CHAINED UP LIKE MEAT

"What are you doing?" I shouted in shock, watching a big man, with what looked like a permanent scowl on his face, tug my hands in a death grip while dragging me out.

My attempts seemed futile as I struggled in his grip, making his eyes flare, and he shifted his eyes in the other direction, nodding at something or rather somebody, and within a blink of an eye, another man appeared, binding my hands together behind me. He locked it in what looked like police handcuffs, but still yet, it seemed different, and I knew why—because immediately the metal touched my skin, my hands burned. It burned like it was set on fire, and my struggling to remove my hands made it worse because my skin peeled off with my attempts.

I looked up with my tear-streaked and angry face, to see the short bulky woman from earlier staring at me with what looked like satisfaction, and beside her, another woman stood, observing me keenly. Her expression was unreadable. She did not look like the bulky woman; rather, she looked the complete opposite of her—tall, beautiful, with her long glinting black hair, and her dress, sewn from some thick, expensive-looking material. She almost looked regal.

It no longer looked like some kind of prank or game like I thought. What was going on? I thought in fear. The burning, searing pain from my hand made it worse. Or was this some kind of fucked up dream? I thought, because at least that thought seemed feasible—but at the same time, I knew it wasn't, because the burning pain in my hands made it all seem real.

"Who… why… are you doing this?" I asked in pain, and that made her cock her head, her eyes thinking as if she was looking into my soul.

"Throw her in there, and chain her up, the same way we treat our prisoners, the exact same way she was chained before," she finally spoke to the big beast man, who nodded as he moved, grasping my arm, cutting off my blood supply, making it felt numb. They carried me through the door, but not before I heard soft cries behind me, making me turn to see the two maids from earlier looking at me with tear-streaked faces, with tears dropping down their cheeks. At least somebody seemed to care, I thought.

They led me through what seemed like a dark underground tunnel, only it had steps, and a gated door that was made of steel, along with that crooked spooky sound when it was opened.

There was no lighting in here, as if they had no source of electricity. There were poles which held what looked like a lantern all around, but still, it was not bright, like it was done on purpose—to only give brightness to walk through but not to see. But the man holding me did not seem fazed, rather walked through like he had been here a million times already, and he could trace his steps back even if there was pure darkness here.

The croaking sound of gates opening made my head snap up, as panic this time clouded me, blocking the pain. Is this some kind of fucked up game? Did they really have a dungeon, and were they really going to put me in there? My eyes struggled to see through the dark, as the beast man pushed me in the steel cage, unclasping the steel cuffs from my hands, making me breathe a sigh of relief. I stared at my hands. I could not see much through the darkness, but I could feel it, and I flinched. It felt like my hand had been burnt raw. My skin was fresh and hot, and it was definitely going to leave a mark. What kind of fucked up dream am I in?

My relief for my hands was short-lived, because the beast man drew me again, dragging my hands up this time, as the light finally flickered in the direction of the cell I was behind, and I could clearly see chains—exactly like the ones that clasped my hands before—and that made my heart pound in fear, my vision turning blurry, and I felt a full-blown panic attack coming through.

"Wait… what… what are you… doing," I stuttered in fear, struggling aggressively in his hands, fighting and calling him this time. I cannot go back to that chain, definitely not. If it is anything like the ones that bound me before—no… no. The pain was unbearable.

"Stay still, witch," the man said, and his voice sounded more like he shouted because of his bass, and that made me flinch, but did not cut off my fighting.

"PAA!" The sound of thick leather hands hitting skin echoed, and my struggling immediately ceased as my head flipped to the other side. The stinging pain in my cheek was enough to tell me that I had just been slapped, and my body grew still in his hold.

He was wearing leather, I realized, thats was why the chains did not burn him, and if he was still wearing it, that means they must be…

My thoughts were cut off, as one of my hands raised above my head was immediately clasped in the chain with a click, making that biting pain resumed.

I immediately let out a deafening shout as the chain burned through my already injured skin.

He clasped the other hand too with the chain, and he moved to my legs, clasping them too—each to the side—making the pain grow unbearable, almost like parts of my body were dipped in fire. Is this hell? Was I dead? I wondered in fear struggling to comprehend what the hell was actually going on.

I heard his footsteps as he moved to the side, pulling some kind of pulley which made the chains binding my hands drag up, and biting into flesh, tearing the already raw skin.

He grunted, his eyes taking in my form hanging on the chains like some kind of meat, ready to be slaughtered. If I somehow managed to get out of this fucked up dream, I am definitely going to turn full-blown vegetarian after this.

He regarded me once more, his eyes filled with disgust, and walked out, closing the steel doors behind him.

My hands burned—rather, my whole body burned like I was set on fire. I did not know which was worse—was it my right hand, or leg, or the left? Everything felt on fire, and the smell of burning flesh permeated the air—for the first time in a long time, I wanted to die.

"Pain level accumulated – 75%

Total body strength – 100%

Residual body strength – 35%

Host level – 1

Host special skills – Null

Host accumulated skills – Invalid

Host given skills – Perception

System accumulated Perception level – 50%

Note: Host can access special wolf skills like wolf hearing (not sharpened), smells (Identify and trace scents), detect aura.

Host Perception gift from the system – Additional sight (see through long distance)

Level detection Warning: Host strength level reducing.

Cause – Wolfsbane.

System level too low to fight against wolfsbane attack. Host must accurately increase system's level."

Shock filtered through me as I watched the writings appear before my eyes in a screen.

"Hello, Host Lena. I'm Anel, your system."