Chapter 18: Cloak and Daggers
The room shifted and twisted.
All eyes fell on large, red doors, the Huntress spilling inside from a light that formed in front of it. She was breathing heavy, eyes wide, fear in her yellow orbs as she looked around at every demon dressed in a cloak.
Her gaze dropped on the three in front of her bath, the one she rose from. She rushed to them, stripping down and trying to jump back into the blood. Before she could touch it, the three huddled around it rose their hands, stopping her completely in the air. She squirmed, fingers reaching for it.
"Let me go! Let me go back! He's a monster! I can't do it!" The horror in her voice rooted deep. Goosebumps on her skin and yellow eyes wide with utter terror.
They forced her back onto the red carpet. She covered her body, embarrassment washing over her.
"Please! I can't hunt that boy!" She pleaded.
No voices. The candles on the pillars and alters began to flicker, a strong vapor swirling around in a massive cloud over her blood bath. Nothing came of the cloud, but a voice followed. Feminine, yet dark. Cold and twisted, full of hate and bloodlust. "Did I hear that right? A huntress, refusing to hunt her prey?"
"M'Lady please! That boy is as evil as they come! The darkness in his eyes. I saw deep into his soul!" She jumped to her feet. "That boy is an emotional dam! If not for his humanity, I would've succumbed during our first encounter!" The more she spoke, the more her voice cracked from the growing fear in her tone. "His soul holds an evil greater than even yours, M'Lady! I can't hunt a creature like that!"
The voice was quiet for a while. At first the Huntress believed she convinced it, only for her throat to feel tight, tighter and tighter until she couldn't breathe. "Good. He truly shares my blood after all, but you best rethink your statement. None are darker than I. Your goal was to bring him here, that was all. Even that cost of your life, yet you return with nothing." A long pause fell over the cathedral, the voice humming as if in thought. The invisible force around the Huntress' throat grew tighter, thin trails of saliva dripping from her lips. "He's killed the Hunter, quite coldly. Excellent." There was a licking sound, and the voice said, "As expected of him."
"M'Lady… Master… Please…" She pleaded.
"Yes, beg, beg me more. Maybe it'll make your blood richer, and I could summon someone more suited for this hunt." The Huntress' eyes went wide, and crawled back, attempting to draw in as much air as she could. "Or," She began, "You can grow a pair, and do your job. Your choice. I don't care either way."
Death by either end. One would be painful and slow. The other has a possibility of being quick and painless.
"How much time do I have," She finally asked, her throat opening back up.
"Four months."
She nodded, turning on her hands and knees. Her body suddenly froze, paralyzed in place. "I… I can't move!"
The voice spoke, cloud slowly fading. "Yeah. Don't think you're not getting punished for failure. Men. Have fun. And please, don't be gentle." The cloud dispersed.
The cloaks all looked at the Huntress, red eyes glowing under the hoods as they produced small blades. Each one approached her, quickly running the blade down her back. She screamed, something hard and thick entering her throat. Tears streamed from her eyes, blades running against her flesh, cutting her to the gags and pained moans.
Slow and steady, hours passed. Her mind was shot, and she lay in a puddle of her own blood and coats of semen. Tears rushed down her face, and she reached for the portal out, quickly disappearing into the light as the cloaks raised their hands, chanting the surging blood pool at the center of the room.
When the Huntress landed in the forest, she sucked in a lungful of air, crying loudly and madly. Her hands were shaky when she slipped into the river, the water running pink as it washed away her blood and her wounds closed. She hugged her stomach and sore throat, taking shallow breaths and continued her pained cry, only screaming and getting louder as the rushing water danced around her broken body.