Chapter-4

My back collided harshly with Cassius's chest as Ezra pushed me towards him. Before I could move, he had his arms wrapped around me.

"Let me go!" I screamed when Cassius grabbed my face before tugging me towards his face. My breathing shortened, he was too close for my liking. My heart skipped several beats as his stormy eyes pierced through me.

"Obey, little one." There was something dangerous about his words. The roughness of his words scraped my courage, my mind stilled with fear, I didn't want to know what he was capable of doing to me. I instinctively froze out of pure terror.

His voice was so loud and icy that it made my heart skip several beats. I looked up at him in both fury and fear. His eyes had lost their shine which was present when he confronted me on the balcony. His face looked stoic, his body looked tensed and his eyes were a dangerous combination.

"It took longer than expected...."

Ezra said from behind me.

"It was a bit fun," another voice interrupted as Veles walked through the large doors. My eyes moved towards his hands, bloodied hands. Ruby! I looked wide-eyed at him as he smirked.

"W-what did you do to her?" My words were caught inside my throat. I feared the worst. His smirk widened as he raised his hands in the air before showing me blood. No! No! No! It couldn't be! He didn't-she isn't!

"You bastard!" I screamed with all the energy I was left with. My arms flapped around in a desperate need to get free. Cassius seemed to be stronger than he looked. His hands reflexively grabbed my arms before pulling me towards him again.

"She's a feisty one, unlike your type, Cas." I was too paranoid to recognize the last voice. My tears shed as I kept thrashing in Cassius's arms. The screams of my disparity intensified their entertainment. I couldn't understand why was this happening when it became like this.

"I like me some challenge." His voice fuelled my anger tenfold. I cried and screamed and kicked but my strength was too low compared to him.

Their laughs filled the whole room, I could see several corpses laid on the porcelain-marbled floor, mothers, daughters, sons, and warriors, and even the few corpses of people I used to know. Our chef, Morrie lay lifeless, Beside her, I c… could see her daughter's body, still clutching her mother's hand though her dead eyes were wide open and looked lifelessly towards the ceiling.

I cried. I couldn't control myself. I felt both petulance and agitation, wondering if some of my family was alive. I couldn't hear a single sound. The crying and screaming had stopped long ago. My knees weakened as I found myself slipping down into Cassius's arms.

"Where's Claus? He said he would be here long ago?" Veles interjected. And for a moment I wonder who this Claus was. But then I found myself in reality, probably one of their brothers. My arms were aching from the grip Cassius had.

My tears were like a free waterfall, continuously falling without care. I grieved, for my family, for my sister. My fate was undecided.

"Stop crying, sugar. Your voice is exploding in my ears." I suddenly looked up to find the man with sparkly silver hair and strikingly alluring grey eyes, with pale white skin and a body built like a warrior, scoffing. He looked dangerous.

He snarled at me. I jumped back slightly only to back against Cassius's legs. "We need to leave." Ezra interrupted. I screamed as I felt lifted off the ground like a sack, and muscles collided against my stomach as Cassius carried me over his shoulder. I cried, begged, and screamed but it didn't help either way. What was going to happen to me?

****

A terrified gasp escaped her lips as she scooted closer to the trees. Her feet were bleeding and her hands trembled with unexplainable fear. Her eyes looked widely towards her tormentors, barking at others.

Ezra looked from the shadows, his white linen shirt soaked with blood. There were a few light scars all over his bulky arms. He sighed as he noticed the faint healing brown marks appearing. He was about to step towards the lake to wash when he landed on the quivering frame of a fragile woman sitting while hugging her knees closer to her chest. He couldn't help but feel captivated by the way her body shook with each sob that reverberated through her.

Initially, he had no plans of taking anyone let alone this woman to his lands, but he couldn't deny the fact that she could make a perfect little slave salivate his hunger. He knew he hadn't shown any interest in her earlier but now that he was examining her carefully, he could see the flecks of desire for her ravenous body. The way her hair shielded her crying face, the intensity with which she was shivering, her cold chapped lips trembling in the cold air of night, he could feel his body reacting accordingly.

"Fuck!" He cursed under his breath as his blood rushed towards his groin. The tightness seemed uncomfortable to him.

"And I thought I was the only one who had the power to make you feel this way." Ezra huffed as he saw a lurking dark figure stepping out from his side. The silver hairs of a man with equally pale white skin glimmered with beads of blood and moonlight. Ezra couldn't help but sseethe way his muscles flexed as he pushed the wide tree branch aside. A deadly combination.

"You still have," Ezra said mockingly. Theodore chuckled amused.

"Still? Is this supposed to make me feel better?" Ezra rolled his eyes as he stepped towards the front with Theodore lightly chuckling behind.

"Veles!" He snarled. "Could you stop making those mortals scream? It's annoying." Veles ran his bloodied fingers through his hair as he nodded his head.

"Did you enjoy the massacre, Ez?" Veles asked amused as he grabbed a large axe from the side, his grin widened when the screams came from a few surviving victims.

"Their voices irritate me to no limit," Ezra grumbled when he heard a startled scream from behind. He looked over his shoulder when his eyes again fixated on a woman wearing a torn the p golden-hued dress.

Hazel's eyes were as wide as saucers; her hands were tightly wrapped around her dress. She breathed heavily as she watched Veles swing the axe in the air before landing it perfectly on the old man's neck followed by two startling screams. Cassius smirked, his back resting peacefully against the bark of a tree. He was enjoying it like always screams and blood.

It didn't take Veles long to kill the last few remaining people. By this time, Hazel's screams were muffled. Her mind stopped processing anything, her hands trembled uncontrollably. She was in shock. Ezra again glanced her way before scoffing.

"Where's Claus? What's taking him so long?"

"He would be here-"

"Get ready." Theodore looked over his shoulder when a deep voice interrupted him. Hazel scarcely looked towards the left when a tall, fiery red-haired man with lightly tanned skin, stepped from the shadows. She gulped hard when she realized who this man was. Not only did the scar over his face look scary, but the man itself also radiated evilness. Ezra rolled his eyes.

"You missed all the fun." Veles grinned. Claus took a few long strides as the muscles of his arms flexed with movements. Hazel could see the faint bloodstains all over his clothes, she feared the reason.

"I was having another kind of fun," Claus smirked as Veles threw his head back, his laughter echoing wholly in the forest. Hazel gritted her teeth as beads of tears accumulated in the corners of her eyes. Within a few hours, her whole family was dead, her sisters, her father, her friends, and her kingdom.

The sorrow swept her memories away, she realized how quickly she had lost everything, not only her kingdom but also the place she called home. Claus's laugh stopped when his sparkly blue-green gaze landed on the folded figure under the tree to his left. His eyes narrowed as his brows scrunched together.

"What about 'no spoils of war law, huh?" He gritted. The gruesome thoughts enabled Hazel to hear anything, she felt herself becoming more and more accustomed to her reality.

Veles's grin slowly faded as he followed Claus's gaze. "I demand a fucking explanation," Claus growled making Hazel jump.

She fearfully looked towards the voice when she met with an angry pair of enchanted eyes. Her soft brown eyes locked with his blue ones. For a second, Hazel forgot about her situation, the atmosphere seemed to thicken with the intensity of his gaze, and the hairs on her body stood accordingly as his eyes slowly caressed her soul. Claus felt something strange dwelling inside him as he looked carefully at her face, the soft tanned skin reminded him of soft summertime, the doe-like brown orbs replaced his memories of Earth's surface.

The perfect heart-shaped lips eager him to taste their plumpness, and their teary-soaked face dwelled a desire inside him to witness her tears.

He felt strange. His eyes scanned her body. Shattered clothes. His lips upturned in an evil smirk as his gaze landed on the valley of her breasts.

"Or maybe we can make an exception." Hazel's breathing shortened, she knew that look, she was familiar with that look. The hungry look in his eyes scared her, she immediately moved back on her bottom when she felt rough tree bark scraping against her back. Claus's smirk widened as he took a step towards her, his eyes assessing her every move.

"Where do you think you're going, little mouse?" Hazel felt fear crawling through her veins, her scared eyes looked up at him with pleas.

"And here I thought this one had to die." Veles chuckled. Claus hummed without letting his gaze wander away from her face.

"It would have been an honour to kill her." Ezra gritted his teeth as he felt his pants tightening more. He couldn't understand the way his body was reacting.

"Anyways, we have a long way to go." Theodore interrupted as he dusted his hands. He looked down at his clothes before mumbling. "And I need a fresh set of clothes." Ezra rolled his eyes before following after Theodore not before taking a glance at Hazel, he could faintly feel her fear, the unshed tears.

Hazel gulped down the lump of saliva as Claus averted his eyes with a small smirk of warning. Veles took it as an opportunity and grabbed Hazel by her arm making her shriek as he pulled her towards his chest.

Her wide eyes looked at him with a plea for mercy. Veles grinned before raising his hand to touch her cheek, she flinched. His piercing gaze pinned her, as he trailed his finger down her cheek.

"Welcome to hell, little mouse."