CHAPTER TWO

Mind games Rayne's POV The room atmosphere was serene, even more than I've ever wanted in my life. The piece is perfect! But a little sound confirmed you were alive. I survived all this torture because I made peace with pains after the death of my parent. All the punches, kicks, slaps, and spittle felt like a caress to my bruised ego because, In my case, pain confirms that I was alive and now, I didn't want to live, I wanted to die. That was why I thought my body to feel pain again I poked one eye open and I was greeted by silence. What the hell? My tormentors were standing a few feet away from me, with Gilbert holding the whip. They appeared to be having a conversation that I couldn't get my ears on but silence soon ensued when a knock came sounding on my cell door. Salvation came finally! "Who the fuck is that?" Gilbert thundered and I bet that whoever it was, shivered from the intensity of the voice. "It is I, Emily....Emily Arlo" a small voice stuttered from the other side of the door. A moment of silence passed by before a slave girl appeared —more like poked her head inside the room, visibly shaking. Any slave in her shoes would do the same though. "The beta, sir Edward asked for you. He said it is very urgent and has been trying to reach you through the mind link but you kept shutting him off" She announced in a wobbly and wheezy voice....her voice wavering and her eyes darted to me once. I saw pity in her eyes for me. We aren't exactly close but we aren't enemies either. A tiny tear escaped her eyes as she regarded me but she quickly wiped it off before any of the monsters could see it. Lucky you! Personally, I knew that the sight of me looking all battered and bloody, and the sight of the pack heads standing in front of me with all the blood too is enough to make her lose consciousness for a while or cry her eyes out for me. Any creature with a conscience would bawl their eyes out just at the mere sight of me. Hell, the sight of the whip alone is enough to send a six-month pregnant woman into labor. "Get your sorry ass out this very minute before I do to you what I'm doing to her," Gilbert shouted at the slave girl, Emily; Millie as we often acknowledge her. With a high-pitched scream, Millie ran off, the sound of her retreating doorstep fading as she went farther which would have been fun and a cause for belly-churning laughter in a normal situation. I bit my lower lip to prevent as menial as a hiccup from escaping my mouth. Smart choice! I already made the mistake of talking once. I won't repeat the same mistake by laughing this time. "We are going to come back for you and then afterward, we will have a lot of fun together, breaking your bones and your somehow seemingly strengthened resolve," Gilbert said and turned to Jenny and Lucas, signaling them to come with him. Jenny grabbed a fistful of my hair and gave it a rough tug before she finally walked out. "Three more kicks for good measures?" Jenny asked Gilbert while looking at him. An onlooker will think that they are talking about something serious or something like that, but I knew what was going to come. Gilbert nodded and I shut my eyes. "One for each" I heard Lucas's voice call out followed by the sound of cracking knuckles "For good measure," Gilbert said with a psychopath-like grin. Even though my eyes were shut, I envisioned him so. I shrank my body in readiness for the harsh impact but the hits didn't come. I counted to ten three times, yet nothing. I opened my eyes, one at a time, and made the mistake of opening my eyes. The Trio reached for me immediately. I did so, punching my arms so hard that I could have sworn that I had dislocated my shoulder. And then they give me three more kicks for good measure. Stupid mind games. "You should feel honored that we spend a lot of time with you, brat." Jenny laughed a pretty disgusting one which sickened me because the only thing that was pretty about Jenny was her peanut-sized brains. "These Refugees can be so ungrateful most times, Alpha. After giving you a place to stay after the rampage that cost your Bloodline, you dare pull a hard one on us? The hands that feed you?....Really?." Lucas asked before they all finally match out. I remained laying down on the floor with my arms still handcuffed to my back. It was the most uncomfortable position, but at least the cold floor felt a bit better as my wounds pressed against it, absorbing the coolness. It stung and hurt a bit but that's just the highlights of my life. Nothing new. I wondered if Ruby was alive or if true to their words, they had killed her. My instinct said she was still alive and so was Sapphire, my wolf. Another perk of being a white wolf was the accuracy of our intuition and that of our wolf instinct too. The priest might have tamed Sapphire's abilities, he sure as hell didn't mess with her instinct. Even with my instinct, I could only hope my best friend since I was in the diaper was alive. the leaders of the midnight park were notorious, it would not exactly come as a shock if they kill her without me knowing. Especially since she's in silver cuffs. Although I knew they wouldn't dare—Gilbert wouldn't dare. I bent my head a bit to look at the remaining part of my body and a tear escaped my eyes. Normally, I should be able to heal faster than usual, but then, with the silver on me and my wolf being tamed, I'm almost an ordinary human. My death was near. Moments later, I have no idea how much time had passed—maybe minutes, or even hours, but two guards come in with binds and knives. "We have been asked to take you to your new room." One of them told me with a manic grin and I knew that I was about to be tortured by Gilbert and his heartless group of friends once again. Perhaps Edward, the beta, had said something to him and he wanted an outlet to pour his anger on. Again not Ruby because he wouldn't dare... "Please." I rasped out, still on the floor. The air reeked of dried blood, saliva, and sweat. The guards paid no attention to me as they forcefully tugged my cuffs and dragged me away, after binding my wrist with the rope they came with. They dragged me through a series of empty cells to an empty room, devoid of anything but a small metal cage in a corner, wide open. Are you freaking kidding me? Soon after, Alpha Gilbert, Lucas, Gavin, Montero, and Jenny strolled in and shut the door behind them. Lucas waves the iron whip from earlier with seven tails at the end, beaded edges while in Jenny's hand, was the knife the guards had held earlier. "Here Kitty. Come and play." Jenny whistled as her eyes shone with mischief and she moved the knife around in the air. Lucas, on the other hand, walked toward me with the whip in his hands, and a skanky smirk plastered on his face. My legs were trembling, but it seemed that the adrenaline had fuelled my body just fine. I ran around the cell room, looking for an escape route but there was no opening. Jenny trotted after me, chasing me with a wide smile on my face, but even with my wounds, I didn't give up. I'm so occupied with running away from Jenny, that I did not notice the rest of the crew members that were in the room with us. Then suddenly, Lucas grabbed me by my arm and with the knife, tore a straight line into my already battered skin and left the knife therein. With a scream, I ran out of his grip and limped over to the place where no one was at. Then I saw the open cage and ran into it. Their laughter filled the air and somehow increased the pain shooting through my body. I was hurting like crazy yet I felt numb and disgusted with myself. "We expected you to do that." Jenny chuckled and locked the cage meant for feline animals. It would have been better if it was a bit bigger or wider than this present size, but no. It was everything a cat cage should be. Gilbert suddenly stood up from his chair and walked toward me. Gavin brought out a small bottle from his pocket, uncorked it, and handed it to the Alpha. Gilbert, in turn, collected it and walked over to my cage. I tried to move back but the space was limited. The metal lungs to my open wound and I screamed from the impact. Attempting to get myself farther from the metal, I had my head slamming against the front mast of the cage and sticking out of the little space between the pole. Fucking mind games. Again. "She fell straight into our trap." someone shouted, my pain was too severe to pay attention to the talker. Gilbert, with an ugly smile, emptied the bottle content on my back wound and I literally went mad. The pain shot directly into my brain. Every fucking flesh, cell, and tissue in my body began to pull and sting like I was bitten by multiple soldier ants and thereafter, coiled in a platter of hot spice with salt to taste. Gilbert walked closer to me, replacing the first bottle with another. "So white wolf, I'm about to prepare my favorite meal and I want you to cook with me, okay?" I was still crying and whimpering and tending my wounds. I didn't have the time to look it up. "So we are going to prepare my favorite breakfast meal...." He trailed off. "In a bowl mix Dry Ingredients— the flour, baking powder, and baking soda together..." he poured a dry white substance on my skin and I screamed my lungs out. He made a tsk sound and continued. "Next, add Wet Ingredients— egg, buttermilk, and sour cream." He looked down at me and with a smirk, he poured hot liquor on my opened wound and it started to burn. Another guttural grunt escaped my mouth, at the feel of the hot alcohol on my skin. I tried to shrink my body to lessen the pain but the small-sized cage was too small for that. They all laughed... "Next you mix and wait...Mix together. Don't overmix. Don't worry about the small clumps, they take care of themselves." He paused and signaled Jenny who brought a couple of things in bottles and sachets. Gilbert emptied them together and flashed me another sickening smile. "Now, we wait for ten minutes..." Waiting for ten minutes felt like waiting for eternity. All I heard were faint background noises like the sound that filled my senses was the fizzling sound of the alcohol and cocaine Gilbert had dropped on my body. I just curled into a ball as the sensation of the element in my flesh drained me into a stupor. I was at a low but at the same time, I was high as fuck. My body stung like a thousand fire ants were attacking me at once and as though I was a lobster in hot oil, getting greased and ready to be served for a barbecue dinner. Just what did I do to deserve this? I thought, as my eyelids began to shut down on their own and my senses too. My body was unable to bear more of Alpha Gilbert's torturous cooking steps. "Now, we are going to make eggs," I heard him say faintly. I was already dying so the rest of his words were heard by my ghost.