Chapter 26

Moving from home to home was typical for someone who had fallen victim to trafficking. Seishan knew this all too well; she couldn't remember the last time she had seen her parents or even if they were still alive. Now, the only concept she understood was simple: survival.

She hadn't expected much from her life, merely getting through each day by setting herself basic goals. Yet her fierce determination to see her life through to the very end, without giving up, burned away every ounce of despair that threatened to consume her mind.

A rough, burly hand grasped hers, effortlessly lifting her slender body to its feet. The sharp scent of alcohol permeated the dark, dingy walls of her room, as the sound of water dripping through the poorly constructed ceiling was no longer her only companion.

"Get up! It's time to move, wench. Keep slacking, and I'll hurt ya! The stench of alcohol wafted into her nostrils with increasing intensity as Seishan narrowed her eyes. Her eyes had made her a target; it was the very reason she had been kidnapped long ago—to sell her body and her eyes to the highest bidder.

Yet, she didn't hate them. Her eyes set her apart; they enabled her to experience everything from the heights of pleasure to the depths of despair. She had long since resolved that nothing in the world could make her despise who she was, yet that resolve continued to be eroded as her suffering persisted.

Briskly walking alongside the stout man, she took a moment to analyse the environment around her. She was walking through a long, dreary hallway with walls containing fragmented pieces of paint that had been done a long time ago.

'How disgusting, and to think I'd find myself in this situation, for my eyes no less!' Seishan almost wanted to laugh, her situation was so absurd it was laughable. Typically, whenever she heard of situations like these on the news they always seemed so far away, too distant to hurt her or capture her attention.

And yet, here she was.

'If I'm going to die, I'm doing it on my own terms.' Upon uttering her mental declaration, her eyes widened upon the sight of thirty different men, all suited to the teeth with medical equipment as a large table remained in their midst, machinery she had never witnessed before loomed in the background dangerously, almost promising pain if she were to sit on it.

Frantically glancing around, she saw an exit, her freedom was only a single leap away. Yet, her hopes were crushed as the door slid open, revealing a man with a gigantic gun held firmly in his hands. He almost made it look weightless with the way he spun the barrel around, humour laced across his lips.

"Let's make this quick, we only need her eyes, we'll have fun with the rest of her later!" The man leered. An epiphany dawned on Seishan upon hearing these words, they didn't need her alive, she didn't matter in the slightest. All that was of importance were her eyes and her body.

Bile found its way into her throat as she gulped loudly, suppressing her desire to empty the contents of her half-empty stomach as she was forcefully guided onto the table.

Her mind wanted to resist, yet almost instinctively, knowing that greater pain was promised if she did, her body simply allowed itself to be guided as she watched the machinery be prepared. Slowly, a man placed his hands on her shoulders firmly, applying two cold leather straps onto her shoulders before offering her a perverted smile.

"Don't worry, the pain only lasts for a moment." He said, before placing the mask and goggles back onto his face, it was clear that the affair was going to be bloody, painful and supremely demeaning. Sliding her tongue between her teeth, Seishan prepared to end her life, hoping to preserve the last pieces of dignity she once had before the inevitable came.

And then, a god appeared.

The rustle and voices of the men who surrounded her slowly and suddenly grew quieter, splashes of an unknown liquid spraying across the room, landing with a squelch on Seishan's face as she tentatively licked her lips. 'It's... Blood!' she exclaimed.

Her body thrashed within her binds, her eyes darting across the room to acknowledge her supposed saviour. Dark hair came into view as a young man, only two years her junior, fell from the ceiling without a sound. There wasn't a single drop of blood across his pale skin as he stared at her with empty eyes.

He held no weapons, yet the noises the men made as they died indicated they had been cut by a blade, or something far worse. "Wait, don't kill me! Please, I'll do anything!" Seishan screamed, thrashing in her binds as the figure slowly inched towards her.

In a moment, she found her movements were less restricted. Her thrashing quickly paid off as she fell off the bed with a loud thud, her head barely avoiding contact with something sharp. Looking around the room, she saw the pale young man seated on the hospital bed with an indifferent expression painted across his features.

Across the room, the mangled bodies of her captors lay on the floor breathlessly. Blood poured from their throats, livers and sometimes a few men had their intestines sprawled across the floor as Seishan finally emptied the contents of her stomach.

Taking a moment to compose herself, she slowly stood up and seated herself across the hospital bed, her body slick with the blood of her former captors. Turning to the side and taking a few moments to blink, her god remained present, he was no ghost despite his lack of presence.

"You... saved me. Why? Why did you save me?" Seishan muttered, staring at the man before her with a broken expression, tears cascaded from her green eyes as her eyes remained firmly fixed on the young man before her. Oddly, she felt like if she took her eyes off him for even a moment, he would disappear and never return to her life once more.

The thought scared her.

"I... don't know. I don't know who I am or why I did it... I just did." His voice was steady but uncertain, almost pondering the question as he offered a reply. And yet, Seishan didn't care, this man was her saviour, her god. "I'm... Seishan. Do you have a name?" The young man nodded before shaking his head, tapping it lightly with his palm.

"Name... name... I have a name... I just don't remember it. Sun-Sunless? Yes... that was it, my name is Sunless!" It sounded more like he was proclaiming it to the world compared to offering her an answer, yet a satisfied smile settled itself across her face as she stared at him, slowly edging toward him.

"Sunless, that's an amazing name." Noticing a strand of hair threatening to fall into his eye, Seishan extended a hand with a friendly smile placed across her face. The expression of her saviour shifted from indifference to horror as he watched her hand edge closer to his face, his muscles tensed with restrained strength as his eyes narrowed.

"Don't touch me." He hissed, Seishan's hand darted back as she stared at him with an apologetic expression. Sunny seemed to notice this, before offering her the most genuine-looking smile he could muster.

"I'm on the run...from the underworld. Would you like to escape with me?"