Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It had just been a normal day for Ayzee.

Chatting with her friends, walking around Bonesborough, the usual.

And most of the time, it’s just that, but today, Pandora found someplace.

Apparently, it was suspicious stuff in private land.

Ayzee’s conscience told her it was a bad idea, but with her yearn for adventure, she ignored it.

Jay asked, “Yo, what is this place about?”

Pandora explained, “It’s got some Human Realm contraband there, as I’ve seen. I had previously visited the place to see for myself and once I saw those things, I knew I had to get you guys. I wanna know how they have access to the Human Realm, and why they’re being suspicious, so…

I’m calling an investigation!”

Jay smirked, “Oh, this is going to be good. I know it already. I wanna know what’s up with the human stuff too.”

Milan asked her girlfriend, “Ayzee, your family is the main source of Titan’s blood. Has anyone suspicious asked for it?”

She replied, “Uh, no. Not that I know of… But now I’m intrigued, I say we do it.”

“Milan, you in?”

“This is a really bad idea but… yes…”

Pandora raised her fist in excitement, “Alright, let’s do this!”

--

They arrived at the site, looking through the tall chain-link fence. Everything there was gray with sheets covering boxes like it was covering up illegal stuff.

“This place seems creepy, like they’re hiding something,” Milan commented.

Jay pointed out, “That’s kinda the point of hiding things, make it hidden and unfindable. Whatever these people are doing here, it can’t be good.”

Ayzee was the first to climb over the fence, almost landing face first. Then she helped down the other three.

It was more eerie inside the fence, like magic couldn’t be performed yet could at the same time, like something suddenly started weighing her down, it felt off.

Pandora made a hand motion for her, Milan, and Jay to follow her, signaling to be sneaky.

As they quietly walked around, lots of human stuff like Pandora had mentioned were there, stuff that only Ayzee could have recognized due to her common visits to the Human Realm, bad stuff.

Ayzee glanced around, looking for other things similar to the stuff she saw.

She slowly somewhat separated from the group, but stayed close enough to call them over without yelling too loud.

She came across an open area, with a couple boxes distanced from the others, as if they could pose a danger to the goods that were there.

The boxes in the middle weren’t fully covered, as she squinted she saw an explosives sign on them.

Milan took notice of Ayzee and started walking in her direction, curious about what caused her girlfriend’s attention to walk there.

Ayzee slightly lifted the sheets and saw an open box of grenades.

What are grenades doing here?

How did they get here?

What’s going to happen if she doesn’t tell people about this?

She cautiously grabbed one of the hand-held grenades and looked back to Milan with widened eyes.

Milan clearly didn’t understand what these were and how dangerous they were.

She walked closer to Ayzee, looking to take the grenade from her hands.

Ayzee made it out of her reach.

Milan asked why. Ayzee mouthed, “It’s a bomb.”

Milan put her hands away and stepped back, eyeing the box as if asking her to put it back.

Ayzee shook her head, holding it closer to her chest.

Now Milan was really scared, she watched as her girlfriend held the bomb dangerously close to her chest, her heart started pounding, waiting for the spontaneous event in which the bomb exploded.

BOOM

Both heard the unexpected noise, but it wasn’t the bomb, it was a gun, something that Milan wouldn’t recognize.

Ayzee’s heartbeat increased rapidly, vision going blurry and her body going into fight or flight mode.

She saw the gun, a cloaked person reloading it.

The world went slow and without a second thought, Ayzee booked it.

More gunshots flew at her as she ran away, one she could have sworn hit her, but that didn’t matter to her at the moment.

Adrenaline was hitting her like a truck, she had never ran this fast before.

Her thoughts went to Milan for a split second, she was probably scared, or worse, dead, she didn’t know how dangerous guns were like Ayzee did, heck, she probably didn’t even know what a gun was. But it was too late for her to go back, she had to assume the best.

She hadn’t known how long she was running for, she had lots of cuts because she was deep in the forest by now, she had no idea how she got there, but she assumed it was the adrenaline.

She backed herself to a tree, catching her breath.

But she couldn’t, Ayzee couldn’t breathe, it was like she was suffocating.

She was full on crying now, too shaky to pull herself together.

She tightened her grip on the grenade she didn’t realize she was still holding, that arm started to hurt really bad now, the adrenaline must be wearing off.

She gently dropped it, ignoring her urge to throw it as far as she could, she needed evidence.

She lifted her left arm which was previously holding the bomb up to see a bullet hole and blood in her upper arm. The pain suddenly fully kicked in and she screamed, she couldn’t describe how bad it hurt, she started loudly crying, unable to control herself.

After what felt like hours, Ayzee mustered up the strength to rip cloth off the right arm of her jacket and tie it to the wound to keep it from bleeding out.

Slowly, Ayzee calmed herself down, performing the breathing exercises Gus had taught her whenever she panicked.

In, 2, 3, 4.

Out, 2, 3, 4.

In, 2, 3, 4.

Out, 2, 3, 4.

That was enough to get her to slightly calm down.

She reached for her pocket, trying to pull out a scroll that wasn’t there.

She groaned, it must’ve fallen out.

Then she realized she was lost.

No scroll to contact anyone, no pathways in sight, just the taunting darkness in the sky as she heard distant thundering.

Her first instinct was to find town, north was her best shot. If she couldn’t find it, she’d have to find shelter quickly before it would rain.

--

A couple hours prior.

Milan called out, “AYZEE!”

She had no idea what was going on but clearly someone was trying to hurt them.

She ran to find Jay and Pandora, “Guys, GUYS! Ayzee ran off, I don’t know where she went but it seems like we need to leave as soon as possible.”

Unexpectedly, the booms followed her, and she finally realized the danger, she called out to her friends to run and they all sprinted to the exit.

Just as they were about to leave, Pandora was shot in the leg, she let out a painful, “AHHH!” and fell to her knees.

Jay wrapped her around her shoulders and dragged her out with Milan.

Later, once they arrived at the city limits of Bonesborough, they stopped to rest.

Jay ripped off a piece of her clothing and tied it to her leg wound, the two were very scared for Pandora’s life.

Jay tried to reassure her, “It’s gonna be okay, you’re gonna be okay. You’re not allowed to die while I’m here.”

Pandora chuckled at little, trying to distract herself from the pain, but it further angered it, the wound stinging even more.

Milan got up, “You two wait here, I’m going to get help. I shouldn’t be too long.”

As Milan ran around the city she couldn’t stop thinking about why they all agreed to this.

It was very obviously a stupid plan, why didn’t Milan try to stop them?

And if that boom hurt Pandora so bad, she really hoped that Ayzee was okay, wherever she was.

She spotted Enna walking around the market, “ENNA, ENNA, THIS IS AN EMERENCY!”

“Oh, hey Milan, I was wondering where you were… Oh my Titan are you okay?!”

“I’m fine. Pandora is not. We need to get help. Fast.”

Enna paused for a second, processing the information, “I understand, I’ll call the healers. Guide me to her.”

She led her to Pandora. Enna put her hand to her mouth, shocked by the serious injury.

She dialed the number on her scroll and alerted the healers of the severity of the situation.

Enna put away her scroll, “They said they’ll be here in 5 minutes.”

Jay patted Pandora’s shoulder, who was breathing heavily, “Hey, hey, hey. It’s gonna be okay, help is coming, it’s only going to be a couple more minutes, you need to hang in there for me okay.”

Pandora stopped squinting her eyes and quietly exhaled, “Okay.”

Within a few minutes the Healing Coven cart arrived and Jay backed away as they placed her on the stretcher.

Milan explained the situation and one of the healers asked, “I suggest you two should come as well, in case you may be injured as well.”

They both nodded and walked into the cart.

Milan slightly waved to Enna as the cart doors closed.

Enna waved back, still very concerned.

The same healer asked them, “Okay, I’m going to need you to tell me who your parents are, alright?”

Jay spoke up, “My mom’s name is Boscha, Milan, over there with the two colored eyes’s parents are Viney and Skara, and Pandora’s parents are Mr. and Mrs. Park.”

“I believe I know most of your parents, especially Viney, I know she works in the healing field. I am now going to call Ms. Park’s parents.”

Pandora squealed, “No, I’m going to be in so much trouble.”

“I assure you Ms. Park, everything will be fine.”

Pandora groaned as she tried to sit up, Jay pushed her down, “Take it easy, they know what they're doing.”

--

Willow and Hunter were washing the dishes together, waiting for Pandora to get home.

Hunter rubbed the back of his neck, “Is Pancake okay? It’s pretty late for her to be out this long.”

Willow reassured him, wiping a plate, “I’m sure she’s fine , you know teenagers.”

“Yeah, you’re right, I shouldn’t be so worried.”

Then, suddenly, their scroll started ringing. It was the healers’s number, and Willow answered the call, “Hello?”

The caller spoke, “Hello, is this Mr. and Mrs. Park?”

Willow answered, “Yes, what seems to be the issue?”

“I assure you that you don’t need to panic, but your daughter, Pandora Park, is seriously injured-”

Willow cut the caller off, “WHAT?!”

“No need to worry, as I assured you already. But we request at least you or Mr. Park to come to the emergency building as soon as possible.”

“We’re on our way,” Willow ended the call.

Hunter asked, “You screamed, what’s wrong. And where are we going?”

Willow grabbed her and Hunter’s palismen, “We need to hurry to the emergency building, I’ll explain on the way.”

--

The healer turned to Jay and Milan, “I will have to call your parents too, just so you know.”

Milan said, “We know.”

--

As Willow and Hunter arrived at the emergency building, they immediately searched for their daughter, running into the healer Willow had spoken to.

Hunter demanded with fear, “Where is our daughter?!”

The healer reassured him, “No need to worry Mr. Park, she isn’t dying. But I can guide you to her room.”

Willow held Hunter’s hand, “We’d appreciate that.”

As they entered the room, Pandora immediately saw them and widened her eyes.

Hunter rushed over to her, ignoring the other healers who tried to stop him, “Pancake! Honey, are you okay? Who did this? Tell me. I’ll take care of them. Is someone threatening you not to tell me? I assure you, daddy will make them pay .”

Pandora coughed, “Dad, dad. I’m okay, I’m okay. It’s just a leg injury, I know it’s a bad one but it’ll eventually be okay. And I have no idea who did this, I don’t think any of us does.”

Hunter sighed, “That’s okay, pancake. What matters is that they’re not here anymore.”

Pandora started sniffling, unable to control her emotions, she hugged her dad, crying into his shoulder, Hunter rubbed her back, soothing her with calm noises and saying it’s okay, “It’s not okay, dad! It’s my fault. I’m the one who brought up that stupid place with all the stupid human stuff.”

Willow walked up to her, “Honey, I know you’re hurting right now but did you say human stuff? What kind of human stuff? What stupid place has that human stuff?”

Pandora hiccuped, “I-I don’t know, j-just a bunch of suspicious boxes. It smelt weird, I didn’t want to look inside the boxes.”

Hunter caught on to what Willow was on the topic of, “That’s okay, pancake, you didn’t have to. But where did you see all of that weird stuff?”

“Y-You shouldn’t go there, or else you’ll get hurt like me. I didn’t see the people but I know they don’t like others messing with their stuff.”

Willow reassured her, “If you tell us where this place is, we will send the most trained professionals to deal with the issue. All of the stuff you said about that place sounds illegal.”

Pandora groaned, “Fine. Just promise me you two won’t go there.”

Hunter spoke before Willow could, “We promise.”

“Okay, so…”

--

A healer came out of the room to see Milan and Jay, very worried for their friend.

“Is she gonna be okay?”

“Will she die?”

“Rest assured, young witches, she will be fine as of now. For you two though… I suggest therapy, lots of it. That must’ve been a very traumatizing experience for you.”

--

Luz and Amity were peacefully watching the crystal ball, cuddled up to each other after a long day.

Suddenly Amity’s scroll started ringing, Luz groaned, “We just sat down, mi amor, do we have to answer it?”

Amity chuckled, “Oh yes we do, and besides, it’s Viney.”

That slightly brightened Luz’s mood, Amity answered the call, “Hey Viney, what’s up?”

“Pandora is seriously injured, apparently, her, Jay, Milan, and your daughter were attacked by someone, we don’t know who but we just wanted to let you know. Come to the emergency building if you want to meet up, Gus and the other parents are already here.”

--

As Luz and Amity arrived, Gus immediately greeted them, “Luz! Amity! I’m so glad you two are here, we have a lot to discuss with you.”

A random healer spotted them, “Perfect, you have arrived. Please go to the waiting room, unfortunately the emergency rooms are all full right now.”

As the two walked to the waiting room they saw two kids, “Jay! Milan! Are you two okay?”

Jay responded, “Kinda…”

They sat down across from them, Amity demanded, “Alright, I wanna know exactly what happened.”

Jay sighed, “So we started off the day as normal, and then Pandora got this idea to go to this mysterious place. We all regrettably agree to go with her and then we explore the place.

Next thing I know is that Milan suddenly ran up to me and Pandora saying that we needed to leave. Then I heard boom sounds coming in our direction, they honestly looked like tiny pebbles, but then we ran to the exit, just as we were about to leave, one of those things hit Pandora in the leg, it seemed to have knocked her down really badly.

So then, we went to Bonesborough, Milan got Enna to call the healers, and we ended up here.”

Luz gently, but sternly asked, “ What about Ayzee? ”

Jay said, “We don’t kno-”

Milan interrupted her, “I was the one who saw her last. We were walking around, looking at all the same stuff Jay and Pandora did. And then Ayzee found this box, she pulled out a thing I had never seen before and turned to me very scaredly, she told me that it was a bomb…”

Luz and Amity gasped.

“...I tried to take it from her and put it back but she held it to her chest, too close to her chest for my liking. And that’s when I first heard the booms, Ayzee bolted it as soon as she heard the first one, she didn’t let go of the bomb though, unfortunately, I don’t know where she went, and if she hasn’t contacted anyone by now, she must be lost.”

Luz got closer to her, “Are you absolutely sure you have no idea where she went?”

Milan sighed, “Well, I assumed she must’ve gotten lost in the forest because she might’ve been panicking too much. We knew where we were going because we had a planned destination in our heads. I don’t think Ayzee knew where she was going. The best we can do is send out search parties.”

Amity sighed, starting to spiral. Luz saw her, “We’ll find her, okay?”

--

As Ayzee was wandering through the forest, she ran into Odalia, who knocked her down.

She looked up, scoffing, “What do you want this time?”

Odalia put her hand to her chest, “Oh, Ayzee. I didn’t see you there.”

Ayzee rolled her eyes, “Yeah, right.”

“Let me help you up,” Odalia held out her hand.

Ayzee hesitated, but reluctantly took her hand.

She winced, having used her hurt arm, forgetting the wound on it.

Odalia cringed, “That looks painful. You need shelter, we both know the boiling rains could start anytime.”

Ayzee asked, “Why would you help me?”

Odalia smiled, “Well, you helped me, so, it’s only right if I help you too.”

She grabbed her arm, “Come with me.”

Ayzee tilted her head, “What about my parents?”

Odalia manipulated her, “They’ll be fine. Besides, they already have enough on their plate. You wouldn’t want to add to it, would you?”

She looked down, “No…”

As they walked throughout the forest, Ayzee couldn’t help but wonder, “Where are we going?”

“Trust me, as soon as we get there, we will be out of the rain.”

“That’s… not an answer.”

“...”

“Here we are!”

Ayzee looked around, it was dark, very dark, there were weird puddles everywhere, spikes on the roof, threatening to fall, “Odalia… this is a cave.”

Odalia sat her down, “Well, it’s better than nothing, isn’t it?”

“I guess so…”

“The rain just started, we got here just in time.”

“When can I leave?”

“Why would you want to leave now? It’s raining.”

“No, I mean, after the rain.”

“Are you… are you going to keep me here?”

Odalia dodged the question, “I don’t like your tone, Ayzee. I gave you shelter. You should be thankful.”

Ayzee thought to herself, she practically kidnapped me. But… she didn’t say I couldn’t leave. But… do I really have a choice? I’m injured and I can’t get away that far away from the cave, even if I tried really hard. What if she puts on a forcefield? Then I’ll really be stuck here. What if I was wrong to trust her? If she keeps me here, will she treat me like a prisoner? I don’t have any contact to the outside world and I think she knows that.

Try to ease into the questioning , “Won’t my parents eventually get worried? I’m sure I’m labeled as a missing person by now. Wouldn’t it be easier if you just took me to Bonesborough? I-”

“AYZEE!” Thunder shook in the distance.

She held her good arm up, looking at Odalia in fear.

“I apologize, my dear. I did not mean to yell. I just have a lot going on in my head right now. You should get some rest, I’ll provide food in the morning and we can talk more then.”

To be honest, Ayzee was really tired, the adrenaline took a lot of her energy, and maybe sleeping would distract her from the pain in her right arm.

She quickly fell asleep, laying sideways. It wasn’t the most comfortable, but it was better than sleeping in the rain.

Odalia took the opportunity to cast an invisible wall, blocking off the entrance and exit of the small cave; the spell was cast so no one could enter or exit, except for Odalia.

She entered Bonesborough, somehow running into her ex-daughter, Amity Noceda-Blight.

“Sorry I was in your way, ma’am-, wait. You. ”

Odalia rolled her eyes, continuing to walk, Amity grabbed her arm, “ Wait . I know we have our differences but this is important. Have you seen Ayzee ?”

She lied, “No, why do you ask?”

Amity sighed, “She just went missing, and Milan thinks she’s in the forest and I need all the help I can get. I’m so worried.”

Odalia shared fake sympathy with her ex-daughter, “Rest assured, Amity. You will find her.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but, thank you.”

“No problem. Now I’m going to resume my night.”

--

Odalia returned to the cave by morning, holding food that was obviously stolen, but, to be fair, she had asked Ayzee for food when she could’ve asked for anything a while ago.

Ayzee didn’t move from her spot, having woken up a couple minutes before Odalia came.

Scaredly, she asked, “S-So… you said we’d talk?”

“Ayzee, I’d much prefer this after we eat. Now, come here.”

The scared girl etched closer, “Y’know, I um, my arm really hurts so I think it would just be easier if I could go, it shouldn’t be too hard to find Bonesborough, or someone who’s looking for me-”

“Ayzee. You’re being very ungrateful for everything I’m giving you right now. I could’ve left you in the boiling rains last night, lost and alone without shelter and food, but I didn’t. Again, as I said. Come . Here. ”

Ayzee fully came over to her, grabbing the food and nibbling at it, scared of the possibility that it’s drugged. She heard of Hooty’s cookies, one bite is so good but at the price of unwillingly or willingly going unconscious.

Odalia talked in a stern, unwelcoming voice, “So, you wanted to talk ?”

She was clearly trying to scare her into saying no, unfortunately, Ayzee fell for it anyways, “You seem upset, if-if now’s too early we can wait a little bit but not too long, I-I still need to get home, you could help me with that-”

“For Titan’s sake Ayzee, must you ramble about everything?”

“I’m just… looking out for myself I guess…” Ayzee quickly realized that was the wrong thing to say.

“You think I’m putting you in danger? After everything I’ve done for you.”

“No! No, I-I just thought that you’d be mad with me because I didn’t give you the chip earlier-”

Odalia’s voice turned more harsh than it was before, “You think I’m being petty ?”

“I-”

“Well, then. If you think I’m so mad. I will be petty, petty enough to put off talking for the entire day . Maybe even petty enough to not get you anything to eat if you think of me so lowly.”

Ayzee started shaking, “Y-You don’t understand, I-I didn’t mean it that way, I promise.”

“Sure you do, you’re only saying that to save face.”

“Now, I’m going to leave and you will be staying here.”

“But-but isn’t that kidnapping.”

“No. The kind of kidnapping I do involves torturing the victim, unless, you want me to do that to you?”

Ayzee slowly nodded her head in fear, “Good, I’ll be expecting good behavior when I get back and then maybe I’ll let you have painkillers for that arm of yours, if you’d stop complaining.”

As soon as Odalia went far enough away, Ayzee rushed to leave the cave, running into an invisible forcefield, just as she theorized, she threw rocks at it, she hit it, many times before she started crying.

Why didn’t I leave while I had the chance? Sure, I would’ve gotten hurt by the boiling rains but with the choice I made by trusting her, now I have no idea how long she is going to keep me here, days? Weeks? Months? All of them seemed bad. Earlier, Odalia said that her version of kidnapping was torture.

Ayzee continued to cry to herself for hours, why was her luck so bad, her friends were most likely dead, because she left them there, it was her fault.

She deserved this, didn’t she?

Chapter Text

Odalia returned, seeing Ayzee crying loudly, she cringed, for her it was an annoying sight to see.

Odalia sat in front of her, “Ayzee, did you really spend all day crying? I expected you’d use your time more wisely.”

Ayzee sniffled, quieting down, “No…*sniffle*”

She rubbed her eyes, trying to make her face look presentable, but it was all red with bloodshot eyes and tears everywhere, “Listen, I *sniffle* I’m sorry, I didn’t mean what I said earlier. My head- I-I was just being stupid , we can just forget that, right?”

Odalia made a spell circle, “No one just forgives and forgets a fault like that Ayzee, I believe you need to be taught a lesson.”

A ghost raised from the ground and unexpectedly smacked Ayzee across the face.

Ayzee shook uncontrollably, mumbling, tears coming again.

Odalia stood above her, “Look at you. So easily taken down by a single hit, that’s not the Ayzee I know, she won fight coven- oh, wait, she didn’t, silly me.”

Odalia pressed her foot down hard on Ayzee’s bad arm, she continued to cry quietly, shuffling, trying to get Odalia off her, “Such a vulnerable brat, you have no means to protect yourself at all? *Sigh*, I expected better.”

As Odalia got off her arm she pulled it to herself, Ayzee could feel that it was definitely fractured.

Odalia smirked, she was enjoying this, Ayzee could see it very well, Odalia grabbed her hair, harshly and quickly, pulling at it, messing it up, Odalia came down to her and whispered, “Weak.”

Ayzee used her utility bracelet to make an abomination blade, she raised it up, Odalia pulled her head away, the blade sitting close to her neck, Ayzee squinted to the side, “Stop… please .”

Odalia scoffed, “Oh, of course you still have that thing. Too bad I’ll have to take it away.”

She yanked the bracelet off of her, Ayzee retreating her arm back to her chest, Odalia put it in her pocket, sighing, “You know I have to search you for other weapons you could have possibly had on you.”

She forced Ayzee’s hands away and pulled out a grenade from her pocket, Ayzee tried to sit up and grab it but Odalia forced her back down, “Ayzee, a bomb ? Really?”

Ayzee asked cautiously, “How do you know what that is?...”

Odalia backhanded her cheek, “Did I give you permission to speak ?”

The impact threw Ayzee back slightly, she rubbed on her cheek, scared to ever open her mouth again.

Odalia felt the wind, “It’s cold isn’t it?”

Ayzee caught onto what she was saying and covered the zipper of her jacket.

Odalia tsked, “Ugh, don’t make this difficult, Ayzee.”

She pulled the jacket off of her, throwing it to the side, Ayzee quickly shivered, hugging her arms for any kind of comfort to the cold.

Odalia turned her to her back, pulling her arms around and cuffing them, Ayzee whimpered, “Why?...”

She explained, “Because I still think you haven’t learned your lesson.”

She turned her body to face her, she looked at Ayzee’s defenseless figure, hands behind her back, her left arm injured and bruised, hair messed up.

Ayzee pleaded, squinting her eyes again, “You… you got what you wanted, now please , just stop . I promise I’ll be good from now on.”

Odalia sighed, “You really think I’m going to believe you? I guess you haven’t even gotten close to learning your lesson then.”

Odalia pulled out a dark gray cloth and put it between Ayzee’s lips in front of her teeth, gagging her.

Odalia left the cave, conjuring a thick wall that would put Ayzee in complete darkness, before it could completely close her off, she said “I learned this construction spell a while ago. I suggest you spend some time to reflect.”

Ayzee laid there in the darkness, tied up and vulnerable, now she really messed up.

Why was I so stupid ? Why did I talk back to her? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? I’m never gonna see my parents again, never see Milan again, never hear her laugh again, never gonna hang out with my friends again, never gonna feel comfort again…

She cried into the darkness, the gag preventing her from making a lot of noise, only small whimpers coming out. She was going to be there a long time.

--

Luz returned home, exhausted from searching everywhere. She told herself that she needed rest, even though it pained her to return with no results, getting rest was better for future searches.

Amity was crying, Luz knew exactly why.

Amity spoke in her tears, “Luz… it’s taking so long to find her, it’s been two days, and we have no idea where she is. What if… what if she-”

“Amity. Sitting here and crying isn’t going to solve our problems, we should be out there looking for her, but before we do that, we need rest. The both of us stood up all night last night searching but now, we need rest.”

“Y-You’re you’re right- but only for a little bit, we can’t put this off too long, for her sake.”

“I know.”

--

Milan and Jay were sent home, they were obviously going to be in much trouble.

Milan and her parents entered their house, her parents concerningly and angrily looking at her.

Viney sighed, signaling Skara to leave, “Sit down.”

Milan sat on the couch, rubbing her arm, scared of her mum’s possible reaction.

“Honey, I’m not mad…-”

Milan avoided eye contact, “I know you are, you don’t have to lie to me.”

“I’m not. Just-” She saw her daughter bite her lip, sighing, “Listen, I am a little bit mad but I’m mostly worried for you.”

“Worried about me ? Why are you worried about me ? Pandora is hurt in the emergency building and Ayzee…” She hadn’t wanted to think about what could possibly be happening to her right now.

“I am worried about them just as much as I am worried about you. What you saw was… traumatizing to say the least. You. Need. Therapy. But I can’t force it on you.”

Milan sighed, “I-I I just want some time to myself.”

--

Boscha immediately rushed to the door as the bell rang, she opened it and hugged her daughter, Jay hugged her back, Boscha caressed her cheek, “I’m so glad you’re safe.”

--

The wall lowered, Ayzee whimpering through her gag as she knew exactly who was coming, it was sunrise. Ayzee was stuck here for two days, two .

She tried scooting away with her legs, she didn’t care what was on the dark side of the cave, it had to be better than whatever Odalia had planned to do with her.

“Oh, Ayzee, thinking you can hide from me? So pitiful,” She grabbed her by the collar.

“Hmm-mh! Hmm…” Ayzee mumbled as Odalia raised her.

She looked at her stomach, seeing that she was slightly getting thin.

She lifted her shirt to be sure, Ayzee wriggled in the air, thinking she would take her shirt off.

“Oh relax Ayzee. I’m going to take it off. I just noticed you’ve been getting thin is all. You must be very hungry.”

Ayzee looked down, not wanting to have eye contact with her, “Mmm-hmm…”

“Too bad you can’t eat with that gag of yours,” Odalia taunted her.

Ayzee was on the verge of tears, she just wanted all of this to stop, “Mmmmm….” She whimpered.

“Now don’t get so upset, I have something planned for us both.”

She dropped her, Ayzee landing on her back, “Oomf.”

Odalia casted fire with her hand.

Ayzee whimpered, shaking, trying to somehow break free from her bindings, none of it was working, instead, she attempted to scoot away like she did before.

Odalia grabbed her leg and lowered the fire, Ayzee squirmed out of Odalia’s grasp, pleading that only came out as mumbling through the gag, “Hmm! Hmm mm. Mmmm. Ufhmm, Shofhmm. Sheevm.”

“So talkative Ayzee, you almost always kept the noises to a minimum prior to the gag. I guess I need to break you then.”

“Nnmmmm… feehmmm.”

She pulled her leg back, “Stay still, it’ll be worse if you move.”

The fire came in contact with her pants, Ayzee cried, feeling a first degree burn, “Nhmmm hmm-hmm-hmm, heehmm, Hm HMM hmm!”

As the fire touched her skin, her eyes shot open, trying to move her leg but Odalia held it still.

The fire hurt so much, Ayzee hiccupped underneath her gag, whimpering, pleading for the pain to stop.

“Ugh, so much drama , Ayzee.”

Why was Odalia doing this, she knows how much it hurts, it fucking hurts. The only good thing is that it distracts me from the pain in my arm. Does she get a laugh out of this? She thinks this is so funny, making me suffer . Hurting me, keeping me here against my will, tying me up, leaving me like abandoned prey, before they died. 

Odalia lifted the fire from her skin, Ayzee sighed in relief, but she didn’t dare look at the wound, it was most definitely a third degree burn, she knew that there was a hole in her pants near her ankle.

She smiled at her injured frame, “Oh darling, I’m not done yet. That was just the start.”

Ayzee started shaking again, whimpering, “Hm?”

Odalia held her leg down again, she pleaded so much for her to stop, “MMMmmmm.”

This continued on four more times, the holes in her pants would look like ripped jeans if there weren’t burn marks on them, two of them were close to her knee.

Ayzee was crying too much to realize it was over.

Odalia pushed her head down, right cheek against the floor, “You lost all your fight? Are you ready to be a good girl now?”

She didn’t answer her, only continuing to sob, “Pathetic, you can’t even pull yourself together. Come on, it wasn't too bad.”

But it was , she whined, “Mmmmmm…”

“You are just so full of yourself, aren’t you? This hurts me more than it hurts you, having to perform necessary discipline. You’ll learn eventually.”

What did I even do wrong?

“You know you’ll never see your parents or friends again. Don’t worry, when this is all over, I am going to give a slow and painful death, like you deserve.”

Odalia whispered to her ear, “You are worthless. You are a failure. You always have been and always will be for the rest of your short life.”

She used her head to lift herself up, Ayzee was powerless, unable to do anything, and Odalia liked that, because of course she is.

She left, leaving her in the darkness.

Ayzee was left with her thoughts, unable to do anything but cry herself to sleep as she contemplated whether she was right about her or not.