued to pretend otherwise.
I knew it was hard for him to accept the fact that there was no bartering here. I'd waited more than two hundred years for Ayanna, my little flower and there was nothing he could do to change my mind regarding her. She was who I wanted and she was who I would get.
Flickering my eyes toward the front door, a smile captured my features. "She's here." There was so much I wanted to do with Ayanna, that I litterally couldn't wait to sink my teeth into her. Cruel wouldn't begin to describe the words she'd vociferously blast off.
"Let go of my father." She commanded.
"Please..." I stated, turning my features to her as she walked toward her father. She ignored my correction and turned to him, "Father, are you alright?"
He gave a small smile at her, not speaking. She turned to me. "What'd you do to him?"
I shook my head, "You didn't think I would make it that easy for you to just waltz in here did you?"
"I'm not going to leave."
"I've taken careful procedures to ensure that you don't."
"Obviously." My expression turning disdainful, the first thing I'd do was make sure she knew and understood when to speak and when not to speak, however, for now, I'd let her say her good byes.
Ayanna:
"Goodbye father." I whispered, tears in my eyes.
He glanced up at Cadecaus and I knew instantly what he was thinking. Grasping his shoulder, " No, Abbi."
My father stilled where he was, glancing down upon me. "Ayanna."
"Go." I stated, my tone surprisingly strong. He didn't seem to be able to move.
"Go." I stated again, this time tears rolling down my cheeks. "I love you father, I always will." I spoke in our native tongue.
As my father swiped the tears, he held me tightly, until he could no longer delay the inevitable. I watched as he disappeared, sure that I'd never see him again. As soon as he was gone, I felt a shift in the atmosphere and I heard Caduceus command, "Dinner will be ready at five, do not be late." Turning away, he called in a woman named Mayra and spoke quietly, yet loud enough for me to hear, "Please escort Ayanna to her room, I have some business to attend to.
"Make sure that what ever she need is provided for. I will later send in a maiden to help dress you properly." As I stood there, my heart pounding in my chest, anxiety cloaked throughout my entire body, I felt the final traces of my old life, memories with my father disipate.
When Mayra showed herself, I looked upon the face of a woman who seemed serious in every sense of the word. She was the type of woman who's lips pursed when she wasn't speaking and every word that she did say was clipped. I observed sky blue eyes and thin yet brown hair that was twisted up into a bun.
Her skin was extremely pale and the way she dressed spoke of her occupation; a knit blue sweater with a Cotton knee length skirt and sandal flats. What was most intriguing was that she was human.
This I could tell by her scent, which filled my nostrils. A salty yet sweet smell. Her eyes were glossed as if she was in a trance. That's when my gaze lowered to her kneck, where I noticed the puncture wounds there.
As she walked past me and instructed that I follow her, we walked out of the living room and I noticed a hallway in which several rooms were closed off from the rest of the house. I knew instinctively not to inquire beyond where I was.
Flickering my gaze away from the hall, I continued to walk straight through to the kitchen, which was modernized with pots and pans hanging from every angle of the ceiling. A steel stove top oven was in the middle of the room with counter tops equal to that in color.
Everything in the room was stainless steel. I noticed no table was anywhere inside. I knew that there must have been a dining area. From the kitchen, we went through another door, where a long table was sitting and beyond that a door. As Mayra went toward the door, I stopped and questioned, "My room is in the basement?"
Mayra nodded, "Yes, Ms. Ayanna, it is." She stated.
"I'm already treated like a slave." I stated to no one in particular. Mayra flickered a light on as we walked down the stairs. I was baffled into silence as the light flickered on and continued down a long hallway, of several doors.
As we came upon them, I noticed there were no windows to allow you to look into any of these rooms. The doors allowed no light to filter into beyond them as the bottoms were insulated to most likely keep out sound and light.
I felt goose bumps cross my arms as we stopped at one on the right, fourth door down from the hall. Mayra pulled a key out, opened it and I went inside.
Surprisingly enough, light flooded the small space immediately. Sensors. Glancing around, I noticed the area was big enough to fit a cot and dresser inside.
I glanced around at the cement wall and for a second thought of ripping out Mayra's juggler and just disappearing, but knew I couldn't. It would only cause a retaliation, one that would most likely lead to the death of my father.
As I sat down on the bed, I listened at the sound of the door closing behind me.
~~
I knew that although he hadn't called me up yet, he would soon enough and what ever I would be required to do, there would be no talking back, no questioning, no denying him of anything he sought for himself. What Caduceus wanted, was what he got.
I hadn't thought about what he'd want to do with me. I knew he definitely wanted me to service him, but for what and how I wasn't sure. I'd learned from my mother before her death that he had been in love with her mother.
She'd suspected that her mother had been in love with him, but what I couldn't understand is where did I fit into that picture.
My grandmother and I were as different as night and day, including our size. She had been tall and slender. I was a little over five six with a bigger build.
She was the mellow one who found joy in serving others and compliments of a tender heart. Me, on the other hand, I hate serving others. I'm only kind to my father and those who deserve it, but most of all, I hate Caduceus with a passion.
I hated him to the very depths of my soul. Especially since he'd taken my mother from me. My father and I had to burn everything from our old life the morning we left, including my mother.
We couldn't even give her a proper burial for fear that it would be dug up. We wanted no trace of us to exist, that way if Caduceus had shown up, he wouldn't be able to find us.
We left our homeland for Egypt, where we were able to find all literature that we could on vampires. We spent a good seven years there before leaving Egypt for South East Africa.
We ended up in Ghana where we stayed until war became so horrible, that we couldn't bare to stay there any longer.
From there, we'd headed to America. We'd landed on Liberty Island. Looking up at the statue, I for some reason was expecting the place to be free, to be equal. However, once we'd been welcomed into the states, it was shocking to find out that the black people here were not treated any better than they had been in our homeland.
For years, my father and I watched many, many of our kind perish in this nation. It became so brutal that we were tempted to leave the U.S. But then my father suggested that we move to the midwest, that it would be better here for us.
