text: Chapter 2C: Indentured Servitude
  
  Year 17
  
  A year.
  
  A year of this magical slavery has passed already and you're far from thanking Ral for this despite what he told you. It hasn't been as bad as it could be, but it certainly could be a hell of a lot better.
  
  Boredom and tedium are the main enemies mainly because Ral has you doing an endless amount of mundane tasks such as cleaning his home or gathering shit for him and unfortunately, that usually consists of various plants in the forest. Which you suppose has made you a bit more knowledgeable about the outdoors, but that isn't exactly knowledge you ever desired!
  
  If you're lucky, he'll send you to Holgard to acquire something and that's really the only time you bother going to that city. Only having a week of "slack" doesn't give you a whole lot of time to go venturing out to Holgard like you probably would on a regular basis. Two days to get there, two day back. It's hardly worth it most of the time hence why you tend to do all your thievery during these mundane trips.
  
  The thing is, you don't even really need to steal anything since everything is provided for you. You aren't really doing it for the thrills either because you're forever pissed about your situation. You're more or less doing it just to stay in practice. The only good thing is you believe your time there is so infrequent and your mark so insignificant, that you haven't ever drawn the ire or even the attention of any of the other criminal organizations in Holgard, let alone what passes for the law there.
  
  Sometimes you'll go to Dert to "practice" though you don't really like to mainly because there's no challenge. You suppose it's just as well as you just doing it to keep your skills from rusting, because you certainly wouldn't be getting rich from taking anything from those poor bastards that live there.
  
  The people there aren't exactly welcoming to you either and you feel like you're going to get lynched at any time. If that ever actually figured it out that you've been stealing from the place as opposed to passing yourself off as a "herbalist." (All that time gathering plants has at least come in handy for something)
  
  You've been trying to figure out some way of escape, but there doesn't seem to be anything for it. You actually did disappear for more than a week once, but you returned pretty quickly after two days of increasing pain. You can't imagine what you would have felt any longer than that. Ral didn't even seem fussed that you attempted it.
  
  Killing Ral is out of the question since about the only thing you can do is briefly think about it on occasion. You've wondered if he has anything lying around that could break the spell, but even if you got lucky and found something of Ral's that could help you (and could actually figure out how to use it), Ral keeps important rooms like his lab and his library magically locked. (And who knows what other protection he has)
  
  So you're stuck for now. In the meantime... 
  
  "Ah, you're here good." Ral says poking his head into your room
  "Where else would I be? Not like I can go too far. Can't you just track my location with the spell anyway?" You say.
  "More or less, but considering it's easy enough for me to just peek in the rooms of the house you have access to, I didn't really see the need to do it immediately. Anyway, I have a job for you."
  "I just gathered a bunch of plants for you yesterday!"
  "I'm actually in need something on the rarer side, that's harder to get a hold of, I need you to get a plant called gray blossom. Fortunately I know someone who has it. Unfortunately, they probably won't be willing to give it up very easily."
  "Oh? So I'm actually going to use my natural talents for a change?"
  "In a manner of speaking yes, though if you can steal from a vampire, I'd be very impressed."
  "Did you just say vampire?"
  "Yes, she's the only person I know that has the plant that I need for my experiments. Or at least within the area and least amount of trouble to get it.
  
  Easy for him to say, he isn't the one that has to get it.
  
  "I'm sure you're aware that dismal village Dert has that huge graveyard not far from it, well she lives in one of the old crypts there. Now if you really feel your skills are up to the task, you could try to sneak in there while she's asleep during the day and get the gray blossom, but I had a more conventional trade in mind." Ral says and then produces a jar of red liquid. You can already take a guess what it is.
  
  "Wait, she'll just readily accept a jar of blood as payment?" you ask.
  "This isn't just regular blood, it's a jar of sprite blood. She loves the stuff." Ral answers
  "Aren't sprites really small? Looks like a lot of blood for a sprite."
  "Obviously that's because it's at least thirty of the little buggers. Now Isabella will probably try to use her vampire abilities on you like mesmerism, but don't worry, that spell you hate so much will keep you perfectly safe from such attempts at charm or mind control."
  "Oh yeah? Well what if she decides to just rip my head off instead?"
  "No it wouldn't protect you from that of course. Though she doesn't just go around killing people on a whim, indeed that's why Dert still exists at all. This is also why I'm suggesting that you just give her this blood for the blossom. She might be difficult and try to barter with you or even imply violence if she got up on the wrong side of the coffin, but she's not likely to just kill you. If she catches you stealing however, well her violent reaction is going to be on you."
  "Not sure if that wouldn't be an improvement on my current situation." You remark.
  
  "You'll find her in a mausoleum that says Mablava at the top front of it. From there, you'll have to fumble around and find the secret button revealing the stairs that lead to the underground crypt where she makes her home proper. I think it's somewhere on the bottom right wall. It's been awhile. Anyway, I'm sure you'll find it. I'd advise you to announce your presence and state your business right away before you even descend. Probably would be best to do this at dusk when she's just getting up. If you do it in the day, she'll be asleep and she won't be pleased about you disturbing her slumber. If you wait until night, you might miss her since she might have left her home. Now assuming you didn't piss her off, I'll expect you back fairly soon. Off you go."
  
  Having given you your orders and the sprite blood, Ral starts to take his leave as if nothing else needs to be said, but you still have some concerns.
  
  "Hey wait! That's it? I mean shouldn't you be giving me some magical weapon, or something silver at least?" you ask.
  "What for? Wouldn't do you any good anyway. Do you even know anything about vampires, or just what you've heard from stories? Look, if I actually thought your life was in any real danger, I'd provide you with either the proper equipment or the coin so you could go buy it. I dare say even if you do something foolish like try to steal from her and get caught, if you drop my name she'll probably still let you off the hook, though perhaps with a nasty scar. This should be a simple enough task that you aren't going to have any difficulties." Ral says.
  
  You don't bother arguing any more since you know Ral's made his mind up and is barking the orders that you're going to have to obey anyway. You can only hope he's correct about his vampire associate.
  
  You make your way to Dert, which doesn't take long. By the time you which the vicinity of the area, it's still day time which means you still have time to spare waiting around before meeting up with this Isabella. Since you don't especially feel like putting up with suspicious dumb ass yokels today, you decide that you'll just head straight to the graveyard and wait there.
  
  When you arrive, you never realized just how damn big the place was as you've only ever glanced at it from afar and certainly never had any reason to go there. In fact, it's almost the same size as Dert itself, in fact, it may even be the same size. You can't imagine why the village would need that big of a graveyard. Was Dert bigger at one point? Plague perhaps?
  
  In any case you spend some time looking for the mausoleum and eventually you find it. It isn't very big; though you imagine that underneath it is where all the space is. Must be for a family, though they must have been richer than everyone else in that village. This all makes you wonder if Isabella is an original inhabitant of this village or maybe she's just making her home her in this place.
  
  You also start wondering if there are other creatures potentially lurking about here. Ghouls? Ghosts? You haven't seen or heard anything since you've got here and the entire place has been as empty and silent as a well... tomb.
  
  As you creep yourself out, you're getting less enthusiastic about just hanging around a graveyard waiting for night to come. Maybe you should just steal the gray blossom now while day still exists.
  > wait
  Stealing from a vampire just seems like a bad idea even if you were properly prepared. No, you're going to follow the rules to the letter on this one.
  
  Time passes and eventually the sun starts setting and you begin looking for the secret button on the right wall. As it turns out, this uses up plenty of time because you have a hell of a time finding the damn thing since it's in a near inaccessible place behind a solid stone sarcophagus.
  
  After stretching and reaching for the thing, you hear a click and a section of the floor on the left side opens up. You look down, but only see a dimly lit stairway, which you hope leads immediately to Isabella since you don't really want to potentially work your way through some catacomb maze.
  
  You walk down a few steps and then call out to Isabella.
  
  "Isabella?!" you shout.
  
  A few seconds later you get a response.
  
  "A visitor that knows me? This is a surprise. Your voice doesn't sound familiar however, so I can only assume someone who knows me must have sent you and I can guess who that might have been." You hear Isabella call back.
  "Um, Ral sent me." You say.
  "(Sigh) I thought so. He's too cowardly to face me in person, yet he probably wants something from me. Well come on down, I promise I won't bite."
  
  You're still a bit nervous about all this, but this is the task you've been given, so down you go.
  
  When you get to the bottom, you find a better-lit crypt that is fairly clean all things considered. You see several sturdy coffins lining the walls and you can also smell a faint whiff of some sort of flower. Nobody is here, though you see another entryway, which looks like it leads further into the bowels of this place.
  
  "Stay in the foyer! I don't want you wandering about my home! I'll be there in a moment." you hear Isabella shout from that direction.
  
  You aren't kept waiting long when a woman appears from the crypt entryway. Ivory skin and long raven hair, beautiful and young looking though certainly older than you. Isabella is the exact idea of what people have in mind when (and if they bother to) think of a vampire, the only thing that's missing is the royal or elegant clothes which isn't wearing. In fact she's not wearing clothes at all.
  
  You might be more inclined to look at her naked body if she weren't a vampire, but since she is, you aren't sure what the etiquette is.
  
  "Okay, you can stop adverting your eyes, I'm a vampire not a medusa. Besides, you know you want to look anyway."
  
  Well that answers that question.
  
  "Well? You going to tell me what Ral wants or are you going to just stare at my tits all night?" Isabella asks.
  "Is this a trick question?" you ask.
  "Look, I'm going to give you exactly one minute to tell me what the hell Ral wants or I'm going to start getting angry."
  "Apologies, I just wasn't quite expecting this. Ral wants some of your gray blossom and in exchange he's given me this, to give to you." You say and pull out the jar of sprite blood from your pack.
  
  Isabella walks over to you and when she's right in front of you, you feel very anxious as she stares at you. You know Ral said she can't charm you, but you feel like she's doing SOMETHING to your mind.
  
  She takes the jar from your hand and opens it, giving it a sniff. Her nose turns up and her demeanor becomes more annoyed.
  
  "Ugh, what is this shit? Is... is this sprite blood?" she asks.
  "Yeah, Ral said you liked it." You say.
  "Then he's a forgetful fool or deliberately trying to insult me. I hate sprite, it was brownie blood that I liked! Either way it's apparent he cares nothing for our time together and just wants something as usual. Biggest mistake in the recent century was going out with him."
  
  While that's a bit of interesting information, you're far more concerned about your own ass now that Isabella seems displeased.
  
  "Okay, well I guess I'll just leave and let him know then... " you say.
  "Wait, where are you going?" Isabella suddenly grabs your arm. It isn't a hurtful grip, but it is strong and cold. Her expression is predatory and you feel like you're about to become dinner. Maybe she isn't able to control your mind, but she's doing a good enough job of putting fear into you anyway.
  
  "I... don't suppose it wouldn't do me any good to beg would it?" you ask.
  "No. However, I can see by this symbol on your arm, you are magically enslaved to Ral and despite him being disrespectful to me, I shall not act in kind and kill you since I know how hard good servants are to come by. I haven't had one in decades. However, YOU have to make up for Ral's failings." Isabella says.
  "So, what do I need to do? Go collect some brownies?"
  "Hah, well that would be ideal. But you'd have to travel all the way to Gnarlwood to even find a population of them and even then I doubt you would have the means to even capture one, let alone enough to fill a jar. Not to mention that would take far too long and we need a quicker solution."
  "And what would that be?"
  "You need to go get me dinner and the closest location is Dert obviously."
  "So you want me to go bring someone to you?"
  "Ah, no. Not just anyone. I want you to bring me a child. Girl, boy, doesn't matter. Youthful blood is always the best when it comes to humans."
  
  While you probably would have had some difficulties even bringing in a regular Dert citizen, you believe you could have justified it if you brought in one that tends to be an asshole towards you every time you visit. But a child? You're a little hesitant on that request.
  
  "I... I um... I'm not sure... " you say.
  "Why not? If Ral told you he needed you to kill a child you'd do it." Isabella remarks.
  "And that's only because this fucking spell would compel me to, it wouldn't be like I'd enjoy it."
  "Tch. That's an excuse. You could easily kill yourself rather than kill a child. The geas doesn't prevent that."
  "Can't you just do it?"
  "Sure I could, but I'm asking YOU to do it. Now if you want the gray blossom, you're getting that child for me, although... "
  
  Isabella at this point presses her entire body against yours and sniffs you, particularly your neck.
  
  "You're a teenager, so I suppose your blood would do. It doesn't smell like you've been befouling it with a bad diet at least."
  "I thought you said you weren't going to kill me?"
  "I'm not. I'm just going to drink a little of your blood and I'm not even going to bite you unless you ask me to. I'm giving you an out here. You can either let me feed on you, or go round me up a kid from the village."
  "How do I know you won't just kill me or get so excited that you won't stop feeding on me?"
  
  Isabella chuckles a bit.
  
  "You think your blood is going to be just so tasty that I'm going to lose all sense of control? You certainly have a high opinion of yourself! But honestly? You don't know. But isn't the mystery of the unknown making it all the more curious for you?" Isabella asks with a cold touch of her hand to your cheek.
  "Not really." You say.
  "Well tough shit, because those are your options."
  > get a child
  "Okay, okay, I'll do it. I'll get a kid." You say.
  "Very well, although I was a little curious to see what you tasted like. Now don't take too long, but then I imagine you won't be able to anyway, what with your tether and all. Off you go and for your sake you better not make a scene and if you do, you better not lead a peasant mob here!" Isabella remarks.
  
  You leave Isabella's crypt glad that you made it out alive, but with very mixed feelings about what you'll need to do next.
  
  With night having fully fallen now, you expect that most in Dert are going to be in their homes. You try to remember which families have children, because in all your visits to the place, it isn't like you've ever paid much attention to that aspect.
  
  After a bit of thought one family comes to mind, middle-aged couple who have a simpleton for a son who has actually bothered you in the past with questions which you believe should make your task a lot easier.
  
  You aren't sure if just breaking in and snatching him in the middle of the night is the way to go though. Maybe you should take the less forceful approach on this since the boy is likely just going to scream out even if he is stupid.
  
  You wait a bit longer in the graveyard before making your way to Dert, which by the time you reach it, is just as silent as the graveyard.
  
  You sneak about the village until you reach what you think is the right house. After peeping into the open windows, you find that you were correct. The one you're looking for is asleep on his cheap straw mattress. You can't remember the boy's name though, so you just start whispering "boy" to him
  
  Eventually you wake the idiot up.
  
  "Huh, whut?" the boy answers.
  "Come on, its time to go." You say.
  "Aren't you herb man? What you doing here?"
  "Yes, I'm collecting a special kind of herb that only grows at night, but I need help finding it, specifically your help."
  
  You're sort of winging it here, so you're just making shit up as you go along and hoping for the best. It isn't like you have much experience in kidnapping.
  
  "But (Yawn) I'm not supposed to go anywhere after night. Mommy and daddy said I'm supposed to be in bed or else I'll be whipped." The boy remarks.
  "It's okay, I spoke to them already. They said you can help me, now come to the window, I'll lift you out." You say.
  "I dunno... "
  "Come on, aren't you always asking me questions about what herbs, roots and flowers I collect for my profession? Come with me and you'll find out."
  "Well... "
  "Just come on, you can trust me. You see me all the time."
  "Okay."
  
  The boy gets up and goes to the window. The little shit is heavier than he looks, but with some effort you lift the boy up and outside. You still can't remember what his name is.
  
  "Where do we go now herb man?" he asks.
  "Just follow me, and be REALLY quiet." You say and soon the pair of you making your way out of the village as quick as you can.
  
  Naturally as soon as you leave the village though, the boy starts to hesitate.
  
  "Um... I'm not supposed to leave the village. Mommy and daddy said... " the boy says.
  "Look, I said I already talked to them, they said its fine, now come on." You exclaim
  "But... but it's really dark out here and there might be monsters deeper in the woods."
  "We're not going too much farther, just follow me a little more."
  "... that way is to the graveyard! I'm not going there!"
  
  At this point your patience has worn thin and you're having difficulties with doing this anyway. Something inside you snaps and you punch the boy in the face!
  
  The boy falls to the ground, but he's tougher than you thought since it doesn't knock him out. He does start wailing very loudly and running from you as soon as he gets up though.
  
  "Shit!" you shout and start chasing him back to the village.
  
  You catch up to him fairly quickly, but unfortunately for you, his cries have called the attention of the village, along with his parents who thought they heard noises earlier around their house anyway.
  
  As you're struggling with the boy and punching him in the face a couple more times to shut him up, an angry mob has already formed to lynch a child abductor such as yourself.
  
  You abandon your task and just try to get the hell out of there, but several stones thrown at you impede your escape when one hits you in the head doing enough damage to cause you to collapse to the ground.
  
  This is all the mob needs in order to catch up to you. No amount of pleading or explanation will appease this mob and they don't even bother to lynch you anyway, they just stomp you to death as you lay on the ground and then set your battered corpse on fire.