Reaper: Guilt (#Wattys2017)

Chapter 45: Freedom

"Where are they...? There's so many rooms... which one contains them...?"

"Help us out!"
"Let us out!"
"Please!"
"Girl, wait!"

"I'm sorry!! I'll get you out afterwards!!" I shouted and continued running. I tried to feel for Raan Tian's and Este's presences, but there were just too many for me to pinpoint them.

I could hear various screams and yells, but none of them were theirs... until one particular scream caught my attention.

"Raan Tian...? No... Raan Tian!!! Where are you?!"

The scream continued.

"No no no... not her.. please..."
---Este---
"Aww... don't cry... did it hurt, girls?" The man holding the whip laughed. "You were lucky I didn't use scarring liquid. If I did, these marks aren't going anywhere."

"S-shut up, you piece of tra- aahh!!!" I screamed as the whip cracked and hit my back. "Please... stop...!"

I was whipped 21 times already... I could barely even stand, my body stung all over.

"Hahaha! Where did all your fight go huh?! Good thing I'm filming all this, you two look great on film! The daughter of a mayor and the royal princess herself. What a spectacle!"

Raan Tian glared at him. "Just you wait, scum.. when Rosaria gets here... you're finished."

"Rosaria? Who the hell's that? Another kid who wants to become a slave like you two?"

"We aren't slaves! And neither is Rosaria!!" I shouted.

"Meh, who cares?" He walked towards me and yanked my hair up. "What I care about is the fun I'll get! All three of you will just be my slaves!"

"Shut it!" I yelled and released an freezing breath, freezing up his arm and shattering it.

"Argh!!! My arm!!! God damn it...! Someone kill this animal! Joe! Trash her already!"

Another man walked over and clenched his fists and punched me right in the cheeks twice before another to the stomach. I coughed in pain and was bleeding from the mouth... I must've bit my tongue... I struggled to stand up properly, and my legs were shaking from the pain.

"Este!"

"You know what this is?" The man said as he held up a handful of goop. "This is slime from a lava slug, if even just a little touches you, you'll get some pretty bad burn scars! For me, I'm wearing a nice pair of gloves, so I'll be fine."

"S-stay back... don't come near us..." I said.

"Go away!!" Raan Tian voiced.

"Oh, don't be afraid. I just want to see just how much scarring this thing can do. Let's see... maybe I should just throw it on your face huh? Este? We'll see how you'll get a man with a scarred face... not even the traders will want you as a bed partner." He laughed.

"Just trash the both of them, we can still get ransom money out of them." The other man said, holding onto his handless arm. "We'll see how you'll like the pain."

"N-no... stay away from me!" I shouted. But the man just raised his hand and flung the slime right at us.

"Aaaaah!!!!" A long, pain-filled scream was let out... but it was neither Raan Tian's nor mine... someone with golden hair and cat ears had taken the hit...