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Chapter 8

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Frowning as he stared across the camp fire at Ardyn, Prompto considered his choices. This whole adventure had started off terrifying and had continued to get worse and worse. Even though Ardyn had backed up and not done the thing Prompto had feared he would, even though the man had given him food and chatted casually with him like they were friends, the boy still didn't feel safe. He couldn't forget everything leading up to the calm moments.

Eating noodles and talking about his school friends by the fire would have seemed perfectly safe and comforting if not for everything that preceded it. Prompto wasn't camping with his uncle, enjoying sitting under the stars... He was being held captive by a violent, dangerous psychopath. Every second of it, even when Prompto was eating, telling Ardyn stories, listening to the man talk - even when it seemed lighthearted, the thought remained in the back of his mind that he wasn't here willingly. Ardyn had kidnapped him. Ardyn killed someone, chased Prompto when the boy tried to run. He hit him, choked him, threatened to rape him... He moved toward actually doing it. He had come so close. Prompto's pants had been down, and Ardyn had put his hand on him. He was so close to doing it...

Prompto was only still with the man because he was afraid he'd be seriously hurt or even killed if he tried to leave. Even though the boy was doing his best to remain calm, to chat about everything and nothing to keep things from getting tense, what he really wanted was to go home, to never see this horrible man again... But he couldn't. He had to play nice. Although he was happy to have food and water, to be allowed to sit near the fire on his own - not being held down or tied to something - he was still scared.

Ardyn hadn't done enough good to erase all of the bad. It had only been a day since Ardyn took him, and so many traumatizing things had happened. So few decent things had. In fact the man being so back and forth made this all the more scary. Prompto didn't know if the guy would want to chat and joke with him like father and son, or push him to the ground and assault him. Besides for guessing the man's moods, following his orders, and hoping for the best, Prompto wasn't sure how to keep Ardyn from hurting him. He also wasn't sure going along with his kidnapper was going to lead to anything good. What was the endgame? That Prompto would be delivered to this man he was supposedly related to? Why? Why would Ardyn facilitate that? Who was the guy? What would he do?

From the start, this adventure had been horrifying. Ardyn had introduced himself by breaking into Prompto's house, demanding that he come with him, then tackling him back onto his bed and drugging him when he refused. Things had only gotten worse from there, when the man threatened to rape him just about as soon as Prompto woke up from the mysterious drug he'd been nearly suffocated with. Ardyn threatened to choke him and break his arm too... and then when Prompto got scared and tried to ask a man to help him, Ardyn killed the guy, chased Prompto into the desert, dragged him to the ground, hit him, choked him, threatened him... He rather bluntly told Prompto he'd get hurt later for what he'd done, then made him wait hours wondering what was going to happen.

Even if Ardyn eventually changed his mind for some reason and didn't actually do it, he heavily implied that he was going to rape Prompto as punishment for attempting escape. He'd even forced the boy to pull down his pants, walked right up behind him, and ran his fingertips up over Prompto's butt. He took off his belt, ran his hand up under Prompto's shirt. He had never been more scared in his entire life.

Ardyn didn't take it further than that. He saw the scars on Prompto's back and changed his mind... which was good, but not a guarantee that he wouldn't do it later. It wouldn't be the first time Prompto let his guard down with the guy, started feeling more safe, only to have the fact that he was a twisted monster become obvious again.

Back this morning in the car when they were chatting as Ardyn drove, talking about music... Prompto made a joke and Ardyn laughed. He started feeling more content then. He never forgot that the man had kidnapped him, but for a moment, he wondered if Ardyn wasn't so bad. It hadn't taken long for Ardyn to remind him just how much of a monster he was. Which was why Prompto still didn't feel safe even now, even after Ardyn changed his mind about hurting him and started acting civil again.

Ardyn hadn't gone through with whatever he was about to do before he saw the scars. The tone had shifted and his captor had offered him food and water. They talked more casually. Prompto told his abductor more about his friends and their life back in Insomnia... The conversation was mostly light. If Prompto didn't have the prior knowledge that Ardyn's tone could shift so dramatically without a moment's notice, he'd have felt okay staying here... Not okay, exactly - he did want to go back home - but he'd feel okay enough not to fear for his safety. But he did know that Ardyn wasn't safe, that he could get mad and lash out at any moment... Last time Prompto started feeling more content with his kidnapper, Ardyn had killed someone.

The man seemed to have fallen asleep several minutes ago. He was even lightly snoring. If ever there was going to be the best possible chance for Prompto to sneak away, it was now… Each of the other times he tried to run, Ardyn saw him right away. Up until now, Prompto hadn't gotten an opportunity to so much as take a breath without Ardyn knowing about it immediately. And now the man was actually asleep... Prompto could potentially have several hours to create distance between Ardyn and himself before his kidnapper ever knew he was gone. He hadn't gotten a chance like this yet, and might not again.

But he didn't know where to go. They were in the middle of the desert, in the middle of nowhere. Prompto wasn't familiar with the area at all. He had no idea which direction to go, where the nearest town was… He didn't know how long he'd be walking before finding help if he just started out aimlessly… Getting lost in the desert for days with no food or water wasn't ideal.

The alternative wasn't comforting either though. Not running away meant going with whatever Ardyn wanted - meaning he'd go to meet this strange man Ardyn kept talking about, with no promise that the guy was even really his father. The man might be worse than Ardyn. Or maybe he didn't even exist. Maybe Ardyn was taking him somewhere else - to his own house, to keep him locked in a room somewhere, hurting him whenever he felt like it for the rest of Prompto's life.

Maybe Ardyn was a serial killer. Maybe he just sneaked around, stalking teenagers, learning just enough about them to spin a believable story about knowing some interesting secret about their pasts so they'd go with him… Maybe he was taking Prompto to a dark cellar in the middle of nowhere - the cellar where he'd taken the other kids he stole… so he could stab him to death, strangle him, cut up his body…

How the hell could Prompto possibly know? The man's motives were so unclear. His threats were all over the place. Sometimes he acted like he and Prompto were on a fun road trip together, chatting about everything and nothing like they were family. Sometimes he got mad, threatening, rough... and in those moments, Prompto feared for his life.

Ardyn was a dangerous wild card. The desert was too… But the desert hadn't threatened to rape him. The desert hadn't made him pull down his pants. The desert didn't put its hand on his butt and come five seconds away from viciously assaulting him. Nor would the desert kill a man in front of him, blame him for it... or drug him, or punch him, or grab his throat and squeeze…

Closing his eyes for a moment and inhaling a steadying breath, Prompto realized he needed to take this chance. If he didn't, he was sure he'd regret it. If Ardyn was taking him somewhere good, he wouldn't have had to drug him and force him to go. The desert was an uncertain direction, but Prompto preferred that to all the dreadful possibilities Ardyn represented.

So he stood up slowly, as quietly as he could, and started walking.

As he made his way slowly away from the fire, he glanced back, noticing Ardyn was still lying on the ground, perfectly still and silent. He was still asleep. He'd never know Prompto was gone until it was too late for him to find him. As long as Prompto kept moving quietly and didn't wake him. He only had to get out of the man's sight before Ardyn woke up. For the first time during this horrifying adventure, his escape was within reach.

Breathing in small, quiet breaths, Prompto slowly allowed his pace to quicken. It was cold out here and he had no shoes, no jacket, no food or water... but he was making distance between him and his captor, slowly but surely. All he needed to do was find a car or a house, a store… anything where another human being would be within ear shot, where someone out in the world could see him, notice he was a young boy out in the dark all on his own, without shoes, shivering, bruised up… They'd have to help him.

Prompto walked on and on, still occasionally looking back toward the campsite. The fire was growing smaller and smaller as he made more and more distance. The sight of the tiny glowing thing in the distance made his chest fill with both hope and dread. He was going to get away… but he didn't know where he was headed toward. He didn't know if he'd find somewhere or someone safe. Maybe he'd die out here. Maybe he'd never get to go home again.

Staying with Ardyn, he'd have most likely been safe from monsters. Ardyn wanted him alive, or else he'd have killed him by now… so it stood to reason the man wouldn't let a monster grab him… But Prompto also realized the man was practically a monster himself. The other man Ardyn spoke of might be a monster too - Ardyn even went so far to say that he wasn't the fatherly type, implying he wasn't friendly and warm... Why would Prompto even want to meet him? It didn't matter if they were related if the guy was awful.

Ardyn also had food and water, the fire - warmth. The desert was really cold at night, and if Prompto got lost for too long, he might not find water and could die from dehydration… Maybe he could even freeze to death in the cold. He wasn't sure that it was cold enough, but it felt like it was. He couldn't stop shivering even as he nearly jogged.

Biting his lip as he glanced back toward the tiny fire in the distance, Prompto paused, but quickly shook his head, ridding himself of those foolish thoughts. Ardyn was not safety. Parts of him may have seemed preferable to the uncertainty of the expansive, dark, cold desert, but he wasn't safe. He was violent, cruel… a killer. Ardyn threatened to rape him. He made Prompto pull down his pants, put his hands on him, on his butt, under his shirt... had him bent over the back of the car. Prompto wasn't sure why seeing the scars changed his mind, but what if that tiny detail hadn't worked out that way? What if Ardyn went through with it? He was so close... What if it was still in the back of the man's mind? He could still choose to do it later... Prompto had to get away from him, even if it meant risking his life.

Prompto picked up his pace. He was far enough away now that Ardyn likely wouldn't hear his faster, louder footsteps, and from here on, the quicker he got away, the further he got away, the better. Ardyn couldn't track him down if he got far enough. How could he? He wouldn't know which way Prompto went. Not if there was no trace of him. He just needed to stay away from the roads - since Ardyn could get in his car and go up and down them searching.

Prompto walked faster and faster, toward some large rocks standing out in the middle of an otherwise flat stretch of land. If he put them between himself and Ardyn, it was yet another advantage for him. Ardyn wouldn't be able to see him if he happened to wake up.

As he neared the rocks though, he heard a strange sound, like an animal running… Small pebbles were shifting under something's feet. Dried plant life rustled as whatever it was moved past.

Inhaling a small breath, Prompto stopped in his tracks. Hopefully it was something small, like a rabbit or lizard… But it didn't sound small.

As he stood still and silent in the darkness, the noise stopped. All he could hear now were his own quick, nervous breaths. Had he imagined the noise? Or had whatever it was noticed him too? Had it stopped so it could watch his movements and decide how and when to attack?

Prompto frowned and shrunk down slightly as he looked around himself. It was so dark. He could barely see a thing. The large rocks looming in front of him could easily be hiding the shadows of monsters. He looked back toward the fire, then back toward the rocks, squinting his eyes to try to see in the darkness.

Just when he was starting to think perhaps there wasn't anything there after all, a low growl filled the air around him, followed by a dark form suddenly lunging at him, immediately knocking him off his feet and onto his back.

Prompto gasped and brought his hands up to cover his face, then let out a pained, frightened scream as he felt the creature's claws swat across his chest. Sharp, stinging pain radiated through his shoulder as he kicked the creature back away from him and grabbed in panic toward the injury.

Prompto crawled backward, stumbling and shaking as he did his best to keep his breaths quiet. He pressed his own hand over his mouth to stifle any cries, not wanting to be loud and give himself away.

He whimpered as he stumbled, his back hitting one of the large rocks as the creature, which he could barely see in the darkness, darted toward him again.

Letting out a shaking breath and a soft sob, Prompto scrambled up off the ground and ran closer to the rocks, finding two large ones close together and squeezing himself between them, trying to hide somewhere perhaps the monster couldn't reach.

As he wedged himself in as far as possible, Prompto couldn't help the terrified scream that tore from his throat when the creature's clawed hand swung between the rocks, right toward him, nearly reaching him.

It let out another horrible growling, snarling sound, snapping its teeth and swatting its arm into the crevice again, this time coming so close Prompto could feel the air move.

Prompto let out a shaky sob, breathing in a pained breath as he looked down and saw red spreading slowly on his shirt, up near his shoulder where the monster had initially clawed at him. He pressed his hand against the wound again, trying to slow the blood flow. What if he bled to death? Was the injury bad enough? What happened to someone who got scratched by a daemon? Would he get an infection? Would he turn into a daemon too? Assuming he even survived long enough...

The creature was still making horrible noises as it stretched its clawed hand in further, managing to grab at Prompto's upper arm, squeezing tight and starting to drag him back out.

"No!" Prompto screamed, thrashing and kicking, grabbing out toward the smooth, dusty surface of the rocks, trying to find something - anything to hold onto to keep the monster from pulling him away from his hiding place.

The monster only growled lower, yanking roughly at Prompto's arm, pulling so hard he feared the thing might rip the limb right off of him.

"Get off!" Prompto whimpered, his voice trembling as his heart pounded wildly in his ears. He twisted his body around, grabbing at the rocks, unable to manage to get a hold on anything. Prompto squeezed his eyes shut, choosing to throw his elbow back, apparently hitting the creature, which let go of him in time for him to stumble roughly forward, smacking his forehead pretty hard on the way down.

Prompto put a hand up toward his head moaning softly as he started to pull himself back up to his feet, only for the creature to grab out at him again, gripping his arm and pulling him out so fast and violently that Prompto was literally thrown to the ground outside his tiny, temporary safe haven.

As he hit the ground, all the breath was knocked out of his lungs. His vision swam for a moment, and by the time he could see properly again, what he saw was the monster pouncing toward him, sharp teeth and claws inches from his face before something pulled it sharply back.

A pained, guttural scream echoed through the darkness as Prompto drew his arms up to cover his head and face and pulled himself into a defensive ball. He didn't know if the monster had just been eaten by a larger monster or what, but he was all out of energy, all out of fight… At this point, he just hoped whatever had gotten the first monster wouldn't see him if he held still.

Prompto whimpered a breathless noise as he squeezed himself into an even tighter ball. He could feel the sticky blood from his injury soaking into his shirt. The chill air was making the blood cold too, making Prompto shiver even more than he already had been. He was pretty sure his forehead was bleeding too.

Hiding his face with his arms, shrinking down into the smallest little ball he could, Prompto squeezed his eyes shut and tried not to listen to what sounded like the first monster getting stabbed or bitten or something. It let out a horrible scream, then thudded to the ground. Prompto didn't even want to know what the hell had just killed it.

He couldn't believe this was how he was going to meet his end… He finally escaped Ardyn, was gone for a full two minutes, and was now going to be eaten by a monster - or by a bigger monster that ate the first one. Why was he so damn unlucky? How did he keep getting chances to run, and it just never worked out? He was completely free at the shop. He had the chance to ask an armed man to save him, had a chance to run out the front door and just flee all together... and his efforts only got a man killed, and himself hurt. And now he was completely free again - with even the benefit of his captor being asleep - and he was getting attacked by a daemon. He just couldn't win...

Prompto screamed as he felt hands on his arms, rather roughly pulling him up off the ground, out of his defensive position. Whoever or whatever was grabbing him was strong, yanking him up to his feet with seemingly no effort necessary.

"No!" Prompto screamed, thrashing and kicking, unable to bring himself to open his eyes as his breaths rose quickly and painfully in his chest and tears shook out of his throat. "Get off of me! Let me go!" His screaming quickly turned into frightened, defeated sobs as the grip around his arms tightened.

"You naive little fool." Ardyn's voice growled, the grip around his arms growing increasingly hard and painful as the man dragged him up off the ground.

"Ardyn?" Prompto breathed, blinking his eyes open as he felt what he was pretty sure was a rather unexpected surge of relief.

Against his better judgement, Prompto found himself grabbing toward the man, practically hugging him as he cowered against his chest, wanting for the moment nothing but protection from the horrible, terrifying creature that had just tried to gut him.

Prompto let out a shaky sob as he hid his face against his captor's chest. He could feel himself physically shaking. He knew he was hurt. The creature had scratched across his chest. Prompto had seen blood on his shirt. He felt the sharp, stinging pain from the injury. He had no idea how bad it was, if he might bleed to death, if he had any serious internal damage from it. He'd hit his head too - what if he had a concussion? What if he fell asleep and never woke back up?

He felt Ardyn's arm across his back as the man seemed to sort of half-hug him back, holding him close as he began walking back to camp, not really caring much that Prompto was stumbling quite a bit as he attempted to walk half-backwards along with him.

"You're lucky to be alive." Ardyn growled, his grip around Prompto's arm tightening.

Prompto opened his eyes, breathing out a shaky breath, not sure if he was more relieved or terrified as he looked up at Ardyn's face. The man looked angry. His grip around Prompto's arm illustrated that he was angry. It kind of hurt.

"Is it dead? Is it gone?" Prompto whimpered, cowering down toward Ardyn as the man dragged him back toward the camp fire. He tried to look back toward the rocks. Had Ardyn killed it? What even was it? It was still so dark. Prompto couldn't see anything. Not anything defined. Just shadows and vague silhouettes.

"It's a wonder you've survived long enough to reach fifteen, considering your self preservation skills are nonexistent." Ardyn growled. "As is your ability to learn from your mistakes. Did you not hear me ask you not to run? I'm fairly certain it's been said more than once. Do you enjoy pissing me off? Is that it? Are you fucking testing my limits? Because they aren't far."

Prompto inhaled a small breath, staring up at Ardyn with wide eyes. He had nearly forgotten about that at this point… He just tried to run away yet again… Right after Ardyn gave him what he described as his one free pass. Prompto didn't count on getting caught this time. He was so relieved to have been saved from the monster just now that he all but forgot that Ardyn was a monster too - a different kind... One who promised to hurt him if he tried to run away...

"I've been too forgiving." Ardyn growled, his grip around Prompto's arm tightening as he continued dragging the boy back.

Prompto shook his head, stumbling more than ever as he started to feel quite panicked and stopped wanting to make any effort to help Ardyn take him back. For a moment he'd felt like he had been saved, but he hadn't. Just transferred from the grip of one monster to another.

"I… I didn't… I wasn't trying to run…" Prompto breathed, feeling tears rising up in his throat. What was Ardyn going to do? He'd made himself so clear, that Prompto had no second chances left, that he was going to be hurt if he tried anything… "Don't be mad at me. Please don't be mad. I wasn't trying-"

"Do you realize how close you just were to death?" Ardyn growled, shaking Prompto roughly by his arm as he dragged him backward toward their camp. "Do you think I took you from home, drove with you for an entire day, made certain you were safe and fed… Do you think I did all that so you could run out into the desert and get yourself killed?"

Prompto felt his lip trembling as tears filled his eyes. "I didn't mean to… I-"

"Shut your mouth. Just don't speak." Ardyn grumbled, dragging him closer to the campfire. "I don't want to hear your voice… Your rambling excuses will only make me more angry. And trust me, you don't want to piss me off any more than you already have."

Prompto swallowed, shrinking down and squeezing his eyes shut as he stumbled along after Ardyn. He had a really bad feeling he may have just screwed up worse than he had yet. Ardyn had felt sorry for him and changed his mind about hurting him, only for Prompto to immediately turn around and disobey the man again. He wasn't going to let Prompto get away with it this time.

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