* * *
Alastor's dreams had been haunted by the strange man at Christmas for weeks now. He thought of the pain often. He cried during the first few days afterwards, but he steeled himself, attempting not to show any emotion to the guards, not wanting to give in, not wanting them to win. The guards saw a very different boy when they entered the room now, attempting to give him food. They tried coaxing him into eating with foods that he did not see too often, sweet succulent fruits, the best bread, the cleanest cuts of meat - but he would not budge.
"C'mon you little vermin!" a nondescript guard bellowed, they all looked the same to the boy, "Eat you b*****d, this is good food being cooked up just for you!"
Alastor said nothing. He was tired of eating. It just wanted to make him throw up. He only wanted to sleep,which he did often, curling up into a ball in the corner, shivering himself to numbness, until he lost consciousness. The angry guard slammed the door behind him, shouting incoherently until his voice shrank away. He drifted off into sweet, sweet unconsciousness, the darkness clouding his vision like a much needed blanket. He was content.
Alastor was sound asleep when a rather tall, lean man walked into the cellar hallway, a rather crooked, extravagant nose clung to his face like a talon, his graying hair slicked back as far as it would go.
"Does the boy have any idea?" the tall man said with a cold, factual voice.
"Not that we can tell sir," said a second, shorter, plumper man, presumably hidden behind the tall man, "Not like it matters anyways, you know what he is. I hope he can hear us. I hope that he suffers."
"Yes, the little b*****d does deserve everything that's coming to him, can you believe it? A ******** vampire in our midsts. He'll be executed tomorrow, at day break, and perhaps we can rest easily then." he said so villainously, so contemptuously.
"Perhaps sir," the short man licking his lips, and smiling a devilish smile, "Perhaps."
Long after they had walked off, Captain Robalt staggered upright, completely sober, despite the fact that he had been drinking. He had been feigning sleep throughout the span of their conversation, he had been listening. His suspicions were confirmed, and so was his plan of action. Vampire or no vampire, though Captain Robalt could hardly believe it, that child was innocent. Captain Robalt shuddered with anger, slowly making his way over to the boy's cell, peering down at him through the barred window, "Tomorrow," he said quietly and softly, like a parent attempting to soothe his child to sleep, "I am going to break you out of this miserable castle. I swear by it."
The moonlight caressed the boys face gently, giving the affect of a halo. He looked like an angel.