Chapter 183 Interrogation
>>Tuilum
I watched Miss Sera retreat back down the hallway after taking her call, her figure barely visible in the dim light of dawn. She walked slowly, each step seeming heavier than the last. I wanted to follow her, to offer some comfort, but I knew she needed space.
Everything was already messed up and then she got a call from her little sister who was crying for her.
My heart hurt for her. She couldn’t even do anything to bring little Eris here.
I stood there in the kitchen, the silence of the house pressing in around me, “Is she okay?” Tula asked and I looked down at him. I had my hands on his shoulders.
“I don’t think so,” I replied, “But I hope she will be,” It was difficult to see her falling into despair.
I couldn’t listen to the whole conversation she had with Eris but by the end of it, she got really unnerved.
Why?
The faint light of morning began to creep through the windows, casting long shadows on the walls. I took a deep breath, trying to shake off the lingering worry. I hoped that whatever troubled her would pass soon.
“You should go back, Tula,” I looked down at my brother, “You have to get to class too,” He nodded at me, “Thank you for bringing the phone,”
He stepped away from me, “No problem,” He passed me a smile and ran away.
Hours later, as the household began to stir, I went about my morning duties, but the image of Sera’s troubled face stayed with me. When the others finally woke up, I couldn't keep my concerns to myself any longer and I gathered us in the kitchen.
"I met Miss Sera at dawn," I said, my voice low but urgent. The others exchanged confused glances.
“And?” Runy asked
"She got up in the middle of the night, or maybe she never slept,” I continued. "Looked really troubled and tired.” I looked at all of them, “She even got a call from her little sister, that got her already worn out expressions to turn even worse.” They all had serious looks on their faces, “What should we do?”
"We should check on her," Lila suggested, “At the very least we can take care of her health.”
“What about the Beta?” Hoor asked.
“I’ll call Raye again,” Runy said, “And ask him if Beta Azef really did spend the night with Xia-Lin,”
“And what if he did?” Loid asked, “Then what?”
“We should tell Sera,” I said
Lila let out a sigh, “For now, let’s get her something to eat.” We all nodded in agreement.
Runy, Lila and Ben made their way to her room.
I stayed back and started to make some food for her. Something light that she would be able to take.
>>Runy
Lila knocked softly on her door, “Miss Sera?” But received no answer. So, she knocked again, “Miss Sera?” A sinking feeling settled in my stomach.
“Open the door,” I whispered,
“What if she’s sleeping?” Ben said
“Ben, you idiot,” I looked at him, “Her scent isn’t strong!” As soon as I said those words, it hit them. They gently pushed the door open to look inside, but as I had suspected, all we could see was the empty bed.
“Oh no,” Lila went inside in a panic,"She's not here," She said, the worry in her voice was clear.
“Oh man,” Ben got frantic, “Her scent is fading…” I looked at the open window,
“She must have left the room hours ago!” We looked at each other but didn’t have to spell it out about what had to be done and then ran out to look for her.
The pack members were mind linked to let them know of the situation, and soon enough, everyone was looking for her.
The best thing about linking minds is that anyone who knows what’s happening can tell you right away but even when we got the whole pack involved, no one knew where Sera was. And that alone was enough to get everyone to panic.
The pit in my stomach grew deeper. Where could she have gone? And what had happened to make her leave like this? As the others began searching the house, calling her name, many of us tried to follow her scent.
It led out the house, into the woods. But since it had been long since she left, her scent had most disappeared.
>>Azef
In the dimly lit basement, the air was thick with the stench of blood and sweat. The walls were grimy, streaked with rust and other unidentifiable stains.
Hmmm
I’ll need to call the cleaners again.
The single, flickering light bulb hanging from the low ceiling cast eerie shadows, highlighting the scene of brutal torment. Now the basement level is actually well lit, but seems like my underlings wanted to create an atmosphere.
I stepped cautiously down the stairs, my eyes adjusting to the dimness. There he was, slumped in a metal chair bolted to the cold floor. His hands were bound tightly behind his back with coarse rope that had cut into his wrists, leaving raw, bloody marks. His face was a grotesque mask of agony and defiance, swollen and bruised beyond recognition. One eye was completely closed, enveloped in a puffy, dark purple bruise, while the other struggled to stay open, a bloodshot red against the whites.
His lips were split and bleeding, with dried blood crusting in the corners of his mouth. Several teeth were missing, knocked out during the relentless beatings. His nose was crooked, clearly broken, with dried blood trailing down to his chin. A deep gash ran along his cheekbone, the edges jagged and angry, testament to the sharp claws that had inflicted it.
I told them not to use their claws on regular people, but looking at Allen’s condition, I doubt he even noticed what cut him.
His torso bore the evidence of sustained, methodical torture. His shirt, torn and stained, clung to his body, revealing patches of raw, abraded skin. Burns, some fresh and oozing, others older and scabbed over, peppered his chest and abdomen. His ribs were prominently visible under the bruised and battered skin, some possibly broken, each breath he took causing a wince of pain.
His legs were not spared either. His knees were swollen, the right one twisted at an unnatural angle, suggesting a dislocation or worse. Deep lacerations marred his thighs, each cut precise and deliberate, as if inflicted to maximize pain without causing immediate death. His feet, bare and filthy, showed signs of having been subjected to severe beating, the soles a mottled mix of blue, purple, and black.
The room was silent save for his labored breathing and the occasional drip of blood onto the floor. Each sound was amplified in the oppressive silence, echoing off the walls and adding to the atmosphere of despair. The instruments of his torture lay scattered around on the table—a blood-stained knife, a pair of pliers, a length of electrical wire, and a blowtorch.
I smiled
I knew they’d do a great job
“You stole something from me,” I went and sat down in front of him, on a clean cushioned chair.
“What?” He still dared to meet my eye, “Your money?”
“The doll,” I said, “That little light brown bunny,”
His expressions turned sour, “That wasn’t yours,”
“That’s mine alright,”
“That wasn’t yours!” He glared at me, and I despised the look in his eyes. So I slapped him hard. So hard, blood came out of his mouth but then it just might be because his mouth was already full of blood.
“Where did you put it?” I asked
“I will never tell you,” He still dared to look at me with those eyes
“Considering you treat your daughters so badly, I don’t see why you're hung up on a dead one.”
“You!” His voice was hoarse, “She died because of you!” He yelled, “You took her doll!”
“No,” I shook my head, “She gave it to me,” I grabbed his face, “And how dare you blame it on me, you were the one cheating on your wife,” I slapped him again, Sarina died, because you were busy fucking my mother!” And I slapped him again, this time with the back on my hand.
“NO!” He screamed, but the result of it was his own damage. He coughed out some blood and then continued to cough for a few seconds, which was followed by the God awful sound of him wheezing, trying to breathe.
“She followed you,” I laid back, taking the towel from Raye and cleaning my hand, I looked at him, “I only got to meet her because she was curious where her father was,” I looked at him with disgust, “It’s all on you,”
“No…”
“Look at yourself, you know all of it is your fault. That is why you’re in such a pathetic state.”
“No…” He shook his head trying to deny it
“You ruined yourself,” I said, “None of this would have happened if you were a good husband.”
Anger boiled inside of him, “I will still, never give you the doll! It was Sarina’s!”
I scoffed, “You’re more hung up on a doll rather than your daughter.” He paused, “I don’t really need that doll now that you’ve given Seraphina to me,” I scoffed, “The wiring in your brain is all wrong. You're hung up on Sarina because you think her death got your family in shambles.” I shook my head at him, “Pathetic,” Then I let out a laugh, “And in your misery, you offered up your other daughters to a worse fate.”
His eyes went wide, “Right… I put them up as collateral.” There was fear in them.
“That’s right. She’s mine now.” I smirked, “All of her,” My smile widened, “I’m going to taste every inch of her.” I gulped, “You can keep the doll.”
“N-no!” He began to panic, “You’re going to kill her too.”
“Why does it matter to you now, you’ve already given her to me.”
“You’ll kill her!”
“I wasn’t the one who killed Sarina to begin with. It’s just you denying it.”
“I saw you at the window!!” He tried to scream but the most he could manage was a hoarse voice coming out, “When she was dying, she pointed at you.”
I felt guilty. I was the one who told her to go away.
“Yes,” I agreed, “She pointed at me, who was behind a locked window. What could I have done from there? She walked on that road on her own.” I felt angry, “But she was keeping her eyes out for you. Because she knew you were in the house, the same house as me.”
His lips quivered, “No…”
“Yes,” I said and his figure shrunk, “You know what the odd thing is,” I didn’t want to smile, but no other emotion would come over, “When you were assigned to make the delivery, I thought you looked familiar.”
“So did you…” He said, “But I could never have imagined you were that kid…”
“Took me some time to recognize you- NO, actually, I didn’t recognize you till the time I recognized Seraphina,”
“What are you going to do?” He raised his gaze to look at me.
“With who? You?” I pointed at him, “Hmmm, killing you won’t be fun. I’ll think about how much of you we can sell.”
“No,” His body began to tremble, “With my daughter,”
“Why do you care? You already sold her,”
“Don’t!” He tried to raise his voice. And although he couldn’t do it, it annoyed me.
“Oh! I’m going to do every ‘vile’ thing a man can do to a ‘woman’” I smirked and then let out a lustful sigh as I looked at the ceiling with my hands on my stomach, which made his eyes go wide, “And I’m going to enjoy every bit of it.” Just thinking about joining my body with hers was making me ecstatic.
We’re going to make love and then have pups
Another sinful breath escaped my lips, which caused him more fear, but to me, even the thought of it, filled me with ecstasy.