First Blood Read Free

Stitches was inside the cage. What had he done? Florian wondered if releasing him was the right thing to do.
    "Get the keys, boy!" Stitches screeched.
    Florian's arm jutted away from his body, grabbing the key ring and tugging it from the guard's belt. With strength he didn't know he had, Florian ripped the ring from the man's leather belt, severing it in two.
    The keys clanked against each other as Florian was propelled toward Stitches’ cage. His feet stumbled and he fell, the key sliding across the dirt floor and coming to rest under the boot of a man who'd snuck up in the tunnel behind them.
    "Sorry, boy." The man in the black cloak looked down on him with furious eyes. "You can't let him out. No matter what he compels you to do, you must resist." He bent over, picking up the keys, and sliding the ring over his wrist as if it were nothing more than a charm bracelet. The ring quickly disappeared under the man's sleeve.
    The man grabbed Florian by the ear, dragging him away from Stitches’ cage. He glanced back at Stitches. Why was he controlling Florian, but not the other men? What made him different? Was he special?
    Florian wanted to be special. He wanted that more than anything. His treasure trove of secrets made him special, but those he kept to himself. Under Stitches’ tutelage, Florian could become powerful. He fought against the cloaked man, kicking his shins, and finally kneeing him in the nuts.
    The man fell to the ground, groaning.
    "Good boy, Florian," Stitches said, his voice sounding more like a hiss. "Now get those keys. Free me, and I will teach you everything I know."
    "Yes, master," Florian said. He grabbed the keys, sliding them off the incapacitated man's arm. He fumbled with the keys, shoving one after the other into the top lock, until one caused the tumblers to click and fall.
    Florian did it two more times, until the door swung open. Stitches sped out. With a heavy thrust, he stepped on the neck of the cloaked man. His bones snapped. Florian flinched. Stitches grabbed Florian's wrist, dragging him behind.
    "I need to feed," Stitches said, his voice filled with need.
    "When is the last time you ate?" Florian asked. He pulled the remainder of the pastry out of his pocket, offering it to Stitches. He hoped the man didn't find the few fuzzies from his cotton pants on the pastry.
    Stitches knocked the pastry out of Florian's hand. It fell to the ground and rolled in the dirt twice before coming to a stop in a puddle of mud. Stitches yanked on Florian's hand, dragging him away from the pastry won through magic.
    "I don't need human food," Stitches said. "I need blood. The blood of my kind. They caught me at a weak moment. My power is low. I must feed, or I fear I will lose myself."
    Florian wanted to ask what Stitches meant. Little of it made sense. His kind? He didn't need human food? Then what was Stitches? Because he looked like a normal man to Florian.
    "She's in here somewhere." Stitches turned to Florian, his eyes appearing as if they were on fire. "Where is she?"
    "Who?" Florian asked. He hadn't seen any women near the cave.
    "My mate. She's here somewhere. I can feel her in my blood. I can hear her thoughts. Though they are weak, she is pleading for me." He crouched down, nose to nose with Florian. Stitches grasped the boy's shoulders, shaking him. "I need to find her."
    Florian winced, as Stitches’ grip tightened. "I don't know. I swear it!"
    "Follow me, boy." Stitches swept past Florian, keeping a hold on the boy's collar.
    Florian stumbled after the man, whose desperation was stronger than the stench of his unwashed imprisonment. They made turn after turn in the tunnels coming upon many dead ends and hollows.
    Florian, tired of being dragged around, dug his heels into the ground. "If she's in here, I can find her, just as I did you."
    Stitches loosened his grip. "Please. She's all I have."
    Florian nodded, then closed his eyes to the faint light of the torch Stitches carried. His ears