Chapter 10: Useless

The violence was almost too overwhelming for Rye to watch; she heard multiple bones on Magnimus' face break beyond repair.

The worst part was watching the leader continue to hit him until nothing but blood could be seen both on Magnimus face and on the bottom of the sword.

The silence was deafening, and Rye felt herself tremble all of the courage she had used to speak to him slowly died as she took in the image of what was happening in front of her.

The Reds were evil and would kill them, but what she watched was pure torture from the person she least expected to see it from.

"I thought I told you not to speak!" His voice reverberated through the entire building by how loudly he spoke.

Emily who had been standing behind Rye instantly distanced herself from Rye, considering that the leader was going to pass beside her to go back to the person he had been attending to.

Rye watched him sheathe his sword and was tempted to look away when he turned back and glanced at her, only for her to manage not to.

She ground her teeth together as he stared, the smell of blood clinging to him as he passed beside her again at a much slower pace one that allowed her to take in the fact that he was almost two feet taller than her.

The combination of his height and weight coupled with his bulging arm muscles was more than enough for him to crush her like a bug if he wanted her to.

Still, rye was determined to talk to him. It was either that or staying in the slave tower and waiting to be taken by a pissed-off Master, who might instantly kill her in anger.

"Wait a sec--" Rye began to speak in a voice much lower than before, turning around to follow him only to watch someone else step in front of her, blocking her path.

"Who are--"

"Stop! You'll be safer here. You'll get resold, they aren't all terrible to their slaves,"

The man in front of Rye was a Santor with slitted eyes and pointed ears. Even the big strong wings on his back were evidence of who he was.

but Rye didn't even look at him, as she turned to avoid him heading straight for their leader who was back to help the man he had been attending to.

Rye was just about to open her mouth and speak when she heard him beat her to it.

"Pack up! We're leaving. Reinforcements would be here soon!" He ordered and Rye watched as the men instantly responded working twice as fast as before to depart.

In seconds, they were all ready to go, with each of them supporting the members who needed the support.

Rye couldn't help but panic as she watched them walk out of the building in a flurry. As fast as she could, Rye hastened her steps walking up to the leader who was also leaving.

"Take us with you! We can help!"

Almost like she had been waiting for it, Emily instantly moved closer, even if it wasn't close enough for her to get hurt in case the big man, attacked Rye.

Again, low chuckles rang amongst them, followed by snide comments which she instantly chose to ignore.

"You're rebelling against the Reds, right? We can help!" Rye continued to speak. She would have mentioned following them alone but felt that arguing as a group would appeal to him more.

The leader of the rebels however didn't even turn around, as he continued to walk away at the same pace. His men were ahead and he along with the Santor that had interrupted her stood behind.

"We can help and--"

"No, you can't! How exactly will you fight against the Reds!" The senator interrupted in a frustrated tone. He glanced at the leader before turning around to look at Rye with a pitiful expression on his face.

"If you teach us I'm sure--" but again even before she could say what she wanted, he interrupted her, to her annoyance.

"You can't even see them move. You're physically incapable of fighting them!" The senator responded, his tone showing a hint of impatience as he also continued walking, talking to her without turning around.

Rye wanted to argue but she couldn't because it was true. They had left the building and Rye could feel them picking up the pace, but the thought of returning scared her more than what the strange men who refused to talk to her would do.

"What about that arrows thingy? I-I can learn---"

This time around it wasn't the Santor who interrupted her. It was the leader who refused to speak. Yet, even then he chose to speak to his men and not her.

"Pick up the pace!" He yelled, breaking into a jog to Rye's horror. She had barely eaten anything the entire day and whatever strength she had left had been depleted from trying to avoid Reds that might want to eat her.

She watched them jog, convinced by their body size and stature, that they were seconds away from leaving her in the dust.

In a moment of desperation, she opened her mouth to yell at him.

"Selfish! You're nothing but an arrogant bastard! You just don't want to help even if it doesn't cost you a thing!"Rye yelled at him the second she stopped moving with a furious look in her eyes.

At first, she was sure that he would continue to ignore her only for her eyebrows to lift in shock, as she watched him come to a sudden stop.

Rye didn't care about the worried expression on the santor's face when he turned to look at her, only to feel incredible fear when she felt the leader turn around to look at her.

His eyes were golden brown but for a split second, she felt convinced that she was being stared down by a Red, one with incredible hunger that had everything to do with her blood and death.

Rye watched him take a step towards her and she instinctively took one back.

"Klaton!" She heard the Santor whisper from beside him, even though he made no move to intervene only to watch him continue to close the distance between them.

"Yes, I'm selfish because you're Useless!" He began to speak. His voice was soft but it held so much weight that it pierced straight through Rye's heart.

"You're weak. Even if I took you in what do you think my men will do to you? Hornel's and Santors without partners,"

"I-I can do the cleaning and the cooking while I train," Rye managed to speak her voice barely above a whisper as she felt her hands tremble.

The dark look in his eyes was frightfully cold and the way he looked at her was akin to staring at a leaf in the wind, something he could crush and wouldn't think twice about.

"So a slave?"

"No! We're all humans aren--"

"Even all humans aren't equal," He snapped at her, his face wretching into a frown one that showed his absolute displeasure as she continued to speak.

"Klaton!" The santor beside him spoke a little louder this time around but even Rye could tell that he was above listening to any reason as he closed the distance between them until he stood mere inches away from her.

His heated gaze threatening to pierce a hole right through her very being.

He stood in front of her staring down at her, almost like he was urging her to back down and move her gaze to the ground, something Rye refused to do.

"If you keep following me I'll let you, but understand this... I'm not a saint, neither are my men. If one of them fancies you, he'll have you,"

"Depending on my mood I might even join in!"

Rye flinched, almost like she had been burnt. She wanted to take a step back and close her eyes but she couldn't. His voice wasn't loud but his breath against her face made her feel pressure that made it hard to breathe.

"In three days, all of my men would have gone through you. Its extremely hard for vampires to have children with human women but thats different with others,"

"You-you're just trying to scare me!" Rye opened her mouth to speak, as she herself wondered where she found the courage to do such a thing.

Only for whatever courage she summoned to die, as she watched his eyes twinkle in mischief confident that he was smiling under the cloth mask he had on.

"In a month, you'll be pregnant and even more Useless than right now! You'll continue to be passed around because you can't work, and the only place you'll be of any value is on your back."

Rye couldn't hide her fear as her eyes glazed over as she processed the scenerio in her head. Everyword he said was true and evident of how terrible her life was bound to be.

"How-how is that any different from staying here," she stammered, feeling tears slide down her cheeks, too powerless to stop it.

"Tha-that I won't get preganant for a vampire? That m-my value would be my body and my blood?" Rye asked swipping the back of her hands angrily against her face to stop the tears from streaking down.

"Sometimes you have to choose the better of two evils," Was the cold response she got one that made her want to laugh at how bad he situation was for her to expect the man in front of her to care.

Still, he continued to silently stand in front of her without showing any attempt to leave almost like he was waiting to hear what her decision would be.

"I'm not going with you!" Rye said a few seconds later, turning her gaze away from him and turning to look at the bright lights she could see from the city in the distance.

"Good choice!" Klaton responded, turning around the next instant and dashing off. In a split second, he was gone and Rye could no longer see any sign of him.

The Santor by his side looked at her for a couple of seconds, with a full expression of pity in his eyes, before he also took to the skies, gone in mere seconds.

"I'm-I'm fucked am I not?" Rye asked speaking to herself as she felt tears flood her eyes again, completely obscuring whatever was left of her vision, from how dark the night was.

The last thing she expected to get was a response.

"We are! We were fucked the second we entered this strange world," Emily said a couple of steps away.

Emily made sure to keep enough distance between her and Rye, but had been close enough to hear the conversation. She herself had cried when Rye made the decision not to follow them, not blaming her in the slightest.

It didn't matter where they went. Their only value was to be used as playthings or food.