"What do you want me to do?" He breathed in a calm voice but his heart was racing already and he knew she could hear it but he could not help it. He was still not sure what he had signed for. What did she want from him?
"I have told you, I want your body and soul. And your blood of course!" Her hands roamed on his chest freely. He waited for her holding his breath. "But I want you to prove that you are worthy of it first." she took a step back and smirked at the impact she had on him.
He inhaled another breath and nodded.
"Of course, what do you want me to do?" She finally smiled at his complacent nature.
"What do I want?" Her lips crooked and her eyes shone, "from the start i only want to help you, Elias!" she looked at him as if his cold voice had broken her heart. "I have already saved you from them. But did you forget about your family? Or you are sure that she would not touch them?" Seraphina smirked, a smile that did not reach her eyes and he felt his breath hitch.
He had completely forgotten about them since he had not contacted them ever after being sold. Yet, he had sent all his money to them to make sure that his younger sister did not have the same fate.
She smirked looking at his conflicting face.
"Tick tock! Tick tock! The time is slipping Elias! You must hurry." and before he knew, he was already running toward the door. But when he walked out, he was lost.
He did not know where he was exactly. It would take ages to find his way to the slums. By then he was sure that his family would be dead. He heard steps behind her and slowly turned to meet her glittering eyes.
"What happened, Elias! Why did you stop?" it was all a game for her. A game of cat and mouse where he was a mouse tied in the trap. Yet, he could not anger her, because she held the ropes that tied him.
"I need help to reach them."
She raised a delicate brow at his demand. Her lips curled into a teasing smile. "Are you pleading with me now, Elias?"
His jaw clenched. "No," he said calmly. His eyes steady despite the storm in his chest. "I am not pleading. I am your new pawn, a servant you have chosen for yourself, aren't I? And you are my master." His voice was quiet but firm. "A servant has the right to ask its master for guidance."
Her laughter rang through the air. It was full of seduction and silk but he knew it was a deception. Only her eyes spoke a little truth and he only saw a sharp amusement in them.
"Oh, Elias," she cooed, stepping closer, the amusement in her eyes darkening into something deeper. "That was bold! And clever too. I like it."
He didn't flinch when her fingers traced a line up his chest to rest lightly on his shoulder.
"But remember," she said, her voice low and soft, "every request you make, every breath you take in my favor, becomes another thread in the web between us. Another debt that will hold you closer to me like another chain."
"I will pay for it." he whispered.
Her smile widened. "You already are."
With a blink, the world around them twisted.
The chill of magic touched his skin, the air trembled and in the space of a heartbeat, the dark corridors of her manor vanished, replaced by the crumbling bricks and mildew slick alleys of the slums. The stench of old blood and damp walls rushed at him, familiar and cold.
His boots hit the dirt. but before he could steady himself, she was gone.
He stood alone in the slums with his heart racing and mind reeling. Her absence was like a snapped thread, sudden and jarring. He almost staggered at the weight of it. But there was no time to think. No time to feel his emotions anymore. His feet moved on their own.
He knew the path. Every crack in the stones, every door that creaked. His home was at the edge, near the broken well, the place he had fought tooth and nail to escape. And now he was back. But would he be on time?
Elias turned the final corner, his lungs burning from the lack of air but what he saw made him freeze.
His house! what was once a crumbling yet safe shelter, now stood half-collapsed, its door ripped off its hinges. The inside was chaos. A few thugs had overturned all the furniture and shattered everything that could still be used. He could hear the sharp cries of a girl from inside followed by more laughter.
There were a few spectators from the neighborhood. They all were whispering words of pity but none of them came forward to help. When they noticed him, their eyes widened and their lips parted. Didn't the thugs say that he was sent to prison and already dead?
Elias did not pay attention to them. He ran inside the house.
"LINA!"
The scream tore from his throat before he even registered running. He crashed through what remained of the doorway just as one of the thugs yanked his sister by the arm, his other hand pulling at the front of her torn dress.
Four other men surrounded him waiting for their turn with the girl. His eyes could only see blood and before anyone could understand what happened, he pushed the man away.
Elias's fist connected with his jaw, the sound of breaking bone echoing like a thunderclap in the tiny room. The man flew backward, crashing into the wall with a thud and sliding down like a ragdoll, unmoving.
Two others turned sharply. They were all trained thugs, drunk on power and violence. One had a bloody knife, the other a wooden club. They hesitated when they saw Elias, but only for a breath.The one with the knife lunged first.
Elias sidestepped, grabbed the man's wrist, and twisted hard. The sickening snap of bone echoed in the room. The thug howled, but Elias wasn't done. He drove his elbow into the man's throat until he collapsed, gasping like a fish out of water.
The one with the club hesitated. Elias's gaze locked on him with a cold and oppressive look.
"Run."
The man snarled and charged instead.
Elias ducked under the first swing and drove his shoulder into the thug's chest, slamming him into the wall. The club clattered to the floor. Elias picked it up, turned, and smashed it into the man's knee. The scream that followed was pure agony. Another blow to the man's shoulder, then the ribs.
Blood splattered the wall. The thug tried to crawl away. Elias didn't chase him.
The rest of them, five, maybe six more stood frozen in the doorway, staring at his blood-soaked hands and the wild gleam in his eyes. That kind of strength could not belong to a human.
"He's not human." one of them whispered.
"Monster!" That was all it took.
They bolted away from the house. They shoved each other in panic, scrambling over broken wood and trash, they fled into the shadows like rats.
Elias stood there with his chest heaving, blood dripping from his knuckles.
His sister lay behind him, trembling and clutching her torn dress. Her wide eyes fixed on him. She didn't speak and could not take her gaze away from what looked like her brother.
He turned slowly, his face softening. "Lina… it's okay now. I am here."
But she didn't answer. She just started. Because even in her eyes, He looked like a stranger.