Shudders: Reclamation Day

Chapter 27 - The Guilty

Photo by Roland Krawulsky
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    Dog gulped as he looked into the cell...

    The woman was sitting on the bed with her knees to her chest and eyes staring blankly at the wall. The healing claw marks across her cheek, bruise on her neck, and bleeding lip were all signs of her treatment from Ki and Akai. She was lost in thought as she rocked back and forth slowly on the bed that it made Dog a bit nervous going in.

     It was all his fault she was in there. He looked into her for Ki and Akai. If he never did maybe she wouldn't be in this predicament.

     Dog made his way over to the cell door and took a seat in front of it, facing the halls. He could hear (Y/N) move a little and a breath come from her. She must have noticed him.

"Are you the spider?"

      He turned his head a little to glance at her but quickly turned back around with a nod.

"The scouts you work for... it's them, isn't it?"

      She must have put the pieces together. What was he supposed to say? 'Yes, I work for the people you hate'? He sadly nodded again, never turning around.

      Did Ki and Akai find out about her through him? (Y/N) watched the crouching demon carefully. His tattered robes covered most of his body to where he looked like a short troll. His spider legs were tightly folded against his back and partially covered by his clothes. He seemed nervous being around her and avoided making eye contact. He must know about her ability. There's not much she can do with it anyways. Mind reading can only get her so far and it wasn't far enough.

    She sighed and went back to looking at the wall. At least the spider demon seemed like better company besides the two she loathes. "Do you have a name? I don't want to keep calling you spider."

"D-Dog..."

'Dog?' (Y/N) raised an eyebrow and looked at him. "Your name is Dog? It sounds demeaning..."

"...Akai named me. He said it fit me."

"Of course he did." She grumbled. No demon would willingly refer to themselves as something as demeaning as Dog. "What's your real name then?"

     Poor Dog sat quietly. (Y/N) waited patiently for his response but he slowly shrugged his shoulders. "I never had one..."

      His raspy voice was so quiet when saying that. The woman couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Never had a name before but the one he was given was just terrible. "I'm sorry. It must be awful, especially here."

      Silence fell between them. (Y/N) assumed he wasn't much of a talker so she didn't want to pressure him into a conversation. Instead, she tried to get lost in her own mind. Forget about where she was and her current predicament as much as she could. Eventually, Ki and Akai were gonna come back and 'talk' to her some more. More like wrestle her down and force themselves on her if she didn't give them the information they wanted. Akai almost bit her neck open the last time and Ki with his unnecessary strength almost broke her arm. Yama hasn't been back since she last saw him and she really just wanted to see a friendly face after the last two days full of hell.

"Are you- a human...?"

      A quiet voice broke her from her thoughts and she glanced over to the spider demon who had his head turned slightly towards her. "Hm?"

      Dog fumbled with the fabric of his hood and nervously repeated. "Are you a human? You're different than most humans."

      She thought she could get enough of her own kind asking her this question but even demons weren't sure of her. "I am. I got possessed is all."