The Reaper's Wicked Obsession-Chapter 208: The Hive

"It’s too late," Thornfoot said, curled up against a tree, grasping his stomach in pain. "He’s not going to find her."

"Shut up!" Logi yelled, glaring hard at the dirtbag. "You underestimate Kraven. He will."

Thornfoot shut his mouth, turning away.

Logi continued his pace, troubled, as his nerves worked him to the core. The thought of Isadora only fueled his apprehension.

This was something they never predicted. Who knew Isadora was marked by the Stingers? He’d only heard about them in rumors and their tendency to take prey. No one knew why or how.

They knew nothing about the Stingers, and this put them in a dreadful situation of the unknown.

Logi was terrified Thornfoot might be right, that Isadora might be truly gone.

’No,’ he thought, shaking his head desperately. He refused to believe it, he refused to believe that he would never see her again.

Thornfoot pushed his aching body to stand. He took a sharp intake of air as he spoke. "The Stingers are a secret group of brothers. Their twisted need to take women as prey is what earned them the title. Their captives are never heard from or seen again. He can’t find her, no matter how capable he is."

Logi halted his steps, slowly shifting his gaze back to him, pinning him down with a wild look.

"She’s gone," Thornfoot added with certainty, but then he narrowed his eyes. "You know... She tried to protect me." He chuckled, but the sound was humorless. "Me?" he voiced as if trying to comprehend her actions.

He had sold her to the pirates, it was only natural for her to despise him but yet she tried to protect him.

For many winters, he had met a lot of people and done business with individuals far worse than you could ever imagine, yet he had never met anyone like Isadora.

"And you abandoned her," Logi said faintly.

"What did you expect me to do? Fight?" He laughed scornfully. "I ran for my life... You can’t fault me for that!"

Logi exhaled sharply, nodding his head slowly, a smile on his lips, but it didn’t reach his eyes. "How did you know the Stingers were males... brothers?"

Thornfoot’s body stiffened, but he kept his composure. "I-It was a hunch."

"A hunch?" Logi tasted the word in his mouth as a frown took over his features. "Not even I... have such a hunch." He tapped the side of his head. "Except..." He pointed to Thornfoot, who tensed further. "If I knew something about them."

"I-I don’t know what you’re talking about," he countered. novelbuddy.cσ๓

They were interrupted when Kraven suddenly materialized from a weave of shadows.

Upon seeing him empty-handed, Logi felt a squeeze in his chest. "You didn’t find her."

His silence was all the answer Logi needed.

"It’s a good thing you’re back," he voiced, turning to Thornfoot. "I think he knows something."

"He lies!" Thornfoot shouted, backing away. "I-I don’t know anything!"

Kraven chuckled deeply, the haunting filled the air. When he shifted his attention to them completely, Logi’s blood ran cold.

"Your eyes..." he muttered.

They were pitch black, not a single spark of silver.

"Of course, you do, old friend," he drawled in a stony, dead tone, grinning ear to ear. "After all... you’re a businessman. Were the Stingers part of your lucky clients?"

’Fuck this!’ Thornfoot bolted, in hopeless attempts to get away from them as quickly as possible.

Kraven casually strolled to the boulder where Logi dropped his bag and pulled out an axe.

Suddenly, dark weaves in the shape of a hand seized Thornfoot’s leg, lunging him to fall flat on his face. He screamed in the dirt as he was hauled back to the very person he was trying to escape.

Face-to-face with Kraven, his heart momentarily stopped. Void-like eyes stared down at him, hollow and empty as if mere sockets remained.

"Please..." he begged.

In a heartbeat, Kraven seized his right hand and pressed it against a surface, his axe descending toward a finger.

Thornfoot’s gut-wrenching cries filled the air as he struggled to break free but it was all in vain.

When Kraven raised the axe to take another, Thornfoot panicked and rushed his words. "I-I-I-I’ll talk! Please! I’ll talk!"

"Then talk..." Kraven said. "Your fingers will run out."

The sound of an axe splitting through flesh and bone drowned out Thornfoot’s screams.

"I-I-I-I’ve done business with the Stingers in the past!" He rushed through his words, desperate for the pain to stop. "But I don’t work with those savages anymore, please stop!"

But Kraven didn’t, he took everything until his right hand was left with no fingers, blood pooling around him.

And when he attempted to take the full arm, Thornfoot yelled. "The Hive! I think they took her to their Hive! It’s somewhere within the Isle. I don’t know where it is... no one does. S-Stop!"

"Because they didn’t know what to look for in the first place," Logi murmured, releasing a sharp sigh of relief.

There was hope for Isadora, but that didn’t cease the worry completely.

This was a large Isle and they had no idea of the Hive location. This was no different from looking for a needle in a haystack.

Kraven dropped the axe and rose to his full height. His chest rose and fell heavily.

"Kraven..." Logi began in a calm tone, observing him cautiously. "The more you use your weaves, the more your thirst will spin out of control." His teeth clenched, but it was the chance they got.

"None of that matters," Kraven said quietly, his body shrouded in dark weaves. "I don’t care if I lose my last sanity. Finding her is the only thing that matters."

He let go of the final shred of control and surrendered to his thirst. Then, he vanished.

~♧~

The Hive

(Trigger Warning: SA)

Isadora had no idea how long it had been, how many days. It felt like forever.

Her body was paralyzed. She was unable to close her eyes, and the world around her blurred.

Every excruciating minute felt like hell. And each time she felt their hands on her body... tears slid down her cheeks.

They would come... touch and leave her in disgust as if they wanted her to suffer through the idea of her helplessness, that she couldn’t fight back, and they had complete control.

Isadora was trapped in her own mind, and the rest of the world happening around her felt like a living nightmare.

But today? It was different... they got bolder.

"She enjoys it."

"Of course she does."

The sound of their voice compelled panic in Isadora’s lungs. Their actions were more proactive than the last time, and fear bled into her.

What frightened her the most was the way her body responded.

They drugged her with something that not only paralyzed her body but also made her feel things she shouldn’t.

It sickened her to the core, and the urge to vomit constricted her throat.

’Kraven,’ she thought.

The image of him she had invoked in her head for days was the only thing keeping her sane. The strength she had to resist.

Each time she thought of him, she built a tolerance, refusing to show them how much effect they had on her.

She eagerly anticipated them to leave her alone, but they weren’t stopping.

Her throat gave a scratching sensation, her lips coming apart, trying her hardest to conjure the words, but each time was just unintelligent sounds and whimpers.

All she could do was endure their revolting voices echoing in her head. She could hear movements, but she couldn’t tell which was which.

A shadow moved in her line of vision, but that was all she could see. Not until she felt a blinding light.

It felt like the rays of the sun.

Just the feel of its warmth, a strength was summoned. A strength to her vocal cords.

She swallowed a lump as her voice came forth, weak, barely a whisper. "Sto-Stop."

"Is she supposed to speak?"

"No."

"Doesn’t matter."

"We must take her as promised."

"Yes, we must."

"It’s a shame... I want her to stay with us."

"We’re meant to return her after we’re done. That was the deal made."

"Do you suggest we keep her?"

"Yes."

"I agree, too."

"She’s precious... she can stay with us longer."

They laughed.

"Too bad we won’t stay loyal to the deal."

"He’ll understand."

"After all, he wanted her ruin; how is this any different?"

Isadora tried to summon more strength in her body, focusing on the light against her skin. The energy she felt from it... was unexplainable.

"I’ve never had a mannfae, I wonder how she would feel like."

"Quit talking! I’m getting impatient," another growled.

Isadora mumbled faintly, grabbing their attention.

Their head turned simultaneously to the paralyzed girl, who was no longer cold under their touch but warm.

"What did she say?"

Isadora squeezed her eyes shut and opened them. A bit of the vision was back, and what she saw mortified her.

Five of them were around her. Isadora pinned the one between her legs with a bloodthirsty glare.

"S-She sees me!"

"That shouldn’t be possible!"

"What is happening?"

"Should we dose her again?"

"No need... she can be conscious all the way through." The one in the center of her smirked, leaning down to her.

Isadora’s gaze leveled at the dagger strapped around his waist.

"What’s wrong, doll?"

She snapped her gaze back to him.

"You’ll be good, won’t you?"

"In your dreams." In a fast reflex, she snatched the dagger.