Prologue

Charlotte

The nasty, skinny, evil, blood-sucking bastard hadn't come near us for the last four days. When our bite marks would begin to heal up, he and his two lackeys would come and drain more blood from us. I peered through the bars, but I didn't see anyone around. It had been days, and Duncan hadn't come down to the dungeons to feed on any of the captives. I didn't know how many people occupied the cells, but I hoped Callum and Andrea were the only children held captive.

"Lottie, are they gonna kill us?"

I winced at Andrea's question. The truth was I didn't know because if we died, then they would lose their food source. However, with close to 8 billion people worldwide, we were a drop in the ocean.

I stepped away from the cell entrance to bend down and hug Andrea. She clung to me, trying to squeeze my neck with all her might. I glanced up to see Callum close to tears. He had tried to be so brave for his little sister. I could only presume it was because he was responsible for getting his little sister to and from school safely. From what he said, their school was only two streets away from their house, yet these blood-sucking cunts had managed to lift them while walking to school.

"They are monsters," Andrea whispered into my ear.

I closed my eyes and stood up while wrapping my arms around her tiny body. She reminded me of my niece.

"Aye, my sweet, they are," I said, trying to reassure her, but my voice cracked because my feeble attempts to protect them had been useless.

When I heard voices, I froze and stopped rocking the wee bairn in my arms, and I slowly put her down beside Callum and moved them behind me until they gripped my wrists and forearm. Their nails dug into my flesh, and Callum peered out from my side.

To my shock, it was a woman. She had a dress and a white sheet covering her upper body with a coat over her shoulders. Two men were behind her, with one of them holding her waist. I instantly pulled the children closer, placing my hands around their little shoulders.

"Don't worry, we will get you all out," she said in a posh English accent similar to Duncan's, and I searched her face warily.

She had pink cheeks, unlike the bloodsucker's pale, almost grey skin tone."Are you a bloodsucker?" I spat out.

"No, I'm human. We will get you all out of here," she said, holding the bars with a pained expression.

Her eyes were on the children, and from her horrified gasp, I knew she was looking at their bite marks. On closer inspection, one of her cheeks looked swollen, as if someone had struck her. My grip on the children tightened, but part of me was terrified that she wasn't real.

If she was genuine and helped us escape, then I never wanted to see another bloodsucker again for as long as I lived.