Aidan awoke in the dark with his head aching. Again. This is getting to be a bad habit. There was almost no light, but his eyes were sensitive enough to tell that he was in a cave of some kind, propped up against one irregular wall opposite a rough natural arch that presumably led to the surface. Even with his supernatural night vision it was too dark to make out much detail though. The cave was obviously very deep. He went to put a hand to his head, only to find that he couldn’t. His hands were tied together behind his back. He tested the rope that held him and found that he couldn’t break it. He was very strong, but he didn't have any leverage at all. When he tried to lean forward to get to his feet, he could only move a few inches. The rope that tied his hands together apparently was attached to the cave wall somehow. He sat there trying to figure out what had happened for several minutes before he heard footsteps approaching. He saw a dim glow that grew rapidly as the light approached. Then he had to squint against the brightness as someone with a lantern stepped into view. After blinking the spots from his eyes, Aidan recognized the girl from the inn.

“Well, vampire, you’re not feeling so cocky now, are you?”

“What?” Aidan was still a little dazed, but he didn’t think this would have made sense to him anyway.

“You had some nerve just waltzing into town like that. Choosing your next victim were you?” Her expression was a mixture of hatred and revulsion.

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t try to deny it, I know you’re a vampire.” She glared at him.

Aidan sighed. “Okay, I admit to being a vampire, but I haven’t done anything. I only got into town tonight. I’ve never been anywhere near here before.”

“How can I trust the word of an admitted killer?”

“Hey! I admitted to being a vampire, but I’m no killer!”

“All vampires are killers, it’s their nature. They have to kill to get blood to survive.”

"No they don't! Please, listen to me. I’m no killer. I live on animal blood. I never touch human blood, never.” Which, strictly speaking, was true. Flame Song, after all, wasn’t really human, and there had been that dwarf, but dwarves weren’t human either. Though that vampire hunter had been, come to think of it. Okay, so I have taken human blood, but I’ve never willingly taken innocent blood.

The girl hesitated, and then scowled. “No. I don't believe you. I’ll keep you here until I get what I want, and then I’ll put you out of your misery.”

Put me out of my misery! He almost laughed. She was worse than he had been in the early days of his vampiric life. And if she'd made him such a promise in those days, he might not have cared, but now... "What do you want then?"

“I want to know where the other vampire lairs. I know you’re not the only one. I saw him just the other night, and he’s not an aerian. So tell me where he is and I’ll give you a quick release, otherwise I’ll leave you here until you starve to death.”

“I don’t know. Believe me, if I knew I’d tell you in a heartbeat, but I don’t know. I told you before, I only just arrived here. I’ve never laid eyes on this other vampire. I certainly don’t know where he is.”

“I don’t believe you,” she said flatly. “It's too much of a coincidence, two vampires that have nothing to do with each other in this little town. Well, you’ll change your mind in time.” Without a further word she turned and strode up the tunnel. The light from her lantern vanished, leaving Aidan in utter blackness. Aidan tested his bonds again. He tried to feel the knots that held him to the cavern wall, but the girl had done a good job of tying him up and he couldn’t get at them. He could feel a touch of cold metal, and guessed that there was a ring driven into the wall, and the rope looped through it before being tied around his wrists, but there was so little slack in the rope that he couldn’t be sure. The only thing he was sure of was that he wouldn’t be going anywhere any time soon. He sat alone in the darkness for a long time before he finally drifted off into an uneasy doze.