Chapter 3: Spark of Life

"How are you?" Maria asked casually, she knew full well that David must have suffered recently, but she was unsure how to start a conversation, and she badly wanted to see some life behind his eyes, so she hoped that asking something, anything, would at least give him a moment of life back.

David was taken aback, this had been the first time anyone had talked to him since he had been thrown into the dark. At the beginning he would keep himself busy by singing to himself or telling himself stories or a variety of other things, but around the same time he stopped feeling the beatings, he stopped talking. He had no idea how long it had been since he last spoke, he wasn't even sure what to respond with, but he decided he must answer something back, so he opened his mouth 

"I am doing fine." 

She was surprised, his voice seemed to be hoarse, and pitch shifted itself multiple times as if he was looking for the right tone to respond with. It was as if he hadn't spoken for a long time. But it had only been a little over a month, he wasn't down there that long, how did he end up like that. It wasn't like she had anything to compare it to, she had always lived her life surrounded by servants so the idea of her being isolated for a month is pretty far-fetched, but still it seemed weird he would degrade so much that he was having a hard time speaking. Still, despite his response, she did her best to keep her composure, with a smile she responded. 

"I'm glad to hear it!"

David looked at her for a few moments longer before returning to work, she seemed to have nothing more to say to him and he had a lot more floor to mop, the manor was large after all, and since he didn't know how much of the floor to mop he was just planning to clean it all. Maria stared at the young man for a while before feeling a slight pain in her chest, she quickly turned away from him and entered the audience hall to see her father.

David worked for the next 5 hours mopping nearly every square inch of floor space he could access. Several times maids would purposefully make more work for him, and once he was even "accidentally" knocked over, but never once did his expression change. If there is more dirt I just have to clean it, if I fall over I just have to stand back up, it was not even a nuisance it was just the next step, the fact he was being bullied by the other servants was completely lost on him. After he was nearly done working, the head butler, surprised to see him still mopping, told him to stop and follow him. David was then led to a storage closet with a bed in it and was told that this was his room for the duration. 

The butler then left David alone in the storage room, with only a single lit candle to see. David sat there motionless for a while before he decided he should sleep, he laid down on his new bed and fell asleep immediately. The next morning the Head butler came to his room, only to find David already awoken which surprised the Head Butler since he was used to waking up his masters silently, even opening the door is silent so the fact David seems to be awoken from his entry is surprising. For David this was nothing new, back when he was in the dark he got used to waking up to the smallest noise, because rats tended to bite him if he wasn't moving, and the sound of footsteps usually meant either feeding time or beatings. Either way he became a light sleeper. 

The butler escorts David down the passageway to the kitchen where the servants were all eating breakfast. He is handed a tray and told to get some food, when he walked over another servant slopped some "food" down on his tray as his serving and sent him away. Many of the servants snicker to themselves as he took a seat at a table. He stared at the food on his tray, it looked like mashed potatoes and some sort of greens, but the greens look old, and the mashed potatoes look undercooked. By the way the servant pushed this on his plate, it was clear that they had made this especially for him. However, it did not bother him, this was better than the food they fed him in the dark. So he ate, unsurprisingly he still tasted nothing, he hasn't tasted anything since he stopped feeling the beatings. But it didn't matter, food was food, and it was no longer being forced down his throat, so he didn't care. Behind him the young maid who escorted him to the bath noticed him sitting there and started to head over to sit with him but was grabbed by a few of the other servants who told her to leave David alone. She felt bad about it but didn't want to pick a fight with the other servants when she was still new. 

After he was done eating the head butler gave David a list of tasks and he set out to complete them. The day went very much like the day before, several of the servants bullied him either by making his job harder or by physically assaulting him in some manner. In fact, the next week and a half went very much the same, a given set of tasks, bullied by the servants, and repeat. It wasn't until the second week was coming near the end that something changed.

For the past 2 weeks, Maria had been keeping her respectful distance because she didn't want to overburden David when he just came back. She knew that she could call on him whenever, but she didn't know how to help him regain the life in his eyes. She was frankly afraid of him staring at her with his eyes, not because she was afraid of him, but that she was afraid of what they represent, what he must have gone through, how he must still be suffering. But she still felt a need to see him, if for no other reason than just to see how he is doing, her curiosity was insatiable. So, she decided to set out into the manor and search for David, after asking around a bit and denying some offers to have him escorted to her, she found him, sweeping the portrait hall. She was about to head over to greet him when she saw some maids turn the corner and begin harassing him. At first, they just say mean things to him, calling him "trash" "worthless" and an "inferior being" and then one of the maids grabs one of the vases off one of the tables and smashes it on his head. Blood starts oozing down his face, as he slowly gets back up and continues sweeping. They insult him further, calling him creepy before claiming that they will report this vase breaking as his fault.

Maria could no longer take it, putting aside her complicated feelings for the human, seeing anyone treated like this, in her own manor no less, filled her with anger. She marched right over and yelled at the maids harassing David. 

"What is going on here?" She demanded. At first the maids all claim it was David's fault that he slipped and hit his head on the vase, but after explaining that she saw what transpired they all begged her not to tell her father. Maria, without responding to their pleas, rips the broom out of David's hands and gives it to the maid telling them to clean up this mess. She grabs David by the hand and then leads him away. 

Maria ends up taking David to one of the spare guest rooms and sat him down, she then rifled through the drawers to find some scrap cloth and began to bandage his head. 

"Does this happen often?" She asked worryingly. David does not respond. He doesn't know what kind of response she would want, or even what she means. No servants have ever broken a vase over his head before, that much is true, but they have called him names before. But more than that, does she want him to say yes or no? Which answer is she looking for? David doesn't realize that a question like this isn't a thinly veiled order or threat like the servants have been giving him for the past week, but instead a genuine question. Upon receiving no answer from David, Maria only gets more worried. 

"If this is how they have been treating you then I will no longer allow it. I will talk to my father immediately." She said as she looked upon David's bleeding head, feeling the pain he can no longer feel for him. As soon as Maria finishes her treatment, she stands up "Don't go anywhere, I'll be back soon." She then quickly leaves the room to talk to her father, leaving David once again alone in the room. David just sits there, near motionless, as silence fills the room.

After a while of sitting in silence, David sees Maria return to the room with a smile on her face, looking proud.

"Alright, I talked to my father, he said you are now my personal assistant, meaning I have full rights to your tasks, room and board, in other words I will be in charge of you now." David stares at her, unblinking. Maria, mildly annoyed at David's lack of response, sighed. "Which means no one is going to harass you anymore, do you understand?" Maria asked a bit sternly. David slowly nods his head. 

"It will be easier to complete tasks when I'm not hindered by other servants." He thought to himself. 

"Also" Maria adds. "Your room is no longer that dusty old closet, this room is now your own personal room." Once again Maria looked proud of herself for managing to convince her father to make all these concessions. She realized she has probably overplayed her "darling daughter card" by now with all the nagging she did to her father, but it's not like she really needs too many things, and he already dotes on her enough as it is, it's unlikely she will need to worry about asking for another favor anytime soon. 

David looked around the room for the first time since he was escorted in here, structurally the room is very similar to the room he woke up in before he made his escape to the forest. The only big difference is the painting, rather than depicting a battle, shows grassy fields and rolling hills with daisies popping up all over. However, he notices that the artist is the same. L.V., is signed at the bottom right of the painting just like the other one. 

"One last thing, as you are going to be my assistant, that means you are of a higher standing than a servant, so you will need someone to attend to you, so..." Maria said gleefully as she turned around and opened the door. In steps the young maid whom David recognized from the dark and being the one who escorted him to the bath. 

"Miss Lily will be attending you from now on." Maria finishes. The young maid Lily bowed gracefully.

"I'm Lily and I shall be serving you from now on!" She said with a smile. "I hope we can get along!" She adds. David, still blank faced, stares straight ahead but this time blinks twice as if to show confusion at the turn of events. 

"Well," Maria said as she turned around and began to leave. "I'll leave you two to get acquainted, I'll send Lily to get you tomorrow, as my personal attendant you will need to be by my side" Maria leaves the room, closing the door behind her, leaving just Lily and David in the room. 

"As I said before I hope we get along, sir!" Lily said again with another bow. "I'm here for you no matter what you need, if you want to talk, need refreshments, or need help with something don't hesitate to call on me!" Lily said with a cute smile on her face. 

"So, on that note, is there anything you want?"

It was at that very moment that something inside David changed, since he had arrived, he had been berated, abused, tortured, treated like an animal, and mentally strained to the point of breaking. No one had any concern for his well-being let alone asking him if he wanted anything. The question plays over and over in his head 

"Is there anything you want?"

 "Is there anything you want?"

 "Is there anything you want?"

 "Is there anything you want?" 

All the while his mind suddenly goes back to the days he was kept in the dark, the long beatings, and force feedings, the days that seemed to stretch into weeks, his body shriveled up in only a few days. His escape into the forest, the first time Maria drank his blood, and the first time he appeared in this place. All the emotions he had locked away deep inside of him came back to him for just a moment, all of the pain, the anguish, the despair, all of it, for just a moment. For David, the torture he went through had very nearly broken his psyche, to save his fragile ego he sealed it behind a mental wall, his inability to feel pain, his lack of emotions, the delay of his movements, and even his total subservience were all byproducts of him sealing his sense of self away. But for this one moment, this one second in time a spark of life flickered across his eyes. 

David looked down at his hands resting on his knees. 

"I want to escape." he mouths to himself. But in that moment David knew that he had no chance of escape as he was now, he had failed twice already due to poor planning and a lack of knowledge. He would have to bide his time and prepare. In order to get out of here, he needed to know where "here" was. So, his first objective was simple. 

"I want to read." David said in response to Lily.

"What kind of book would you like me to get?" Lily said with a smile. 

"History." David again said flatly. If he had been in full control of his mind, he would have asked for something more specific, like the history of House Velma, the history of the country he was in, or even the history of these "Vampires."

Even to David the thought of "vampires" was just silly, creatures that live in the night, can turn into bats, are afraid of crosses, and drink blood from humans. These were just crazy fantasies. But he knows firsthand these monsters are no fantasy. He wasn't sure why there were these creatures that had only existed in myth and legend now here before him, but he knew he needed information in order to escape from them. 

"Alright! I'll snag one of the history books from the library!" Lily said with a light twirl. As soon as she has left the room David takes stock of his situation. For the first time in a very long time, he had his sense of self back, he could think clearly, he no longer felt like a robot, but... David pinches his leg hard. He still felt nothing. Not only that but the delay between his thoughts and actions was still present. Moving his body was still like moving it through a glass window with a remote control, like it was not in fact his body. But since he had regained some kind of sense of self again, he would not waste this chance, he would do everything in his power to gain more knowledge, on where he was, why he was here, and the weaknesses of these "vampires."

After a short while Lily returns to David's room with a handful of books in her hands. As she opened the door to let herself in, she nearly fell over, dropping all the books, but managed to catch herself and the books before she fell. She literally just tripped on nothing. 

"I grabbed a few different books, I wasn't sure what you wanted, I hope you don't mind." Lily said as she plopped the books down on the desk. David just continued to stare at her. Even though he had regained some sense of self and was thinking clearly for once, he still had a large disconnect between himself and his body so on the outside he had not changed at all. As a result, his social "niceties" are nonexistent. Lily seemed to either be already completely aware of his circumstances or didn't seem to care. The former seemed more likely after all she was the one who escorted him out of the dark. She also had seemed to be watching over the last 2 weeks, while the other servants were picking on him, he had noticed that she often seemed to be lurking around the corner, hiding badly. Well it didn't matter; David knew he wouldn't have the ability to explain to her his current circumstances anyway so he just let the matter go. 

"Well if there is nothing else you need right now, I'll be taking my leave! If you need to find me just ask one of the servants, I'll come as quickly as I can!" Lily said with her usual pep as she left. David is once again alone in the room. But now, unlike before he has a mission, a mission to escape and set himself free. It worried him deeply that he was once again planning an escape when he was only just recently released from the dark, but he didn't care, he knew that he had to get out of here at all costs, his instincts were telling him he had to run, but he knew he must bide his time before he could. He needed information and more importantly he needed to get in shape. David slowly looked over his body, he was still on the rather lean side and much of his muscle mass had deteriorated while he was in the dark. If he wanted to have any chance to escape, he would have to strengthen himself as well. 

"But first." David thought to himself as he walked over to the desk, "I need to learn." 

David spent the rest of the day reading the books that Lily brought him, trying to absorb as much information as he could from them. It didn't take more than a few minutes for him to realize something crucially important, wherever he was, or rather, wherever he is now, it is not earth. The cities he was familiar with New York, London, Tokyo, Berlin, Singapore, Dubai, Moscow, were not mentioned at all. In their place tales of fantastic castle towns, bustling "cities," and old forts were mentioned. At first David assumed that ancient history, much like earth was full of these things but as he skimmed the books to more "modern" history the tales were much of the same, tales of wars fought with swords and shields, of knights on horseback, and of Vampires leading the charge. It seems that this world's vampires were treated like celebrities. No, that wasn't quite right, they were more than celebrities, they had pull on the government and political affairs, they were nobles, at least some of them were. According to all the books, Vampires reigned high above society, as the rulers of all of the lands, Humans were relegated to lower class jobs, with little hope for economic or societal advancement. 

There were one or two tales of a human entrepreneur managing to make a name for themselves and gaining a sizable fortune. Both times the human was lauded as an inspiration to all other humans, but there was no mention of them gaining any sort of political influence, as if they were cut off from high society simply because they were human. Night came quickly as David spent the entire evening reading, so soon David found it was time to sleep. Of course, he desired to continue reading to understand what was going on better, but his plan for escape was something that would not happen for a while, he would need to take his time. And with that David managed to find some sleep.

The next day Lily entered David's room to awaken him only to find him already up and getting himself ready. Lily assumed that David must have woken up early because he was excited for his first day as attendant, but in fact David had woken up significantly earlier due to the sun coming up, he had spent so long in the dark that the sun was foreign to him, even when he was released, he slept in a storage closet that had no window, so even the smallest bit of light woke him up immediately. He didn't mind though; he had spent much of the morning hours re-reading the books that were provided for him. David was a good student back in college, he was studious and smart, so he was naturally good at retaining information, but he wished he could take notes on the things he learned, but he realized even if he could he could he would not let there be a paper trail for what he was planning.

"I've come to get you; the young miss has requested your presence." Lily said with a polite bow. David was still unsure why she was treating him like she was, just the other day he was at the bottom rung of the ladder, so even if today he was higher it still seemed odd how she managed to change her tune so quickly. 

"Okay." David responded flatly. He follows Lily who leads him down the hall back to the room where Maria first drank his blood. Mentally the event still scared him, but he showed no such fear on his face, he was lucky in this instance that there was a mental disconnect between his mind and his body. As he was walking down the hall with Lily, he took in the real splendor of the manor in which he was residing, he knew it was opulent, but walking down the hall now, he can truly appreciate just how wealthy the Velma family must be to afford to maintain such an amazing home. Even just the simple things such as the moldings on the walls were clearly hand-crafted and painstakingly at that. Eventually they arrive at Maria's room, Lily opens the door for David and ushers him inside leaving him alone with Maria.

After yesterday's victory Maria was in high spirits, not only did she manage to get David better lodgings, but she put a stop to the bullying once and for all. She doubted that anyone would have the guts to pick on David after getting the three maids who were picking on David kicked out. However, despite her overall upbeat mood, she still had a lot of work to do, she was officially old enough to take part, in large measure, in estate affairs. Her father had insisted that she didn't have to do any work if she didn't want to, but she felt compelled to help however she could. If for no other reason than she felt it would be a waste of all the tutoring she got throughout her life. Still it filled her with pride that she was able to handle documents and manage monetary issues for the house so well. As such when David arrived in the morning, despite having called for him herself she was unprepared for his arrival.

When David entered the room and saw Maria again, he was once more stunned by her beauty. Unlike all the previous times he had seen her, her hair was only done into a simple ponytail, and she was still wearing her nightgown. But despite this, it seemed to only enhance her natural beauty, her skin seemed to radiate with a soft glow, and the look on her face as she seriously was contemplating the documents in front of her was stunning, it seemed her natural beauty shone through no matter what environment she was in. Still though, despite David taking all of this in, his face showed no emotion.

When Maria saw David enter the room, she saw him looking much as he did yesterday. His clothes were in fine condition, his hair brushed neatly, and his body was fuller than what she saw in her nightmares, but his eyes were slightly different. At first glance his eyes were still the same as yesterday, dead and lifeless. But she could see some of the glaze behind the eyes has disappeared, a small flicker of life can be seen lurking behind his lifeless eyes. Maria could only assume it was due to her hard work that this bit of life came back to him. Even if it was only her imagination, she had improved his situation quite drastically so he must feel just a little bit better. After all this young man has been through enough by now. But wait... "young man?" It has been almost 2 months since he had arrived, and she wasn't even aware of his name. Somehow that seemed impersonal, and distant, especially if he was to be her attendant, she would need to know his name.

"Ah, you have arrived." Maria said casually as she sat up straight in her chair. "From today on you are my attendant, which means you take orders from no one but me and my father." She continues. 

"So, as such I believe formal introductions are in order." Maria said as she stood up. "I am Maria Salvatore Velma, Daughter of Duke Fredrick Velma and Duchess Livonia Velma." Maria said with a curtsy. "And you are?" Maria said politely to David. Internally Maria is praising herself for her quick thinking, after all it seems weird that despite being in the same house, she wasn't aware of anything about this young man, not even his name. So, by using the excuse of a "formal" introduction she can learn his name easily. 

"My name," David responded after a moment's pause. "Is David Lee Williams."