Opening the door to his car, Nathanial peered towards the small girl’s limp body. A small strand of saliva trickled from her lips, her head hanging as her arms dangled to her sides.


    The blonde let out a small chortle at her condition before surveying his surroundings, ensuring that nobody was nearby.


    Carrying the small orange-haired girl in a princess carry, he shut the door to his car before trudging over to the main entrance to his house.


    Opening the unlocked mahogany double doors, the boy initially struggled to see due to how dark it was inside.


    Trudging through his abode, he soon reached a small door containing a staircase that led downwards.


    Tugging at the handle with his elbow, a heavy hand gripped his shoulder, causing him to let out a long sigh.


    “Another one?” the voice questioned, its deep voice containing traces of tiredness.


    “Lay off. I’ve had my eyes on this one for a long time. Just be happy I don’t bring one in every night.” Nathanial sighed, pausing slightly before adding to his statement.


    “She’s just a leach; what’s the harm? The world will be better without her, right! Just like you’ve taught me.”


    The figure behind the blonde released their grip on his shoulder, resting his face on his hand as he let out a long sigh.


    Seeing that the man no longer had the will to stop him, Nathanial opened the door and slinked into the basement, letting out a shrewd series of cackles that echoed within his father’s ears.


    <hr>


    Damp hair clung to the small girl’s forehead as a short-lived, sharp tingling sensation assaulted her body before quickly residing, a green storm obscuring her vision, leaving her short-sighted as she forced her eyes to open.


    Looking up towards the giant pair of black eyes in the sky, which jolted every once in a while, scanning the whole city before locking on to her position. Its eyelids widening in delight at the sight of the small girl, causing the very sensation she had just subjected to.


    Soon after, a figure entered her peripheral vision who sported a familiar bloodied face holding a red-dyed pointy piece of glass.


    The man’s body was an amalgamation of broken limbs, his chest completely broken in as a black substance flowed from within his wounds. His eyes had become completely covered by the strange viscous matter.


    Choosing to ignore the charging man, Chloe laid upon the crimson concrete and closed her eyes, listening to the calming pitter-patter of the rain, interrupted by heavy footfalls that erupted in short intervals.


    Reaching its destination, the figure brought the sharp piece of glass onto Chloe’s hand, resulting in a burst of pain that made Chloe let out an involuntary scream as she jolted forward.


    “You were sleeping for so long, so I decided to help you wake up!” A grimy voice sternly spoke, his facial expression stiff as if Chloe had been in the wrong for taking up so much of his time.


    Orange orbs flickered to and fro, trying to piece together where she was and what had happened to her.


    A pungent, rusty smell infiltrated Chloe’s senses as she looked down towards her body, finding her limbs to have been restrained by a set of half-corroded-looking leather belts that had dark red stains all over them, as if it had been contaminated with a deadly disease.


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    Eyes wondering towards the knife that had forcefully inserted itself into her right hand, the pain that had awoken her in the first place started to consume her thoughts, causing a loud scream to leak out of her mouth, her body involuntarily contracting, attempting to break free of the restraints she’d found herself entrapped in.


    Nathanial’s face hovered not too far away from the small girl’s, a wide grin spanning from eye to eye prevalent upon his countenance as he slowly twisted the blade, causing Chloe’s reactions to become amplified as tears leaked out of her orbs.


    Pushing the blade all the way through her hand and into the damp wooden chair upon which she sat, the orange-haired girl let out another deafening scream before losing her consciousness, her mind protecting herself from all the pain she had been subjected to.


    The rainfall’s soothing pitter-patter as well as its ice-cold temperature made Chloe let out a sigh of relief, feeling as if a bucket of ice had been thrown upon her boiling hot thoughts and feelings.


    "Aggggrhh!”


    A loud wail synthesised from above reminded her of the presence of the man who’d just stabbed her hand, eyes darting towards the glass shard that had crudely imbedded itself into her body part.


    The creature lifted its right hand and slapped the small girl squarely against her cheek, ripping her out of her unconscious state.


    “I just woke you up! Don’t you peasants have even a shred of decency within you?” He shouted, thoroughly enraged by her actions, hands on his head as he tightly gripped his blonde locks, mumbling to himself about how poorly mannered she was before he came to an abrupt stop, seeming enlightened before scuttling out of the room, a loud locking mechanism sounding out from the heavy metal door that shut behind him.


    Eyes drooping down towards her right hand, blood continued to pour down onto the wooden chair, the mouldy-looking leather belt making her wince at how greasily tight it bound her body.


    Chloe no longer felt the ability to move her right hand, a blockade of pain due to the absence of adrenaline halting any of the orders she made to her body as she attempted to recollect her focus, frantically looking around the room to see if there was any way for her to escape.


    It seemed as though she was being held in a rundown basement of some kind, looking almost mediaeval as a slew of mossy stones lined the decrepit walls, dark red stains covering every nook and cranny of the dungeon.


    A few shrivelled pink blobs laid upon the stone floor, sending her into a series of uncontrollable quivers over the question of what they could possibly be.


    ’Looks like I ain’t his first rodeo show.” She scoffed to herself, using all the power in her left arm to push against the incredibly tight leather belt that felt as though it had started to cut off her blood flow.


    Although it stopped her movement, it looked as though it would at least prevent her from dying of blood loss from the serrated blade that had been lodged into her hand.


    Only a short moment after he left the room, Nathanial came back in, wheeling a large metal trolley that contained a few objects, which made Chloe’s eyes start to water more than they had previously.


    The blonde grabbed a syringe, filling it with some sort of viscous liquid before raising it up to his eye level, grinning whilst pushing a bit out the fluid out of the thin metallic tip.


    “You see, being the benevolent man that I am, I’ve decided that teaching you a lesson in manners is a must. You simply shan’t fall asleep whilst we are in the middle of a lovely conversation!” He sang out, his tone sickly high-pitched as he strode over to the girl.


    Elevating her left arm, he injected the metal tip into it without pushing the liquid in as he once again started to speak, his eyes glossing over as he ecstatically peered at Chloe’s terrified orbs, which never left the syringe.


    “This’ll make sure you’re always awake and bursting with energy so we can talk all the time! Even when I’m not here, I’m sure you’ll always be thinking about what topic we can talk about the next time I am available!” He cried out in joy, pausing a few seconds after he had finished talking, staring into her orange orbs as if he were waiting for her to thank him.


    His expression turning sour from the lack of response from the girl, Nathanial slowly pushed the liquid into Chloe as his eyes watched her mouth opening to once again scream out in pain.


    A few syllables tried and failed to leave the small orange-haired girl’s mouth as she laid slumped against the wooden chair, choosing to surrender to the pain.


    “It’s hot! My skin is on fire!” she thought, having run her throat hoarse.


    Pulling a wooden stall about half a meter away from the small girl, Nathanial crossed his legs and rested his head upon one of his arms that had been supported by his now raised leg.


    “You and I are going to become best of friends.” he spoke, his jubilant tone nowhere to be found, becoming firm and stern.