FOUR

Rey walked out of the room and paused at the doorway to access her surrounding. The long hallway was dimly lit by yellow bulbs randomly placed high on the walls, that she could make out the stone walls that had grime stuck to it. She looked left and right, weighing her options on which path to follow before swiftly jogging down her left in hopes it was the way to the exit.


She walked swiftly, looking over her shoulders in paranoia when she heard even the tiniest sound of mice scuttling across the stone floors. From the stale air, she could deduced that she was underground which meant she had to find her way up and out of whatever that place was. 


There were closed doors on either side of the walls and what creeped her out the most was how eerily quiet it was. She exhaled slowly, letting the fear dissipate through her pores. She approached a rusted red door which had multiple locks and she sighed in relief, quickly pulling out the keys from her pocket and trying everyone of them until the lock clicked open.


She cautiously pushed the door open, peeping through first to find a winding staircase going up. She stepped through, taking the steps as quickly and as quietly as she could.


She came up to a corridor and winced as the bright light from the open windows momentarily blinded her. She pulled her hand away from her eyes slowly blinking rapidly before her eyes adjusted to the light. She scanned the hallway which equally had stone walls like the one underground, but it was much cleaner and the air wasn't stale and musty. 


She ducked behind the wall when she heard chatter and footsteps. She held her breath when the voices neared, her back glued to the wall behind her. Two girls clad in a brown dress walked past, both holding baskets heaped with laundry. She deduced from their thin malnourished physic and the ugly brown dress that they were human slaves.


If she was ever going to make it out of there alive and find Beau she had to come up with a plan and fast. She debated going back to retrieve the ugly brown dress she'd found in the wardrobe, that should help her blend in seamlessly with the human slaves. Another problem was how she was going to get out there. She shook off the thought of uncertainty and concluded she was going to find a way when she was out of the main building first.


She rushed back down the winding staircase to retrieve the dress, running down the silent hallway to the open door. She crossed over the dead She-wolf, snatching the dress out of the wardrobe in record time, she changed into it. 


Frowning at the flimsy material that left her exposed, she sighed and shrugged off her thoughts. Her eyes zeroed in on the piece of glass sitting in a pool of blood beside the dead She-wolf and rushed forward, fetching it and wiping off the blood with the She-wolf's shirt.


She tore a piece of cloth from her shirt and used it to secured the shard of glass around her upper thigh, pulling the dress down to cover it up before pulling her hair up into a quick messy bun.


She rushed out, her steps hurried because she had a feeling someone might have noticed the She-wolf's absence and might come looking for her.


Rey walked out into the corridor, her back pin straight as she tried to act natural and blend in with the other human slaves. As she walked down the corridor, passing by other slaves, no one paid her any attention, too focused on their tasks to notice her. She found a huge wooden door, with arched frames that almost reached the high arched ceilings, hesitantly she pushed the door open blinking as the intensity of the sun seared into her eyes.


She stepped out onto the thinly snow covered grass, looking around the quiet garden. There were rows and rows of white sheets hung on lines to air dry and beyond that was a thick dense of trees which was her ticket out of there.


She darted towards the clothing lines, hiding behind some sheets to scope out the area first, so as to be sure she wasn't being watched or could be spotted. As she looked around, her mouth fell open in awe as she beheld the castle like structure she'd just stepped out from. 


It had old grey stone walls with gargoyle statues perched proudly on the columns of the stone walls, and two towers with sharp peaks cutting through the clouds. She snapped her gaze away from the hypnotizing structure and focused on the task at hand.


The only sound Rey could make out for miles was the sound of birds chirping in the trees overhead, which strangely seemed serene, but she wasn't fooled, she knew what horror awaited her if she were ever caught.

When she was sure the coast was clear, she darted towards the tree line, not slowing down until she was fully camouflaged by the dense foliage. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, dodging trees and jutting roots.


She heard a thunderous growl that shook her to her core, somehow in the recesses of her mind she knew whose it was. She felt her heart leap into her throat as she picked up her pace, dashing through the trees as the sound of thundering paws against the forest floors spurred her on.


It was a fight for survival and she would do anything to come out alive. She felt his suffocating presence before she heard his growl but she didn't stop running. She had to get out, not for herself. For Beau.

Razor sharp claws tore into the side her thigh from behind and she screamed, the suddenness of it catching her off guard as she fell face first into the snow covered dirt with a loud thud. She groaned and tried dragging herself up by her elbows, but screamed when she felt the pain on her thighs as she moved. Her bone peeked out through the mangled flesh and still she forced herself not to cry. Not now, not until she was sure Beau was safe.


She bit down hard on her tongue and managed to crawl towards a tree, propping her back against her bark of the tree took a lot of effort and by the time she was done, she was breathing hard as sweat coated every inch of her skin despite the cold. Her eyes darted around the now quiet forest, fear gnawing at her insides as she awaited her death.


She slowly looked down at her wounds and grimaced at the sight of the claw marks dug deeply into the flesh of her right thigh that her bones were almost visible. Her face snapped up when she heard the crunch of snow, she quickly snatched the shard of mirror she'd tied around her left thigh, brandishing as she waited for him to show himself.


A low chuckle sounded from her right and she gasped, holding her weapon in that direction.


"You naive little thing," he chuckled deeply and her eyes snapped in the same direction to see the same man that had bitten her standing there shirtless with jean shorts hanging low on his waist, a malicious grin on his lips.


She felt her heart beat accelerate as he started taking steps closer and she pushed back, wishing she could disappear into the tree.


"Stay back!," she yelled, pointing the shard off glass up at him. He merely smirked down at her weak attempt to sound intimidating and advanced closer, stopping just before her feet.


He cocked his head to the side staring at the bleeding wound with unreadable eyes, he crouched down before her but before she could attack him, he caught hold of her wrist and snapped it like a twig. Rey let out a bloodcurdling scream as she stared at him in horror, cradling her broken wrist to her chest as she tried to shuffle away from him but failed. 


"You murdered a Lycan," he murmured, his cold grey eyes sharp as nails as they assessed her trembling form. She was breathing hard through her nose as pain exploded in her brain but her heated gaze still held defiance as she glared back at him.


Orion chuckled as he registered the fire he so loved in her eyes. He imagined he would have fun breaking that fiery spirit.


"You should die as punishment for your deed," he sneered.


"Then go ahead, kill me!," she screamed in his face, her breathing labored as pain tore through her from her open wounds and broken wrist. She was sweating buckets, her curls sticking to her neck and forehead.


He chuckled in response to her dare, rising to his full towering height as he glowered down at her.


"I have a better idea,"


"Why don't I kill poor little Beau in your place?," he grinned maliciously as he watched her face turn ashen.


"N-no!,"


"Where is he?! what have you done with him, you monster!," she screamed at him as angry tears gathered in her eyes. But he smirked, the stormy depths of his gaze promising contempt as he looked down at her condescendingly, as though she were just a speck of dust underneath his shoes.


"You should worry about yourself," he spoke in his usual gravelly tone, his gaze flitting to the guards that were behind the trees.


"Take her," he growled and two of them appeared before Rey while he turned and began walking away. They clutched both her upper arms and she began to thrash in their hold screaming out her lungs.


One of the guards growled in annoyance, delivering a punch that had her eyes rolling to the back of her head. She slumped, against their hold, weak and unable to fight back as they carried her back to the hell she sought to escape.