"Get back here you damn brat!" A thick Danish accent sounded throughout the large cargo ship. Inside the ship, on the bottom level was where all the slaves, being sold in England were being held. It was also the same place where countless fights between slaves occur, since there were no cells or chains. The only food was whatever was given at noon sharp, through random slots in the walls, and if you didn't get there fast enough...well, better luck tomorrow. The place where they were held was just a simple big open space with barely any blankets and a single iron cladded door, with symbols carved on it, just like the ones in the cell he was held in New York.
It had been a full week since Matthew and the others were forced onto the shipping boat, as well as many others. In that time Matthew was practically glued to Katyusha's hip, getting her food or anything thing else, since he was so grateful to her. Many of the others settled themselves closer to the food slots while Matthew and Katyusha were farther away from them and were it was less crowded. But currently Matthew was running towards Katyusha, a slab of meat between his jaws, trying to get the Danish guard off his tail. Every morning and every night he would walk through the large encasement to see who had passed out or passed away and keep all of them in their place. The Dane, Mathias, and Matthew had had it out for each other on the first day he boarded, when the Dane hit Katyusha for no reason over her head with his baton. Matthew bit his hand, as Katyusha tired to pull him off of him. Once Matthew reached Katyusha, he plopped the slab of meat in her lap before turning around and letting out a deep growl. By now, Matthew's once beautiful coat was matted, dirty and a dingy brown and blonde. Mathias made his way over to the two of them, pushing a few slaves out of the way, each of them staring each other down. "Come here puppy, get the stick." He teased him, waving the blunt instrument in his hands.
Matthew lowered his head as he advanced towards him, teeth barred and his over grown claws scraping the metal floor. "Matthew stop it!" Katyusha pleaded with him. He quickly glanced over his shoulder to look at her pleading eyes before looking over back to Mathias, only to get a mouth full of baton. Katyusha quickly got up, the slab of meat falling atop the dirty blanket as she hurried over to him and kneeled down beside Matthew's form on the ground. "Come 'ere." Mathias said and suddenly grabbed Katyusha by her short blonde hair. She let out a yelp as she was yanked up to her feet. Her hands grasped the male's wrist and tired to loosen his hold. "Let this be a lesson to all of you little pieces of shit." Mathias called out, tossing Katyusha down, and getting their attention. "Get undress." He ordered her. Katyusha stared up with dull eyes, before looking over at Matthew body before she closed her eyes and swallowing thickly. Slowly her trembling hands reached up to start unbuttoning her torn white button down shirt. Mathias had quickly grown impatient and pushed her back on the ground roughly and got on top of her. "No one here steals and gets away from me unscathed." He yelled out, dominance dripping from every word he said.
Matthew had begrudgingly raised himself to his front paws and with a hazy vision looked over at Mathias and Katyusha. He stared blankly at them for a moment, trying to figure out what was going on. "Matthew...Matthew don't look, please..." Katyusha sobbed as tears streamed down her face. He remembered something similar like this had happen before, back with his pack. A male was on top of a female and she was crying. The male ended up being exile from the pack, and the female cried for a long time afterward. Rumors were spread around about the female and she ended up leaving as well. The last thing Matthew wanted was something like that to happen to Katyusha. 'How could someone like that hold power?' He thought to himself. They were bad so why did they get to be above everyone else and tell them what to do? A sudden wail from Katyusha shocked him out of his train of thought.
His vision cleared up and looked to see that Mathias had started to tear her clothing off. Something inside Matthew snapped and launched himself at Mathias and tackled him off of her. Matthew's eyes had sudden lost their brightness and innocence and was replaced with pure instinct and bloodlust. His elongated teeth sank into Mathias's shoulder who started to fight him to get him off. The baton hit his ribs over and over, and yet Matthew still clung to the man. He clenched his jaw tightly before releasing the bloody shoulder and raked his claws all over him. Mathias's cries for help echoed off the metal walls and the group of slaves that had gathered around them started to panic and went to get help. But Matthew still didn't stop, he continued to cut, bite and rip Mathias's skin open. By the time more guards came in Mathias was half dead, the baton held limply in his hand. The guards, who were demons themselves, were able to yank Matthew off of Mathias and separate the two of them.
The guards who were holding down Matthew slapped a collar around his neck. Katyusha watched in horror at the scene in front of her as her tears flowed from her eyes. She watched as Matthew let out feral, animalistic howls and growls, trying to bite the guards. Each one with the intent to kill or hurt. Katyusha hugged what ever pieces of her shirt she could to cover herself up. She couldn't do a thing as she watched the guards put chain after chain around Matthew and drag him away, as well as Mathias, who was taken to the doctor's cabin. "He's being taken to the red block." A voice said from behind Katyusha suddenly. Turning around she looked up to see Kauro standing there, holding his blanket in his hands and draped it around her shoulders as he sat down next to her. "The red block?" She parroted. Katyusha had been a slave for a long time, but she had never heard of that place. "It's no surprise you don't know it, many don't. They take demons like Matthew there, the ones that snap." He explained. "But he didn't snap, he was trying to help me." Katyusha told him as she tugged the edges of the blanket closer to her. "That's what you think. Matthew has never once stepped foot into this world. He had a happy and simple life before this and for him there was only two out comes once he was thrown in here. He either adapts and accepts his faith as a slave, or his animalistic instincts override his senses and mind to protect himself before he completely destroys his conscious mind." Kauro said with a straight face.
Katyusha stayed silent and stared at the ground and rubbed at her eyes. "Of course someone instinct would take over...but why would it destroy his mind?" She asked softly. "A human like you wouldn't really understand. Demons aren't like humans, they are cruel, even ones like Matthew. By the looks of it he was raised in a good home but that counts for shit here in the real world. I assume his guardians tried to raise him up as a human, to have feelings like grief, remorse, and such. But no matter how much a demon try's to change, it's still a demon and can not get rid of that part of himself." "As much spirit as the kid has, I'm sure they'll break him before we reach shore." Kauro said before standing up. Katyusha watched in silence as he walked away.
She could only come to one conclusion as to why he knew so much about the red cell and demons, despite bing one and such. Slowly she laid herself down on the ground, the slab of meat long forgotten, as she curled up to try and keep herself warm. 'If there is a god above, please watch over Matthew.' She prayed silently. 'Let me go!' Matthew growled, but fell on deft ears as the demon guards shoved him along with metal poles with a rope looped at the end of it around his neck and other limbs. He refused to return to his human form, even as they sent a warlock over to them and casted spell after spell, each one failing. The warlock, as Matthew could see it was quite scared of him, causing him to lunged at him for the hell of it. The poor man let out a terrified yell before running away, calling out someone's name over and over again. Matthew was pushed forward and refused his barking and growling until they reached the end of the long metal hallway. At the very end of it was a glass door, and from what Matthew could see, the inside was painted red.
The door opened on its own as Matthew was forcibly pushed forward. The guards let go of their sticks as he was passed door and closed it. With the sticks still wrapped around him Matthew charged at the glass door, only to have a red bolt of electricity surge through him, causing to jump back and whimper. He started to shake the stick off of him when he realized that the walls had sickly green patches on them. As his eyes locked on one of the walls he saw that it wasn't paint, but dried up blood. 'Let me out of here!' He roared as he charged at the glass door again, and another bolt of electricity running through his veins. For a good hour or so Matthew continued to charge, growl at the guards and howl loudly. His violet eyes hazy as a sudden figure appeared at the door on the other side. By the smell of him he was a demon.
"So, you're the one causing all this ruckus? Quite a tiny lad aren't you?" He said with a thick British accent, and crouched down on the ground, leaning against the glass door with a forearm. "You see I don't like chaos on my ship, do you understand me lad?" He asked him. Matthew didn't move and just stared at the other. Sighing the warlock ran a hand through his choppy blonde hair. "I see, you want to do this the hard way." He said as he stood up. Reaching over he unlocked the glass door with a simple flick of his wrist. "Sir Arthur." The young warlock from early said in a worried tone. "Relax boy, a little bride told me he's got soft spot." Arthur said as he stepped into the red room. Matthew backed away immediately, lowering his head and barring his teeth. "Now come on dear, you really don't want me to hurt you?" Arthur asked him. "Let me see this human form of yours, I heard you are quite the looker." He continued, trying to coax Matthew out his current form into a much more manageable one.
'Fuck off wizard.' Matthew snarled. One of the Englishman's thick eyebrows twitched in irritation. "Alright, no more Mr. Nice guy." Arthur warned the other standing straight up. He held out his hand and started to chant in a low tone, his toxic green eyes flashing dangerous at Matthew. But before the spell was finished Arthur felt a sudden weight on his out stretched hand, forcing him to hold it against his chest. Stunned for a moment he started the chant again, both hands out in front of him. An invisible force was felt from Matthew that caused Arthur to stop again. The force wasn't entirely invisible to the eyes of the warlock. The space around Matthew was slightly disoriented, like the road on a highway on a hot days.
This caused Arthur to rethink about what he's been told about this demon. "You're no half-breed." He stated bringing his hands to his sides. 'I am, you must've never met one as strong as me.' Matthew barked. "We'll see. You can't stay in that form forever. Eventually you'll have to talk." Arthur said with a smirk as he turned around to leave. 'Take the collar off and I might think about it.' Matthew said. This cause Arthur to laugh loudly and look over his shoulder. "You're going to be sold and forced to wear a collar anyways." He told him. Arthur then turned back around and took his leave, the glass door slamming shut loudly. Matthew stayed in his spot, thinking for a few moments before moving towards the back of the cell. He laid his body down on the cold metal floor and curling up. Closing his eyes he stayed silent, listening to the sound of his own breathing before falling asleep from sudden exhaustion.
The next week Matthew's body was racked with torture from Arthur, coming into his cell when the sun was just peaking above the ocean and didn't leave until well into the night. He was determine to figure what Matthew was and get him to change back into his human form. Though every time Arthur casted a spell that damn force appeared in front of Matthew and deflected everyone of his attacks. Personally Matthew had no clue how he was doing this, but he did know that each time Arthur attacked he would feel a bit more exhausted. Usually by the time Arthur left he waited for the other to be gone completely before collapsing on the ground. But Arthur, the stubborn man he is, didn't stop at just Matthew. He personally went to the lower deck where all the slaves were held. Which to some of the slaves were very surprised and showed him respect, that or it was intimidation. He went around asking every single one of them if they knew anything about the demon Matthew. Most only knew him from attacking Mathias.
But on a heavy rainy day he walked right up to Katyusha, who was resting in the corner, wrapped in a brown torn up blanket. "Hello dear." Arthur greeted her, like a gentleman, and she nodded her head in response. "Rumor has it that you know some things about Matthew. Is that true?" He asked crouching down in front of her. "I know he is a great boy and that he shouldn't be in a place like this." Katyusha responded with as much sternness she could muster at the moment. Arthur smiled softly. "Aye, so he is. Well," he stood up, brushing his knee off of dirt, "if that's how you want to work." He mumbled and snapped his fingers. A sudden white orb appeared in Arthur's hand and held it out close to her face. "I'm sure you must be dying, Katyusha, to see how your little sister is doing, yes?" Arthur's lips curled into a sadistic smile. "All you have to do is tell me, what Matthew is and you can look at her all you want." "How do you know of my sister?" She asked him, eyeing him up and down. "Oh my dear I know a lot about everyone of you pathetic whores on my ship." He grinned awfully cheerful. "I've had enough of your bull shit." A voice came from behind the two of them.
Both blondes looked to see Kauro standing there with his arms crossed. "If you are as great as a warlock as you say you are then you should be able to figure it out on your own." He told him, the same expressionless appearance on his face. "Well, don't you have a mouth." He said as he snapped his fingers again, the crystal orb disappearing. Arthur then walked over to Kauro, who held his ground as the other got in his face. "It seems you need to be taught a lesson." Back in the Red block Matthew started to pace back and had to get out of there, could feel his sanity slipping and he needed fresh air to clear his head. Not changing back into his human form had started to take its toll on him. His lean body now looked sickly thin from the lack of food and using all his energy to put up with Arthur. 'This is just what he wants.' He thought, 'He wants to see how long I can last, I'll show him.' Matthew growled to himself, it has now been a few days since being thrown in there and he knew they must be reaching their destination soon.
He just kept telling himself he could last until then, and then he can escape. In his free time now, he tried summoning up that mysterious power that had been showing itself whenever Arthur tried to force him into submission, but each time failed. He didn't even know how he was doing it then. After a while Matthew could sense that night was soon approaching and that Arthur would no doubt be coming to grace him with his present, as he had been since he's been in here. Sitting down with his fore legs in front of him, Matthew listened closely as he heard something approach the hallway, towards the door. Standing on all fours he bared his teeth and got ready when the footsteps became much clearer. Within a matter of moments he saw a cloaked figure appear in front of the door, opening it and then close it again. Matthew lowered his head, readying himself for an attack, when he smelt the scent of the person. It was a soft, lovely scent that reminded him of bread.
Before he realized it the cloaked figure wrapped it's arms around Matthew's matted neck. "Oh thank heavens you're alive." The voice was soft, a fragile. Matthew looked to see Katyusha pulling down the hood. He nuzzled her neck affectionately and gave a soft whine. Wanting to ask how she got here he suddenly felt an overwhelming force knock both of them over. Matthew looked over to see Arthur standing their, head held high and a wicked smirk on his face. Slightly scared, since he didn't even sense his present, nor did he notice the smell of blood. Though his attention caught the male body slung over his shoulder. "He's going to hurt Karou, Matthew. Just...just change back, please?" Katyusha begged him, placing her hands on his shoulder. Looking back at Arthur he noticed drops of blood dripping from Karou's hands and face.
Without warning, and faster than anyone could blink Matthew lunged at Arthur, who expected to do something as stupid as to attack him. Though what he didn't expect was for the young boy to shift mid-leap and grab Arthur's shirt collar. Matthew stood there breathing heavily and staring with harden eyes, which if you were compare them to when he first stepped on his ship, one would have thought that the being standing in front of him was an evil twin. Arthur tsked and dropped Karou's body to the ground. The brat really needed to learn his place, though he didn't mind someone working for him with a little bite. Arthur's attention was brought back to the tightening grip on his shirt.
Finally getting a good look at the boy, he smiled devilishly. "Oh, yes." He said and placed his hands over Matthew's, tearing them forcefully off of him. "You'll get a good home, you will. Someone mistaking that pretty face of yours for something docile. Only to see a monster try and rip their throats out." Matthew's eyes narrowed and backed away from Arthur. Katyusha by now had pulled Karou's lead heavy body away from both of them, his head resting on her lap. Her eyes were red and silently sobbing. "I'm so sorry..." She whispered. "I'm so sorry Matthew." Katyusha said, running her fingers gently through Kauro's hair, not daring to look up at him. She knew she had messed up big time. First her little brother, then sister, now she was going to lose Matthew as she really be an older sister figure? Let alone a motherly figure, when everyone she wanted to get close to sudden left her.
Looking over at her, Matthew tried his best to smile, the muscles in his throat and cheeks twitching slightly. "It's okay Katyusha, you had to do what you had to do. I don't want you to get hurt." He told her, which made her cry even more. Matthew then turned to look over at four guards, holding different types of deadly looking weapons. He knew he couldn't fight, at least not know, not in his condition. Slowly Matthew followed them, a blank look on his face as they lead him down the long hallway. His mind was racing and thinking about everything at once, that he didn't notice one of the demon guards yanking a cage, much smaller, with wheels on it, in front of him.
The next thing he knew he was shoved inside and the cage door slammed shut and locked. The whole time, Arthur stayed back a bit, watching from the side lines. He definitely had to tell the boys back home about this one. Though, he still didn't know exactly what Matthew was, yet. But that was going to change soon. As he saw his guards casting spells around the cage, he smiled. This smile grew even wider when his apprentice came scurrying over with news from the navigator. Dismissing the boy away, as well as the guards, Arthur waked over to the cage, crouching down in front of Matthew, his green eyes electrified to a radio active toxic color and smile almost seemingly ripped the corners of his pale lips pulled back as far as they could go.
"Welcome to England."
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