CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Ragal looked me up, his eyes wavering with blood, veins propping from his forehead in anger.
"Balls! I hope you have plenty of it!"
He pulled the bedsheets roughly with my frail body. I landed on the floor.
"You disgust me!" I spat, my nerves getting worked up.
He bent on one knee, a smile curved in a cynical display of power.
"I have done nothing to be despised by you," his fingers trailing my jaw in a sick manner.
"Keep your fingers to yourself!" I blurted out, backing away from him.
"It's too late," his voice low, laced with anger.
"I never wanted this." He grabbed my arm, jerking my face upward. My eyes on the floor. I won't give him the satisfaction.
Ragal pulled me up from the floor roughly, his fingerprints plastered on my arm.
My thoughts drifting away for a moment, the prints taking me to a sad part of my life — the night I was betrayed by my ex.
Life couldn't be more cruel to me. I resisted the urge to tear up; instead, I faced the floor.
"Stop, stop!" my mind yelled from within, struggling against his rough grasp. But he didn't care — to him, I was just an object.
"At least tell me where you are taking me," I swallowed. I wouldn't beg a murderer for mercy.
I was greeted with no response. I hung my head down, burying my fate in the hands of a man that cared more about power than anyone.
All this while, the maid stood quietly by the door, listening.
I noticed a strange rune on her arm, but she covered it quickly as Ragal spoke.
"Get me the keys to the dungeon."
Her eyes widened for a while as she looked at my chest, probably wondering how I would go!
"What are you staring at?" Ragal yelled at her.
"She's too weak. She might die there," the maid's eyes said pleadingly.
"Whose orders are you obeying?"
"Yours, my king." The maid bowed quickly as she scurried to get his key.
"Nonsense! Everybody seems to have gone mad in this pack." He gritted his teeth, dragging me out of the room towards a secret tunnel.
The omegas in red uniforms huddled together, whispering amongst themselves, their faces pale as they watched him push me into the tunnel with him.
The creaky staircase did nothing to quell my fear; instead, it increased it slowly, wishing that for a second I wasn't born.
The staircase was spiraling and made a lot of creaky noise as we walked on them. The cobwebs hung on the ceiling of the tunnel.
Ragal lit a torch so that we could see clearer. The first thing that caught my attention was a red writing, smeared with red ink or blood — I couldn't tell — but it was red and *forbidden*, blazoned boldly.
As if warning us against taking any more steps. I glanced at my palm. I wasn't chained or anything, but strangely I felt compelled to walk with him.
Ragal caught the fear in my eyes as I stared intimately at the ink sprawled on the wall.
"It's not that bad," he smiled evilly.
Didn't he need his keys? By then I would have already planned my escape.
I glanced over the windows. They were double iron protectors all over.
With my feeble strength, I wouldn't even be able to push past it. I needed something more powerful than myself.
I closed my eyes, willing my power source to take control, do something so I could get out of his tight grip — but it didn't happen.
The walls were stacked up, cobblestones against each other, the torchlight burning fiercely, illuminating the stairs.
"Keep your face up." Ragal jerked my head forward as we walked downwards the spiral staircase.
Everywhere was quiet at first, that I could hear the thrumming of my heartbeat pounding fiercely.
"Aaaaaaah…" I heard someone screaming as he was being lashed, the canes appearing out of nowhere with no guards in sight.
I closed my lips in horror. What kind of sick place was this?
I thought that was the least I saw.
A kid was crying profusely in another cell.
"Mom, please wake up," he continued repeating the words over and over again like it made sense to him.
I looked, but there was no one on the floor but him. He limped and came close to the dungeon bars.
"Please help my mother." He put his two hands out, pleading drastically.
My heart went out to him and I went closer to the cell. The next thing I know — he transformed into a huge and ugly beast, yelling profusely,
"Let me out, let me out!" It banged on the dungeon bars.
I fell backwards on the floor, but Ragal didn't care. He continued walking and without thinking, I followed him blindly.
I later decided to keep to myself, my lips mute, as I passed by five more cells not wanting to attract any more demons or dark things lurking in the shadows.
The loud screams dulled my brain as I felt it was going to melt sooner or later, but as we continued walking, I got used to it.
I learned properly to stick closer to Ragal because they were all scared of him and hissed after seeing him.
"What is this place?" I turned to look at Ragal, whose face was hidden in the darkness surrounding the dungeons.
He licked his lips.
"You will soon find out what we do to people who lie."
My knees trembled, and every instinct screamed at me to run. But something snapped. Maybe it was the kid, the blood on the wall, or just the way Ragal smiled — like he already owned me. I wouldn't let him win.
"I'm not going anywhere," I said, planting my feet like roots.
"I won't be forced to go down to a slaughterhouse."
He released a low growl.
"I wasn't planning on taking you to a slaughterhouse."
"I am not going anywhere with you." I bunched my fists and raised them up for him to see I was ready to fight to death.
He laughed again, this time it was long, annoying, and surprisingly calm.
"You are powerless down here, little wolf."