So, I'm your prey?

"Okay! But I'm completely blind in here," Jake whined, his hands still flailing wildly through the inky darkness. The air around him was so heavy with the scent of some damp earth and decayed stuff.

"I guess you can turn on the light now or something?" he pleaded.

"Oops! I think I lost the flame, Jake. But that's not a problem. We'll find our way out soon." She said, her voice was clearly laced with amusement and deception. And the sound of her footsteps were just echoing through the darkness, over and over again.

Her movements were seemingly effortless despite the lack of light. She actually seems used to darkness or something. Cuz, what the hell? She wasn't even finding it difficult at all. Unlike jake.

Jake strained his eyes again, trying to adjust them in a spot, but it was really of no use. He was definitely trapped in an abyss of blackness.

"But for now, you need to become my prey." Mia's voice dropped from nowhere in a whisper into Jake's ears. He was shocked that she even found the space for his ears! Was she really a witch?

Jake's heart actually skipped a beat at the hearing of her horrible words.

"What?"

Dash!

Brommmm!

Crench!

Ishhhh!

Jake's ears rang as he stumbled back and frontward from the several pushes he was receiving from Mia, his hands raised in defense but it was just so hopeless.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

"I'm painting you with a mould of mud. You're to act like my prey outside this door, else you'll die like a bunny." Mia said, still in the thick darkness.

The sound of her hands moving through the darkness was accompanied by a faint squelching silly noise, it was just as if she was applying some kind of viscous substance to his skin.

Ewww!

Jake couldn't really see what was going on. But damn! He could feel some mould of sand being poured at him. His body must really be looking so stinking by now.

His skin crawled once more as he felt another round of damp mud spreading across his body. Jeez! He was completely at Mia's mercy, unable to see, nor talkless of defending himself.

Why the hell did she act this weird?

The next thing that rang into his ears where….

Brak!

Brak!

Brakkkkkkkk!

Shit! Did that demon smash the door?

The sound of splintering wood shattered in the air, followed by a sudden blast of bright sunlight that actually made Jake's eyes run watery.

The door seemed to have been ripped apart, and Jake found himself stumbling backward, his eyes screwed shut against the glare. He used his soaked elbow to block the rays of the sun from eating up his eyes.

After a few seconds.

He slowly opened his eyes, meeting with the sight of the sun again, hanging low in the sky, its rays casted some long shadows across the ground.

And then, fuck!

Mias oval face showed up!

his gaze fell upon her oval face, but this time, it was being painted with some…. maybe white chalks. In the form of a skeleton. It actually changed her looks to that of a warrior or some vikings something.

Why the hell did she paint like a masquerade?

"Hey! Like I said, if you wanna survive this, you have to stick your head to the game. Just follow my lead…don't act like a jerk, okay!" Mai whispered to him, direct to his face.

Jake nodded, but he felt so confused now. What did Mia mean by that…and why was he hearing so much noise?

Mia removed her face and boom! There it was! Jake saw something that actually made his stomach gag for breakfast.

Fuck!

The people in the surrounding area look so tattered. They were all putting on various kinds of old attire…. But damn! Some of the people there were so huge in size.

The big ones also seem to paint themselves as Mia did. But they were all guys! And….and in their hands was a wipe, whipping the poor dudes with skinny bodies. So hard.

Was this some slave trade eral or what?

Jake found himself swallowing hard as he saw the bully on them. He turned his neck and looked at Mia who was now smiling mischievously at him.

"Oh Crab! Tell me you aren't one of them." Jake said almost as if he would soon pass out if she told him, she was.

"Nah! I'm not one of them…"

"Thank God you aren't. Euuu!"

"I'm their leader." she whispered like a crazy maniac, grabbing his hair tightly.

"What?"

"Ouch! That hurt"

"Just keep quiet and play along"

She pulled his hair, dragging him to the cue of the so-called prey. She then fling him among them, bringing out that rope she folded earlier in the room and then tied it on his hand. Tightly.

She pulled his hair again, Jake wanted to scream hard but he just couldn't. He saw that the rest of the victims like him were all mute even while being whipped. Few were only groaning silently and those were the women among them.

"You really have to be quiet Jake, else–" Mia whispered, cut short by the sudden murmur from the queue.

Seems like someone from the queue suddenly screamed aloud as he was being whipped again.

Ahhhhhhh!

The old looking man quickly went down on his knees after realizing he had…. awfully deflated the rule of being silent even while you get wiped. He was literally begging the huge guys that were with the wipe.

Jake couldn't really hear what he was telling them, but for sure he could see his mouth mumbling some words to them. Maybe he was begging for mercy.

The huge guy's face were etched and full of menacing. They didn't even look sympathetic at all.

One of them went to the chariot and picked a sword and then threw it to his partner. The other guy gubbed the sword from the air and then swung it swiftly, slicing off the skinny old man's head.

Jeez!!!!!

Jake almost screams at the sight of that. He had never seen a dead man before, talk less of seeing one be killed right before his very eyes.

"Else, that will happen to you too." Mai concluded, pulling his hair towards her face. "So act well!"

She dropped the wipe at Jake's back which left some stretch lines at his back. He felt that was heartless of Mia. At least, Mia should have considered the fact that he was a stranger here. Plus, they didn't talked about this flogging shit!

Mia pushed him, and he found himself swimming among multiple bodies In the queue that was soaked with mud sands like his. He even gubbed some into his mouth mistakenly.

He turned backwards to look at the demon friend of his who claimed to be helping out only to see that she had suddenly disappeared from his view.

"Fuck! Where's she?" He turned around, looking for Mia in the midst of the countless bodies that he was now. He was literally in their middle.

He turned, right, left and sideways, all at the same time. But damn! He couldn't find that little witch. Where is she? Fuck!