Tiger's Blood

I blink my eyes open slowly as my body surges in pain all around. My memory is a little bit fuzzy. I can’t remember the last thing that happened to me. Who am I? My name is Ethan Kingsley, I am a Prince. I have an older brother named Jett, and my father is the King. What did I do? I left the Kingdom and what was I doing? Hunting? I can’t remember. I try to look around to see if I can make out where I am, but all I see are people blocking my vision.

“Is he dead?” a young voice whispers. “No, I think he’s just unconscious,” a second voice replies. A cold finger touches my throat. “I can’t find a pulse,” a man says. “Wait, his chest is moving!!” a female gasps when multiple arms grab me. I groan and try to move my body upward. “Ethan? Prince Ethan?” a male voice asks me. “Huh?” I ask him. “He’s alive!! Somebody help me get him to a doctor, quick!” the man yells when three or four men help me shuffle my way towards the infirmary.

The doctor touches my shoulder and I wince in pain. “Hmm, you have some bad bruising in a few places. We will just have to wait until it heals,” the doctor tells me. “Do you remember anything before waking up Prince Ethan?” he asks. “No,” I say. He touches my head and I wince in pain. “You may have a mild concussion, as well. I suggest you just try and get some rest, but don’t sleep with a concussion. It could give you more problems later on,” the male doctor says. He moves my hair aside to look at the back of my head. “You don’t seem to be bleeding, which is good,” he says. I groan and place my hand on my forehead. “Can I leave?” I ask him. “You may in a few minutes. The kingdom is happy to see you alive and well Prince Ethan,” the doctor smiles. Not everyone.

The doctor gives me some medicine and I relax on the table. My head thumps loudly when I suddenly feel my memory piecing together. The quake. Kira and Noah separated from me and I got hit in the head with something. I remember the sound of Lion’s running and roaring and then I blacked out. It wasn’t long when the King walks into the doctor’s room. “Nice for you to join us again,” he says mockingly. “What do you want?” I ask him.

“To refresh your memory. What did I tell you last time you were down here?” he asks me. You threatened to kill me if I didn’t kill Kira and Noah. “You told me to kill the Bloods that I was traveling with,” I say. “Yes. I am glad that the quake separated you. I hope that your friends died in the quake because you can’t even do that apparently. The next time when they get close, I will personally go out and kill the both of them and bring you their heads,” he says angrily.

I stand up and my father grabs my arm tightly and drags me out the door. “Hey, wait! Sir, you can’t take my patient out. He needs to stay in here and rest,” the doctor says. “He can rest in his new room,” my father says and walks me down the hall. New room? He pulls out something metal and he clicked it around my wrist. A bracelet? Why did he give me a bracelet? We stop all of a sudden and my father shoves me in a rusty cell. There was only a dirty bed with a ripped up blanket and bloody walls.

“What the hell?” I scream. “This is your punishment for not following my orders. You trying to be friends with outsiders is as crazy as your mother trying to make peace!!” he yells. I growl and try to step out of the room when shocking fills my body. I fall backwards and squirm on the floor. “You’ll never be able to get out. Your bracelet makes you incapable of mutating and escaping from the jail cell. I paid your weapons designer friend to design those. Welcome home, son,” my father laughs then leaves me in pain.

How the hell am I supposed to get out of here now? With this bracelet on me it’s impossible to escape. The only two ways I could get out of here is if someone deactivates the bracelet, or if I could break it somehow. He said Chase designed these, so maybe he knows how to shut it off. I bet Kira could break it; she’s the strongest person I know. I hope Kira is doing alright. I would kill my father if it meant being with Kira right now.

I lay in my cell for a few hours trying not to sleep like the doctor said. “Hey idiot,” a voice disturbs my thoughts. I look up into the dark eyes of my older brother Jett who is smiling from ear to ear. He unlocks my door and stands back. “Dad wants to show you something,” he laughs. I try to step out, but I get instantly shocked throughout my whole body. I fall back and sit in the corner of my cell shaking crazily.

“Whoops, guess I forgot to turn off the shock field,” he says sarcastically. Asshole. He then flips a switch to his right and the bracelet beeped twice. I step out weakly and avoid making eye contact with him. He then put his arm out in front of me to stop me from walking. “Oh and dad told me to tell you this,” he pauses. He grabs me by the shirt and brings me closer to his face. “If you try to escape at all, he’ll kill you before you can call your friends to help,” he growls deeply. His breath stinks of bloody meat and wine. “Ok…” I cough out and he drops me on the floor roughly. Guess I will have to escape while they are asleep. We then slowly walk towards the throne room where my father was waiting for me.

The laughter of my father alarms me. I look up and he turns around his chair to face me. “Ah my son just in time. I want to show you a fun video,” he says laughing. I bite my lip and look down at the wooden floor. “So…you interrupted my rest to watch one of your stupid cameras?” I ask him. ”Oh not just any video. I think you’ll love this particular video my cameras caught,” he laughs. I sit down in the closest leather chair to me and two large guards stand behind me.

My father turns on the camera and the first thing I see is myself. I was hitting the camera with a stone and the camera shut off. My father plants hidden cameras everywhere. They are disguised as plants, rocks, or bark in trees. I destroyed quite a few while I was out there with Kira and Noah. I wanted to make sure he didn’t see where I was taking Kira and Noah so that he wouldn’t send out guards to kidnap them. The thought of him watching not just me, but harmless Bloods walking around makes me want to throw up. I look over to see my dad staring at me. “I want to show you my favorite part,” he says then switches cameras. The second camera shows the quake splitting Noah, Kira, and I up. I look to the ground, close my eyes, and growl under my breath.

“Kira, Shhhh you’re ok now…” the monitor speaks. I look up instantly and my stomach drops to the floor. Noah holds Kira in his arms as she shook violently, helpless. I fight the tears forming in my eyes. She starts crying and she says his name lightly. I watch as Noah strokes her hair gently and he holds her tight. He then leans into her then…no. “No!! No!! NO!!!’ I scream loudly then stand up quickly. I bang my fist on the table twice then climb up and walk closer to the camera. “I should be the one holding her and kissing her!!!!!” I yell to the camera. I angrily hit the camera with my fist and I rip out the cords and smash it to the floor. My knuckles start to bleed from the glass, and I kick the camera twice then the guards grab my arms.

“Well isn’t this precious, you’re in love with this poor girl,” my father laughs. “Yes I’m in love with her, and you’re not going to stop me from seeing her!!” I scream at him. “Well, let’s just see if I can say...hmmm...arrange a visit with these two. I would love to meet this special girl that you like so much,” he laughs. The guards begin to drag me out of the room. “LISTEN TO ME YOU BEAST, YOU HURT A HAIR ON HER HEAD YOU’RE DEAD!!! DEAD!!” I scream angrily. The guards place me back in my cell. I take a minute to calm down, and I sit on my bed to think to myself.

Kira would put up a good fight against my dad. Ugh, I can’t even call him my dad anymore. He sickens me to no end. I swear when I have the chance, I will kill him. With all the strength I have, I would gladly strangle the life out of him just like he is doing with my life. I can’t put up with all the shit that he’s doing. Killing innocent Bloods, murdering his own wife for speaking out and wanting to have peace, putting his own son on lockdown. He knows I’m against him.

He has always picked Jett over me because he’s older and he agrees with everything that dad says. Jett is dumber than a rock. While my father has an army, I have a bigger weapon that can’t be beat. A White Tiger Blood. The last Tiger Blood standing on this world. She’s on my side; she has the same mind as I do. She reminds me of my own mother. She’s so sweet and innocent like mother was until dad killed her. I’m just glad that Kira is safe right now. Despite Noah kissing her, she’s safe.