I hurried out of the radio room and back into the room with all the alien specimens. The shadows were growing longer, and I knew I had to return back to Axel as soon as possible as the day was growing late. I knew I had to tell him what I found. He’d be angry I had wandered around against his explicit instructions but now, I was happy that I did. If we wanted to survive, we’d have to find shelter as soon as possible.
As I hurried down the aisle, preserved bodies on either side of me, another shoe scraped against the floor.
I slowed. That was definitely real and not a figment of my imagination this time. I was sure of it.
My eyes tore across the room, searching for the source of the sound, and still, I found nothing. There was no one here with me, I told myself. It was probably my own nerves, playing tricks on me.
I made my way back to the end of the room, seeing the portal glittering in the distance. I rushed toward it, knowing I had to get back to Axel as soon as possible.
Sudden, someone grabbed my hair roughly, cackling with pleasure and I screamed at the intense pain in the back of my head. I tried to jerk away, but the man’s hold was strong, sure, powerful, and entirely cruel. My scalp burned hotly, and tears sprang to my eyes instantly.
“So, my brother has let you wonder free then, huh,” the voice said and my skin crawled, my body going tight with fear. My lungs felt like steel and my breath caught in my throat.
It was Saleos. There was no doubt in my mind.
“Let go of me!” I yelled.
He just laughed instead and dragged me down the aisle of the room by my hair. I kicked and scratched at the floor, finding zero grip on the tile beneath my hands. I punched at him and used my fingernails and teeth to tear at his ankle, but no matter what I did, I couldn’t find a purchase against any of it. His strength was so much greater than mine. He was a lion and I was the lamb being led to slaughter.
If I couldn’t get away, I was as good as dead. I knew that now, more than ever.
I screamed, hoping to god any soul alive would hear me. But, no one else came to answer. We were completely and utterly alone, and I grieved for it. Axel wouldn’t know I was here. He couldn’t. I hadn’t told him I had left the cave. I never had and now I was regretting it.
He took me into another hallway and then another, all the way dragging me by my hair. My scalp screamed in pain, and I struggled against his hold, but I was no match for him. We had descended down a ramp and I realized we were in some underground location, completely hidden away from any prying eyes from above, not that there were any.
He threw me into the room and slammed the door behind him.
He stared at me, a salacious, evil, excited grin for what was to come.
I shook. His skin glowed a dark cherry red, his eyes an even deeper red. His irises reminded me of the fires in the pits of hell, far different from the sultry flames of Axel’s eyes. A feral demon, ready to tear me apart limb from limb, after he fucked me raw and used me as he saw fit. I shivered, suddenly thankful for the clothing I had gathered, but still I felt naked before him. He stalked forward, his eyes devouring the sight of my calves all the way up to the veins in my throat.
I knew without a doubt, he was going to fuck me. He’d probably kill me as he did so.
“Pretty little thing like you, wandering along all by yourself, without the protection of my most annoying brother. I find myself feeling rather lucky tonight,” he chuckled.
My heart beat in my throat.
My skin tingled and my blood chilled, icy with fear.
He sauntered toward me, overly confident. I shrank away, but it didn’t matter. He pushed me up against the wall, surrounding me with his massive frame.
I cried out with fear, unable to breathe and shaking with alarm.
“Get the fuck away from me. I’ll kill you,” I warned, trying to stay strong and he simply laughed at me.
“You’re here before me, ripe for the taking and you’re threatening me? When I could spear you with my cock in a matter of seconds? Tear you in two and make you scream my name? Over and over as I take you for my own, right before I rip your insides open and watch you bleed?” he laughed, his tone cruel and demeaning. I trembled with terror.
His fingers laced around my left foot and I recoiled with horror. I tried to kick him off, but he held on to me tightly. I wanted to throw up. I remembered the moment his cock had threatened to take me, how Axel had arrived at the opportune moment to rescue me.
Though Saleos was the same creature as Axel, he was entirely different. Even when Axel had lost complete control, he still hadn’t hurt me. Hadn’t maimed me in any way but I had no doubt Saleos would. I knew if I let him anywhere near me, I wouldn’t see the morning sunrise ever again. He’d kill me. I was sure of it.
I could see it in his eyes. There was a certain manner of unhinged sociopath hidden within their depths. A promise of unforeseen cruelty if I let him get anywhere near me. A promise of uncertain death at the hands of a serial killer.
I didn’t want to die. I wanted to live. I wanted the world to know my story.
“Wait,” I started.
He paused, dragging an impatient breath between his teeth, the sound whistling around us. I stilled, trying not to catch his attention any further. His eyes darkened dangerously, and I knew, at that moment, his hormone levels were rising by the second and that soon, no matter what I said, he would be entirely uncontainable. A monster controlled only by his instincts and I tried to quell my fear as much as I could.