With the sound of his voice so close to me, every muscle seemed to spring back to life. I started hyperventilating and stumbled backwards. The Crocodile was quick to react and snaked his arm around me, letting his hand rest on the small of my back. I stopped moving immediately from his touch. I saw what he did earlier. No doubt he could break my spine with one hand.

Even though I stood on a raised stage, he still managed to tower over me, engulfing me in his shadow. He was so close! My vision was still blurry due to the unshed tears, but I did see the huge scars across his cheek and his intimidating stare. All my other senses were heightened though. Especially my sense of smell… A scent of sweat mixed with blood clung to him. My knees buckled weakly.

His eyes, a horrible watered down version of blue, stared me down. His hand slowly travelled upwards, his smirk widening with every single inch. With growing fear I noted his sharp fang like teeth. The Crocodile noticed this and made a point of running his tongue along the edges. This man… he was insane… This man was a monster!

"What's this? Cat's got your tongue?" The Crocodile guffawed scornfully. "Pity. You had such…", his hand had reached the base of my neck, "… a pretty…", he grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked my head backwards. I yelped in agony, waiting for him to snap my neck but the dreadful moment never came. He bend forward to breathe down my neck.

"… voice. Don't you agree, little birdie?" He huffed when I stayed silent. I had no answers for him and even if I did, I didn't have the voice nor courage to say it out loud. So I just stared at him. Stared at him and prayed that my death would be quick and painless.

"What? Didn't your parents teach you how to answer something simple as a question?" He suddenly lifted his free hand in the air and I flinched away, expecting a punch. It took me a few seconds to understand that he was making a stop gesture. What is he-?

"So pathetic… Not even a scream? That's no fair, birdie. You were singing earlier, but when I show up you turn into a mute. How rude. Now what do I have to do to hear that voice again, huh?" He brought his hand to his chin to make it look like he was thinking. I disregarded his little show and focused on making escape plans. My head was still bend backwards in an uncomfortable way and this angle made it impossible for me to see his whole body. So kicking him would be useless. What if-

"Oh, I know just the thing!" He suddenly laughed madly while he pulled on my hair. I wasn't fast enough to recover from both his words and the tug, so I fell from the stage on my knees. I looked up to him and saw his eyes rolling back in his head as he laughed louder and louder.

Delirious! He is absolutely delirious!

The Crocodile let go of my hair and hauled me up to my feet by my arm. I screamed as an agonising pain spread from my shoulder. There was so much force behind the yank he dislocated my shoulder! That hurts…!

He turned around abruptly and dragged me with him. I bit my tongue to keep myself from shrieking, tasting blood as I did. Oh my goodness, the pain was too much! I can't even… I fell down multiple times, but the Crocodile never waited for me to scramble to my feet. My skin prickled all over from the scratches and the dirt inside them.

As I looked around me, the need to survive became stronger than my fear. I saw soldiers tearing the place apart, burning it down, destroying every single house. The other villagers were nowhere to be seen but I heard a commotion in the distance. This is my home, these people are my family and they just… And what's more, I will be dead any minute now. I had no idea what was keeping me alive at this point, because I had no idea what the Crocodile was thinking. But I needed to do something to increase my changes of survival…

"S-stop…" I whispered. I knew it was pointless, but I tried begging anyway. It was the first thing that came to mind.

Without warning he twisted me around and slammed my body to a nearby wall. The heavy impact made me curl my back in anguish. Before I could sack to the ground, he grabbed me by the neck with his right arm. He nonchalantly ran his left hand through his slick black hair, but the crazed look in his eyes betrayed his actual thoughts. Speaking was a bad move. A move he had expected, but a bad move nonetheless.

And how he was going to kill me.

"Well look who has decided to speak. Too bad it's a little too late, birdie." My breathing became laboured as he effortlessly squeezed my windpipe. He gradually lifted me higher, until my feet were dangling. I was gasping for air now, clawing at his hands, face, at everything. I had my eyes wide open, but the increasing number of black spots in my vision made me the world dark.

Was this how I was going to end? No… No! With the energy I had left in me, I blindly kicked with all my might. I knew I hit something and it had to be the Crocodile, but the situation remained unchanged.

I was still dying.

Please... please! Quick and painless... that was all I was asking for... just, please!

I was halfway giving up when I heard footsteps approaching.

"Sir it's- !"

"Don't disturb me, I'm having fun."

"But it's urgent, sir! They set our camp on fire!"

The hand around my neck suddenly vanished and I dropped to the ground. I coughed painfully and immediately tried to crawl away. My vision hadn't returned yet, but I had to try! The Crocodile stepped on my leg, preventing me from moving further. I sobbed softly, my voice too broken to scream again. I tried to focus and see through the haze... The first thing I could see was his horrible face.

"Oh did they now…" The Crocodile said uninterested. Even though he was talking to the young soldier, he was still watching me with predatory eyes. "We can't have that, can we? Very well. Tell the rest to demolish this pathetic excuse for a village. I'll… personally say hello to whoever paid a visit to our camp." He waved the soldier away, who immediately shouted orders to his fellow murderers.

He slowly lifted his leg and I hurried to stand up. The muscles in my legs were aching and my lungs were protesting with every breath, but I had bigger problems now. I watched the man cautiously while looking for a way to escape.

"Aaah that's right. I almost forgot about the little birdie." The Crocodile sighed dramatically.

"Looks like playtime is over for us. Sad, eh?"

I looked at him disbelievingly. No. This couldn't be true, he wasn't just going to…?

"That's right. I'm letting you fly away for now. You can even hide if you want. Aren't I generous? Ah but don't worry, the game isn't over yet. Because I always find my prey."

He stepped dangerously closer and I backed away until I hit the wall behind me.

"One day… you will look over your shoulder and see not only your own shadow, but mine as well. And then you will realise… That you were NEVER safe. Because you can't escape the cages I make."

He stepped away from me and I didn't hesitate. The last words I heard were 'Until then birdie'.

I ran.