“Lea’s taking advantage of Aaron? She wouldn’t mingle with us of the lower class elsewise?” Chloe mentally queried, the several fuzzy monsters surrounding her giggling with delight as they slowly nodded their heads.


    Suddenly, Chloe’s surroundings morphed once again into another familiar place. Bright lights blinded the entrapped girl, muffled catchy game theme songs sounding out in the background as she watched herself coming out of the bathroom.


    Directly opposite her were her two friends, Lea and Aaron. Both were talking as if they had been familiar with each other for years, even though at this point in time they were merely acquaintances.


    The small orange-haired girl looked towards the two, laughing and joking about as they played an arcade game, Aaron teaching her how to play with a muddy smile splattered across his face.


    Chloe had never seen him look at her that way. In all the years that they’d been together. Not even once.


    Looking over to the 16-year-old version of herself, her younger countenance downturned at the sight of the two cheerfully talking together, Chloe focused on Lia’s face, reeling when she saw that her counterpart’s face had become shrouded in black mist.


    When her face finally re-emerged, her appearance had completely changed. The corners of her lips were so high that they nearly touched her eyes, forming a malicious grin that sent shivers down the orange-haired girl’s spine.


    Watching her stand behind Aaron as he taught her how to play, with such a face which he couldn’t see, Chloe abruptly screamed aloud as to alert Aaron, shattering the illusion.


    Finding herself back inside the groggy mediaeval dungeon, she looked towards her scarred body, full of injuries and cuts that hadn’t had medical attention, left to bleed and become infected.


    The darkness consumed the sight from her remaining eye, the hole where her left eye had once been feeling hollow and empty, causing her to shiver slightly.


    A black figure crept out of the shadows and fell to the floor, no longer moving as if they’d just dropped dead from exhaustion.


    Finding it hard to see whose body it was due to the poor lighting, the girl scanned over the horrific injuries that the person had sustained.


    They were missing their left hand and leg, which appeared to have been poorly cut at the join, flesh and bone exposed to the air.


    Patches of skin were missing from their body, blood staining every inch of it. One thing that did stand out to Chloe was that the figure had long orange hair, just like hers.


    Seemingly with their last burst of strength, they pushed themselves up with their remaining right hand, which had been broken in several places.


    Seeing the figure’s face, Chloe started to shake her head in despair, tears pouring down her small face.


    Their left eye had been dug out, leaving a dark void where a golden orange orb once sat. Their remaining orange orb seemed to have been cut in several places, to such an extent that Chloe was sure that they could no longer see anything.


    No nose could be seen; most of its skin ash black as if it had been burnt.


    “No…No…NO! I… Don’t wanna end up like… Like that!” She mentally screamed, finding her throat to have lacked the required fluids to scream.


    Unable to thrash about in her leather restraints that looked like they would break at any moment, another fuzzy black figure slithered to the orange-haired girl’s side.


    Its hand tightly grasped Chloe’s bony shoulder as it whispered into her ear.


    “You have no one. Your two only friends have left you, and Aaron might just end up like you~! You’re going to rot in this cellar, with your only company a monster just like you~!”


    “Aaron… But… I deserve this. It would just be easier to give up and die. I’m tired of struggling. LOOK WHERE IT’S GOTTEN ME! WHERE IS MY LEFT EYE?”


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    “Besides. Even if I did escape. Eventually the fact that I murdered my father would come to light. Aaron would… Leave me,” Chloe reasoned, barely gathering enough energy to grasp her hands, a few broken fingers newly unresponsive.


    The black figure’s hands gathered around the small girl’s throat and started to choke her, letting out a series of shrill laughter, before starting to speak.


    “Then… just make him like you~!” It cackled, the statement spoken so casually as if it were reminding Chloe of an obvious solution that she’d been avoiding.


    The small girl remained silent as she sat in pain that had embraced her for the last ten days. Most of Chloe’s rational brain didn’t even take what the monster had said into consideration. But there was a small part of her, a part that liked what she’d heard.


    <hr>


    A monolithic metallic groan echoed within the pitch-black room as the door slowly swung open. A blonde walked towards the small girl and dumbfoundedly stood in front of the half-dead Chloe.


    The large figure harshly bit his lip, blood starting to pour down to his chin as he tightly grasped his hands into a fist until his knuckles started to turn white.


    Blood-stained orange hair slowly tilted upwards as Chloe’s orbs climbed the man’s tall figure. Only able to see the man’s blonde hair from the light that bounded in from the room leading to the dungeon, she slowly mumbled something in a low voice.


    “Please… Kill me, please.”


    Hearing the words slowly flowing from her mouth made the figure’s countenance turn for the worse, his once neutral expression turning into a deep frown as he burst into action.


    Nimbly unlocking the blood-stained leather belts that bound the small girl, he started to talk in a calm voice.


    “I should have stopped him. You wouldn’t have had to go through this. I’ve called the police and ambulance. They’ll be here soon. Regarding Nathanial… I’ll personally take care of him.”


    Chloe’s worn eyes caught a small metallic glint coming from the large man’s pocket, the item’s black leather handle poking out from within its holder.


    Unable to speak, the small girl simply started to cry, relieved that she was finally going to be freed.


    “Why are you trying to free my little plaything?” A voice sounded out, a new figure leaning against the heavy metal door, a small smirk equipped upon his face.


    The larger blonde seemed to freeze in place, his sapphire orbs moving towards the origin of the voice as his hands slithered towards the object that slept within its holster.


    *BANG*


    A deafening sound roared next to Chloe’s ears, making her wince slightly, the larger figure falling to his knees as blood started to seep from his mouth.


    “Son. I’ve failed you,” he choked out, still attempting to reach for the object in his trousers.


    *BANG* *BANG*


    The older man let out a rough grunt as he fell to the floor in front of Chloe, the younger of the two slowly strolling over to his father before kneeling down to the bleeding man.


    “This is the monster you’ve created. Aren’t you proud?” He screamed, roughly shaking his father’s body as tears started to stream from his orbs.


    The older man seemed to be struggling to reply, multiple grunts and grasps escaping his mouth as if he were focussing all of his energy on one task, unable to divert any attention to answering his furious son.


    “DON’T YOU DARE APOLOGISE, DAMN IT!”


    *BANG* *BANG* *BANG*


    Smoke poured out from the end of a black object as Nathanial coughed out some blood, his attention looking down towards his abdomen, blood now pouring out from three bullet holes.


    Chloe stared at the boy who was the origin of the last ten days of torture and gritted her teeth, her vision turning red. Her hands started to shake, the three bullet holes in his stomach giving her a sliver of hope.


    “Kill him! This is your first and last chance! Do it now!” A black figure beckoned Chloe, its hands grasping the small girl’s small injured hands, forcefully guiding them over to the steel tray that sat next to the orange-haired girl’s crimson throne.


    Eye grinding over the various blood-stained weapons that had been used on her in the past ten days, the black figure thrust her small hands over to a large knife, grasping it so tightly that it made Chloe’s eye glisten with tears.


    Haphazardly stumbling over to the injured boy after being pushed by the large black figure, the small girl, who was continuously picking up speed, let out a shrill scream as she used up all of her remaining strength to push the blade towards his eye.


    The smaller blonde quickly looked up towards the even smaller girl and wore a loose grin. Feeling the strength leave his body, he knew that he couldn’t dodge in time.


    “Wait! Chloe! Wait, Wait, Wait! I SAID WAIT YOU LEA—”


    *STAB*


    The orange-haired girl forcefully pushed the knife into Nathanial’s left eye, a sickening squelch entering the small girl’s ears as she flinched slightly.


    But she wasn’t going to stop there. Not after accumulating a lifetime’s worth of hate towards the boy in the past ten days.


    With the help of the black figure’s hands, she pulled the knife out of the boy’s eye socket, Nathanial screaming out in pain as he flopped about on the moist stones below him.


    *STAB* *STAB* *STAB* *STAB*


    A series of screams flowed from Chloe’s mouth as she endlessly stabbed the boy, his face no longer recognisable.


    Nathanial’s father, who was bleeding out on the floor, looked at the sight before him, a thin frown upon his lips as tears started to stream down his face.


    But he wasn’t going to intervein. After all, his son had this coming. The least he could do for the victim was to let her get some revenge.


    The last thing Chloe remembered before passing out was the bloodied sight of the stabbed boy who laid before her and the endless laughter coming from the black figure who had helped her kill Nathanial.