I watch as the day goes by through the window. I’m left to my own devices, and I see no sign of Oliver. I wish I had a book. The chain at my foot has no weak links. I almost broke a finger trying to pry them open.
When Oliver comes back after nightfall, I pretend to be asleep. I don’t want to have to talk to him. To see his pretty face, so familiar and yet so alien to me. He has haunted my nightmares more than any old god ever did.
Light footsteps as he comes closer. It takes all I have not to cringe and back away. He trails his fingertips over my naked shoulder, and this time I can’t help it. I slap his hand away and sneer.
“Don’t touch me,” I warn.
He chuckles. “If I recall correctly, you used to love my touch.”
I did, at some point.
“I was a fool and a child,” I retort.
“And so was I, when you abandoned me.”
He was seventeen when I left.
“You didn’t need my help. Look at you,” I say, gesturing at the surrounding bunker. “You did more than survive. You thrived, like the other monsters in our world.”
Before I have time to see him move, he backhands me, and my head hits the wall behind me. I struggle to focus with the ringing in my ears.
“You’re stuck with this monster, so you better learn to enjoy it,” he says before walking away.
I spend the night devising ways to kill him.
It’s at dawn that Bunkertown shakes with the first explosion. I straighten just as Oliver jumps out of bed to put some clothes on. Two more explosions ensue and dust falls from the rocky ceiling. I try not to cringe at the thought of the mountain caving in over our heads.
Those explosions sound man-made, and Oliver seems to think the same, as he spares one last glance at me before rushing out of the room.
Hope blooms like a flower in my chest.Griffin. It has to be him.
I have to get a move on. I can’t wait for him to reach this room. It’s too deep inside the bunker. I look at my ankle. I have rather small feet for a man…
Spitting on my left ankle, I start pulling my foot through the slippery shackle. Soon, my blood joins the saliva and pain shoots through my entire leg as the skin parts under the metal cuff. I struggle for half an hour before coming to the disheartening realization that the chain is not coming off unless I cut off my own foot. Meanwhile, more explosions shake the bunker.
Oliver comes back some time later, looking more furious than I have ever seen him. His eyes are bright from the angry lightning flashing under his skin. He glares at me when he notices the blood around my foot.
“Going somewhere?” he asks.
And this time I keep my mouth shut because I can feel that he’s one retort away from killing me.
He walks to his large cupboard and pulls keys out of a box. Then he comes back to me to unlock my shackle.
“The bunker is compromised. We need to move,” he says. “Most of the entrance is in rubble. I don’t trust the structure to hold.”
But just as he reaches for my foot, the door is kicked open, and my savior enters.
16
Monsters.
“They should not go to those mountains… Fools. Those mountains should stay unbothered. Tell them I’ll take my business elsewhere.”
Intercepted radio feed from a traveling merchant, Unknown, 2061.
Griffin has fully turned into a demon. His horns reach above his head, as long as my arms. He seems taller, too, and his fangs are longer. Smoke rises from his body. But what is truly terrifying are his eyes. They glow from the fire within.
And those eyes fall on me. They notice the bruises on my face, throat, and naked body. They notice the blood covering my leg and hands, and Oliver standing over me.
