Inheritance of Shadows [Hugo Vlad x Fem!OC]

Chapter 16: Your eyes will bleed me dry

Blink.

The sounds are whirring in his head.

Yes, that's right Hugo. Let me swallow you whole.

Every ounce of himself to keep fighting, withering.

The strength dwindled.

He couldn't even keep himself up. Just the chains holding him, body limp.

Blink.

It's blurry, yet he is still able to make out the dull sounds coming from outside.

His eyes eventually refocus as he slowly lifts his head up. The metal door whirred open. Familiar people were beating up a guard and a dragon Thiren rushed in slow motion.

A sharp ringing delved into his ears. The voice of the dragon Thiren kept yelling. And soon enough he manages to make out her words.

The dragon Thiren is worried.

"Hugo! Do you hear me?! It's me, Yukari!"

That name felt familiar, yet he has no recollection.

Who was Hugo? Was she calling him Hugo?

Yukari?

His heart felt something when he heard it, yet there wasn't anything that reminded him of it.

His head dropped once again.

Yukari dropped her rapier. "Hugo! I'm here! Please, stay intact! Speak to me!" She grabbed his head and lifted up.

She was crying.

"Hugo, who did this to you— why are you filled with more cuts—"

"Yukari! No time! You need to save him!" The wolf Thiren yelled, kicking the guards down with his metal sheen. A small girl rushed around as well with her metal saw.

"...who..."

Hugo finally spoke.

"Yes Hugo? What is it?" The dragon Thiren softly spoke with urgency, face softening.

"...who... are...you?"

—

Yukari's face fell. She went silent.

Hugo had already forgotten about her.

Yukari's hands shook as she held his face. His eyes, glazed and empty, stared right through her. His body was covered with more scars, recent cuts, blood dried up but some were still seeping. Some were even opened, with few of the cuts having strange vein-like patterns, as she had saw previously from the last heist. There's bruises on his face, his blouse ripped and clinging loosely on his torso. Hair untied and drooped over his shoulders. Lips dried and eyes looking like they're falling apart.

He wasn't in top condition.

"It's me, Yukari—your friend, your—" Her voice broke. "Please, just say something—remember!"

But he only blinked, confusion and fear twisting across his battered features.

A cold, crawling dread slid into her chest.

She glanced at the tray next to her, the tray had surgical tools with some having blood on the tips. Then a few red gems laid out in a perfect line. Anger and torment coiled her. They were indeed using him as a tool to make Sacrifice gems. Hugo was undeniably cold, and losing his state of mind further than she thought.

Lycaon's voice barked over her shoulder: "The chains, Yukari! Focus! We can't hold this door forever—"

Somewhere inside Hugo, the voice—that voice—rippled again, colder than before.