Chapter 2

Disclaimer: This chapter has mentions of rape and violence. Reader discretion is advised.

They talked, I barely listened, their voices becoming more muffled the longer I sat contemplating what had just happened. 

That morning had been fine. We had been fine. Ada had gone to fish and I was hanging the wash to dry. We had gathered pelts and dried meat to barter with later…how had things ended so poorly?

My eyes would not focus as I sat, leaning against a decaying log on the ground, my breath coming in short, halted gasps. I clutched my side with my right arm as pain slowly awakened in my body, but made no sound. 

I gazed ahead but saw nothing as my mind raced with thoughts of Ada and how his final moments must have been. Struggling to free himself as his skull was slowly crushed and the fury he must have seen in the eyes of the one who killed him, hoping and wishing with all he was that I had managed my escape.

A tear slid down my face. I had failed to escape and Ada's sacrifice now sat useless within my heart, gripping and twisting it painfully. I should have died.

"Should we feed it?" 

A voice broke through my thoughts as one of them spoke, sounding none too pleased about his question. 

I heard a growl, deep and angry, as something was thrown toward me, landing next to my leg with a thud. I tilted my head and caught a glimpse of it. What had at one point been a rabbit was now a disemboweled, headless thing before me, blood matting the once white fir a dark red.

I turned my face from the sight and closed my eyes. Images of Ada's crushed skull and limp body rushed into my mind and I snapped my eyes open with a gasp, coughing. I folded in on myself as pain shot through my chest. I heard a noise of disapproval from the demons beside me but paid them no mind as I fell to my side with a groan.

My eyelids felt heavy as the pain receded to a dull ache. I tried to keep my eyes from closing, not wanting to see Ada dying over and over in my mind's eye, but exhaustion finally won out and my eyes drooped shut. Sleep found me shortly thereafter.

Though that did not last long, as a foot to my abdomen woke me with a start. All breath was knocked from my lungs with the sheer magnitude of force behind that kick. I coughed violently, gasping for every breath as my right arm instinctively curled around my midsection for protection, clenching tightly against the pain.

"It's time to wake up." Leviathan mocked, looking down at me with barely contained excitement. 

I could see him clearly now. His face was snake-like, thin lines where a nose would be, and yellow eyes with slits for pupils. His skin was leather-like in appearance, a shade of blue gray that made him seem sickly. He had no hair and only two small holes for ears.

He was a giant of a creature. I was not short by any means and yet he stood two arm lengths above me, with a terrifyingly giant build. His clawed hands had been large enough to engulf and crush Ada's skull and his exposed skin was littered in scars of varying sizes. To this day he haunts my nightmares.

He stood to his full height, raised his foot and brought it slamming down onto my left arm. I choked on a gasp as a stabbing pain shot up my arm, nearly blinding me. 

"Time to leave." He sneered, grabbing my shirt and making me stand. The collar of my shirt ripped from the sheer force he used to bring me to my feet, the cloth now falling uselessly off my shoulder. 

My left arm fell uselessly to my side, now broken in various places, and my right arm continued to clutch at my stomach as I bent forward trying to ease the tension and pain from my abdomen. I could hardly breathe. 

I walked on trembling legs, following behind them at a slow pace. One or the other would continually glance back to ensure I was within an acceptable distance and with my body and their constant vigilance, I could find no opening to escape. I had little choice but to keep walking.

The pain in my abdomen began to dull the longer we traveled, which allowed me to keep pace with more ease as they led me deeper into the forest than I had ever ventured before. 

We spent days traversing the terrain and nights were spent taking camp. Those devil creatures did not look to need the rest, as neither truly slept, which brought on the thought that these rests were intended for me for reasons beyond my comprehension.

A week went by in such a fashion. At first they would throw me a scrap of animal or a water skin, but that stopped as I refused everything thrown at me. I spent my nights lying on the cold ground staring at the sky, trying desperately to stay awake. Leviathan quite enjoyed kicking me awake if I should drift. At one point he had kicked me so furiously, my head snapped towards my back and I lay convulsing, blood dripping from my broken nose.

Due to Leviathan's preferences I had not slept a full night through and my exhaustion was reaching its limit. Whenever my eyes began to droop I would move my left arm, causing pain to shoot through my body and take with it any lingering exhaustion. 

When even that failed to keep me awake, I begrudgingly sat up, leaning against a tree and groaned in pain as every injury flared simultaneously. I was a mess of bruises and broken bones with a head wound that would not stop bleeding, oozing slowly down my face. Angrily I swiped at the blood  and looked down at my reddened hand debating if I should even try to stem the flow. With how slight the blood flow was it would not kill me, but one could hope. 

A memory of Ada stopped my destructive thoughts and tears stung my eyes. A lump formed in my throat at the thought of him, making it hard to swallow. I gasped in a breath and blinked repeatedly, trying to stop the tears from falling. Looking up at the blurry sky I took in a stuttering breath, letting the night air cool my burning skin. 

I heard footsteps approaching me and turned my head to look at Leviathan as he sauntered over to me, a malicious grin morphing his face into something grotesque. He reached out his hand and placed it on my head, patting it almost gently. I had so exhausted I could barely muster the energy to glare at him, which only caused him to cackle madly. 

"Now, now." He tried for a proper smile, kneeling before me. "I can sense it on you, you know." 

I raised a brow and turned my face away from him. I did not know what he could smell, nor did I care. 

"Is this how you got that half-thing to raise you?" He asked, grabbing my chin and forcing me to look at him. I closed my eyes defiantly and tried to move his hand off my face, to no avail.

"Shh." He coaxed, wrapping a hand around my throat and pulling me towards him. I clenched my eyes tightly as I felt his tongue lick a trail up my neck towards my ear before whispering. "Oh but you do smell nice, for an altered piece of shit." 

He bit down hard into my neck, nearly tearing a piece in the process. I let out a shout of pain as I tried to pry the beast from me. I felt him lick leisurely at the blood that flowed from my wounded neck and shuddered in disgust as bile rose up my throat. 

I pushed at the face still buried in my neck, kicking futilely at his legs. "Stop." I said, voice close to begging. "Please."

He looked at me, fury written on his face as he grabbed my head and slammed it into the tree behind me. My vision swirled and spots of black flew before my eyes as my arm fell to my side, limp and unmoving. 

Leviathan seemed pleased as I sat there unmoving. He moved down my body, licking and biting as he went. I could feel blood pouring from every mark left by his teeth. I knew what inevitability awaited me, but no matter how I struggled my body would not move. I had no more energy nor fight left within me.

I felt him remove my shirt and claw at my chest, leaving behind deep bleeding wounds as he went. The pain was a dull thing in the back of my mind, shock having dulled all sense of myself. 

He let out a breathy moan as he removed my pants, biting into my thigh, this time removing flesh. I must have made a noise as he looked up at me, pleased. "Not so bad, huh?"

I said nothing, my eyes looking blankly into the night sky as he pushed me to the ground. He lifted my leg and, using blood to ease the way, he pushed roughly into me.

I gasped in a pained breath and let out a piercing scream.

"Wait…wait…" Isaac pushed up from his seat with such force the couch slid back a few inches. "Just fucking wait."

I look over at Isaac and watch as he paces the living room in quick, frantic steps. I raise a brow at Jeriah while gesturing to Isaac with my thumb.

Jeriah shrugs, wide eyed and staring at Isaac. 

"I've never seen him like this." Jeriah whispers, leaning in towards me. "I don't know."

"You can't just tell me that nasty ass pig fucker raped you with a straight face." Isaac says pointing a finger at me. "Like what the FUCK?" 

"It happened." I say, leaning back in my seat and crossing one leg over the other. "Did you want me to cry about it?"

"I mean…no? Yes…kinda? I don't know." Isaac throws his arms up in a defeated huff before rubbing his face and glaring at Jeriah.

"And what about you?" He says, pointing an accusatory finger at Jeriah. "I thought you said you've known Cugu for years, so where the hell were you?"

"I was otherwise decomposed." Jeriah answers, looking uncomfortable.

"Indisposed?" Isaac asks

"Yeah, whatever. That one." Jeriah dismisses. "I couldn't be there, is what I meant."

"Couldn't or wouldn't?" 

I stand and kick the coffee table, happily watching as it slams into Isaac's legs, causing him to shriek in pain. 

"Never doubt his loyalty to me." I warn. 

"Fair." Isaac says, holding his injured leg while hopping on one foot. "But come on man, you gotta admit that's a shit excuse. Indisposed?"

"He was indisposed." I iterate. "He did not leave me alone by choice, this I know."

"See?" Jeriah smirks, pointing toward me as though it proved his point.

I shake my head at Jeriah antics,  pinching the bridge of my nose in irritation. I suddenly know the night was going to drag on.