I blinked, disoriented, staring at a ceiling that was sterile and white—not the cracked, faded paint of my usual room. Glancing to my right, I saw my mother, her face red from crying, clutching my hand as if I were about to slip away. The memory of her frantic sobbing lingered, her disbelief that her own gun had nearly ended me, the bullet grazing my skull. I was lucky—another inch, and I’d have painted the carpet with my own brains.

“Oh, Axel!” she sobbed, hugging me tightly. “Thank god. You’re awake.”

“Mom?”

A chill ran through me. “Not quite.”

The vision vanished, and I opened my eyes again to find myself bound tightly in chains, strapped to the bloody table in the cabin. My clothes were gone, and no amount of struggling loosened the chains. Suzan, the traitor, stood before me, her gaze cold and fixed as she brandished a gleaming knife, her smile unwavering.

She strolled over, pressing her finger down between my eyebrows, applying a painful amount of pressure. I clenched my teeth, trying to contain the panic rising within me.

“Time for a little carving, Axel,” she murmured, her face inches from mine, her breath warm and taunting. “Excited?”

“Why?” I managed, my voice breaking. “What the hell is this? Why?”

Suzan stepped back with a smirk, playing with the knife. “Oh, you really want to know? You’re going to be so disappointed.”

Desperately, I twisted against the chains, muscles straining, trying to free even a hand, a leg—anything. But the bindings were tight, leaving me almost no room to move.

“Are you ready for the big reveal?” she asked, feigning dramatic anticipation. She let out a small laugh as I stared, helpless.

“Just tell me,” I demanded, voice laced with frustration and fear. “Why are you doing this!”

She paused, eyes sparkling with deranged excitement. “Taxes.”

“Ta—what?” I managed, frowning, my voice laced with disbelief. Though, I could tell she was lying.

“Do you have any idea how expensive meat is?” she said, twirling the blade in her hand. “We needed a solution, and let’s just say, we got creative.”

“You’re insane! Go hunt in the forest or something!” I yelled, anger igniting as the reality of her words sank in.

Her smile twisted. In one quick motion, she plunged the dagger into my shoulder, the blade piercing through to the wood beneath. Pain erupted, sharp and burning, and I choked back a scream as the agony surged through me.

“Goddamn it!” I groaned, panting. “You’re… insane…”

She chuckled, covering my mouth to muffle my cries. “I personally prefer elf meat,” she mused, her voice tainted with dark satisfaction. “The elves I told you about? Oh, they were delicious. My customers couldn’t get enough.”

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“You’re sick!” I spat, voice hoarse. “Completely sick!”

It was rare for me to lose control like this. I was always careful, calm, calculated. But here, shackled to a table, facing a twisted death, I’d lost my usual mask. Panic clawed its way up my throat as I struggled, feeling the knife dig deeper into my shoulder with every move.

Sweating, I scanned for a way out, something to break the chains, anything to buy me even a slim chance. My heart raced as I considered the reality that I might end up as her next meal. This woman had tricked me, exploited my trust. I had been a fool, and now I was paying for it.

“Let me go,” I pleaded, swallowing hard. “Please. You… you don’t have to do this.”

Ignoring me, she crouched by a dog’s corpse, shoving it aside to reveal a hidden trapdoor. With a look of cruel satisfaction, she opened it and reached down, pulling out two severed heads—an elf man and a young girl, no older than ten, their lifeless eyes staring blankly. She set them down beside me, their expressions frozen in horror.

“No!” I screamed, thrashing, chains cutting into my skin as I struggled. “No, this is—”

“These were the elves I was talking about,” she said, glancing at the heads with a disgusting pride. “I wanted the brother for a while and planned to keep the girl around a bit longer… but things don’t always go as planned.”

“I’m not even from this world!” I shouted, desperation seeping through every word. “I came from another world! Just… let me go, please.”

She raised an eyebrow, smirking. “Oh, and I’m the Queen herself!” she sneered, mocking me. “Better bow down, then!”

I felt the bile rise in my throat, my body stiffening in panic. “Listen to me! I’m serious!” I gasped. “Please… don’t do this…”

But her cold smile remained. Somehow, I could sense her sadness. Like she was forced to do this. “Sorry. Can’t do that, kid.

As a faint rustling sound echoed from outside, Suzan's attention shifted. She moved to the window, peering out, then muttered a curse under her breath. Her expression grew tense, her sinister smile fading as she turned back to me.

“Don’t go running off anywhere, my dear Axy-Axy. I’ll be back,” she taunted.

She leaned down, planted a mocking kiss on my cheek, and left, locking the door behind her. The moment she was gone, I strained my neck, scanning the room for anything that could help. Dogs whimpered around me, adding to the sickening scene. My clothes lay crumpled near Gentle Gerald, and, glancing down, I finally noticed how the chains were secured—my feet were bound to a ring on one table leg, while my hands were locked to a ring on the opposite leg.

Dangling one leg off the edge, I began kicking at the ring. One strike, two, three—on the fifth, it broke free with a metallic clang. I was finally free… half-free.

When I tried to sit up, however, pain flared from the knife still buried in my shoulder, pinning me down.

“Ah… damn it…”

First, I bit down on the knife’s hilt, tugging to loosen it, but it barely budged. Sucking in a breath, I braced myself, then forced my body upward, enduring a new wave of agony. The knife shifted slightly, but not enough to remove it completely. Blood seeped faster from the wound, throbbing with every heartbeat.

With a final push, I managed to sit up fully, gasping in relief. “Thank… god. Okay. Okay.”

Gritting my teeth, I seized the knife’s hilt, closing my eyes and steeling myself. I tugged, feeling the blade tear against muscle with a sickening sound, but it finally came loose. My shoulder flared in pain, but the worst was over.

Kicking free the remaining ring binding my arms, I was fully unchained. Ignoring the pain, I quickly pulled on my clothes, then crept toward the window. I scanned the area. It looked clear—no sign of Suzan.

“Alright,” I whispered to myself, taking a shaky breath. “I can do this… I can get out. Ou---out…”

All of a sudden, everything became grey and I fell on the floor due to the blood loss I experienced.

“Agh…” I whispered. “I---out… crap.”