by C. Sunrise
Here I thought he was a smart one.
We continue exploring the fair, occasionally crossing paths with the others. We even encounter my parents, who are dressed as a king and queen. They tease us about Sir Kapsie being our child and that we would make beautiful babies together. Needless to say, it didn’t take me long to drag Kace away from my parents and into the haunted house.
Parents may be the best form of birth control.
Before we know it, it’s time to meet back up with the others. Kace and I head back to the resort lobby and I excuse myself to use the restroom before we meet up with everyone.
That’s the last thing I remember from that night. I don’t know if I ever met up with everyone or if we partied at The Den or if something happened while I was in the restroom. All I know is that at some point after walking into the restroom, events unfolded, and I ended up locked in this room.
TWENTY-NINE
Exhaustion, frustration, and hunger consume me. Weakness, shivers, aches, and pains plague my body. I don’t know how long I have been here, most likely a few days, but it feels like months.
Without food and water, I barely have the strength to stand. I sit and prop myself up against one wall, far from where I’ve been forced to relieve myself, which still isn’t far enough away for my liking.
After replaying the events of the last several weeks, I’m no closer at figuring out who has put me in this dank, disgusting cage. You would think someone would have come to me by now. Maybe that’s just something that only happens in the movies. Maybe this is what happens when people are kidnapped in real life—thrown in a cell and forgotten about.
It’s getting harder and harder to stay awake. My body wants to go into survival mode and sleep, reducing the demands placed on my limited energy reserves. If someone were to come in here, my chances of fighting and saving myself would be little to non-existent. No, I wouldn’t be able to fight them off, but I’m sure my breath and body odour may knock them out at this point.
Oh, the things you miss when your mind is slipping into a state of delirium. Brushing my teeth, using a toilet, washing my face, deodorant. I would sell my soul right now for a hairbrush. This would not be a good time for me to negotiate for my life.
Maybe this isn’t about me at all. My parents are fairly well off and they own a very successful winery. Kace’s family is rich too. Maybe someone saw us together and thought they could use me to get to them. Yes, maybe I’m just being held for ransom.
I slip in and out of consciousness as thoughts of conspiracies and compulsive thoughts of food swirl around in my head.
“I’ll get a cheeseburger and large fries please, oh and a strawberry milkshake,” I say, smiling at the man in front of me. He seems confused by my order, so I repeat it. I pause and come crashing back to reality.
“Who the hell are you?!” I demand, scooting backwards and pushing myself as far against the wall as possible.
The man stands between me and the dim light, making it hard to see his features as his large frame casts a shadow over my weak body. He’s an exceptionally large man, no doubt a Royal of some sort, wearing dark clothes and a dark coat. Slicked-back hair is the only unique characteristic of this silhouette in front of me.
Without warning, the man squats down in front of me and flashes a tiny flashlight directly into my eyes. I shriek in pain, squeezing my eyes shut until the phantom blue dots disappear from my eyes. I turn my head back towards the man, letting my eyes adjust to the light.
An uncontrollable surge of anger takes over and I clench my fists, balling up all of my remaining energy and preparing to release hell on this man.
If he’s here in this room, he must be the one who took me, or he’s involved in some way. He will pay.
The light shifts across my eyes before aiming at the ceiling above us, providing me enough light to see the man bring one hand up to his face and point at his eyes with his index and middle fingers. He shakes his head ever so slightly—slight enough that I would miss it if I blinked. I take a few deep breaths, pushing my beast back, forcing my eyes to relax. Then he slides his hand down, pausing with his index finger over his lip.
Is this man helping me? Why would he do that?
His hand goes into his jacket, removing something small from his inner pocket. He leans towards me and grabs my jaw. His touch startles me, but his actions have me feeling curious and relaxed rather than threatened. He moves his fingers along my lips, pushing them up as if he is inspecting my teeth. He opens my mouth, tilting my head side to side. In one swift motion, he sneaks a strange object into my mouth before nodding once, ever so slightly.
The object in my mouth is a squishy ball. I close my mouth, and the object slowly dissolves, releasing a refreshing liquid into my mouth. It’s the strangest thing I’ve ever experienced, but it seems to have partially quenched my thirst. Even if this man is my captor, if he asked me to marry him right now, the answer would be yes. That’s how grateful I am for this tiny gift.
Without a word, the man gets up, walks to the door, and knocks three times. He looks over his shoulder at me and then briefly at the ceiling at one corner of the room. He looks back at me as the door opens with a screech and he exits, slamming and locking the door behind him.
I nonchalantly scan the room, pausing briefly where the man looked and see a tiny dark blob. I continue looking around the room as to not draw any attention.
A camera! Someone has been watching me this whole time!
That explains the man’s silence and his use of almost imperceptible gestures.
Who is this man, and why would he risk helping me?
Not that I’m complaining; I’m ecstatic to have someone on my team right now. I only wish there was some way for us to communicate more than subtle gestures. I have so many questions for him. I know he could hear my thoughts if I shifted, but his gestures tell me that’s the last thing I should be doing. Maybe those magic liquid balls of his will give me enough energy to find a way to communicate with him, instead of sleeping the rest of my days away.
The man continues to visit me regularly, although with no way of tracking time, I cannot tell how much time passes between visits. It’s the same thing every time though: inspect my teeth and mouth, flash subtle signals, and secretly pop a magic liquid ball into my mouth.
My energy levels increase slightly with each visit, but I’m still in a perpetual weakened state. I guess a sudden recovery would raise too many suspicions, though. I use this energy to work on communicating with my beast, who seems to have gone into hibernation with my weakened state. Perhaps if I develop a better connection with my beast, I’ll be able to use my telepathic abilities in human form. It has to be like combining my beast and human senses, right?
I attempt to project my thoughts towards the shadow man every time he visits. If he’s hearing them, he isn’t giving any outward sign. I suspect even a calm, cool, and collected person would show some signs of shock at someone else’s thoughts popping in their head. Especially the thoughts I’ve been projecting; I’m definitely going for the shock factor. Desperate times and all.
It seems strange to me how attached I’m getting to this shadow man; his visits are literally the highlight of my day. Although I make sure I mask my excitement when he’s in the room, so I don’t raise suspicions and risk losing our visiting privileges.
I imagine, based on what little I can see of him and from the other Royals I have met, that he’s fairly attractive. He’s one of the bad guys, so I bet he has a gnarly scar on his face or something. I’m sure that it looks quite sexy on him, though.
Hello Stockholm Syndrome. Welcome to the party.
A while later, the all too familiar sound of the lock on the metal door wakes me from my slumber. I rub my eyes and look across the room to the shadow man. Except it’s not him. There are three other men walking towards me, their postures are too tense to suggest they’re bringing me anything good.
One man shoots his arm out in front of him
and there is a loud snapping sound followed by an intense burning sensation on my leg.
Did this asshole just hit me with something?
I glare at the men in disbelief, squeezing my leg as wetness coats my fingers. I fight back tears and press my body against the wall, forcing myself to a standing position.
The men are spread out, cornering me against the wall. Another snapping sound fills the small room, splitting through the sound of my cries. This time, the burning sensation radiates from my arm. I don’t have time to react before there is another snap and another.
Every limb burns. Tears are freely falling from my eyes, accompanied by an all too familiar pressure. I try to resist, but the pain is too unbearable. My training didn’t include how to manage your pain while being brutally whipped. This is some next level shit that I’m not prepared to deal with.
I’m sorry, shadow man. I think as I let my wolf come out to play.
The shift is fast, which I assume is because of the intensity of the situation. The men don’t have enough time to escape the room before my beast lines them up for the kill. I’ve gone full primal instincts here and I know my attack will be to the death—mine or theirs. I immediately charge at the man on the left, the ignorant douchebag who was the first to whip me.
Lunging forward with impressive speed, I wrap my jaw around his leg and toss him across the room. His body slams against the wall with a pleasing crack that I know didn’t come from the concrete wall. I stalk over to the dazed man, slumped on the floor. His hands come up to block his face and my teeth engulf both hands, ripping them clean off his body. Another pleasurable sound fills my ears—the sound of the man screaming. I’m not a completely cruel beast though, so I lunge forward again, wrapping my teeth around his throat and squeezing until my mouth closes. The man’s screams are silenced.
One down, two to go.
I turn towards the other two men, disappointed to see they’ve escaped the room while their comrade distracted me. I snarl at the door, waiting for it to open and an army of men armed to the nines to fill the room. But it doesn’t happen. I’m not exactly proud of my next decision, but primal instincts can be a real bitch.
Waste not, want not.
I’m midway through my special delivery meal when the door unlocks. I turn my body to face the door, ready to pounce, and let out a threatening growl. At this point, I’m not sure if I’m defending my food or my life.
A familiar figure wanders into the room, one hand raised and the other carrying what appears to be clothes, with his head bowed in a submissive posture. He continues walking into the room until he’s standing in front of the camera, blocking their view of his face.
“Easy,” he coaxes, startling me with the sound of his deep voice, especially considering this is the first time I’ve heard anyone’s voice since coming here—aside from my meal’s screams.
The calmness and respect in his voice immediately relaxes me, and I choose this moment to reveal another one of my secrets to him.
Where the hell were you a few minutes ago. Not that I’m complaining about finally getting a real meal. Your magic liquid balls were great too by the way, and I’m sure they are the only reason I kicked some ass in here today. So, thanks for that.
He stands there with his head slightly tilted, silently listening to my thoughts. He quickly glances towards the camera, our signal that we need to keep things on the down low.
“I need you to shift into your human form,” he says, and I snarl at him, playing the role.
He reaches behind his back and pulls a gun from the back of his pants. It doesn’t look like a normal gun, but more like a tranquiliser gun of some sort. I snarl louder at the implied threat.
“I don’t want to use this, but I will if I have to,” he says, pointing the gun at me. “You have a guest coming in and I want you to be on your best behaviour while he’s here, which is something I don’t think your wolf can guarantee.” He nods his head towards the partially consumed heap on the floor, a small smirk forming on his face.
Is that my best option? To shift?
He nods curtly and I let out a growl, showing my disappointment. I don’t know if it’s the Stockholm syndrome talking, but we make a good team. If we get out of here alive, maybe we should consider careers in Hollywood.
I pace along my side of the room a couple times, contemplating my options before shifting back to my human form. I cover myself as best I can with my hands and take the clothes from shadow man. He turns around, giving me some privacy while I get dressed in the baggy grey jogging pants and plain white shirt.
“Sorry we didn’t have anything more fashionable,” he says, knowing what I was thinking even though I’m in my human form and not projecting my thoughts.
“Could be worse, I guess,” I reply with a shrug. “I have a feeling I’m not going to be whisked away to a fashion show, anyway.” I chuckle and hear a small chuckle come from shadow man too.
A series of bangs causes both of us to turn our attention towards the door.
“He’s here,” shadow man says and steps back to lean against the wall. His position shows distrust for the person about to enter the room and perhaps a bit of protectiveness for me too.
The door swings open, and a new man walks in. The way the light hits him as he walks into the room gives his older face an ominous appearance. He’s a large man with light hair. There isn’t enough light in the room to determine his eye colour or any other specific features. He walks in and smiles when he sees the man, or should I say the partial man, laying on the ground.
“Oh, you’ll be the perfect mate, love.” He smirks, and bile rises in my throat.
Shadow man tenses enough that I can see his jaw muscles twitching in the dim light. There doesn’t appear to be any love lost between these two men, making me wonder how shadow man ended up in this situation.
“Sorry, I’m not looking for a mate right now,” I reply with my lip curled upwards in disgust. “And if I were, I’d hate to inform you… scratch that, I’m happy to inform you that the half-eaten man on the floor has a better chance of mating with me than you do… and I’m not a necrophiliac.”
Shadow man’s jaw relaxes and forms a slight smile, while the tense jaw has now moved over to the dirty old man’s face. Then he erupts in laughter, taking shadow man and I by surprise.
“Am I not the right Black for you?” He asks with an evil grin.
“What the hell does that even mean, you stupid old goat?” I ask, ignoring survival basics and insulting my mentally unstable captor. Fortunately, he doesn’t seem fazed by my insolence.
“Well, my dear, I’m sterile so as much as I would love to mate with you, it just wouldn’t work,” he says casually. “But I’m more than willing to practice if you’d like. I’ve never had a beast as strong as you in my bed before and I’m curious to see what heights of ecstasy you can bring me to.”
“No thanks,” I reply calmly, hiding the fact that partially digested flesh is threatening to spew from my mouth. “I’d rather die.”
He chuckles. “Your loss. I had planned for you to mate with my son. Things were going well, I thought. I mean, you two had a good romp by the waterfall the other day and seemed cozy at your parent’s place.”
“That’s impossible,” I mutter. “How did you…? How are you…?”
“Alive?” he asks, completing my sentence. “Easy—I was never dead. I had important work to do, but there were too many eyes on me. So, I faked my death and have been working in the shadows since then. As you know, I haven’t been working alone—I have my faithful followers with me. That’s how I’ve kept tabs on you. My son and his cousin were taking too long to mate with you, so I stepped in and move things along.”
“They… they knew? They were part of this?” I choke on the words as they leave my mouth.
How could I have been so blind?
“You’ll have to ask them yourself, if you ever see them again.” He smirks and my blood boils. The only emotions radiati
ng from this man seem to be pleasure from my discomfort and pride in himself. This man is every bit as bad as I expected, and then some.
“But why?” I ask through gritted teeth.
“I want your strength and your power.” He shrugs. “Now that I know you’re a from pure wolf blood-lines, I can test your DNA and replicate your power—wolf steroids in a sense. By mating you with my bloodline, we’ll have the strongest bloodlines of the Primes and I will be king. I’ll create an army of super soldiers and no one will ever challenge me for the throne.”
“You really are delusional, you know that, right?” I say, my words laced with venom. “I would end my life before becoming your lab rat and giving a psychopath like you any power.”
“I admire your passion. Unfortunately, you don’t have a say in the matter. In two days, we’ll leave here and head to the lab we had set up just for you. By the end of the year, we will have sampled enough of your DNA to begin our tests and if all goes well, you’ll be mated too.”
In the blink of an eye my body shifts and I feel a sharp pinch in my side followed by another. I look at the men to see they have their tranquiliser guns pointed at my body. That’s the last thing I saw as my body collapsed to the cold, hard ground.
I don’t know how long I was out, but shadow man was in the room when I awoke. I was wearing a new set of clothes I’m guessing he put on me after I shifted back into my human form. The dead body was removed, and my make-shift bathroom was cleaned up with a bucket now in its place. Maybe being knocked out was a blessing in disguise; the room was pretty rank.
He remains stoic but I see a gleam in his eyes telling me he’s relieved that I’m awake. He raises his wrist to his face and tells someone I’m awake. He nods curtly at me and then bangs on the door. Moments later the door opens, and Blaze’s miserable excuse of a father comes in.
“Good morning, love.” Three words and I already want to throat punch the bastard. “I trust you had a good nap.”