Defiance: The Hybrid's Tale (MxM)

Chapter 44: The Dungeon. [Edited]

Cassandra Pope.

I failed.

So close...

I could have reached my goal much faster if I had acted sooner. But life rarely worked out according to one's plan. Did I regret it? No. I would have done it a thousand times over if it meant that I could have held Aveny in my arms just one more time. To feel her gentle hands comb through my hair as she did when we were younger. We used to picnic under the willow tree by the pond when we were in high school. I would lay my head on her lap reading a book while she combed my hair with her fingers.

I closed my eyes and leaned my head back onto the stone wall, trying to lose myself in that sweet memory. Why didn't I kiss her? If I only had the courage and taken the chance, maybe our lives wouldn't have turned out in such a manner. Me, ending up chained in one of my father's torture chambers and Aveny trapped in a mirror. The smell of blood and shit hung in the air. Most likely, one of the previous guests soiled themselves while waiting for their inevitable doom. Who wouldn't? My father was a sick son of a bitch who enjoyed killing his victims slowly until they begged him for death. And yet, he denied them their wish as another part of his twisted game.

A game I was now a part of.

Would he show me mercy, or would I face the same gruesome fate? I shook my head. There was no point dwelling on those sickening thoughts. I would soon find out what he had planned for me. No doubt he'd take the time to gloat until I wanted to chew off my own wrists. I could already see his face in my mind's eye, staring at me through the darkened cell with a huge grin on his face.

It was already dawn, and in an hour or two, the mansion would spring to life. My brother would most likely be the first to visit me. He's been waiting for this day from the beginning. Now he was the star child, the only demented one left to kiss my father's ass until it gleamed under the glare of the sun.

My legs were numbing as I stood shackled to the wall. I would have thought that my father would care about the welfare of his future successor, but he probably wanted me to suffer as much as possible. The iron cuffs were chaffing around my wrist, digging into my flesh. I couldn't move much since a leather girdle also strapped me to the wall, keeping me standing. The freezing air didn't help either. Periodically, I would clench down on my teeth to stop my jaw from clattering.

The screech of a steel door at the end of the hallway drew my attention to the cell door. The familiar footsteps of my brother made me groan.

How predictable!

"Good morning, dear sister," said Ethan with a grin smacked on his corpse-like face. You know what they say, you become what you fuck.

I ignored him and stared up at the filthy ceiling. Several spiders hung from their cobwebs.

"Oh, come now. You must have known it would end like this for you the moment you betrayed us."

Ethan pulled out a key ring and opened the cell door, sliding it open. He sauntered in and came to a halt in front of me. The pungent odor of alcohol hung on him. He must have celebrated my capture. The burn scars of my lightning bolt decorated his neck and chin. A permanent reminder of what happens if you stick your nose where it doesn't belong.

He reached up and gripped my chin, applying pressure. "Not so tough, are you? Maybe I should repay you for this." He removed his grimy hand from my face and caressed the scars.

"And would that make you feel like a man if you did?" I asked in a mocking tone.

Seconds later, my left cheek burned as he slapped me across the face. The sound thundered throughout the dungeon. I bit back a yelp, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of the pain he caused me.