53

Alfonso paced back and forth in the cold, dim room, his breath coming out in short, angry bursts. His fists clenched, and his jaw was tight.

"What sort of twisted human are you?!" Alfonso ultimately shouted at the walls with his voice echoing. He felt the fury coursing through his veins, helplessness feeding his rage.

"Hahaha... you fools," Vergio laughed, his slow, mocking laugh echoed back at him.

"It's none of your business what I am; this is my domain, and what I say counts. You'd do well to remember that," Vergio added, his voice as cold as the room itself. 

Alfonso seethed, and Caramia, sitting in the corner, glanced up at him, her face pale and weary. Despite the growing cold, her fear was greater than her discomfort.

"No matter what you do or say, you won't break us. We'll survive this." Alfonso continued, his voice strained with frustration.

Vergio offered no response; his silence was more unsettling than words. The oppressive chill in the room continued to seep into their bones, and the air felt like it was thickening, making it hard for them to breathe. 

Caramia hugged her knees to her chest, trying to retain what little warmth she had left. The two cousins exchanged a glance, united now not by rivalry but by sheer survival.

As night fell, the room grew darker and the temperature plummeted further. Alfonso, once pacing, eventually surrendered to the cold and sat down beside Caramia. His breath was visible, small clouds of warmth that dissipated almost instantly in the icy air.

"It'll be fine," he said quietly, his voice betraying the uncertainty he didn't want to show. He placed a hand on her shoulder, hoping to offer some semblance of comfort, but the cold seemed to seep through his touch. 

"We'll figure this out." He whispered. 

Caramia shook her head slowly, unable to muster a reply. She knew Alfonso meant well, but the truth was that she didn't feel like things would be fine. The cold had already settled deep into her bones, and she couldn't ignore the hunger gnawing at her insides. 

They hadn't eaten or drunk anything since they were captured, and the emptiness was starting to turn to pain.

"Maybe this is it, maybe this is how he wants to kill us, starve us out..... Freeze us." She whispered, her voice barely audible. 

Alfonso's jaw tightened, but he didn't answer because he knew that she might be right.

Just then, Vergio's voice cut through the dark, sending a shiver of dread down both their spines.

"Light will be given to you and the cold will be reduced, but only if you kiss," Vergio's voice slithered into the room coldly and calculatedly, putting both Caramia and Alfonso into their mystery.

Caramia's eyes widened in disbelief, and she immediately pushed away from Alfonso.

"Are you out of your mind? Fuck off, you bastard," she shouted, her voice trembling with fury and disgust.

Alfonso jumped to his feet, pacing again. "This is sick!. You're sick! We won't do it," he growled. 

The room became silent with Vergio altering no words, there was no immediate response, but a moment later the cold in the room intensified, biting into their skin, causing Alfonso and Caramia to shiver uncontrollably. The walls seemed to radiate a frigid air that wrapped around them like an icy embrace.

"Fine," Vergio's voice came again, unbothered by their refusal. "I'll make it colder." And he did, the temperature dropped even more, turning the room into what felt like a frozen tomb. Caramia's teeth chattered, and she hugged herself tighter because the pain of the cold was too much to bear. Alfonso wasn't faring much better, his body visibly shaking.

"We have to get back together. If we don't, we'll freeze to death," Caramia whispered, her voice desperate now. 

Alfonso hesitated, torn between pride and survival, but the cold forced him to comply. They scooted closer, their bodies shivering violently as they huddled together, trying to share what little body heat they had, but it wasn't enough.

Caramia turned to Alfonso, her voice trembling. "We... we should do it." She said softly. 

Alfonso stared at her in shock. "What? No. Caramia, no." He disagreed. 

"It's just a kiss!" she argued. "Neither of us is a virgin, Alfonso. It doesn't mean anything, if it'll stop this cold... we have to survive, please."

Alfonso took a deep breath, thoughtfully, and he hated that she was right. The rational part of him knew it was just a kiss, but the situation made it so twisted and so wrong. As the cold continued to tear through them, he finally nodded defeatedly. 

"Fine. Just... let's get this over with." Alfonso whispered. 

Caramia moved closer to him and they leaned in, their lips barely touching for a brief moment before they pulled back, both feeling dirty and used. Alfonso called out into the darkness.

"There... We kissed. Happy?" Alfonso informed. 

Vergio's voice returned, colder than the air around them. 

"That was a peck, and what I want is a kiss..... Wild and passionate. A kiss that leads to what your parents did to get you here." Vergio whispered. 

Alfonso's stomach churned, but Caramia stared at him, her eyes wide in horror.

 "He wants us to..." He whispered, his voice barely audible. 

"Sex," Alfonso spat the word out like poison. "He wants us to have sex."

"No way!" Caramia shouted. "We won't do that, we won't."

The cold began to intensify again. It was brutal, now nearly unbearable. Alfonso could see his cousin shaking uncontrollably, tears streaming down her face as she fought the cold. His own body was starting to go numb.

Then, Vergio's final threat came, slicing through the silence like a dagger. "If you don't comply, I'll kill your parents."

Caramia froze, her heart pounding in her chest. The thought of their parents, innocent and unaware of the nightmare their children were enduring, made her feel sick. She locked eyes with Alfonso, who shook his head, refusing to even consider it, but the cold wouldn't stop. It grew worse with every passing second, and her mind raced, torn between survival and morality, between family and this unspeakable demand.

"We... we have to," Caramia whispered, her voice broken. "He'll kill them if we don't."

Alfonso's face was pale, his jaw clenched tight, but he knew she was right. Slowly, painfully, he nodded, his breath coming out in short, defeated bursts because they had no choice.

As they lay down together, the room seemed to close in, the suffocating cold momentarily forgotten, but the weight of what they were about to do bearing down on them both.