Chronicles of the Uprising (Trilogy 1): Trilogy 1 Read Online Free PDF

life had been like before her capture, but almost her entire vampire existence had been down in these dirty cells.
    Fed only with the blood of other unwanted vermin, the humans had practically starved Mira and her kind to the point of savagery. It not only served to keep her kind more eager to fight in the arena, but also reinforced the image of their savagery in the human population’s mind. 
    Rounding one dark corridor and heading down another equally gloomy one, the trio traveled further into the murky underbelly of the arena. Mournful howls and agonizing screams grated on Mira’s nerves as they passed by the Hall of Punishment. Vampires who failed in battle but had not been killed were made to suffer unthinkable tortures at the hands of their human owners. Mira had unfortunately seen the inside of that hall on more than one occasion. If vampires could scar, she’d be unrecognizably disfigured from her time within those walls. Her punishments, rather than for failure in battle, had been ordered as attempts to break her spirit. No one, neither her handlers nor her Owner, had any affection for Mira. Free-spirited, uncooperative, and cocky as she was, Mira had not broken. Not once. No matter what vile punishments they’d thrown at her. As long as she was imprisoned in Iron Gate, she had one thought and one thought only… freedom. She’d have it someday, no matter how long it took. But though she loathed the arena and the life she had to lead, she knew that staying alive was the only way to get that freedom she so desired. And to do that, she had to remain a winner in the arena. It was the only reason she was still alive, despite her many attempts at escape and even more episodes of bad behavior. She knew as long as she kept winning, and earning her Owner lots of prize money, she’d be safe from final death.
    They passed through a large corridor of prison cells before finally reaching Mira’s, a small six-by-eight-foot cage of silver-coated steel bars with an automatically locking doorway. Her door, marked number 8254-A, was locked via an electronic keypad. Mira casually glanced over, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, as they entered the ten-digit access code on the keypad. 753951…
    The butt of a UV torch connected with the back of her head. A lightning fast jolt of pain had Mira hissing through gritted teeth.
    “Eyes forward, slave,” the female handler ordered.
    Instinct more than anger drove Mira to turn on her handler. The fresh throbbing in her head mixed with frantic energy from her recent feed. Mira snarled, fangs bared, ready to strike, and advanced on the female handler.
    Gone was the stony expression on the human woman’s face. Fear widened her eyes. Realization. Complete understanding of what a vampire is capable of, especially a formidable arena gladiator who’d just fed…
    “Stand down, vampire.” The human woman tried to put authority into her voice, but her fear was clear, and Mira wasn’t in the mood to take orders.
    With little effort, Mira snapped apart the silver shackles and grabbed hold of her handler’s neck. Ready to squeeze the human woman like a bug, Mira tightened her grip, choking off the handler’s air supply as she forced her backwards onto the silver-coated cell bars.
    Alarms sounded all around her. The other handler turned on his UV light and shined it in Mira’s face. She closed her eyes against the sting but refused to let go. Fangs still bared, she bit blindly at her handler, enjoying the terrified screams, savoring the delicious tremors running through the human’s weak body.
    An army of heavy-footed steps flooded the corridor. More handlers were arriving. Mira had shaken up the hornets’ nest this time. The taste of the handler’s fresh blood would not be worth the punishment they’d deliver if she killed the human. Just as she was ready to release her prey, the entire cell block flooded with light. In a fraction of a second, Mira’s skin felt as if it had