Walking.

Walking was the only thing he and the woman had done for hours, with something deadly sharp against his lower back the entire time. He was still afraid he would be killed if he made a single movement. The situation hadn’t changed, only the scenery. The city had grown less dense as they continued to walk, and the buildings stayed the same size and shape; their density grew less and less. Zeph hasn’t seen most of the city of viel, so it made sense that this was all new. A sharp object in the back made it a little difficult to remember where he was.

Thankfully, there were still people walking about, but Zeph didn’t know how he would signal to any of them that he was in danger. But even if he did, it wouldn’t help.

The woman would just kill him on the spot anyway. The anxiety hadn’t died for zeph, but his emotions regarding the situation had. He didn’t feel sad or regret that he was likely to die.

No, he felt anger.

Immense anger.

What had he done to deserve meeting this peril not once but twice in a week?

He had spent his whole life preparing for this, to finally be able to reward his mother for all her hard work. And eventually, be able to give her a better life, but here he was. Slowing, getting walked to his death, and there was nothing that he could do about it.

He felt the thing stabbing his back go a little deeper; thankfully, it stopped before it pierced his skin. The woman suddenly placed a hand on his shoulder and turned him into one of the alleyways. This was it, Zeph thought.

There would be no escape, not from this woman. The thought of his mother hearing about his death is the only thing that gives him the idea to fight back. But if he did, he knew he would just get sliced in half. If he didn’t, she might do it painlessly. He couldn’t help but feel how much of a coward he was. The thought that he would rather die a painless death because he was scared of resistance against someone that wanted to kill him? He was disgusted with himself.

“Keep walking,” the woman spoke after hours of silence, her voice commanding.

“If you try anything, you’re dead; if you say a word, you’re dead. If you so much as look back at me, you’re dead.”

That killed all resistance in Zeph; he was nothing but a child to this woman. She could do whatever she wanted with him, and he couldn’t do a thing about it. He had never felt such frustration in his life.

Zeph could do nothing but nod.

“We won’t be there for a little while longer, but we will be leaving the know places,” the woman said, and as she finished, he felt something wrap around his eyes. A dark cloth. He winched when the woman tightly tied a knot behind his head.

Zeph world was suddenly dark.

The darkness continued; it was even harder to track time when you couldn’t see any light.

Zeph felt it immediately when they walked into a building.

A shift in the air; it suddenly got colder.

“Raise your leg,” the woman said, pushing him forward. He didn’t know when but raised his right foot as he took a step. Instead of stepping over whatever the woman had wanted him to do, he hit it right on. He would have fallen if it wasn’t for the woman’s grip on his shoulder. The woman did not comment.

“Move it; we have already taken far too long to get here,” the woman said, pushing him through what he assumed was a door.

Something swiss passed Steph’s nose, and just like that, he could see.

He felt a small drop of blood run down his forehead until he could see it run down his nose. It was a threat. He knew what would happen if he tried anything, not that he needed reminding. His very core was screaming to get away from this woman.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

But now that he could finally see, there wasn’t much to see. It was what he assumed was an old warehouse. It was beaten down, with makeshift holes in the walls, which he assumed were supposed to be windows. A large majority of the roof was also gone, letting his eyes see the dark sky. He tried not to let the panic set in, but he could already see the sun had set. He would not make it back to the rest of the classes.

He couldn’t help but chuckle at himself, faced with imminent death, and he thought of the missed classes.

Sorry, mother.

The woman released the thing she had been pointing toward his back the entire walk and finally let him free. It felt great to move one body freely again. She began walking in front of him; now that she was this close, he could see she was almost his height. She was tall for a woman, but she was slender. He knew, just by how her clothes fit her, that she didn’t eat enough or couldn’t.

Zeph didn’t know, nor did he particularly care; this was his abductor and likely to be his killer. His sympathy for the woman ran no longer than his nose could reach. And that wasn’t very far.

It was early silent, and the woman made almost no noise when she walked. She turned a corner, one of the walls being completely broken off, leaving a door like a form to walk through. Zeph turned with her.

A tunnel right behind the makeshift door, and he could see the light at the end of it. Zeph looked back at the entrance. But as he turned his head, a sharp purple object hovered over his nose. Zeph stood completely still, knowing that a single movement would be his downfall. After the sharp killing object’s moved away, he slowly looked to his left, seeing that the woman had already walked inside the tunnel.

With no other option, Zeph followed the woman down the tunnel. The tunnel was narrow and dark, but light emanated through a door’s underside. A black wooden door. The woman opened the door, and with a surprised move, she reached out for him. Grabbing zeph by the collar and shoving him inside the room.

Zeph’s entire body fell to the ground, and the woman walked in behind him.

“I better get something for this, Dante!” The woman exclaimed.

Everything stood still for zeph; he felt like a gazelle trapped by hyenas on all sides, and the only thing that waited for it was imminent death.

Zeph nightmare didn’t end; it continued like an endless loop no matter what he did; there always seemed to be a way it got even worse, and here he was. In the dragon’s den with no means of escape. Only total submission to whatever these people wanted with him. That was what he hated most, Weakness, being behind. Being behind in his studies, people having more money, having more power.

His fists became tightly clenched, unfair.

He had never been an angry individual, but here he was. Nothing but rage came from his heart, staring at all of these people who thought he was nothing more than an ant.

The long silence stretched as it seemed every one of the people’s eyes was on him. The most imposing man stood at the back of the group against a concrete wall. Who he assumed would be Dante.

“You will, Aria; you put yourself at risk, don’t worry,” The man said. His voice was deep, but that wasn’t what stood out about the man.

He was large, but he wasn’t even the tallest of the group; another man was bigger than him. But he was broad; it almost looked like the man had armor on his shoulders, even though he wore nothing but a worn black shirt.

The man moved from his spot on the wall, his eyes never leaving Zeph’s form.

“I presume you checked him already,” Dante spoke.

“Of course, nothing!” Aria, the woman who had captured him, said.

“I assumed so; no rich brat from the big schools would ever go around carrying something dangerous; they would have never needed it,” the man said, now close to zeph. He could reach out and touch him if he wanted to.

The comment made zeph twitch; he didn’t like being called a brat. But he hated being called something that he knew he wasn’t even more. Rich.

One day, if he made it out alive.

The man squatted to his eye level, and Zeph knew now why he had seemed so imposing.

His eyes.

They were a distinct red color; he didn’t even know eyes could be such a color. But they didn’t shine bright; not the opposite. It was the deepest darkest red he had ever seen, with a black pupil in the middle. Zeph almost wondered if the man was human. He felt every hair on his body stand up when he looked into those eyes.

“Scared? good,” The man said with a confident smile. Like he had just won some battle. Zeph eyes immediately hardened; the man was playing with his food.

The agony of not being able to do something back. It was killing zeph.

The man only smiled at Zeph’s weak retaliation. “We don’t have time for this; we have a job tonight,” Dante said.

The man turned around and placed his arms wide. It made zeph focus on all the other people in the room. Two girls, one of whom had kidnapped him. And another male besides Dante. Though he couldn’t see the man zeph had tried to save. He almost died trying to save him; It hurt if his effort had been in vain, even if the man had been a criminal.

“You have two choices, be lucky you are even getting them,” the man said. Zeph paid full attention, hoping something would let him survive.

“Aria here,” the man said, pointing toward the woman that had abducted him. “Seemed to want to spare your life because you tried to save one of our own,” the man said.

Zeph felt a little relief, maybe he was just getting a stern talking to, and all of this will be forgotten.

“But I don’t care. You put my family or me in danger by having seen us,” the man said, staring directly into his eyes,” and for that, you need to die,”

Those red eyes and his emotionless pupils. Zeph would die, and there would be nothing he could do to stop it.

“But when I sent Aria to finish the job, look what she found, a studying doctor. How convenient.” The man said. Zeph knew he was getting to the end.

“So choose rich brat. Die now, or be our doctor until we find someone proper and then die,” Dante said, with a smile spanning his entire face.