She begins reshuffling the cards to deal and-
*Bang* *Bang*“Let us in!” someone yells from outside the door.
Isla and I look at each other and have the same thought as we pop off the floor, shouting “Bel!” simultaneously before sprinting to the front door. She gets there seconds before I do, just to see Caspian and Eamon carrying an utterly feral-looking Belissenda, covered head to toe in blood and screamingFuck you!andTake me back, we have to help them!while kicking at the massive arms trying to hold her feet against Eamon’s chest.
Isla voices my exact sentiment as they all tumble in the door.
“What the hell?”
Red
Bel
In the short time I’ve been awake, I’ve been sliced, slapped around, and punched several times before being healed with their magical items. Over and over again. But the worst torture by far is their modified tattoo gun. No one would tell me what that fuck they did to make it hurt so bad, but it felt like they were injecting acid into my skin with that thing.
And yet, I’d suffer through that 1,000 times more rather than witness what’s in front of me. Every bit of agony they’ve put me through is nothing compared to watching others suffer the same torment.
They have people of all ages here. Kids who look no older than 16, some women in their 60s, and even a few men around my age. Each of them has a tandem cage holding a demon that cries out in agony each time they’re harmed. Knowing Caspian is out there somewhere feeling the echo of this excruciating pain has me releasing silent tears when I’m not being watched.
Alastor and Taylor walk up to the bars of my cage, talking between themselves. The litany of armed guards walking through the circular torture chamber are all in matching get-ups that look suspiciously like police officer uniforms. I guess that’s how they get around without being asked too many questions.
“How much longer until he gets here? I’m not sure how much more she can take,” Taylor quietly voices his concerns, but with the concrete walls, everything echoes in here.
Looking over me, Alastor nonchalantly responds, “She’s doing fine. We have her medical records, so we know she’s in perfect health, no major concerns. She could do this for years before her heart gives out.” I don’t need him to be speaking to me to pick up his not-so-subtle threat.
Still refusing to give them any reaction, I close my eyes and lean my head back on the strange hospital-like bed they’ve strapped me to. During my last torture session, I think I bit clean through my tongue rather than give them a single agonized sound. The coppery tang had filled my mouth, but I felt nothing but the sewing machine of pain dragging across my spine, sending whatever fucked up message they needed to Caspian.
“You’re doing alright, aren’t you?” Alastor asks me, amusement coloring his voice. I pointedly ignore him, refraining from giving him the reaction he craves. With a scoff, he answers his own question. “See? She’s fine.”
He unlocks the door and lets himself into my cage, readying another monologue, I’m sure.
“Belissenda,” he begins and I roll my eyes, “I was really hoping your little demons would show up to help you by now. We’ve been so excited to accommodate their needs.” He gestures around us, anticipation visibly growing, “You see, once they get here, we’re moving you to a new spot. An upgrade, if you will.Youget the throuples suite.”
This finally has me opening my eyes, and he grins, those obnoxious, vaguely familiar features lighting up with malice. He leans in closer to say something but never gets the chance.
At least now I can say I’ve head-butted someone.
Taylor launches to beat me to a bloody pulp again, but Alastor stops him with a simple hand on his arm, laughing. He dabs at the blood running from his nose with a grin, “That’s unnecessary. Let her have that one, I think it hurt her more than it hurt me.”
Taylor goes to the wall and presses a few buttons, raising my chair more upright and pointing towards the center of the room where some other guards have been working for the last few minutes.
“We have a very special surprise for you today, Red,” Alastor bounces with excitement, “I think this will be educational for you.”
Watching him from the corner of my eye, I face whatever they’re preparing for me. Nothing could be worse than what I’ve already witnessed.
“We had to make a special call for this little presentation, you know,” he continues, “you are a very important guest, after all. The Sanctum has never managed to capture someone who’s found two of their soul-bonds.”Soul-bond?He gives me a moment of silence. I just know this fucker is waiting for me to ask him what he’s talking about, but I’d hate to give him the satisfaction of adding onto his stupid villain-esque monologue. I’ve read enough romance novels to get the gist.
Disappointment and barely concealed annoyance grace his face before he continues, “We’ve kept eyes on Fritz for a few years now, waiting for an opportunity to snatch him and here youare.God has blessed us for our patience, gifted us the perfect sacrifice to capture two of the beasts. Who would have thought a clueless little red-headed virgin would be the way we finally bring him down?” he chuckles again and presses a button to turn a spotlight on in the middle of the room.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d think they cloned me. A young woman with red hair and blue eyes is strapped to a chair much like mine, and as soon as she’s revealed, I hear an agonized growling cry from a cage across from me.
The girl hears the scream, too, and looks at the demon trying to escape their prison, “I’m so sorry, Fin,” she cries, “They had my daughter. It was me or her, I had to.”What the fuck is happening?
“I know what you’re thinking,” Alastor circles me, standing beside me to speak right at my ear, “but not all sacrifices offer their bodies to the demons like common whores. Only the most depraved of mortals.” I grind my teeth, keeping my biting retort to myself, “But the bond between a demon and its host is so strong, they’ll feel the mortals death down into their core, like a missing piece forever. I wonder how it will feel for Caspian, as his soul-bond also happens to be his sacrifice.”
All thoughts of the threat he’s issuing me don’t register past the visual before me, “You’re going to kill her?” I can’t believe what I’m hearing, “Why? You have the demon.”
“Because she’s outlived her usefulness,” he shrugs, “she carried on her bloodline and caught us a demon.”
