CHAPTER 4:Slave to Him – Part 2

ISABELLA

Darkness.

Thick. Suffocating. Alive.

It clung to my skin like oil, slithered into my lungs with every breath.

I shot upright.

Cold slapped my spine concrete, damp and unwelcoming. My fingers scrambled over the ground, searching for anything, anyone.

Nothing.

No sound. No movement. Just a hairline crack of light leaking through a wall. Not enough to see. Only enough to remind me I was trapped.

Buried.

Alive.

My chest tightened. Breath snagged in my throat. The old fear twisted inside me like a blade.

Not the dark.

Not again.

I folded into myself, arms shielding my head, rocking like a child as the panic bloomed.

Damian knew.

He knew.

I told him once stupid, innocent me how darkness made me drown in my own mind. How, after the accident when I was six, I couldn’t sleep without the hallway light.

He remembered.

And he left me here.

This wasn’t punishment.

This was precision.

Tears burned hot down my cheeks. My jaw clenched until it ached.

He was using my worst fear to remind me who held the leash now.

And he was doing it calmly. Casually.

Like breaking me was just another part of his routine.

I rocked harder.

I wanted to scream.

To claw at the walls.

To wake up.

But this wasn’t a nightmare.

It was reality.

And he had made it so.

---

I lost track of time.

My lips cracked. My body ached.

Then

Click.

Light sliced through the room. Boots echoed across the floor.

I blinked up through the haze.

Richard.

I jolted. “Richard?” My voice was barely a whisper. “Oh my God it’s you.”

Hope surged.

He didn’t react.

Just walked in, placed a tray on the floor fruit, bread, water and stood like a soldier waiting for orders.

No smile.

No warmth.

No recognition.

“Eat,” he said. “You’ll need your strength.”

Then turned to leave.

“No wait!” I croaked, crawling forward. “Richard, it’s me. You used to protect me. You cared. Please please tell me what’s going on.”

He paused.

But he didn’t turn.

And he didn’t speak.

Just walked out and shut the door behind him.

Gone.

Like the rest.

The sob that tore from me felt animal. I pressed my forehead to the floor and screamed.

If even he was gone…

Who was left?

But my body didn’t care.

It lunged for the food. I devoured it like I’d never eaten. Juice ran down my chin. Crumbs scattered in my lap. The water barely touched the sides of my throat before it was gone.

I didn’t stop until the tray was empty.

And even then I was still hungry.

But not for food.

For answers.

For blood.

For freedom.

---

Then I felt him.

Even before I heard the footsteps.

Even before the scent hit me cool, expensive, unmistakably him I felt the pressure shift.

Like the room was bending to his presence.

Damian.

He stepped inside without a word. Calm. Composed. Controlled.

He crouched beside me, gaze unreadable, eyes the color of cold steel.

His hand reached out

brushed a strand of hair from my cheek.

A gentle touch, made cruel by context.

“Look at me, Isa.”

I didn’t want to.

But I did.

Because part of me still hoped.

Still wanted to see the boy I once trusted.

But he wasn’t there.

Just the monster wearing his face.

“You look tired,” he said, voice smooth, almost amused. “Doesn’t suit a princess.”

Tears pooled again.

“Why?” I whispered. “Why did you kill them?”

His face didn’t flinch.

No guilt. No regret.

Just emptiness.

“You said you cared,” I choked out.

His hand snapped out, gripping my jaw with punishing force.

“I’m not your brother,” he growled. “I never was.”

He leaned in, breath brushing my cheek.

“From now on… you’ll address me properly.”

I blinked. “What?”

His voice dropped.

“You call me Master.”

The word sliced through me.

“No,” I whispered, shaking my head. “I won’t.”

He stood, slow and towering, brushing invisible dust from his sleeve.

“Well,” he said, voice like a blade, “looks like our little princess forgot this isn’t her kingdom anymore.”

He turned to leave then paused.

Glanced over his shoulder.

His eyes gleamed.

“You tried to run.”

My blood froze.

“And I will find you. Every time. I will break you until even you forget who you are.”

He smiled. Not with kindness.

With intent.

“And when I’m done, Isa…”

He stepped backward, vanishing into shadow.

“I’ll make you beg to be my perfect pet.”

I didn’t move.

Didn’t breathe.

But then his voice again.

Colder. Deadlier.

“And remember…”

He lingered at the threshold.

“I know everything about Liliana. One word just one and I’ll make sure you watch her die.”

The door slammed.

And the dark didn’t wait.

It swallowed me whole.

But this time, it wasn’t outside me.

It lived inside me.

And it was growing.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

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