I reached for one branch after another in frantic ascent. Higher and higher I scrambled to the topmost possible portion of the tree in a never-ending climb. A mad dash to safety. With every upward pull, my arms would hurt. My hands bled, coating the branches bright red.

Run. Run. Run. The words echoed in my head over and over again. My arms hurt terribly, relentlessly. Still, I climbed. To safety.

Over the top of the branches, I saw her. Her putrid flesh coated with puss, crimson blood ran down her face like tears. She pointed at me and screeched. She charged, running on all her four limbs like a wild animal.

I climbed higher and higher. Her screeching was so much closer than before. I grabbed another branch then another in frenzied movements.

"You can't escape, child!" she shrieked, her horrible voice grated on my tattered nerves.

I reached for another branch, my arms feeling more and more like lead each time. Every move I make was accosted with pain.

Excruciating, mind-numbing pain.

I looked down and was horrified at the sight. She had begun climbing the tree, hopping from one branch to another at a pace much faster than I was going. She let out a shrill, ear-piercing cackle as she climbed higher and higher. Her claws dug in and scratched the branches in swift motions.

Fear snaked from the pit of being and took hold of my limbs. One gasp after another escaped my throat. I needed to move. She was coming nearer and nearer. Climbing the trunk with her clawed fingers, torn and bloody, with flesh hanging on exposed bones. My heart thudded inside my chest as she let out an ear-piercing screech.

"Take my hand." A gruff voice above me echoed. I tore my eyes from the woman and looked up.

A bloodied face with black hollowed-out eyes greeted me. An arm slicked with blood and marred flesh was stretched out for me to grasp. A strangled cry escaped from my throat at the sight.

Father.

I reached for his hand as sharp, cold nails dug into my ankles, dragging me down.

I lost my footing.

I fell.

Past the screeching woman.

Past the bloodied branches.

I fell.

The woman turned back, eyeing me. She lunged at me, arms wide and claws ready to dig into my skin.

She swung her arms for a strike as water splashed all around me.

With a jolt, I woke up in agony--in unbearable, excruciating pain. Half-dazed and disoriented, it took me a while before I realized I was laying on a cold floor right on a puddle of water. My body shuddered from the cold and torment uncontrollably, my mind not fully awake just yet. It seems I woke up from a nightmare just to start another one. 

"Sleeping beauty is awake."

I focused on the source of the voice. Cruz was holding an empty bucket, the rim of which was still dripping with water. His face, with welts blue from bruising, held smug victory. His eyes glinted with sinister disdain.

"Oh hey, a fugly beast," I responded, my voice hoarse.

Several men slightly snickered at my jab, but they promptly shut up when Cruz gave them a death glare.

Slowly, the previous events seeped into my mind like poison, threatening to choke the remaining sliver of hope that I still had. They knew I was the Reaper. My Father could have either betrayed me or has fallen prey to Ran. Gio was cut off from me and his men. I could still feel the earpiece inside my ear, unbearably silent.

Fuck.

I fought the disorientation that clouded my mind. If I were to get out of here, I needed to focus.

"Pull her up."

Cruz's men complied immediately. One of them took hold of a metal chain attached to a pulley and gave a forceful pull. Instantly, pain flared from my wrists as I was hoisted up. Damaged flesh and bones were forced to bear the weight of my injured body. I gritted my teeth as I forced down a scream and almost lost consciousness in the process. Fiery pain descended from my arms, coiling around my mind. Involuntary gasps escaped from my lips as I try to deal with the agony. My vision blurred.

Focus! I have to focus.

I tried to find my footing in an effort to alleviate the pressure from my wrist. The moment I stood up, Cruz swept my feet, sending another batch of mind-shattering pain when my wrists were tugged mercilessly by my body weight. The room erupted with laughter, led by Cruz who found my suffering entertaining. I gritted my teeth, stifling a scream that threatened to escape my throat. I would not give them satisfaction.

"Enjoying your stay, Reaper?"

His voice sliced through the haze which enveloped my mind, aggravating my suffering with his mocking. They all rejoiced at seeing me, the feared Reaper, helpless. At having me at their mercy. At the knowledge that they can do anything to me and I was powerless to stop it.

Fools.

With whatever mobility remaining of my hands, I gripped the metal chain and yanked down forcefully as Cruz's man was about to secure its end with a lock. He was caught off-guard and his grip on the chain slipped.

My mind shattered once again as pain erupted but I pushed it back deep, fighting to stay conscious. It took all of me to focus. With one fluid movement, I pulled at the chain until it broke free of the pulley.

I gripped the chain hard, making sure that the pressure on my wrist was minimized, and swung, lashing Cruz on his already bruised face. The metal caught his cheek which promptly bled. I aimed another strike on his head, then shifted my attention to his men who had now snapped out of their shocked state, poised to deliver counter-attacks. Each movement caused my nerves to scream in agony. 

With continuous swirling movements, I lashed at anyone who came within five meters of me. With my current state and Ran's men outside this room, I may not make it out of here. But that didn't mean I couldn't deliver my own hell. If I was going down, I would take as many of them as I could with me.

The metal chain connected with one head after another accompanied by the satisfying cracks of skulls breaking. The more thick-headed ones tried to come back for a second whipping, which I promptly obliged.

For a moment, the men stopped attacking, discouraged by the sight of their fallen comrades' bloodied skulls. It was a welcome respite as the torment on my wrist was becoming too unbearable to ignore. Cold sweat ran down my face and arms, mingling with the blood that had flown freely since I broke free.

I straightened up only to reel. I didn't realize I was panting hard. I was losing blood and strength fast, and with it, my vision started to get hazy. My grip tightened around the chain, already slick with my blood, in silent self-assurance. It took a lot of determination and mental fortitude not to let myself give in to hopelessness and despair.

"Get her, you bunch of retarded morons!" Cruz bawled out, hand clasping his bloodied face. I trained my attention to him and swung. He caught the chain with his hand and forcefully pulled. A scream tore out of my throat when my grip on the chain slipped and I was pulled towards the raging Cruz. The sudden onslaught of jarring pain brought me to my knees and turned my vision white for a couple of heartbeats. All my mental energy worked on staying conscious.

Stay awake. Stay awake.

Through clouded vision, I saw Cruz's men approached. With a spurt of strength, I whirled while on my knees, wrapping the metal chain around myself to relieve the pressure on my wrist. I gripped the chain tight, stood up, and stepped on the chain with as much force as I could using my weight as leverage. Cruz's end of the chain, made slick with blood, slipped from his hands. Quickly, I took control of the chain and was about to begin another series of blows when something latched onto my back. Not a moment after, I collapsed on the ground while waves and waves of electric current flowed throughout my body. My wrists burned while the metal cuffs and spikes conducted electricity deep into my flesh and bones.

My body twitched and convulsed even after the current stopped flowing, refusing any more command of movement. Black dots swirled in front of my eyes. The voices of the men suddenly grew faint and distant.

Too much. It was just too much.

The mental fortitude I had built to ward off the pain came crashing down. It flooded my mind like water unleashed from a broken dam. My vision grew dimmer by the second.

I was yanked upright by the scruff of my neck. The sudden movement made me nauseous. I felt so darned weak and without control of my limbs that I couldn't do anything except to let my head hang limply back as I fought the wave of dizziness. My arms were useless at this point. I couldn't move them anymore.

"Aw, don't balk out now," I heard Cruz's voice through dimmed senses.

"Don't rile her up," a familiar voice chastised Cruz. Warning bells went off inside my head, cutting through the grogginess. The voice, it was Ran's. I tried to take control of my muscles and only managed to raise my head a little. The movement made the room spin.

I gasped as the sudden contact of cold water splashing on my face jolted my senses. The hand holding me let go, and I fell on the floor in a crumpled heap. I knew that these fuckers wanted to see me grovel and beg for my life. For me to ask for mercy to stop my suffering. To acknowledge my defeat and praise them in their triumph. Most importantly, they wanted me to lower myself and be subservient to them. They wanted the Reaper as their lapdog.

Master Shao once told me that no matter how fucked up my situation was, I could always have the one freedom which no one could take away from me, and that was the freedom to react however the fuck I wanted. Right now, I decided that they wouldn't get what they wanted.

Gasping and panting I pushed myself to sit up. The world spun, my muscles shook, my nerves screamed in agony, but with herculean effort, I sat up and looked Ran in the eye. The fucker seemed amused by it. He crouched in front of me and met my gaze.

"Pleasure to meet your acquaintance," he snickered, "how do you want to be addressed? 'Reaper' or 'Ranya'?"

I maintained my silence and didn't give him a reply, not once averting my gaze from him.

"I will call you Ranya then," he mused after it became apparent that no answer from me was forthcoming. He took a swab and swipe it on the fresh blood near my wrists. He then put it inside a tube with a clear liquid and gave it a shake. The liquid turned blue and glowed. Musa looked at me with a smile plastered on his face and reached out to touch my face. I remained unmoving.

"Ahh. I finally found you," he stated as he held back his head and laughed. "After all these years! Finally!" Feeling his hands on my face made me want to gag, but I remained silent.

"You do have pretty eyes," he said casually as if we are not in some basement already bathe in blood. "Gio has kept you all to himself, hasn't he? He has a habit of taking things which are not his." His finger traced down my jawline and back. I repressed a shudder. "Doesn't matter really, you're here now," he nodded to no one in particular, pleased with himself.

"You don't have to worry, your stay here does not have to be unpleasant. I can give you more than what Gio can," he continued, his fingers still tracing along the lines of my face. I maintained my silence and did not dignify his statements with a reply.

When it became obvious that I was ignoring his tirades, he stood up, irritation apparent in his eyes. "You think your Gio is a good man? Do you think he amassed what he has by being good?! He stole and murdered people to get what he wants! Do you know what will happen to him once the world knew he's harboring the Reaper? He'll rot in prison where he belongs!" he paused and grinned, "Unless,--"

"Oh God--" I said, breaking my silence.

Ran smirked after finally getting a reaction from me. "Nice of you to realize my point this early--"

"--he really plans to talk me to death. I didn't pack earplugs," I muttered to no one in particular.

Ran's brow furrowed in consternation at my obvious disregard. My ability to annoy anyone, anytime was my favorite among all my faults. It seemed handy at times like this. Sure, it might be the death of me someday, but in the meantime, I would have a blast irritating the hell out of people like Ran.

"Pull her up," Musa ordered his men, who obliged immediately. My wrists once again flared in pain as I was hoisted up. I gasped as I swallowed an agonized cry.

"You are obviously in pain, and yet you keep this up," Musa sniggered while his eyes held disdain. "You're a fool if you think you can last a week in that condition."

I returned his snigger with my own. "You clearly don't know me."

Ran's brow raised. He stepped towards me until we were almost face-to-face, the promise of pain and suffering was in his eyes. "I will have fun breaking y--"

I burst into laughter. The racking of my shoulders caused my arms to throb more painfully, but I ignored the pain. Ran, who was caught in disbelief at my reaction, stepped back. His hands were fisted at his sides. A quizzical look was in his eyes.

"God, villains are so unoriginal these days. Do you know how many times someone told me that line? Twenty-six times, four times of which, I heard this year alone. It's like you get your lines in the same fucking asshole you pay homage to when you suck each other's dicks."

A jolt of electricity coursed through my body in an instant, sending searing pain all over my body. My knees buckled as I lost control of my muscles and vision. For a couple of seconds, my body swayed, dangling on the metal chain. When I was finally able to shake off the disorientation, Cruz was beside me with a cattle prod.

Lovely.

"I will be a little polite if I were you," he threatened.

"Sorry, I try to be polite. But your face just inspires me to curse so eloquently," I replied, not missing a beat.

Another prod.

"Go on, I can do this all day," Cruz said, snickering.

"Buddy, so can I," I snickered back.

Another prod. Longer, this time.

"So stubborn, just like her father," Ran, who had taken a step back, quipped. At his statement, the image of my wounded Father strapped on a metal table flashed before my mind. I looked him straight to his eyes with an intensity that communicated the things which I would personally do to him once I was out of these cuffs. I knew he understood because his lips formed into a smug smile. A challenge.

"Strap her in the device, " Musa ordered his men. Another stream of electricity shocked my core so much stronger than before that I blacked out in seconds.

When I came to, I was lying inside some metal cylindrical chamber with a little glass window. My feet were shackled and the hands were strapped above my head. Other implements on my waist and legs made any sort of movement impossible. Something was embedded deep in the veins of my arms. I looked up and noticed the tubes. Lights blinded my eyes, aggravating the painful throbbing in my head.

I trained my wearied gaze at the tiny window of the metal chamber and met Hugo's eyes. He wasn't smiling this time around. On his cheek was a bruise.

"I lost ten men when you attacked. Your senselessness---" Ran's accusing voice filtered through chamber.

"And I told you, name your price," Hugo retorted.

"Well then, a man for each one I lost. I need more test subjects."

A pause.

"Done. But I'll take her when you're through with her. I already spread the news that Lady Reaper is on the market."

Fuck. 

The word formed at the back of my mind as energy inside the chamber pulsed and whirred. I saw the once clear tubes filled with rushing blood--my blood, as it was extracted, guzzling whatever remaining strength from my body. Jolts of electricity licked my skin, sending wave upon wave of current into my core.

My screams echoed within the chamber for an indefinite amount of time before darkness consumed me once again.

Hi there!

Now is a good time to remind you, dear readers, to proceed with caution while reading the chapters ahead. This serves as your trigger warning. I don't want to spoil anything, so if you are particularly concerned, please PM me.

RF

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