A woman runs about the room, pounding on the walls, the floor, hoping to spring some sort of trapdoor, and come across some secret entrance. “Help me!” Her loud screams can be heard in the empty room.
A room with no doors. No window. A single bed, and during the night, that man appears. “Help me! Please… spare my life!” And as she begs for mercy, the laughter in her ears is getting louder, unbearable.
“Help me! Please! Help, I can’t take it anymore!”
Her calls were unanswered and she screams in frustration to the bare walls. She lost her sense of time. How many days had passed since she had been trapped?
Used. Abused. Being touched. Nonconsensual. The terrifying face of the man. Everything. She was afraid of his entire being.
“Tch. How noisy.”
Cynthia froze at the sound of his voice. It’s him again. A man. Cynthia whirls around. “When…” Her lips trembled as she whispered. “...when will you let me go?”
A wicked man chuckled, seemed untouched and unfazed by the dank and dust of the place. Cynthia’s pleas and begging for mercy no longer excites him. “Not yet.” He lets out a crooked him, with a snap of his finger a single light illuminates the room. An orb filled with golden dust. “Soon. Soon enough.”
It’s fear, she’s sure of it. It’s anger and a whole lot more. “Please. I can’t take it anymore… why don’t you just kill me?”
“Kill you?” The man laughs, then, exposing sharp, sharp teeth. “Why would I kill an interesting lamb like you.”
“I–” Cynthia struggles to find the right words. Lamb, this man always calls her a little lamb. “Then let me go.”
“Why should I let you go? Ah, your bravery inspires me. Makes me excited.” The dark druid unearths the room, and soon they are transported to an unfamiliar place. A place that makes Cynthia’s damp empty and damp room appealing. “It seems like you’re not liking your accommodation, how about you stay here instead.”
Cynthia looked down and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. Shivering. There were bones all around and some of those bones still had fresh rotting meat clinging onto it. “What do you want from me? Tell me. What do you want?” Cynthia asked, and the man was pleasantly surprised at how steady her voice was. “I — I can’t take it anymore. Please, kill me… I’m losing my mind. I can’t take it anymore. Take whatever you want.”
The man laughs again, but his heart – if he even has one – doesn’t appear to be in it. She looks so pitiful now. Odd, since she had been fighting for her life before. “Huh, have you lost your will to live? How boring.”
“Yes.” Cynthia's lips trembled. “You killed my family, I have nothing left.”
“Funny, you really think they’re your family.” The man's eyes glint, whorls of colour surfacing in their depths, as he stops by the door to his catacombs to take the girl there. “They did not tell you the truth, did they?”
Cynthia stills. “What?”
“You were ten years old. The generous man adopted you. Reasonable. You were hit in the head pretty hard so you probably don’t remember a thing.” The man hiding behind his cowl drawls, pushes hair out of his eyes. “Pitiful.”
“You’re lying!”
The dark druid let out a crooked smile. “You don’t believe me? Yet they offered you to me so that they can be spared from being eaten by my precious creations.”
Cynthia's hands balled into a fist. “That’s not true, they were just scared!”
“Ah, denial.” The man barked a loud laughter. “If you asked me, they shouldn’t have let you go, little lamb.”
“You’re just playing with me, why can’t you just kill me and get this over with?!”
The dark druid moves before Cynthia even has a chance to blink, his arm up against Cynthia's windpipe, trapping her up against the wall, voice like honey. “If only they knew how precious your blood is. Oh well. Stupidity cannot be cured, can it?”
“Shut up! My family loves me!”
“Sure they do… Cynthia the Grey.” The dark druid breathes.
There’s a charred circle on the floor where Cynthia's family had been consumed and became fuel for my pets. "You are only alive because your body fuels me."
Cynthia sags to the ground, her body trembling as the look on the man's eyes changes. A familiar look. The look that he gives her, a mix of lust and intimidation. A brief respite, and then –
“Until you turn into skin and bones, I'll continue to mess you up, Cynthia the Grey.”
============
In a small town called Lihlay, an enchanted forest remains hidden. It was outside of the village and was very beautiful. It had trees that were broad and healthy, with life that scurried across their branches. The animals were also beautiful there, each creature more graceful than the last. It was rumored that the lovely place was enchanted with good and dark magic.
But the children, even the teenagers did not listen to the warning of the village head. did not pay this much heed, for children only believed in what they could hear or see.
But in the town of Lihlay, there was a young lady who was particularly doubtful…
"Why would I believe it if I didn’t see it for myself? If someone told you that gold grows on trees, would you believe it too?" The young woman would say to herself, "Would you believe it if someone says you can plant coins and bills will eventually grow from its branches?"
It so happened that it was a foggy day, and as it is written in the books, fogs are full of magic. The other villagers clung to their superstitions of the fog and stayed away from the forest, but the young woman named Marie Claire threaded on.
She didn’t listen to all the warnings and still went to the enchanted forest. She paused to stop under a large tree and began climbing on it, wanting to get a few apples for her to eat. But then tree proved to be slippier and thicker than she imagined, and she tried to climb it again before finally lifting her hands in the air and declaring,
"Stupid tree! Why won’t you let me enjoy your fruit? Why bear apples if you won’t let anyone enjoy it all?!"
The woman in her rage disdainfully kicked the tree trunk, but to her surprise an apple fell from a branch and rolled away, deeper into the forest.
The young woman, not wanting to lose her snack, followed it aimlessly into the woods.
Deeper and deeper the teenager went, her pretty face getting scratched and bruised from the thorns and branches she ran into. All the while, the fog became thicker, until she felt she could reach out her hand and stuff some in her pocket. Finally she tore into a clearing and rubbed her eyes, for he did not believe what she was seeing.
The clearing was covered with moss that seemed to glow like gemstones, and the moss encircled a pond that shone an iridescent blue. The air was full of small, glowing insects that seemed to vanish when you looked at them directly. A thick fog crept from out of the pond and stuck lowly to the ground. The fog only seemed to float as high as the young woman’s ankle, and it coiled like snakes around the young one’s feet.
It wasn't any of this that startled her. For out in the middle of the pond there was a giant stone, caked with moss and kelp, and on that stone was the most handsome young man the girl had ever seen.
His long silver hair clung to his shoulders and reached all the way down to his feet. His skin was pure white, without blemish or scar. His eyes were deep, and as beautiful as the pond itself. His lips were as tempting as the most glossy and fresh apple, and he ran her tongue over them when he saw the young woman standing there watching him. He waved his big and veiny hand and smiled at her, revealing dangerously pointed canines of pure white.
"Hello, beautiful," the man said.
The girl did not answer, yet remained still in her very spot, wide eyed. The handsome man let out a laugh. It was a pleasant yet bitter laugh that sent shivers down the young woman's spine. Yet the handsome man’s eyes did not show any antagonism, so the girl stepped forward to the edge of the pond, so she was only a few feet away.
"Who are you, may I ask?" She called out to the handsome young man on the Pond.
And with that question, the young man sneered for he had another victim.
"I am but a man bound to this stone forever," the handsome man responded. He held up a slender wrist and she saw that a manacle with a black chain kept him bound to the stone, and with only a few feet of chain between his and the rock. "I have been here for quite some time, and so I have learned a great many things. I shall give you what you seek, if you wish it, my lady."The young woman was outraged with the injustice against the handsome man. She asked her, ‘What could he have done so wrong to be tied up like an animal?’ But she did not dwell on the thought for long, because the words he said tempted her."What do I seek? You mean you can grant wishes?" The curious girl said, stupefied."Yes, my dear sweet girl. I can tell from your eyes that there is something you want indeed, is there not? Wish for it, and it will come into being."The young woman knew what she wanted, for it was always something she longed for in her dreams. She knelt on her knees and pleaded,"Please, oh noble
So it was a dreary day, choked with mist that the Queen discovered that she was getting too old to live much longer, and the thought terrified her to her old bones. She wished to live in luxury forever, but she saw that it was impossible. Then she remembered the handsome man on the pond, and how his magic had made this all come to be.‘If he could do all this for me…’ the old Queen thought, ‘then why not make me live forever? That would make all my worries disappear, won’t it?’ So the old Queen left her castle for the first time in many years and set out alone to the forest with the pond. She had to stop many times, for she was very old and weary. Yet finally, she made it to the clearing. She did not see the handsome man, but she did see that the low fog was thick and cold. It swarmed around his ankles, sucking the warmth from her body. The old Queen ignored this and walked to the edge of the pond. She called out for the handsome man to appear at the top of her trembling old voice un
Faith and hope is a strange thing, Dalton and Pipper knows, tenuous, erratic, often irrational.Perhaps it’s this, most of all, that makes it so painfully easy to suspend hope. For a minute, an hour, a full day. Perhaps the ease with which humans manage it –synapses shutting down with a whine before the brain can even comprehend the image.Because what the eyes are seeing isn’t there at all, can’t possibly be there– is a sort of elaborate defense mechanism, evolved over the centuries to preserve the sanity of the species.Pipper never believed in the otherworldly and yet he’s experiencing something that is beyond imagination. Beyond what he could comprehend, but he’s willing to cast that aside, for now, willing to trust that he isn’t hallucinating.What he does hope for though, is that the boy’s face was something he hadn’t seen before. He felt so real, yet isn’t real — real like he is, flesh and blood and bone, real like the wood of his bedstead.What he gives faith, even now, even a
The expression ‘waking up on the wrong side of the bed’ had never been more apt for Fraco than it had the next morning. He tossed and turned on his bed throughout the night until finally falling into exhausted slumber in the early hours of the morning.They’re about to leave. Yet, he was having a hard time going through his morning routine.When his eyes had cracked open under the insistent pressure of sunlight streaming into his room, feeling like shit was pretty much an understatement. He had staggered to the shower and after stripping off his clothes, he had stood under the full blast of water, trying to force himself into some semblance of consciousness.It took him the better part of half an hour before he began to feel even remotely human, or at least, human enough to stagger out of the shower, dry off and dress. Even so, he felt that bone-deep exhaustion in his limbs and his eyes felt sore, tired and slightly painful.Maybe it’s because of the nightmares.“Enough, Fraco,” he to
Pipper’s shoulders tensed and a nervous chuckle came out of his lips. “Ye—yeah.”Dalton chuckled softly. “I understand you, bud. Just… remember to talk to me whenever you feel alone, yeah?”Pip took a deep breath, trying to steady his nerves even though his mind was gibbering just a little. “Thank you.”“Give it time.” Dalton was staring into the distance, seeming as if to be staring into the depths of his own memory. “Even the half breed named Johnas had a hard time trusting the power inside of him. But you know what I like about him?”“What?”Dalton smiled. “Even though the normies hated us, at school when everyone was attacked, he helped who he could. He has this unwavering will to protect those who are weaker than him.”He sighed and glanced at Dalton. “I don’t know if my heart or intentions are as pure as Johnas.” Pip admitted, as he looked down on his hands.“You have to be patient with this sort of thing.” Dalton said. “Everything has a purpose. It may not be crystal clear now,
If he had been forced to choose a sound to describe what happened next, the closest would have been a swoosh, perhaps; and as that sound began, that globe of fire suddenly exploded into a large ball of fire that enveloped those creatures, throwing out waves of blistering heat even from this distance, and then, they began screaming as the fire consumed them. He concentrated again and a whirling globe of fire surrounded them, containing the flames, trapping their writhing forms within as they thrashed and burned within that blast of flame.When their cries faded away, when the fires had burned out, leaving piles of ashes in their place, only then did he release the barrier of air that had sealed them away.“Impressive though perhaps a little inefficient,” A cool, calm voice noted.A man appeared from the mouth of the passage, dressed in white tunic. The fabric reached down to the ground, and a dark and grim expression loomed on his face. Fraco, Kane and the others could only see a shad
Even so, Fraco could tell that Lerroy was slowly getting winded-out after receiving loud attacks. The sword he summoned from the ground had chunks and dents. Fraco had tried to distract The dark druid by throwing a whirling globe of hire at him but he swatted it away as if it had been nothing but a mere annoyance.One glance from The dark druid and the ground beneath Fraco had suddenly exploded, tossing him into the air and against the wall. He looked on in dismay at the battling duo and his heart sank.The dark druid was simply toying with Lerroy.He tried to focus again, tried to conjure up another ball of fire to blow him away, but his thoughts were fragmented, disparate and nothing happened.‘I’ve got to do something!’ Fraco thought desperately and he rose to his feet and began running towards Lerroy, in the hope he could help the half breed.It was a stupid move but he couldn’t think of anything else he could do instead.The dark druid’s eyes flickered over him for just one momen
It feels as if everything is a dream. The war. The blood. The creatures of the dark and now…‘Half breed!’“Elvin boy, wake up!”‘Huh?’A voice, a loud irritating voice. “Open your eyes and wake up!”‘Fraco?’“That’s it, open your eyes and look at me. Breathe — breathe!”He opened his eyes slowly. The picture — the world where his nightmare begins and ends but then begins again in a loop. A world of torture. A world where he sees his mother getting killed over and over again. The world was slowly coming back, stitching back together.“Fraco?” Lerroy croaked.His throat was completely bruised, damaged in places where The Dark Druid had squeezed so tightly. Fraco had to repair that damage, easing the swelling, reducing the bruising. The young man followed the voice’s instructions.And it was the first time he used the Breath of Life. Fraco looked down on him with such a big smile on his face. “Hey there… Welcome back to the land of the living.”“Hi.” He croaked out."How are you feelin
“What?” Bosy asked.“I need some fucking air,” Ken said, tracking Donghae’s movements across the ballroom.“Balcony, out that way,” Bosy said and gestured with his glass. “Leave Hero with me?”Ken scoffed and then pushed Meer up. He took Meer’s hand. He barely managed to smile at the men he passed on his way to the balcony. He kept Donghae in his line of sight, and made sure that Donghae saw him slip outside.The balcony was large, and there were already couples around it, engrossed in each other’s bodies. Ken led Meer to a shadowy nook created by two columns. He held him tightly and took shuddering breaths. “Fuck, this night is just getting fucking worse.”Five minutes passed, and then Donghae appeared in front of them. He lit a cigarette. Ken grabbed his arm, and practically threw him against a column.“Ow, Ken, that hurt,” Donghae said and rubbed his shoulder.“Tell me. Now.”Donghae’s eyes flicked to Meer. “I’d rather not.”“Trust me. It’s alright if he hears.”“I don’t trust slav
Ken frowned, but Meer smiled. Another kiss. “There’s a predator in the form of your best friend coming up on us fast.”Ken sighed and pressed his forehead against Meer’s.“Might Ken!”Ken turned around, keeping Meer pressed against the wall. Bosy wore a black suit, shirt and tie. All five of his slaves flanked him. They all wore tight white pants. Bosy grinned at him. “I didn’t actually think you’d come.”“I had incentive.” And just to piss Bosy off, he asked, “Where’s your wife?”Bosy’s eyes narrowed. “Probably on her back with one of her lovers.”Bosy had done the proper thing. Married a girl, sired an heir, and then set them up in a separate estate. It made Ken sick. He was expected to do the same thing. And before he was thirty.He sighed. “Sorry, Chunnie. I’m in a bad mood.”“You’re in a bad mood? With Hero here? You’re crazy. I came over to get a closer look at him.”“You’ve seen him.”“Not all dressed up,” Bosy said with a leer.Ken shut his eyes briefly and then moved to the s
Ken groaned when something dug into his side.Someone chuckled above him.And then lips pressed against his neck, traveled down his shoulder.“Ken, you have to get up. I already have coffee ready. Don’t you want coffee?”“What time is it?” Ken mumbled.“Eight fifteen.”“Fuck.”“Like I said, you need to wake up.”Ken rubbed his eyes and forced himself to sit up. His whole body hurt. “Fuck,” he said again. He tried vainly to remember what appointments he had today.“Where’s my cell phone?”“Nope. You are not calling in,” Meer said. “Yoona already called when you weren’t there at eight. She told me to remind you about the Choi deal.”Ken shut his eyes and feel back to the bed. “I hate dealing with the Choi’s.”“Do you like dealing with anyone?”Ken opened one eye and grinned. “You.”Meer blushed and looked away.Ken tugged on his arm and Meer let himself be pulled. He curled up against his side. Ken leaned down for a kiss. Meer smiled against Ken’s lips. Ken’s fingers found the hem of Me
The guy clicked his tongue at him. “You’re a terrible liar.” The drink arrived and the guy sipped at it. “My name is Aiden.”“Now who’s the liar?”A hand settled on Ken’s thigh. “What if I told you I wanted you to fuck me? Would you think I was lying?”“No, but no thanks.”“Oh, come on. Let me be your angel for the night.”Ken froze, and then shut his eyes in defeat before turning to look at the guy. He smirked and downed his drink.“Come on, Might Michael,” he said, proving he knew exactly who Ken was. “Let me take you to heaven.”Ken let him take his hand. He led him through the club, past drugged out bodies moving to a steady beat. They entered a dark hallway, and as they turned corner after corner, went down a set of stairs and then turned more corners, Ken started getting nervous.Finally, he stopped and opened a door.Ken entered a sparsely furnished room lit by a single bulb. Couch, table, a couple of chairs. As soon as the door shut, the guy was pressed against him, laying bit
God, he hated the Senator’s parties. It was less a dinner and more of an excuse to get drunk, show off and trade slaves.At precisely nine, Yoona buzzed him. “Ken, I’m sorry, but Lee Sungmin refuses to talk to me anymore.”“Patch him through, NaNa.”Ken lost himself in work.At eleven he was considering going home and taking a long lunch. And then Yoona buzzed him again. “Bosy is here to see you.”Ken shut his eyes and sighed. “Send him in, Na.”Bosy sauntered in, once again dragging the tall Doushiten named Justin behind him. Bosy flung the kid onto the floor, and hooked the handcuffs to the arm of the chair.“Hey, Yunnie,” he said.“Bosy. What do I owe the pleasure?”“Just bored, thought I’d visit. I’m going to go use your bathroom.”Ken studied Justin. He didn’t look up, head lowered. More bruises and cuts covered his back and neck and chest.Ken spared the bathroom a glance and then rose. He moved around his desk and sat in the chair. Justin flinched, but didn’t pull away, when Ke
They finished the run in silence, Ken contemplating that. It wasn’t until they returned and Meer dropped to the floor to stretch that Ken asked, “Why haven’t you killed me and made a run for it?”Meer had his legs spread, almost in splits. He leaned his upper body to the floor and stretched his arms out. “That would be dishonorable.”“Why?”“Okay, so it wouldn’t be. But it’d be stupid. Because honestly, where am I going to go?” He lifted his legs off the floor, moaning, and Ken had to swallow against a sudden dry mouth. He could only imagine how stretched Meer’s quads were right then.“You’re staring.”“You’re flexible.”“Part of the training.” Meer sat up, winked at him and then lay on the floor. He pressed his hands flat by his head and then pushed his body into an arch. “You should be stretching after a run like that.”“Probably.”He kicked his legs up, effortlessly moving into a handstand. He held it and then bent his knees. He did a couple of pushups and then let his feet fall to
Meer woke him up at five-thirty.“Fuck, Meer, it’s Saturday.”“I’m sorry, Master. Is there a different time you’d like me to wake you up on Saturdays?”Ken squeezed his eyes shut. “Just later. Eight or nine.”“Very well, Master.”And then it registered. Ken sat up. “Meer?”Meer turned at the door and lowered his head. “Yes, Master?”“Stop it.”“Stop what, Master?”“Stop that. What is wrong with you?”“I don’t know what you mean, Master.”Ken growled, stood up and stalked over to him. “Knock it off.”“If Master would tell—”Ken grabbed his shoulders and pushed him against the wall. “Don’t do this, Meer.”“Do what, Master?”Ken pulled him back and then slammed him against the wall again. “Don’t.”“Why not?” That defiant look was back in his eyes. “Because you said so. Master?”Ken sighed. He moved his hands from Meer’s shoulders and then put them against the wall. He let his arms bend until his forearms rested against the wall. Their bodies aligned. Ken let his head fall to one of his a
“What?”“Justin. It’s Justin.”“What’s Justin?”“Bosy’s …”“You know Bosy’s new slave?”He nodded. “We were … not friends. More like rivals, I guess.” Meer sighed and sat up. He played with the buttons on Ken’s shirt, not looking him in the eye. “Our families were allies. Our kingdoms shared a border. Justin and I are First Sons, heirs to be king.”Ken gasped.Meer smirked. “I know, right? Hence the irony of life, thing. Anyway. Our rivalry mainly stemmed from our birth status. Technically, we were the same rank, but Justin was a First Child, First Son, and I had eight older sisters. But I am older than he is. It seems stupid now, but then, it mattered a great deal. We competed in fairs and mock battles and for women.”Meer stopped, finally met Ken’s eyes and then climbed off his lap. Ken followed him into the kitchen. “I always mocked him. Told him one day, he’d be my slave and he’d have to wash my feet while I sipped champagne from his family goblets.”When he started making tea, Ke
“I’m not here for me, Yong. I don’t know if rumors have circulated yet, but I bought a slave and he needs clothes.”The man’s eyes narrowed. “There are stores for—”“Considering his status as my first slave, I decided that he should only have the very best. I can’t have him running around looking like an uncivilized foreigner.”“This is completely unprecedented.”“Yes, I realize that. But I’m sure you can find a way to compensate the inconvenience.”“Of course, Might Ken.” And Ken was certain there’d be a hefty “service charge” on this final bill. “We’d be happy to supply you with everything he needs.”“Thank you, Yong. He needs everything, all the way down to socks and underwear.”He called over a couple of other associates.“Hero, stand up,” Ken said, voice shaking when he said ‘Hero’. Meer stood immediately. One of the others took Meer’s measurements and Yong shouted at the other one to start taking clothes to the dressing room.Ken and Meer locked eyes. Meer had that look again, t