Anxiety clenches my chest as Ollie’s words hang in the air. Noon becomes a lifeline, and the passkey, unknown to me, a key to freedom. I brace myself for the impending ordeal, eyes darting to the rear door, counting down the minutes until my chance for escape. Ducking behind Ollie, one of the victims, I shrink into the shadows, my breath held tight as the tall, fierce man enters the expansive hall of torment. In the dimness, I remain concealed, hoping to evade his piercing gaze and biding my time until I discover the passkey or any other escape route.
His disdainful hiss lingers as he departs, stating, “I thought we had a new victim – pure blood.”
Not so long after he exits this hall, a different man walks into this place, looking much better than the previous fierce man. He plasters a smirk on his chin and releases the chains from body of a particular girl, commanding her to follow him, afterwards. He stops at a corner as every other victim watches him strip her of her clothes. She attempts to escape but he seizes her by the boobs and squeezes them mercilessly. Impatience intensifies within me, as I can’t keep staring at her being tortured that way. I make a move to confront the man but Ollie holds me back.
He pins her to the wall; He releases his dick and goes intimate with her, as everyone cheers. The girl grins and groans, bringing back the sounds that escaped my lips when Dominic raped me. I can’t call it an allowed sex – because I wouldn’t be in for that if not for my freedom, which I’m being deprived of, now.
Once he is done with her, he removes his dick as I hear blades swishing – he slashes her throat as blood seeps to her chest and proceeds to her legs. My breath trembles at this sight, but the man notices the quiet sound of my shaky sigh. He steers towards me with an awkward facial expression.
Ollie struggles to say, “The passkey is…” but the man stabs her seven times as the sword swishes. I gaze at him fearfully and at Ollie’s lifeless form-someone who had just spoken to me, someone who had helped with hiding.
The man forcefully drags me to the same spot where the girl was.
“I’m not up for this humiliation! Get me out of here!” I assert boldly as his eyes glow, and he grunts, about to shift into his wolf form.
“Take off your clothes!” Some chained girls chorus, suggesting an idea limited to their knowledge.
When he returns to normalcy, he notices I’ve only become more undaunted.
“I’m no longer interested in offering a lesser punishment to you. Burn her skin!” He orders as I’m flung at a drawn circle on the floor. I stay glued to the ground as fire engulfs the spot, burning me severely.
I scream as my body writhes from one agony-filled moment to another. It lasts for hours. Finally, he releases me. That same man.
He smirks dangerously, “Do you prefer sex now?”
I extend my hands to strike him but he forcefully crunches my bones, as I let out a deep sigh.
“We can make love in the innermost rooms.” I wink at him, suggesting. Obsessed with my body already, he shrugs his shoulders and gulps, leading me to the innermost rooms immediately. As we get there, he lays me to bed.
“What position suits you best?” He questions delightfully.
“Any.” I say. He turns his back to me, unbuckling his belt, and a card drops from his pocket. I quickly pick it up before he notices.
He turns to face me now as I glare at his long dick, readily available for me.
“Sir, if you don’t mind, may I use the restroom first?” I request after slipping the card into my pocket. He suspiciously stares at me.
“D-Don’t think I can escape. Not even through this daft way.” I mutter, but he interrupts.
“Sure, we have enough security systems. You cannot escape. Not even easily.” He affirms.
“If you spend over two minutes, suspicion begins. I’ll even change my mind – I’ll come over there and we’ll do it.” He loudly whispers to my ears.
I rush out of the room immediately, approaching the rear door, but a security wolf attacks me. I grab it by the throat and fling it. I don’t know the power that has been injected into me. All I know is, I did it.
I quickly type the passkey on the card into the system as it opens widely, and I run out of the torture room, only to fall into the hands of Dominic.
“Oh, precocious human.” He comments and cuffs my hands. “You’ll rot in the pack cell.”
He forcefully drags me to his quarters and slams the door shut once again.
I summon the courage to stop him, “Do I pay for my freedom again?! I’m surely not doing this!”
“Shut the hell up!” He clips as he angrily shouts.
“You should rather shut up!” Harley retorts, approaching from a corner in the room, her forehead creased.
“Because you’re a top prostitute for the pack? That’s the guts you’ve got?” Dominic replies her savagely.
“Playboy, wanna round it up to thirty? This man’s got thirty prostitutes, don’t ever try to cling to him. You’ve paid for your freedom.” Harley narrates. Suddenly, I realize she is on my side. I nervously chuckle at that, hoping it’s not a set-up.
Dominic boldly asks, “You revealed the pack’s secret to our enemy – to humans who annihilated wolves because of a simple discovery! What does the third pack rule say?”
“The pack reserves the right to ban any wolf that leaks any secret to an outsider, or welcome an outsider to the pack. The outsiders are humans indeed. I leaked a secret of the pack, and you brought in the outsider. It’s best to keep shut about it because we’re both guilty as charged.” Harley compiles.
Dominic furiously responds, “Get out now!”
“No.” Harley voices and walks towards him, with a cool face. As they bicker about a thing, I rush over to the Alpha’s shelves to pilfer a few books, which I might need to read just a few lines to grasp an escape mechanism. As I turn my back to them since I don’t hear human voices again, I discover that they have transformed into their wolves already. I gasp, transfixed to the spot.
The animals, the wild dogs, that attacked me on my way to visit mum and wake her up, are exactly like these two wolves.
I sigh nervously, taking a few steps back, tiptoeing, and then running out of the room. Dominic’s wolf pursues me hotly, but I run in a zigzag manner until I skedaddle out of the pack and into the active street, bumping into a few students returning from class.
One of the male students walks up to me, “You okay? Sure you’re alright?”
“I-I’m so sorry about…” I intend to apologize for bumping into them, but he nods, understanding my concern.
“I get it. Where are you headed to?” He questions, looking concerned. Initially, I thought the other kids would be waiting for him, but when I shift my gaze to the other side, I notice they’re gone.
“I’m Alex. Alexander Mason.” He introduces himself. “Would you mind a date tonight?”
I chuckle slightly at his quick moves, “Sure.” After handing over my business card, we part ways. Crossing to the other side of the road, I hurry into the forest. Once deep enough to go unnoticed from the streets, I recline against the forest floor. I close and open my eyes wide, only to find Alexander right beside me.
My heart throbs as different scenes play in my head. I pretend not to understand anything about wolves or vampires’ abilities-I don’t really, after all.
“I see that you’re bothered. If you didn’t escape, the Alpha would have made you a rogue. You wouldn’t be in any pack, Nora.” He whispers loudly.
I stammer in response, “H-How did you get to know my name?”
“Nora Taylor, I know you more than you can imagine.” He responds. “I can lead you to my pack, so you will have some rest.”
“No, not anymore,” I object, rising to my feet quickly.
“Can you run faster than a werewolf?”
“Now, is this a threat?”
“No.” He responds and slowly walks towards me. “Nora, I’ll take care of you. I’m human like you, and…”
“I don’t need a liar to take care of me. You just revealed that you’re a werewolf!” I scream at him.
“Wolves are numerous in the city, Nora. Everyone pretends not to be until there’s a need to showcase your abilities. I promise.” He responds as I give in and follow him to his pack.