When I shifted awake, my eyes fluttered open to welcome the blinking of the dangling lightbulb attached to an almost crumbling concrete ceiling. When the bulb switched off, the room was in complete darkness and when it switched back on, the difference was made minor with only a dull flicker of light dispersing through the room.
It was instinctual to immediately be on-guard after having woken up to somewhere eerily unfamiliar, so I was quick to jolt upwards, and with my senses on high alert, my gaze swept over my surrounding.
The walls were made of concrete but looked extremely old with all the cracks spiraling everywhere. And there were no windows in sight, so the place was hot and suffocating as hell. The only possible escape was through the metal door that stood tall before me, but it seemed almost impossible to break down myself.
With that said, I clearly understand why they didn’t bound my hands nor chain me to the wall. Thankfully, it seemed they left me untouched except for the headache from the hit earlier, but I do feel somewhat weak in the limbs. Is it because my head oozed a lot of blood? Or did they take my blood themselves while I was passed out?
But… where the hell am I?
This room trapped a stifling stench of blood, flesh and death. In the corner, I could make out the slender fingers of a rotting, amputated hand still bound by the silver chains attached to the wall, and not too far away from it, was scattered diced flesh and dried blood sticking to the dirty floor.
The amount of disgust I felt in that moment made me want to barf. Just how many people have died here? Clearly, this is some kind of dungeon where they torture you close to death then when they get what they want, you die the most brutal death…
But…exactly where am I? Just how far away from the pack have they brought me?
And mom…dad…Lucas…what happened to them? They came for me in particular, so they probably let them go right?
But what if I’m wrong? What if right now they’re being tortured to their deaths? I can’t imagine causing any more ruin to their lives than I already have.
I hate this.
I hate this situation.
I hate myself.
Grinding my teeth, I climbed off the floor. The back of my head throbbed as I moved but I dragged my way over to the door and managed to press my cheek on the cold metal, halting my breaths to focus on listening for any sounds. After seconds of unnerving silence, I twisted on my feet and raised my left shoulder before slamming into it as hard as I could.
It looks pretty much impossible to slam it off its hinge but I won’t know unless I try. I can’t just cave in to despair simply because I let myself be captured when there’s a million things I NEED to do. Ever since we met again, Lucas has stuck by my side like glue…and… mom and dad have never once made me feel like I’m not human….
This time, I should be the one to stick my neck out for their sake. I’ll die fighting if I have to!
Countless thuds echoed through the empty space as I slammed into the door again and again. My shoulder ached as if it dislocated, but aside from rattling, it didn’t budge even a bit. My attempts were left fruitless except for the peephole I happened to have spotted on the top right of the door. It wasn’t very noticeable which is why I hadn’t seen it until now, but it was probably big enough to fit my arm through.
Without hesitation, I went ahead and readied myself to open it, but just as my fingers touched the metal, the sudden sound of approaching footsteps met my ears, mixed in with the soft repeated clicks of what I assume was a gun.
There’s definitely two persons approaching. I may not be able to take them both out using mere fighting skills, but if I can somehow manage to grab the gun…
Careful not to make a single sound, I pressed myself against the wall and held my breath, fisting my hands as I prepared to strike as soon as they opened the door. My heartbeat quickened just as they neared, but to my utter surprise, their footsteps suddenly halted, and no further movements were heard. The only thing my ears picked up was the sound of them breathing, other than that, they didn’t move and neither did they speak.
I was confused, but I wasn’t stupid enough to lower my guard or move out of position. After all, the nightwalker himself could be the one standing behind this door.
“If…If anything happens to my family, I WILL kill you!”
The ominous silence continued despite my words and as such, the bad feeling in the pit of my stomach only grew tenfolds. Sweat rolled down my skin.
“I swear to God I will f-”
“No need for any hostility.”
A response was finally sent back to me, but the familiarity quickly drained the raging blood running through my veins. This voice…sounds awfully familiar, so fucking familiar that I doubt I’m hearing it right.
I must be mistaken…
“We will be making a fair deal here today, and of course, both parties are allowed to demand a few things. That being said, there’s no need for any bad blood between us, right?”
…The more I hear him speak, the more I’m sure that I’m right.
The other person who came with him, however, hadn’t said a word.
“What do you want from me?”
“Nothing much really.” A faint chuckle followed his words. “Lucas will be perfectly fine since he’s of much importance to one of my most precious subordinates, but as for the hags with little life left to live, their fate depends on you. I’m hoping you’d help me make my dream a reality?”
“What does Lucas have to do with you people?”
He’s of importance? Is he…working with them as well? Just as Kasan predicted? It’s lousy of me to feel this sudden sense of betrayal, but my mind can’t help but dwell on the fact that he insisted we visited our parents. And he kept saying we had Kasan’s men to protect us if anything happened, yet those said people turned out to be traitors…
“All you need to know is that he’s perfectly fine. You have others to worry about.”
“My blood…” I bit my lip, “…It’s what you want, right? My family has nothing to do with this!”
“I see you’re already well informed.” He said. His shameless words made my blood boil. “I take it you got my gift? We’re on your side, Clara. You shouldn’t keep wasting away your abilities.”
Just as I thought, its thanks to them that I got that recording. And if I’m right about the person behind this voice, then it was probably easy for them to get ahold of it.
“…How much do you know about me? And who’s we?”
“I know a lot actually, more than you think. I wanted us to have this talk ages ago but your mate is a headless chicken when you’re not in sight, which is why I had to do things discreetly. Now that my pathetic Father is long dead and my people are no longer the weak humans they were, we’ve become a lot more gutsy as you can see. Soon enough, Kasan will be no more than one of the many puny alphas struggling to live. It’s simply a shame that you’re the one who’s going to help us bring him to his demise.”
I glared at the door, “Then if you’re so gusty, why are you standing behind the door and not in front of me? You’re too chicken to show your face yet you threaten to kill someone like Kasan?”
Silence passed over us, but within moments, loud cackling followed my words. “I’m certain you’ve already recognized my voice. But if I must, then…”
I tensed at his words, but I didn’t move out of position. His goal is obviously the same as that ‘elder’ woman. So even if I fail this escape attempt, he most likely won’t kill me.
The other person…is the one who worries me. Who is it? The nightwalker? Will I be able to take him down? Better yet, will I even be able to get a hit?
I sucked in a breath and rid myself of my thoughts when a soft click was heard as the door was unlocked. My fist tightened whilst it slowly drifted open, making way for two figures to enter my vision. The light dimmed just before our eyes met, and I didn’t let the chance pass me by. I lunged and reeled my fist forward, expecting to connect with the face of whomever stood before me.
I unfortunately didn’t even get to brush their skin.
A hand swiftly grabbed my wrist, and simultaneously, the light fluttered back on.
Two figures stood before me, one behind the other. My body stiffened in place as I ran my gaze over them both, drinking in the faces of my enemies. The voice I heard indeed matched the face I had in mind…but as for his companion who held my wrist, the sight made my fist slacken, surprise striking me like a bolt of lightning.
I would have never expected to see two familiar faces…