-Geoffrey-

I was still awake when Mason began to wake up, yawning and stirring out of his sleep as he pulled me closer to him, cuddling me like a teddy bear. I couldn't work up the will to shiver and try to escape. I simply sat there, staring, until he finally woke up and chose to get up. He sat up, pulling me limply up with him, and smiled down at my dead expression, frowning when he saw the bags under my eyes. They were small, yes, but they were there. "Did you sleep poorly, pet?" He asked the question, but I didn't answer; my body spoke for itself. He hummed, eyes flashing. "Very well, don't speak. You must kiss me every morning when we wake up, understood pet?" I didn't even react, merely letting my body move mechanically to fulfill the orders. My insides felt numb at this point, only a faint stabbing pain hit me with every command. It was bearable that way, at least.

When I pulled away, still expressionless and dead looking, he grimaced, slipping out of bed and walking to the bathroom. I felt my body move, and I walked with him, still hopeless and dead. I'd been ordered to stay near him, and so I'd have to stay near him. Even for this part of the day. I blanked out in the shower, so much so he had to slap me to get me to come back to my senses, what painful ones there were. Why were my senses acting up anyways? It wasn't fair, I just wanted to be my normal self again... but I also didn't. There were slight marks where the shower had managed to bruise me, somehow influenced by my increased ability to feel, and I still felt his hands on me. I felt dirtier than before, but he still dressed me up like a doll. I honestly was his pet at this point, I could only hope he grew bored of me and let me go; knowing sadists, however, he likely wouldn't ever grow bored of my pain.

I walked around, following him all day without ever looking up, ate mechanically when told too, and followed him to bed where we undressed and he held me again. I failed to sleep again, and when we woke up, the bags under my eyes were much more noticeable. I kissed him, because I had too, and got out of bed, waiting for him to go to the bathroom. And so the days passed, with me growing more exhausted every night and him growing more frustrated every night until one day, maybe a week after I'd first woken up, I stood to go to the bathroom and collapsed to the floor. When I woke up again, he was laying next to me; I tried to close my eyes and sleep- I was used to this painful part- but I couldn't make my eyes close, and I collapsed again when he woke up and tried to get me standing. He began staying awake longer and longer every night, his skin growing colder as he lost sleep, and his eyes darkening until he stayed up three days in a row with me, his eyes black as coal from the exhaustion. I only noticed because he didn't stop making me kiss him every morning.

One morning, after I'd passed out as usual, I woke up and he wasn't in the bed with me. I felt confused, but exhaustion hit me, and even as I tried to look around to see if he was there, I passed out again on the bed. He still wasn't there when I woke up again, my bladder aching and my head aching along with it. I went to the bathroom, and when I stumbled my way back into the room, the empty sensation of my bladder faintly uncomfortable, I saw him laying in he bed, facing away from me. I was exhausted, and I felt confused, and a little afraid, but I made it to the bed without falling over. I stood there for a moment, my mind blank with tiredness, and I tried to find the will to sit down, but I couldn't make my tired legs bend; I could feel some faint emotion of sorrowful dread, it was covered by my exhaustion almost completely, but I couldn't make myself touch the bed. I groaned, my legs giving out as I collapsed to the floor with a thud. It was colder here, on the stone floor, but I couldn't find the will to care; I was so exhausted, I fell asleep in minutes.

Next I woke up, I was on the bed again, and Mason was sitting in a chair next to the bed, head drooping as he dozed, and I watched him tiredly. I felt dead, as usual, but I wasn't in pain from my exhaustion. It made me wonder how long I'd been asleep, how long he'd stayed awake and out of bed. I sat there for an hour as I waited for him to wake up, knowing he'd be angry if I got up before him. I didn't want him to wake up, I didn't want to have to feel and taste him against me again, I wanted to forget everything and just lay here forever. Unfortunately, my stomach grumbled, and he snapped awake with a gasp, his breathing heavy and confused as he looked around. I got out of bed, weakly getting to my feet as I stood, hands limp at my sides, and I looked up, staring into his eyes. I leaned forward, resigned, and he put a hand to my chest, stopping me. It wasn't hard to interpret it as a command, and I froze, keeping as far away from him as I could. He watched me for a moment, something breaking in his eyes, and he sighed, closing hem as he bowed his head. "Go take a shower and come back here, wash yourself well, okay?" I straightened, walking soundlessly into the shower.

He'd sounded so loud it almost hurt, but I knew he'd barely made a sound. I was terrified that he'd come in if I didn't hurry, change his mind and start being cruelly close again, but I was also afraid of how much the shower would hurt me; both physically and audibly. It was such a loud thing... I started the water and immediately tears burned my eyes as I was all but deafened from the sound of the running water. Then I paused, waiting for the water to get warm. Mason liked cold showers, and I'd had to endure them every day since we'd come here; I wanted to savor whatever time I could away from him. I stepped into the water when I could see a hint of steam, and I was bombarded with enough bludgeoning pain that I gasped in shock; that gasp slowly turning into a whimper as I forced myself to continue showering. I would shower, and I would be clean, and I would not admit that I wished Mason was here to block the direct hit of the water against my skin. By the time I got out, I was crying quietly, and bruises were forming everywhere. I looked like a dark purple person, only the occasional splotch of unbruised skin.

When I stepped out of the bathroom, eyes dry and staring down at the floor again, Mason looked up, there were odd red streaks down his cheeks from his eyes, like he'd painted his face. I stood naked next to him, waiting as he watched the ground, biting his own lip. I had given up trying to hold onto a semblance of privacy around him after the third day, and now I only felt numb at the thought of him seeing me. My body looked thin, frailer than normal, and the lack of fat from starvation over the past who knows how long of exhausted fainting had left me thin. I was hungry, I could feel it deep in my gut, and I wondered why he wasn't just dressing me already; he had done it a dozen times, and I was used to it, despite the painful feeling of him against my skin. I hadn't thrown up from it in weeks. He finally looked up, eyes a dark, exhausted red, and spoke in a defeated tone. "Go get dressed... I hid your clothes in the dresser if you want them." I felt confused, and my body moved on autopilot as I blinked, my numb, dead feelings shifting suddenly to slightly fearful confusion. He didn't have compassion, he didn't leave me alone; why in heavens name would he let me dress myself? I opened the dresser drawers, looking through them to try and find the outfit he had made for my torture today, and I found them in the bottom most drawer; my actual clothes.

The jeans, t-shirt, and even tennis shoes I'd been wearing when I'd tried to save Alex. Alex...

My thoughts were bombarded with questions about my alpha: was he safe? Had they killed him? Where was he? Why couldn't I feel him? Why had his last emotion I'd felt been that weird mixture of anxious pain and relieved happiness? I put on my clothes, the fabric rough and painful but blessedly loose and familiar. I stepped out of the closet, distracted and confused and conflicted and-

I hit something, falling backwards almost hitting the floor but Mason- apparently the thing I'd run into- grabbed my hand and held me in place. I looked at his hand on my wrist, and I felt a faint whimper in my throat; I knew this was too good to be true. Tears began to form in my eyes as I felt that odd spark of hope I'd begun to feel wither and die in my chest. Until he let me go. I fell into my rear, and blinked in shock as I looked up in fear at his shaking hand. The red streaks were mostly wiped away, though a few drops still dropped from his eyes. He was... crying. The smell of blood hung faintly in the air, and my eyes widened as I realized what he was actually doing. Crying literal tears of blood. I bit my lip, pushing myself up into a standing position as he turned away and walked towards the door. I followed, reluctantly, and he stepped outside, his face calm and clean before I made it out of the doorway. He was fast, all of them were, and I knew something was very wrong if he actually was showing something other than his odd power-hungry lust for me.

I followed him, silence stretching between us, and it- for once- felt awkward and strained instead of vaguely painful and hopeless. Then he spoke up. "Where'd the bruises come from?" His voice was its normal husky, deep tones, though it had a faint edge of strain to it. I glanced up, though I could only see the back of his head from where I was, and I could see the anger flowing off of him. "The water... it hurt." He tripped, and I froze as he lost his balance for the first time since I'd known him. He and the others walked almost perfectly, I'd never seen any creatures more graceful than Vampires; I'd not seen any one of them trip since meeting them. The way I'd heard them speaking, about me and each other, they never fell. He picked himself up off of the floor, trembling as he held his eyes forward. He spoke then, rasping out a few words. "Go to the dining hall; I'll be there in a moment." I hesitated, my legs trembling as I struggled, trying to obey him but held by the old mans command to stay near him, when he yelled, straightening to face me in fury as he did so. "GO!" I lurched away, slowly walking forward as I felt every part of me shiver.

I walked into the empty room, tears burning my eyes as I sat down, and I waited, still shivering violently. It felt like I was being stabbed by a thousand burning, freezing knives all over my insides. I sat that way for half a minute and then a voice next to my ear had me freezing still. "Well hello! How are you?" My breathing caught and I felt the tears leak from my eyes. She spoke so loudly, and her voice wasn't one I knew; she wasn't a Vampire, she was a stranger. My shoulders shook, and a sob escaped me, scratching roughly against my throat as the tears caused me physical pain and the sound of the sob hurt my ears even more. I choked the rest down as she pulled back, and I smelled her confusion in the air. It stung like water shoved up my nose. I turned, looking at her through my now-silent tears.
_________________________________(A/N) Hey guys! I'm late. :3
ENJOY!

Till next time, Sept-Mates!

Your Poet and Scribe,
~ShadeFinder<(0^0)>