Chapter 9: 9 – (Content Warning) Purification

*** Content Warning***

This chapter will contain torture, sexual abuse, and elude to rape. If you choose to skip this chapter, you will still be able to understand later chapters.

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POV - ???

"Ma! Da! Take a look at my shot!"

"Yes, yes dear. You are getting quite good with the bow."

"Of course she is! I'm the one that taught her after all! She's already as good as the veteran hunters! Hahaha!"

"Me too, Sister! Me too!"

"You're a hundred years too early to beat me, little Brother! Muahaha!"

Growing up in a small village was so very peaceful. Our family was small, but always full of smiles.

Da would go out with the hunters in the morning. I would even come along sometimes and they would teach me all about hunting and hiding. We would catch things like rabbits and birds. He even let me shoot some goblins on occasion.

Ma tended to the vegetable patch in the back of the house. My little brother was always hanging off her hem trying to help.

We didn't have much, but we had everything we needed and wanted.

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Screams and fighting can be heard in the background.

"Honey, take the two and run! Head towards the city and flag down anyone you can to send for help!"

Da places a gentle but firm hand on my shoulder.

"Take your bow and keep them safe. Now go!"

As Da ran out the front, we snuck out the back. Moving as quickly as we could to the back gate of the short perimeter wall, I was tackled from the side just beyond it.

Looking to the side, two men also grabbed Ma and Brother. A couple buildings on fire burn brightly, matching the sunset.

"Hey hey hey! Look wha' I caught!"

"C'mon you ass. Let's get these with the others."

Even before I could scream, the point of a blade poked out of Brother's chest.

Thrashing and crying the same as Ma, trying to get free and get back to Brother, I felt a sharp pain on the back of my head and lost consciousness.

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Opening my eyes slightly and looking at the blurry surroundings, pain is still coming from the back of my head. I'm dizzy, my head feels wet in the back, and I can barely look around.

Before I lost consciousness for a second time, I could see a small wooden room with some of the women from the village. The room was shaking and most of the women are crying. All are naked. Ma is curled in a corner on her side hugging herself and muttering something.

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I woke up for a moment and saw my best friend being dragged out of the box while screaming and crying into the morning sun before everything went black.

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This time I'm awoken by being splashed with cold water. I can see the sunset just outside the open door. A strange dirty man yells something, laughs, and throws a couple of loaves of bread. My head is on Ma's lap and she forces a smile that doesn't reach her teary eyes.

I can't form words with my mouth or move yet, so Ma chews some of the bread to give to me along with a handful of water before I drift off again.

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I wake up to the sounds of fighting. My head still hurts but I can almost get a proper thought in order.

The village women in the box with me are buzzing. For those with an eye looking between gaps in the wall, they look excited. Hopeful. 

After a while the sounds decrease outside and eventually the door to the box opens. A knight with a yellow sun painted proudly on the front and the setting sun lighting his back talks to some of the villagers.

I'm still laying on Ma's lap and another man with a staff and the same sun on his tabard comes up to me and exchanges some words with Ma. He places a hand on my head and I feel something envelop my head. Some of the pressure on my head goes away.

I close my eyes and fall asleep instead of unconscious.

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When I woke up next, I felt much better and could actually make sentences. Asking Ma what happened and what is going on now, she bursts out crying and hugs me tight. 

We are still in the moving box that I now know is a wagon. The women in here have blankets covering themselves, my naked body included. Some of the women are softly sobbing, others have forced smiles and are talking with friends from the village.

When Ma calms down, she tells me that after the bandits captured us, the village ended up being burnt to the ground. All those that fought had died, and only us women were taken alive.

Along with the ten of us crammed into this wagon, there are three others with just as many. We were all stripped and those that fought the most were taken away. After traveling for a few days, the bandits happened to cross paths with a wandering patrol of some of the High Priest's best knights and mages.

Currently, we are only a couple days away from the city that he oversees. The knights are going to escort us to the church for the High Priest to bless us, and the knights said we would be able to start and live new lives after that.

Feeling anger and sadness course through me, I try to spend as much time with Ma as I can on our way to the city. 

Thoughts of Da and Brother force tears out at times. When the wagons stopped at night, many of the women got out to stretch their legs with blankets over their shoulders. I still haven't seen the friend I saw get taken away.

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Arriving at the city after sunset, the knights tell us about what will happen now. 

To preserve as much of our dignity as possible, they ask that we stay in the closed wagons and remain quiet while going through the gate. They don't want the gate guards to see us in this state.

They will drive the wagons to the church, and stop them at the entrance of the church's storage cellar where they have plenty of changes of clothes and space for us to change. After that, the High Priest will bless us and help us start our new lives. 

As we are filing out of the wagons and heading down into the cellar, the knights and mages form a wall around us. Halfway down the stairs I hear a scream from down in the cellar and some villagers start trying to push back up the stairs.

As if on queue, the knights that had been so patient and understanding with us began to grab and forcefully push us down into the cellar. 

As more of the women scream out, the loudest are hit while we are dragged along and then tossed beyond an iron gate. Ma is fighting back as much as she can, trying to push through the knights, even while being punched multiple times.

As the gate is shut and locked, all of the village women are shut in the cell as well. All except Ma who is being gagged and having her hands tied.

Out of the corner of my eye, a man in pure white robes with the sun tabard and a weird hat comes from the other end of the cellar.

He says something and gestures towards Ma, but I can't hear him. So focused am I on Ma's tear stained face as she looks back at me, mirroring my own expression.

She moves her mouth staring me in the eyes multiple times, but I can't make any words out with the gag.

I can only scream at the top of my lungs over and over as she is dragged to a bed not far away from the cell. The man in white takes off his robe and hands it to someone. Then, along with a couple of the knights that were escorting us, they take off their belts. 

I felt something shatter in my mind and just kept screaming. During what felt like an eternity, all the escorts came down to see Ma. After the last one, a red line appeared on her neck and the original man in white wipes off a knife on her arm.

I'm still screaming and crying as her lifeless body is limply dragged deeper into the darkness of the cellar. 

As I scream, the man in white barks something at one of his mages and they come over to me. Not knowing what is going on, I ignore them, trying to reach out to where I last saw Ma with my face pushed against the bars.

The back of my head is grabbed and my face forced harder on the bars, and the mage forcefully holds my mouth open. While the man in white grabs my tongue and saws with his knife. 

As blood pools in my mouth, I feel something wet and cool going to the pain. After a moment, there is no more bleeding and no more pain coming from the stump that was once my tongue. 

I collapse on the ground, covered in tears and my own blood and see the other villagers quietly sobbing. They huddle together in the back corner of our cell, that I now notice has a handful of emaciated unfamiliar women in it with eyes that are lifeless and numb.

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How many months have I been in this Hell? Or has it been years? That's more likely with the cellar getting a little warmer or colder for a while. I lost track of time long ago.

I'm the only remaining person from my village still in the cell below the church. 

The High Priest, in his pure white robes, visits us along with some of his other priests, knights, and mages. I think there've also been merchants, but it's all blurred together. I've learned that the only thing that can make this place better is to become numb to my surroundings. 

In the beginning, some of the villagers struggled. I was one as well. The first time I was called for my turn to be blessed and purified, I tried to run.

Where to? I have no idea. I just ran.

Unfortunately, after only a few steps I was tackled from behind. A pain then flared from cuts behind my ankles. This time, no mage did anything for the pain and bleeding. In the end, my body was purified by the men like all the others. 

Now, I'm either dragged or forced to crawl when my turn is called. A few times I had a leash and collar as I crawled as the men for that time laughed.

I've long since stopped crying. There's no point to it. No matter the tears, no matter the prayers, nothing changes.

All of the original women in the cell before us are gone. The first being not long after we arrived. The other villagers have also gone. Some like Ma did, some tortured so the men could laugh, some to food, water, or infections, and some chose to stop it themselves. 

Periodically, new women are brought to our cell. A couple times it's been in numbers almost as large as ours was. They usually all end the same. Someone is chosen, made an example of, and disposed of.

I can't make out many of the words others say anymore. Once, I didn't respond to a priest when told to do something. The next thing I knew, it sounded like a clap of thunder in one ear and a knife was taking my other. At this point everything is just muffled if I can even make it out.

Another time early on, I was lost in thoughts of the past. The times I would go hunting with Da. Learning archery and how to make my own bow and arrows. I must have been staring too much at the bow by the bed I was on. My partner then grabbed and twisted all my fingers with a half grin, half snarl on his face.

Now, I can really only get a sip of the muddy water in our bucket with someone's help or when the others are done and I can put my face into the bucket for the moisture that remains.

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Only new arrivals ever help. And only for a few months at most. At least until they become broken like us.

When someone notices our stomach has grown, we always have our arms shackled and are hung vertically while the men hit our stomachs while laughing. Some women in the past had darts or knives thrown in turns at them like this.

I long ago lost my ability to make different expressions. If I can sit up by myself, it's a good day. I have long since lost any will to resist. There is no point asking when it will stop. It will stop eventually and I will be dragged deeper down the dark cellar.

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Today, I was resting after purification. Hanging on the wall by my shackles. 

A dirty man came down the hallway that new women come from. 

I watched him exchange some words with the High Priest and then handed him a sack. A few women were taken out from our cell, gagged, and had hands bound.

He must have felt me looking at him because he walked up to me. Looking at my eyes, he spoke some words I couldn't make out. When I didn't respond, he must not have liked it because he hit me in my eye.

After tossing something else to the high priest I was dragged along by my shackles and up the stairs, my body getting cut on the rough edges and smeared with whatever was on the ground.

My first time outside in years was greeted with a bright sun overhead. The light was blinding for my one not swollen eye. As I close my eye, I'm tossed in the back of a wagon once again.

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Days have passed. How many, I don't know. Maybe a bit over a week?

My body is cold but I'm sweating what little water I have. Cuts from being dragged on the rough, sharp stones are all bright red with a few oozing out some sort of puss.

There's one woman with us that has been giving me water and stale bread.

I think she must be giving me part of hers because it's more than I've had in a long time.

Looking up at her kind face with a gentle smile while my head lays in her lap, I can't help but think that she won't last that long being like this. 

I also silently wonder what her name is. But names have no meaning for any of us. I long since stopped thinking about things like names and even struggle to remember my own at times.

Tonight, I'm brought out again for my turn.

We're in an open plain between some hills. I'm dragged from the wagon and brought to a tent. In the middle of my turn, as I lay there, shouts erupt from outside.

The man hurriedly buckles his pants and goes out of the tent. More fighting erupts and I can hear the screams of dying monsters and men alike.

While laying there in a cold sweat, the tent suddenly collapses. Through a joining by my face, I watch as the noises fade and the sun rises. I let myself drift off to my comfortable, dark, unconsciousness. 

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I think the sun has been up at least one other time as I lay here, but I'm not sure. It's night, and focusing through the joining with my one open eye, I can just make out the moon reaching its peak.

I can't help but to think how beautiful it is. If I'm finally going to die, this would be a good final view. I've long since prepared for my own death, being surrounded by it. Seeing the moon I haven't seen in so long is the best way to pass I can think of. I always enjoyed the moon more than the sun.

Resigning myself, just as I close my eye, I'm shaken and then rolled as the tent is pulled out from under me and off top of me. Shifting my focus from the moon to the new presence, I'm surprised.

I'm looking up at the most beautiful woman I think I've ever seen. Even with tears streaming out of her glorious ruby red eyes.

As the moon reflects wonderfully off her shining silver hair, I close my eye at what I expect to be the last. Content with my final moments.

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I open my eyes, confused. I'm not in the plains laying on grass or in the cellar on the cold stone floor. I'm lying on leaves with tree branches directly overhead. 

I also have a black robe on. The first time since I left the village I've worn something.

I'm not sweating anymore, and my head is clearer. But I'm still confused. I don't notice pain from my cuts, or even see them for that matter. The pain from my broken socket, bruises, and swelling on my eye is also gone.

It looks like it's just after sunset and the woman from before is pushing some branches away. She notices my eyes are both open. 

After saying a few words I can't make out and smiling gently towards me, the woman uses her right arm to gesture at the ground and slowly a small cup appears from the dirt. With another gesture, the cup fills with water. 

Using her only arm, she does her best to scoop my torso up to rest against her body. Then grabbing the cup and helping me drink some of the water. 

Laying me down gently, she goes back to pushing the branch away. Once a clearing is made, she does her best to slowly pull me out from under the thick layer of piled up tree branches and cut evergreen saplings we were under. 

Taking a second to think, she helps me sit on the ground. She bends down and uses her shoulder and arm to sit back in a squat with me resting on her shoulder and supported by her arm.

She then stands up and starts moving. I think only the best hunters from the village could move as silently as this woman is, even while carrying me. For hours, she silently weaves around trees and bushes. Stopping and crouching at times and hurrying at others. 

Eventually we pass by an enormous stone wall that is crumbling into the surrounding. More stopping and going for some time and we end up being next to a large stone building. After going past it And continuing for a bit, she starts climbing what looks like rubble.

Eventually, she gently sets me down and turns me facing a small, inconspicuous hole in all of the rubble. Going first, she does her best to scoot me into the hole as gently as possible. 

Shouldering me again, she starts walking in the darkness with me on her shoulder. Wherever we are, I can't tell from the complete lack of light. Eventually she stops, and using her foot, pushes a door open and goes inside.

On the other side of the door it's daytime. I'm now completely clueless as to what happened because I really thought it was still night. 

Sitting me down then making a sack appear from nowhere, she uses the sack to support my back. After I'm sitting, she makes another cup of water and helps me with it. 

Neither cup of water was muddy or switched with urine. How long has it been since I’ve had water this good?

She sits in front of me and goes silent. Her eyes and brow move like she is talking but she doesn't move or open her mouth.

Then she starts gesturing while mouthing words. Pointing at herself, she then opens her mouth and then points at a pair of sharp fangs. 

Is this woman a vampire? Ma told us stories that vampires would take kids that didn't go to bed. But Da said they don't exist anymore.

Then she pointed at my hands, ears, tongue, and ankles. Staring me in the eye with conviction she points at my chest, then at my teeth, finally pointing at her teeth and making her hands have fake twisted fingers that slowly straighten out.

What? I take a second to think over her gestures. At the very least it seems like she is gesturing that my injuries could be fixed.

But that's impossible. Everyone knows that once something heals over it can't be healed again. All of my injuries are old and already healed, so that can't be it ... But what if it is? ...

How long has it been since I had this slight question about my situation? This slight hope? Should I trust this beautiful woman? This vampire?

I'm scared. I resigned myself long ago to my inevitable fate. I don't want to have any hope. If I have hope, I can be crushed. If I have trust, it can be broken. I'm tired of being hurt by people. I just want to be numb. 

But what if?

What if I don't get betrayed this time? What if she really could heal my injuries? 

What if I can trust her?

Tears forming in my eyes for the first time in I don't know how long, I look at her and nod my head. I don't know exactly what I agreed to, but she seemed to be looking at me waiting for some response.

She places her hand on my shoulder and looks at me in the eye with her beautiful red eyes. She says something and smiles gently, never losing eye contact. 

Then she leans down with a tilt of her head and I feel pricks on my neck. At the same time, a window appears in my vision. 

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Emergency Notice:

Dalia Midnight is attempting to change your race from Human to Vampire (Progenitor).

Warning: once begun, the change will not be reversible.

Do you wish to change your race from Human to Vampire (Progenitor)?

YES / NO

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Notice:

Dalia Midnight is attempting to access the user's [System].

Alterations attempted:

Updating [System] with connection to artificial interface 'Navi' and other connected users.

Do you allow the current alteration attempt to update user's [System]?

YES / NO

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With as deep a breath as I could take, I mentally hit 'yes' on both windows.

My body becomes warm and comfortable, like every fiber of my being is in an embrace. Closing my eyes, I feel my fingers and other parts of my body gently shift, but without the pain they normally have.

I lose track of time as this peaceful, purifying sensation continues to engulf my everything. As I'm falling asleep more comfortably than I can remember, I clearly hear two voices right before I drift off.

(Get some rest my girl. And welcome to the family!)

"Sleep peacefully."

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