Not once did Jason ever think that the Moon Goddess had her claws sharpened for him, but now he was sure she hated his guts. Several times during the night, he wanted to smash his head into the stoned walls. The agony he endured had drained all of his tears. What made matters worse, he couldn't sleep. He was freezing his ass off in a cold and dank prison cell. Every time he tried lowering his head on the wooden bunk bed, the pressure built until his nose started bleeding. Since then, Jason sat on his bed with his back to the wall. He stared at the opposite wall where many of the previous owners left their blood spatter behind in a macabre Jackson Pollock painting.

How could this have happened so fast? One minute he was serving alcohol to kinky partygoers and then the next moment he was imprisoned. It still eluded him why they needed him. From what Jason gathered, they had plans for him. But what? Did he want to find out? Hell no! But what could he do? He couldn't escape. Jason could hardly walk in a straight line without smashing his face into the ground.

At the first burst of sunlight that streaked across the filthy floor of his prison cell, the reinforced steel door at the end of the hall creaked open. This woke up his fellow prisoners. There weren't many, only six or seven. He couldn't get a clear look at them when the warden dragged his limp ass down here.

"Good morning!" Ludwick said in a chirpy tone while humming a tune.

Jason turned his head toward the cell door to see the hulk of a man smiling at him. Arg! A fucking chirpy vampire! Couldn't he get a quiet and broody bloodsucker who ignored him? Jason's cell door slid open and the clean-shaven man sauntered into his six-by-eight foot guestroom. Ludwick kneeled before him. Jason naturally sank back into the wall, trying to get enough space between them. He wished that he still had Oz. Then he could have kicked their undead asses in mere minutes.

"Damn! The master did a lot of damage, didn't he?" said the oaf as he reached over and touched Jason's swollen jaw.

A sob escaped Jason. Get the fuck away from me. He slapped Ludwick's hand away.

For an ass-clenching moment, Jason prepared him for another hit, but it never came. Only a chuckle filled the room.

"Don't be scared. The master forbade us from touching you." The man stood up and walked out of the cell. "I would ask if you're hungry, but it seems you can't even drink anything." He brushed his hands over his buzz cut. "Just wait until the Master arrives. He'll heal you."

I want nothing from him. I'd rather die in this hellhole than accept his help.

Jason turned away from Ludwick and watched as the clouds in the sky slowly floated past his window.

After Ludwick dished out food for all the other prisoners, Alaric sauntered into the prison on the knack of his heels. He wore a pinstriped suite with a blood-red tie while he pinned his hair down in a man-bun. Wearing the same sneer from last night, Alaric came to a halt in front of his cell. The scent of musk and leather overpowered the smell of piss and mold that clung to the walls of the dungeon.

Jason didn't respond to Alaric's presence. He didn't want to. The less he had to do with the fucker, the better. Alaric could beat him to a bloody pulp if he wanted to. Jason couldn't give a fuck. But one thing was for certain, he would not submit. They stripped him of everything. At least he had his dignity left.

"So..." Alaric's vomit inducing voice filled the cramped space. "Are you willing to comply or are we going to have problems here?"

Take a guess. Jason huffed at his answer, still not looking at the dick.

The cell door slid open and Jason once again found himself slung against the stonewall of his cell. Alaric's grip tightened around his neck.

"Don't play with me!" Alaric hissed. "Comply and I'll give you a life worth living for."

Jason tried to laugh, but it died in his throat when he tried to move his broken jaw. Tears slid down his cheek. Jason strengthened his resolve and fought through the excruciating pain by replying to Alaric's laughable statement. "And how are you going to give me a life when the one I have is slowly crumbling apart?"

Alaric scanned my swollen face until he shouted for help. "Get me Selene."

A few minutes later, hanging around, a young Chinese woman entered the room wearing a black robe with red embellishments. Jason closed his one remaining healthy eye and sighed. "Not another fucking witch," he hissed out, fighting against the pain throbbing down his jaw.

"Well, get over it. Repeat what you told me earlier."

Jason stayed quiet. Suddenly a set of nails dug into his side. Jason yelled out, flailing about.

"Now!"

"Ok! Ok! I'll tell you," Jason cried through his clenched jaw, which he quickly slacked when a painful crunch filled his ears. "My soul is crumbling apart. I only have a year to live before I cease to exist."

Alaric turned to the black-haired witch. "Is this true?"

"It may be that the witch who performed the ritual did a poor job and tore the man's soul apart instead of completely separating it," the witch said.

"Then we'll have to speed up our plans," Alaric said. "Get back to your chambers and prepare your ritual—" Jason started squirming at the thought of undergoing another fucking ritual. "Stop squirming!" Alaric tightened his grip around Jason's neck, causing him to turn limp. "I need him collared and under my control as soon as possible."

"Fuck you!" Jason hissed. "I'm not some dog you can leash and play fetch with."

Alaric's laugh bounced around the cell. "Oh, not yet, my pet. But soon I will turn you into the vanguard of my will. A harbinger of death for anyone who defies me."

"You're delusional."

Alaric didn't reply to his jab; however, he threw Jason to the ground and kneed him in the chest. Jason coughed, struggling to catch his breath. Alaric rolled up his sleeve and bit down on his wrist. Blood dripped from the puncture wounds. He then grabbed Jason by his broken jaw. Jason cursed out, kicking and screaming. Showing no mercy, Alaric forced his jaw open with a snap of a bone and then forced his wrist over Jason's gaping mouth. Jason tried to fight against Alaric, but he had no chance. Soon Alaric's disgusting blood flooded Jason's mouth.

"Swallow," ordered Alaric, removing his wrist.

Jason tried to spit out the blood, but Alaric clamped his dead hands over Jason's mouth and punched him in the gut. Jason choked on the blood as it slid down his throat.

Alaric stood up and licked his wrist. "The sooner you accept your fate, the better off you'll be. I'm offering you power beyond your imagination. You just have to be smart enough to accept it and be grateful."

Alaric strutted out of the cell, leaving Jason to heal from his wounds.

***

After about an hour of regenerating his wounds, Jason's body was as good as before. There wasn't a scratch left, only the phantom pains of his broken jaw and swollen face. Fuck, he hated vampires. Well, not all of them. Astrid's beautiful face flashed across his mind, pulling on his heartstrings. He missed them.

Jason heaved himself off the floor and laid down on the bunk bed. He wanted to catch up on some sleep. But no, he wasn't that lucky. His cell door screeched open. Ludwick, the giant, walked in and grabbed Jason by the arm.

"Come," was the only word that escaped his lips.

Ludwick lifted Jason over his shoulder and carried him out of his cell.

"What's wrong with you? I could have walked on my own," Jason said, as Ludwick opened the reinforced steel door.

Ludwick chuckled and said, "We both know that's not true."

He walked down a set of winding stairs, deeper into the bowels of the earth.

How deep does this dungeon go?

Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, Ludwick turned left. The hallway was eerily silent; they could not even hear a whisper. As they reached the end of the dimly lit corridor, Ludwick knocked at the wooden doors.

"Let me down," Jason protested. The blood flow to his head caused a slight headache to form.

Ludwick tightened his grip around Jason's legs. "Not going to happen."

Before Jason could argue with the oaf, the wooden doors creaked open. A stifling heat swept over them, accompanied by the smell of burned sage. The familiar scent pushed Jason over the edge. The memories of the ritual that severed his wolf from him still haunted his every dream.

Jason punched the giant's back repeatedly. "Let me fuckin' go! I don't want to be here! Find some other sap to fuck over."

Jason pushed his hands into his captor's back, hoping that he'd slip out of the vampire's grasp, but it didn't help. In a beat of his heart, the vampire threw Jason into an electrocution chair. Leather bindings twisted around Jason's limbs and neck, preventing his escape. Once Ludwick stepped away from the chair, Jason lost it. He yelled and cursed, but nobody heeded his cries for help. No, the twisted fuckers continued concocting their witches' brews for the sick ritual they intended to subject Jason to.

"Enough!" a voice exploded from the entrance of the chamber. "Shut the fuck up. You're giving me a headache."

It was the man of the hour. Alaric, the cock-sucking vampire extraordinaire. Jason quieted down and glared at the undead mother-humper. Even though he loathed the man with all his heart, a chill gripped his heart.

"What do you want from me?" Jason asked.

"Your cooperation, as I already told you." Alaric said huffing. "You're making your own life a living hell. I'm not a vicious man, but I'm not an angel either. As long as you respect me I'll treat you the same, but get on my nerves," he flitted up to Jason, "and I'll rain hell down upon you."

Jason gulped. If he could rub the area where the asshole hit him, he would have.

"As to your question. I'll inform you when the time arises to do so. For now, keep your mouth shut so that Selene can finish her ritual."

"What's the ritual for?" Jason's heart rate accelerated, dreading Alaric's answer.

The vampire in question leaned forward and caressed the place where he hit Jason. "Calm down. It's not going to hurt. Not much, anyhow." Jason flinched from the vampire's touch, earning a smirk from Alaric. "The ritual will place a mark on your neck. It will bound you to my will and it will heal the damage caused by the witch that scared your soul."

"Why do you want me collared? I'll make a lousy slave." It was true. Nobody wanted a walking skeleton with the strength of a toddler as a slave.

Alaric's laughter pierced his eardrums. His face lit up as he said, "Oh, my dear pet. I have no need for a slave, but I do require your allegiance willing or not." He walked towards the door. "The reason for your enslavement, if you want to venture so far, will become apparent when we pay a visit to Mortlake forest, home to the divoratore."

Jason frowned at the word. He didn't recognize it, but it sounded ominous.

With that, Alaric left the chamber, but Ludwick remained in the shadows of the chamber. Jason turned his attention to Selene as she approached him and cut through his work t-shirt he wore while bartending. She then started drawing symbols on his stomach, over his heart, and then on the left side of his neck. Jason wanted to kick the witches' teeth in, but he had no luck.

"Jason, calm down." Ludwick walked over to him. "It won't help you. Relax. It will be over before you know it."