A/N: Sorry for the wait, been terribly busy. Enjoy the feels.
Through the steel portal he had taken her. A single light illuminated the dense shadows of underground, swinging back and forth. Squinting, it was too much for her. Unaware of how long she resided in pitch black, she supposed it was a long purgatory.
Her free hand flew to her face, shielding her sensitive eyes from the encroaching luminosity. Too bright, she stole her head away, far away, burying her chin into her chest and firmly shutting her eyes.
Senses heightened, she heard a muffled bark of laughter escape from the figure directing her. In response she quickly peeked out, and flashed her fist into his back.
Knuckles aching, she was surprised how incredibly little it achieved.
"Son of a bitch…" she swore, wagging her hand and rubbing the fingers tenderly.
Of course by that time he had halted, almost in disbelief at her feeble attempt.
"That was it?" he mocked, his demonic façade in full. "That's all?"
Puffing out her cheeks in a mix of rage and embarrassment, she glared deeply.
"Sorry I couldn't give you what you deserve," she snapped. "If I had my powers and hadn't been starved and blinded and kidnapped…"
"Excuses, dear child," he reminded painfully. "The fact of the matter is, you never had a chance."
Remembering their weak pact, she gently placed her hand on her hip, trying to regain what little pride she had left.
"Enough with the cryptic shit," she demanded, smirking at his wide-eyed response. "We had a deal, remember? What do you want from me? And no vague answers."
Once again, however, he bowed and motioned with his hand for their continuance.
"We're not there yet, Raven."
Grunting, she peered around, quickly searching for a way out. Following her sparrow-like attention, he shook his head. She was truly terrible at hiding her plans. He would have to correct that at some juncture- if she survived.
Taking off, he began sauntering into the dark again, but instead of staying put, she ran. Taking it as a sign of frail luck, she wasn't going to wait and find out what the sociopath had in store. She had learned that lesson recently.
Mustering all the energy she had left, she sprinted in the opposite direction. Pained breaths, sharp clicks of feet- it was a loud escape. Feeling much like a child chasing after a nonexistent ball, the panic that he might be tracking her down rose in her throat- her panted exhalations became chokes of anxiety.
The light seemed to be miles behind her as she retreated into darkness. Finally, her body smacked into something rough, and extremely cold. Wriggling her fingers and blindly feeling about, she assumed it was a wall.
Damp, her hand came back with droplets of liquid. Furrowing her invisible brow, she pondered if they were beneath a waterfall. Maybe somewhere near a lake, river, or some other body of water. She shuffled sideways, her skin rubbing against the stone.
Her full weight leaned upon it, scratching her elbows and knees. Feeling like she was on a twisted tightrope, she scaled for what seemed like hours. The edges waved and shifted, but the stone lurch remained.
"Where is it…?" she whispered to herself- there had to be an opening, a sign, a portal (anything!) somewhere.
Caught up in the drama of it all, she tripped over her clumsy feet and fell hard. She had reached out her hands to brace the impact, and suffered the result of a grinded socket. The radiation of pain throbbed all the way from her shoulder to the small of her back.
Crying out instinctively, she smacked her hand over her mouth to stop the shout.
Slowly, surely, evilly, plotting footsteps clashed upon the smooth floor. Not again, she scrambled, crawled as best she could back to the stone wall, the lifeline.
Too late, a powerful hand landed on her neck. The chill summoned a flurry of shakes to electrify down her spine and up again.
"Pathetic," was his only word before he inhumanly lifted her up.
She cradled her sore arm into the other, nursing it as gravity ensued upon her legs once more. Making a few clucks and assessing her moronic injuries, he spotted, among other things, cuts, bruises, and a solid welt forming on her elbow.
Then, he also noticed how acutely she was rocking her arm, hugging it close to her chest. He knew that reaction well.
Knowing that she had suffered a dislocation, he reached out. As expected, she shifted quickly away, flinching, and hilariously growling. Muttering useless swears and demands for space, he flicked her requests off.
Methodically, expertly, he snatched her wrist away and snapped the shoulder back into its hollow.
"Christ!" she nearly screamed, awaiting another round of unbearable pangs to escalate.
When there were none, and instead relief flowed through her bones, she cocked a violet brow.
"What did you-?"
"You ask too many questions," he cut off, and instead of waiting for her hand or pleading with her idiotically to trail him like a lost child, he swooped down and picked her up in his arms.
Again, she yelled in his face. The mask may have blocked his identity, but it certainly did not mean he couldn't hear, the girl was the definition of nuisance.
She cried and thrashed, but it didn't matter, really, they were already making exceptional time. He kicked himself for not doing this in the first place.
The destination came a few feet ahead, and although she flailed like an insignificant brat, he managed to squash her negligible attempt at free will. Another door, but not like the other, it was made of a rich redwood, an elegant and refined design that looked ironically out of place.
Puzzled, she still gave another round of resistance, but her eyes locked upon the knob as he easily swiveled the polished gold blob. Silent, it gently cracked open, a plethora of horrors already plunging their paranoia into her mind.
Expecting a well devised torture chamber, it became something much more unsettling. Although her vision was wavering, swaying, and altogether murky, it was lucid enough to see the outline of a bed. Massive, red, and covered in luxurious covers of velvet, an army of flickering candles hung from old fashioned lanterns.
Dim still, a soft, inviting carpet was trampled uncharacteristically by his black boots as he took a single step in, the tidal wave of fur enveloping the soles. Walls of homey logs cut from the same tree as the entrance, it felt more like a beloved cabin, a relaxing getaway treat, than a malevolent dungeon.
Stunned, really, she went limp in his arms, taking in the stark contrast, he could see it was overwhelming her, and he prayed she wouldn't swoon, his thin tolerance for teens already evaporated – she wasn't escaping that easily.
Entranced, she dangled her head to the left and right, trying to see past the decoration. Pursing her lips and opening her mouth slightly, her tongue would not expel the question she was trying to ask.
"Now, I will answer your inquiry," his far way voice announced, cracking the intoxication of astonishment. "You, dear girl, are going to be instrumental in providing me with a new apprentice."
Euphoria snapped, she now placed her attention in him, the buzzing of a warning blaring in the back of her mind- a foreshadowing. The fingers on her leg and upper arm tightened, pressing into her pale flesh.
"I have failed with two already," he admitted, his tone dipping into a deeper baritone before rising to its usual skeletal high pitch. "But, I'm not one to give up, Raven."
Her skin began to crawl.
"I would never…" she began to hoarsely protest.
"Not you, silly girl," he reprimanded, his eye flicking horribly into hers. "I want what's inside you. Or, should I say, what will be."
He couldn't mean…
"I've always wanted to be a father."