Apparently everything about this place was horrifying. Even something as ordinary as a hole in the wall was the thing of nightmares. Thea had shimmied into the hole with the hope of hiding for a while, but after coming face to face with a skeleton, she wasnt so sure she wanted to stay.

The shuffling of footsteps nearby made her tremble and draw her body further into the safety of my catacomb. The bones of the skeleton creaked beneath her weight and she had to hold her breath to keep from screaming until whatever monster haunting this hall passed by.

When the king had told her that there were those who begged to be released from purgatory, she had thought it to be nothing more than a meaningless threat, but he had been telling the truth. Purgatory was the hell that time forgot. Creatures Thea had only read about in horror stories hid in the shadows here, waiting for unsuspecting victims to fall into their path of devastation. She had been unlucky enough to come across too many of them already.

The first day she spent in this place was worse than her darkest nightmares. Clawed hands and sharp teeth tore at her skin until blood soaked through her clothes. She couldnt imagine spending an eternity here. And who could even fathom what eternity was?

The king also seemed to be telling the truth about her being undead. Once Thea had gotten away from the claws and teeth, her wounds had healed in a matter of hours. It should have been comforting. But imagining living like this -- repeatedly being injured and scared, then healing to do it all over again forever -- was absolute hell.

It also amazed her how many asthma and panic attacks she could have in such a sort amount of time here, while also being undead. Without fail, every time she thought she was getting a grip on the situation, something else would happen to send her into spiraling hysteria.

Dust from the disintegrating bones tickled her nose and Thea tried holding her breath to keep from sneezing. A relieved breath escaped her lungs when it worked, but then she cringed as she inhaled again and the dust went down into her windpipe.

'Oh God, there is bone dust in my throat!' She screamed internally.

Bones! Of a person! In my mouth!

Her hands flailed at her sides in panic and she retched repeatedly. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew the sound was going to attract monsters, but she couldn't stop.

There was part of a dead person's remains inside her lungs!

She was so far past lost control it was no more than a speck on the horizon. Bye, bye composure!

Disgusting amounts of sweat, tears, and snot ran down her face as she sobbed like a baby. But as she was right in the middle of her nervous breakdown, a huge hand latched down firmly onto her flailing arm and pulled.

Thea fell from the catacomb and her head smashed painfully against the stone floor. Figuring she was about to be attacked again, she let out a bloodcurdling shriek and lashed out at the creature with all her might.

"Will you cut that shit out?" a man's voice snarled from above her. "If you keep wailing like that every beast in purgatory is going to be down here within minutes and I've already been in enough fights today."

Blinking up at him in surprise, Thea immediately stopped screaming and shut her mouth with a snap. He shifted the torch he was carrying under his arm, and lifted her up from the floor. She was so surprised to find a seemingly normal human being that her brain couldn't form words. "Seemingly" because despite having two arms and two legs and normal human features, he was far too tall, far too muscular, and his irises were a bright, shimmering amber.

He stared at her for a long moment before saying, "You had a good idea hiding here, so why did you screw it up?"

"I-bone dust."

Despite knowing this made no sense whatsoever, Thea's brain made no attempts to form any kind of smarter response. She mentally face-palmed and cringed as one of his eyebrows rose in obvious confusion.

"Whatever," he replied, turning away from her to search through another catacomb nearby. "Just keep quiet."

Throwing a dark look in her direction, he added, "Or else."

She nodded and wiped her face. "What, uh, kind of creature are you?"

He didn't respond. Thea shifted from foot to foot and bit her lip. He didn't seem interested in hurting her, or even acknowledging she existed. That was new -- and a relief. If there were more people like him, she wanted to find them. Maybe then being stuck here wouldn't be so bad.

Remembering the guy in the polo shirt who offered to help her, she asked, "Are you a shapeshifter?"

He scoffed. "No."

Thea took a step forward, wanting to get a better look at him, hoping he wouldn't see it as a threat.

He dropped what looked like a watch into a bag at his feet. Thea craned her neck to get a better look at it and spotted a metal water bottle near the bottom.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, rushing forward. "You have water!"

Before she could get within five feet of him, he turned and shoved a blade against her throat.

"Sorry, sorry!" She backtracked, holding up her hands in surrender. "I'm just really thirsty!"

Once again, a look of confusion crossed his features, and he lowered the blade to his side. "Didn't know vampires drank water," he grumbled.

He bent down and retrieved the bottle, holding it out to her hesitantly. Thea couldnt help but snatch it up and guzzle it immediately, but to her surprise it did nothing to quench her thirst.

"Didn't help, did it?" He asked, picking up his bag.

She shook her head and frowned. "What's wrong with me?"

"You're a vampire for one," he replied, as if it was the easiest thing in the world to understand. "Do you not know anything about your kind?"

Thea shook her head again. "I didn't even know I was a vampire until I got here."

The man nodded and shrugged, as if he had heard that before. "Tough break."

He turned to walk away but she chased after him.

"Wait!" she called.

He turned to shush her, his glowing eyes glaring in her direction. She inched forward, holding a finger to her lips to show she would be quiet.

"Can you help me?" She asked, trying to make herself look small and innocent so he would feel some empathy.

He turned away again, giving only a curt "no" in response.

Thea winced at his cutting tone and wrapped her arms around herself. As he turned the corner, Thea saw him glance back at her and hesitate.

He sighed. "I can take you to a vampire I know. But that's it."

Thea hesitated as well, grateful he was willing to do something, but knowing she wouldn't fare well among other vampires. "I--"

"What?" He snapped. "Do you want my help or not?"

She nodded her head so hard her hair spilled into her eyes. "Yes, but...I'm not like...I can't be like them."

"What do you mean? You can't be a vampire?"

"Yes, exactly," she gushed, glad that he understood. "I'm just Thea. Claustrophobic, germaphobic, agoraphobic, Thea. Also, I'm kind of a pacifist. So."

The man laughed, a deep chuckle that made her smile for the first time in weeks.

"Are you serious?" He asked, his gaze travelling over her as if he couldnt believe what he was seeing. "A nonviolent vampire?"

She bobbed her head once. "Yes. I dont drink blood either," she said, sticking out her tongue. "Gross."

"That's not possible," he replied, marching back toward her. "You're lying."

Now it was her turn to glare at him. "I am not! I barely even eat meat! I'm practically a vegetarian! Y'know, except for, like, chicken."

He didn't laugh this time, just stared at her for several seconds.

"Fine," he finally conceded. "Come with me. But if you try anything, I'll make sure you regret it."

"Thank you!" She shouted without thinking.

He turned to her with another glare and she remembered.

"Oh, right. Quiet. Sorry."

"What's your name?" He whispered.

"Thea. What's your's?"

"Roran. Now be quiet, Thea."

They passed through a room that looked older than earth itself. It was nothing more than a dignified dirt hole carved to look like a room. Roran had to partially turn sideways to pass through the doorway, and even then his broad shoulders scraped the sides, causing dirt to rain down around him.

A sob lodged itself in the back of her throat when she realized that it looked like dirt being dropped into a grave. There were reminders everywhere that she was dead. It was probably a stupid thing to start crying over, but she often cried over things that most people would find foolish.

It took her a long time - too long - to realize that she had stopped in the middle of the room and was making an absolute fool of herself in front of the hot beast of a man who was supposedly leading her to safety.

When she finally regained her composure, said hot beast was staring at her with clear and understandable disdain.

"Are you done?" he asked, his voice sarcastic and full of impatience.

Thea nodded, trying to wipe away the tears.

When he didn't turn around to start walking again, she chanced a look up at him. He was frowning; probably wishing he had left her to die in the catacombs.

"Life here is hard," he began, matter-of-fact, with zero sympathy in his voice. "Most of the time it's kill or be killed. Figuratively, of course. If you are too busy crying to keep up with me, you are going to suffer. So make a choice now, do you want to stay here and cry or do you want to go someplace safe?"

"I-I want to go someplace safe," she managed to whisper.

"Are you sure?" he asked, sneering. "You don't sound very sure of your answer. Maybe I should take you to the vampires now instead?"

Thea shook her head frantically and took several steps toward him.

"No! No! I'm done crying, I promise!"

"Good," he grunted, turning back around and continuing on his way.

She let out a sigh of relief and scurried along behind him. He might have been scary, but she would choose following him over dealing with those clawed things any day.

They walked for what felt like hours, but she never felt any sign of fatigue. It was kind of wonderful. Before, when she had been human, she hadn't even been able to walk up two flights of stairs without getting winded.

"Stop," Roran said, pulling his crude stone blade from a sheath on his back. "There's something there."

"Where?" She whispered, peering into the darkness but not seeing anything.

"Shhh," he replied, holding his hand out to signal her to be quiet.

A growl echoed out of the darkness, chilling Thea to the bone. She squinted into the eerie black, trying to locate the monster, but there was nothing there that she could see.

"Take this," Roran said, pushing a small knife into her hand. "You are going to need it."

"But I'm a pacifist, remember?" She hissed. He ignored her.

Thea swallowed hard and felt sweat break out along the back of her neck. Her whole life she had avoided confrontation. She was about as useful in a fight as a screen door on a submarine. But she was also tired of being cut up and torn to shreds.

A blur of fur and canines came out of the darkness and latched onto what was left of her shirt. The material ripped easily and she jerked out of the animal's reach. Looking around for Roran, she realized quickly that he wouldn't be able to save the day. Three large wolf-like creatures had surrounded him and were closing in on him fast.

"Hand over the vampire, Roran," one growled at him. "We need some new entertainment."

"Not this one. She's under my protection," he argued. "Leave. Now."

A snap of teeth near Thea's face ripped a scream from her lungs and over the chorus of growls and snarls she heard Roran yell, "Pay attention, Thea!"

Turning back to the hulking wolf-man pursuing her around the room, Thea was just in time to skid out of the way as it lunged at her. She took a chance and flicked the knife out toward it, missing it by mere inches. A choking type sound echoed from its throat and she realized it was laughing at her.

"You've got a lot of gall laughing at me when you look like a mangy, half-dead coyote," she snapped at it in response.

A viscous howl erupted from its mouth and Thea paled. Maybe provoking it wasn't the best idea. It lunged again, but this time she was ready. The tiny blade pierced the wolf-man through its left lung. It yelped, and figuring it was a fatal wound, she let go of the knife's handle and let the creature skulk away.

She turned to Roran, realizing his fight must have ended about the same time. He stood over one of the wolf bodies, pulling his blade from one of their necks.

"Where did the other one go?" he asked.

"I stabbed it. It ran," she replied, keeping her words short and trying to breathe through her mouth to keep from smelling the blood in the room.

Seeing all of the blood pooling on the floor made Thea feel sick. Not because she found it gross, although there was a time when that would have been the case. Now, to her surprise, she was getting sick because of how much she wanted to lap it up. It was disgusting. And wrong. But she wanted it so badly.

Vampire, her thoughts reminded.

Roran seemed to understand what was bothering her because he took her by the wrist and pulled her from the room.

"We need to get far away from here. More lycans will show up once the injured one tells them what happened here," he grumbled under his breath.

"Lycans?" She asked, figuring he meant those werewolves but needing to talk to keep herself distracted.

"Men who can become wolves. Weres, the creatures who can change their bodies into a wolf form," he replied.

"Are there a lot of those here?'

Roran laughed. Not a humorous laugh, but a cynical one. "You really don't know anything about this place, do you?"

She shook her head and threw her hands into the air. "I just got here yesterday!"

He turned toward her again, his eyes glowing brightly in the dim light. "Yesterday? Really?"

"Yes. And before that I rarely ever left my apartment, so excuse me for being a little uninformed."

"Fair enough," he replied. "There's not enough time right now to discuss the creatures that make up purgatory, so just stay close and keep quiet. I'll tell you everything once we get where we're going."

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"Someplace safe," was all he replied before he turned and began walking away again.

Thea took a deep breath and obediently followed behind him humming to herself to keep her mind off of everything that just happened.