Caged Animals (2)

The encounter left Ari reeling, she hadn't even had time to catch her breath until the woman was dragged off. She sputtered and coughed until she felt like her Adam's apple wasn't lodged in the back of her throat anymore.

Falling back onto the ground, stumbling around until she found her bowl, nudging it through the cracks towards the child. "Have mine."

Even though she couldn't see him she still turned in his direction. "Top tier? What is that supposed to mean?"

Broken fingers slipped beneath the bars trying to hook onto the bowl desperately, finally reading it, they put their face inside to eat.

"They call you a top tier quality product. Like an expensive rare drug or some shit. They got plans for you." The man cackled. "Oh girly they got plans for that ass-sah."

"Shut up and go back to laying in your puddle!" Her brows furrowed together while shaking her head. "You wouldn't know." Still goosebumps rose along her arms and there was an undeniable tremor of fear running through her. Ari wipes the blood from her cheek against her shoulder.

Clearly it was some twisted cult into cannibalism. Maybe if she was actually worth something they would keep her around long enough to get saved, or find her own way out. They were less than cows waiting for slaughter.

"Or would I?" He laughed. "You don't know what you're in for fool. They love to break feisty smart mouth girls like you." Chuckling, he splashed around in the puddle, getting some on her. "Rubby ducky in a tubby, hee, hee."

"He lost his mind." The old woman said. "Too long ago."

"I'm saner than yall all think." He snapped. "The illuminati said they gone come get me. I tell you. Old hag mad that even with me having gums I can chew my food better than her snaggletooth ass-sah."

"Yeah well," She wiped dirty water, which she hoped was only water, from her face. "Enough time down here and I'd think that's almost a mer-"

"Shhh. SHUT UP GIRL. Their channeling a spirit bomb." He made a huff noise and lifted his hands in the air. "Arrrrrrrgh. Arrrrrrrgh. I feel it coming." A fart came out. "No. No. No. No. That ain't right. It was supposed to blow the cell open but yall were talking and the energy went the wrong way."

"Tom, the only thing you blew a hole in is your draws. Shut the hell up." Snapped the old woman.

"And my sinuses!" Ari pinched her nose once she caught a whiff of Tom's power fart.

"Were you a whore? No offense." The old woman asked. "He pulled a lot of those off the streets too. No family, consumed by drugs. And pretty little things they are when they're all dressed up."

Her voice came out nasally from holding her nose. "Nothing like that. I was shopping for clothes for my new job. The woman offered me some coffee while my companions waited in the other room." Thoughts of Benjamin saddened her. She only hoped the old butler wouldn't weigh himself down with grief. She didn't blame him.

"To make it worse I was in a wheelchair. I couldn't have gotten away if I hadn't dropped like a brick." She shrugged.

"And you took it? Even I know better than that. Stupid ass-sah move." The man next to her shook his head while thrusting his palms outward towards the bars. Nothing happened, but his lips pursed every time like he was expecting something to.

The old woman made a hm noise. "And who were you with before? Will they come?" "

"He'll come. He has to." She finally let go and rested her chin on her knees. "I'm a personal secretary to someone important. More so than being some high tier product," Her fingers curled making air quotes as she said it. "I think they took me to get at him. Being what they're looking for was a happy accident for them."

The place kept giving her a strange sense of deja vu. Ari had to be right because if not, and Alaric replaced her with someone less needy and more capable, then there was no hope for her either. Not a single soul in a city of millions would care.

"You'd think if you were that important they would have kept a closer eye on you. I wouldn't trust them." tsked the crazy man, continuing to thrust his hands towards the cage.

"Yeah, your comrades didn't even notice you were gone or passed out?" The old woman agreed for once with the crazy man.

She shrugged. "I wouldn't know since I was unconscious. Anything could have happened but I refuse to believe that this is it for me." Even though she spoke positively, Ari couldn't help but worry. Giving up now wouldn't do her any good though. Then she'd be just as hopeless and lost as everyone else.

She was too stubborn to die in the dark. "It didn't occur to me to be on guard so I'm sure they had similar thinking. Important or not, other people are unpredictable."

Everyone had gotten quiet. Some sleeping, others trying to distract themselves from boredom by scratching marks on the stone floors with pebbles they'd found. Eventually the door flung open and someone stopped in front of Ari's cell. "Come with me." He opened the door, pulling her up by the hair at the nape of her neck. The man didn't give her time to stand on her feet when he practically dragged her across the floor towards the main door.

When they were beyond it, they slapped a blindfold over her eyes, then he proceeded to drag her. Chattering rose around, the smell of blood and death colliding into a foul smell that singed the nose.

Finally he threw Ari forward so hard her hands smacked on marble. With a harsh pull, the scarf came off her face and a red haired man was sitting in a chair with his chin and brow raised, staring down their nose at her all aristocratic like; a rat at his feet.

Ari rose slowly from where she'd been unceremoniously deposited into the floor. Dusting her hands off on one another. Her hair and clothes were a mess from all of the rough handling. A side effect of being kidnapped and chained in a dungeon. Instinct told her to look away from the degrading leer that expected her to act as the filth he saw.

Instead she straightened her clothes–to little effect–craning her head down to finger comb the worst tangle from her curls though she soon gave up. Her eyes narrowed at the man who had clearly demanded to see her. "There are easier ways to get a lady's attention."

"I like her attitude towards other people, as long as she doesn't get one with me. Who do you work for again? Where exactly did they find you?" He leaned forward, elbows on his thighs as his deep jade eyes pierced her own.

The way he spoke around her was irritating but for the sake of not aggravating what she assumed to be wealthy and dangerous people, Ari tempered herself. "I was at the mall." That much was true. Was it dangerous to give Alaric away so easily? Surely the crazy blonde must have said something already. She wasn't sure. "I own a small shop. I've been my own boss for years."

"And she screwed it up." He rolled his eyes and shoved the heel of his foot into her mouth, busting her lip. Clasping his fingers on her chin, he jerked her head back towards him. "Cut the bullshit before I pull your eyes from your socket. Then you can be some handicapped bitch that'll never have to work a day in her life again. You'll be on disability. Sitting there in your own piss and shit until it eats away at your skin and maggots climb from your wounds. I'll make sure of it. Now, let's try this again. Who. Is. Your. Boss?"

She sucked on her bottom lip to keep the blood from dribbling down her chin. Every time someone dared to taste it they seemed to go mad. A disease. A curse. Either way she had no intentions of being torn to pieces by the man before her. "Mr. Draconis," Ari finally admitted after seeing the truth in his threats. Between the chains and his hold there wasn't any room to protect herself. With a crowd she doubted she could anyway. "Alaric Draconis." She exhaled through her nose.

"Mr. Draconis? I know you aren't lying because you'd lose your eyes. He'd never keep a doll though. Especially not the rare kind like you. The banished man." He rubbed the stubbles of hair on his chin and made a 'hm' noise. "For how long, little bitch?"

"A few days." Ari's jaw tensed so hard it was a physical effort to speak, her hands clenching and unclenching. "I'm just supposed to be his secretary. I don't know anything about dolls or rarity or banishment." Honestly the whole thing sounded archaic to her similar to the man's treatment. Misogynistic pig, she spat in her mind.

"Misogynistic huh? Nice. Take her to the labs." The man jerked his chin to the door. Back on the blindfold went. They dragged her by her legs this time, every screw and bump in the metal floors digging into her back along the way. Finally, they took the blindfold off, pulled her up by her wrists and slung her into the chair., strapping her down.

"We'll just test you here in a second. Drink this." A teenager said, handing over a blue cup filled with purple liquid.

For a long moment she just stared at the kid before flexing her wrists that were bound. "You're going to have to help me out here. I can't quite reach. What is this anyway?"

The teen grabbed her by the throat and pried her mouth open, pouring the liquid into her mouth before clamping a palm down over her lips. One blow, he forced her to swallow. "You're not going anywhere. I said we're taking a test soon, relax."

Ari coughed, blue specks flying from her mouth and onto his hand. Even the kids were assholes. She had only meant that she couldn't take the cup or drink it, she didn't want to be force fed. Her head jerked to the side and away from his grasp. "What kind of test? I get holding people against their will and all but brute force isn't always needed. I'm not daft."

The red head man from before who she would bet was their leader called her a rare doll. What did that mean and why would they think Alaric was hiding her away from them? There were too many questions with no one to answer them. She'd been thrust into a whole new world with no explanation.

"Blood test. He likes playing games so I doubt he'll tell you right away. We'll give that an hour before I stick you with a few needles." The teen smiled a little too wickedly.

Her eyes squeezed shut, leaning her head back against the seat. She didn't want to see the kid's cruel smile or think about how fucked she was. "Why do they have you involved then? This doesn't seem like a good place for children."

"Child? I'm a grown man. You have something on your face by the way," The teen looking man spit on her face then placed a tissue on her lap where she couldn't teach it. "Do yourself a favor and wipe it off."

Ari didn't even bother giving him the satisfaction of watching her struggle futilely. The glob of saliva rolled down her cheek leaving a slimy trail that made her nearly gag in disgust. "That seemed rather childish for a grown man." Her eyes flicked open to finally look at him once more. "Man or not, doesn't this bother you? You're okay with the routine violation of basic human rights? Has someone done something to hurt you?" Though in her position it may have seemed condescending Ari meant every word in genuine curiosity.