Chapter Two
I was a really fucked up kid growing up.
Aside from picking fights with people twice my size, I was actually a scrawny little shit, downright fucking effeminate. The other kids thought I was a girl for the first four fucking years of my life. It took me years to get them to look at me with some modicum of respect. During those first few years, I did everything I could to get people to look at me the way I wanted them to; strong, confident, powerful, dangerous. I picked fights with the older kids all the time, and that seemed to pique the interest of my peers. So I kept at it.
In no time, I was getting exactly what I wanted. Respect. Fear. Inspiration. That shit was like a drug.
At least, until the Mother decided it was time to do something about my body. After all, I may have been the strongest, but I didn't look it. I was still smaller than the other kids, still skinnier, and despite all those fights, I was still weaker. The only thing that separated me from the other kids was my determination to fuck shit up.
The Mother liked that. She liked how committed I was. She liked to see me start those fights. I know she did, because she chose me to experiment with. Not in the same way she did Seven. No, that kid got the short end of the stick when it came to experiments, but me? I won the motherfucking lottery.
I got what she called ichor, after the supposed gold blood that ran through the veins of the Greek gods. It was a twice daily shot to my fucking ass that revved my engine like nothing else could. Even caffeine took a backseat to this shit. Whatever it was, it fired me up. I went from working out twice a day to almost the entire day. I went from a tiny scrawny brat to beefed up in a matter of months. I had become twice the size of my peers, twice as strong, twice as deadly.
I was on top of the fucking world.
Even the side effects weren't exactly the worst. I could handle not wanting to have sex, I could handle the headaches. Anything to make me what I wanted to be. Anything to make me stronger.
Gods, those were the days.
I was everything and more.
But the moment I woke up, I knew something was wrong. The headache was extreme. My muscle mass had diminished. I was almost skeletal, muscles atrophied into nothing. I was once again small and weak. And I knew I was weak because I woke up chained to a stone wall... And...
What happened after that?
What happened between the moment I was captured to this?
Of course, the next time I woke up in that heavily decorated shitshow, I was sedated. I could tell because I felt heavy and sluggish and tired, but not enough to go back to sleep. I woke up in that same thick comfortable bed, once more hooked up to numerous machines. Only this time, I was restrained. Some kind of soft restraints were wrapped around my wrists and connected to the sides of the bed.
Confused as shit, I moved my arms a little, the chains jingling. The sound was some kind of trigger because I found myself breathless as I heard the chains jingle again. I blinked rapidly, sucking in deep gulps of air as I jerked at the restraints again, harder this time.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a voice said. I jerked my head up to see the blonde male, what was his name? Lucy? He came into the room, carrying a small silver tray with some kind of drink on it and nothing more. I guess I didn't get to have cookies and brownies after beating the shit out of them.
Beating the shit out of them. Yeah. That's what I did. Definitely didn't fall on my fucking ass six times in a row.
"What are you going to do," I sneered at him, "Kill me if I keep trying?" Lucy looked at me.
"If we were going to kill you, we would've done it already."
"Then why the fuck am I here," I demanded, "What is here?"
"Hacian."
"I get that, asshole, but why the fuck am I here?"
"Because this is where you belong," he said simply, as if that made so much sense and my eyes tracked him as he walked over to set the tray on the nightstand by the bed, "You're safe here." I narrowed my eyes. Safe? What the fuck did that mean? His words didn't make sense. Plus, somehow they were completely at odds with the fact that I was chained to the bed and hooked up to machines.
Were they experimenting on me, I realized as I watched Lucy unwrap a straw and plop it in the drink. Were they going to poke me and prod me like the guy at the compound?
"Here," Lucy said, holding the drink towards me, "Take at least one sip." I curled my lip at him and jerked my head the other way.
"Like shit I'm gonna drink anything from you," I snarled, "Get the shit away from me or I'm going to rip your arm off with my teeth." Lucy sighed and withdrew it, placing it back on the tray. I expected him to grab it and leave, but the motherfucker actually sat on the edge of the bed, like we were about to have some kind of heart-to-heart.
I watched him closely. He didn't look like he had any weapons on him, but that didn't mean shit. His magic could probably rip right through me. Plus, he wasn't tense or locked up like most people were around me. He seemed relaxed. That pissed me off. He felt he was strong enough to be relaxed, to just chill next to me like it was no big fucking deal.
Who the hell did this guy think he was?
"Your name is Four, right?" He asked at last. I glared at him.
"At least it's not fucking Lucy," I replied. The male rolled his eyes and wiped a hand down his face before he looked at me pointedly.
"My name is Lucifer," he said, making me go still, "Not Lucy. Hades just likes to irritate me." I went still at that as I let that information sink in.
Lucifer? As in, the Lucifer? King of Hell? I recognized the name no problem. I wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but I wasn't a fucking idiot. Lucifer was Hades's husband. He was so powerful he'd managed to tame an entire realm and rule it with an iron fist, according to our studies. He was a demonic creature that sucked the blood of anyone who got near him. He killed imps for fun and drank them dry.
Fuck.
So not only did Hades have me, but so did Lucifer.
This wasn't going to be fun.
"How are you feeling today?" Lucifer asked. I stared at him. Why the fuck is he asking me such a stupid question? Our studies said Lucifer was supposed to be a diabolical genius like his husband.
"Like shit, asshole," I responded flatly, "Get this shit off me."
"I'm afraid I can't do that," Lucifer said, his tone weirdly gentle, "We don't want you to get hurt again. It's safer this way." I barked a laugh. I couldn't contain it. Didn't want me to get hurt? Safer this way? Oh yeah, okay, so clearly I had some kind of strength left if they were restraining me. Keeping me safe was their pathetic excuse. But sooner or later, they had to take the restraints off and when they did, I was going to fucking shred them.
"Four," Lucifer said, making me narrow my eyes at him, "Would you like to have some visitors? You have some people who are very worried about you." I scowled. Who the fuck would be worried about me? Visitors? Did I even know anyone? Who the fuck would visit me here? I just glared at him and he seemed to accept that as my response. He nodded and rose to his feet, heading for the door.
I watched him go, then immediately went back to jerking at the restraints. The chains held strong, though, and why the fuck were they padded? It didn't hurt when I pulled at them. I kept expecting chains to bite down into my skin, but all I got was fluffy padding. Confused, I jerked at them a couple more times until I heard the door to the room open and I stiffened, straightening as I heard footsteps and voices.
And then when I saw who it was, I was fucking confused as shit.
I didn't recognize everyone, but I did recognize Six immediately. Six wasn't as tall as me, so his height and muscle mass were almost disproportionate. He looked chubby as opposed to muscular. I always felt sorry for him because of that. Everyone thought he was fucking fat. He wasn't fat; he was just muscular. Fat was not a good thing to be when you worked for the Mother. She was very strict about our diets.
The next person I recognized was Seven. That little fucker with his pretty long blonde hair and his pretty blue eyes, dark skin, slender little body. Gods, I should've just fucking let him die when I had the chance. I shouldn't have gone back for him, but I fucking did. Because I knew what the Mother was going to do to him. I knew she was going to punish him for leaving, and experiment on him because of the Beast curse he carried. But I'd seen torture and that shit was... gross.
I was all for beating the shit out of someone you hated, but when torture got involved, that's when shit was wrong. You don't torture people. You kill them and end it fast. Torture was just wrong on so many levels.
So of course I had to help his fucking family find him and free him.
That was how I ended up a prisoner in the first place, though. It was that little fucker's fault I was chained to a wall and... whatever the fuck happened afterwards.
I remembered Three too. He was jacked, but never as much as me. He was leaner. He was also Six's husband. Those two never loved each other, though. Six was just a weakling and lost in the proposal battle. Of course, he accepted defeat so fucking easily and let Three stomp all over him.
I didn't recognize the other person. She was tall and slender with long black hair and pretty blue eyes, but she was very flat-chested and almost... hold up, was that a fucking dude?
"Four," Six greeted, then paused when he saw the restraints, "Did you hit someone again?" I glared at him.
"What the fuck are you guys doing here? What the fuck is going on?" I demanded. They slowed as they approached the bedside. They all kind of looked at each other, like they weren't sure what to say. I glared impatiently. What the hell? They acted like someone died.
"Do you remember what happened?" The pretty boy asked, his voice surprisingly deep. I scowled.
"No. Except a tree," I said, making them look at me curiously, "I remember being in a fucking tree and... And Bait. Where the fuck is he at?"
"He's fine," Pretty Boy said, "He's safe where he is. But you do remember some of it then? Do you remember escaping the compound?" I frowned. Escaping? What were we escaping from? Was it the Mother? Had we pissed off the Mother? Wait, how did Pretty Boy know about the Mother? Where the hell did he come from?
I was confused, and pissed about it. Nothing was making sense. How did we escape the compound? Why did we escape? Why the fuck was I in a tree? What about my legs? Did they know what happen to my legs? Why the fuck weren't they letting me go? Why were we just standing around?
"Get these off me," I ordered, making them eye the restraints.
"I don't think that's a good idea," Seven said at last and I glared at him.
"Nobody asked you, defect."
"Hey," Six said, "Quit being an asshole. You're safe here."
"Like hell," I exclaimed angrily, "Why the fuck do people keep saying that? What does that even mean? Why the fuck are we here? What happened? Is someone gonna fucking answer me or are we gonna keep playing the don't-tell-Four game?"
"It's difficult to explain," Pretty Boy said, making me frown, "A lot happened in a short amount of time and we're trying to figure out how to explain it in the best possible way."
"I don't think there is a best possible way," Six muttered, "We might as well just..." His voice trailed.
"He's going to be okay," Lucifer said coming up behind everyone and making them turn to look at him, "That's all that matters. We took some blood tests and he seems to be okay physically for now. We're contacting Joxeia about everything else."
"Good idea," Pretty Boy said immediately.
"My... dad?" Six asked. I stared at him. Dad? What the fuck word was that? Who was who's dad? What did that mean? Joxeia was his dad?
"He's very good with these kinds of situations," Lucifer replied, "I trust no one else to help, but him."
"He's got his work cut out for him," Seven muttered and I glared at him.
"Hey, defect, shut up and make yourself useful," I said, jerking at the restraints. Seven took a step back and I spat at him, but he avoided the glob and looked at Pretty Boy, who was staring at me. He was such a creep. There was something about those blue eyes of his that told me he could really do some damage if he wanted to, and that pissed me off. I wanted to punch him in the face, see how much damage I could do.
"What," I demanded, glaring at Pretty Boy, "What are you going to do? Throw a flower at me, then skip off merrily into the sunset, asshole?" Pretty Boy cocked his head, but didn't say anything. It only made me more uncomfortable. What the hell was his problem?
"At least he's still the same old Four," Six said dryly, "You couldn't learn to be a little nice? I mean, you saved Seven's life." Seven looked at me.
"You did," he said, making me frown, "And... I didn't get a chance to thank you." I glared at him.
"I did it because torture is bullshit. That's it. I don't give a shit about you or anyone else. Get me the fuck out of here. I want to go back home now," I snapped.
"This is your home," Pretty Boy said simply.
"This is not my motherfucking home," I sneered, "This room has too much shit in it. The closet is bigger than my fucking room back home. I don't want your gross drinks or your fucking machines. I want to put on some real fucking clothes and go home." I hated how whiny I sounded, but goddamn, I wanted to be home. This bed was nice and all, but I missed my bed. I missed my room. I missed my space. This space wasn't mine. This shit wasn't mine. I was in some strange place with strangers and chained to a bed. This wasn't home. This was a prison.
Once again, I was a fucking prisoner.
"If you're not here to get me out, then fuck off," I said at last. Six sighed.
"Four, they're going to let you go as soon as you stop throwing a temper tantrum. Just relax and let them do what they need to do to heal you. Once you're healed, you can... well, you can meet your parents," he explained. I scowled. Parents?
"My genetic carriers," I asked dryly, "Yeah, no, thanks. I'm good."
"They're your parents," Seven said, repeating that word, "They're the ones who created you."
"Uh, no, some dude in a white coat made me in a jar for two months."
"No, they're the ones who had their DNA stolen to create you. Without their DNA, there would be no you."
"Great, remind me to thank them for fucking me over," I sneered. After all, if that was the case, their DNA was used to make some kind of fucked up pansy. Without those fucking shots, I was useless. I was weak. I was small. I was pathetic. What I wanted was to go back to the compound and get those shots. Who knew how long I'd been without them? A month? Maybe longer?
"Don't be like that," Six chided, "They're good people; you'll see."
"What? You met your mommy and daddy and now you're suddenly right as rain? Good for you, I don't fucking need that shit. Get me out. Now."
"When it's time," Six assured, making me glare at him.
"When is the time?"
"As soon as you shut up and let them do what they need to do. You're not in danger here," Six explained, "This is where you are safe, where no one can hurt you ever again." I stared at him, confused. Hurt me ever again? I'd been hurt before. That was why my legs were fucked up... But how? Why?
"What happened to me?" I demanded. Six opened his mouth, then shut it and looked at the floor, looking extremely uncomfortable. I scowled and looked at Pretty Boy, who stared at me, like he wasn't sure what to say either. Three didn't say shit the whole time. He just stood there with his arms folded over his chest, like he was debating something.
"What about you, big mouth," I said, making Three roll his eyes, "You talk more than a fucking girl, but suddenly you're all quiet?" Three glared at me.
"For the record, I'm not saying shit because I don't fucking know and I don't fucking want to know."
"What does that mean?"
"We'll talk about it later," Lucifer said at last, "Let's give him a break to relax." The others nodded and filed out of the room. I watched them go, furious. They weren't saying shit, they weren't letting me go. Why the fuck had they come in the first place? What was the point? Furious, I went back to jerking at the chains angrily, but it was no use. They weren't budging. Just like Hades and Lucifer barely budged when I had shoved them away.
Weak. You're weak.
Weak.
An angry roar erupted in my throat and I threw my head back against the pillows, screaming in fury before I started to jerk harder at the restraints. No cracks, no groans, nothing. They held strong. I jerked at them furiously, thrashing around in the bed and kicking the blankets off onto the floor. I twisted and writhed on the bed, even scooted down to try and chew the restraints off my wrists, but it was like they were enchanted.
Weak.
Another scream left my throat and I threw myself back against the bed.
The door to the room opened and Lucifer came back, this time with Hades in tow. Panting hard, I watched them closely as they approached the bed. Lucifer with some papers and Hades with a small black bag.
It was a sedative, wasn't it? I wasn't stupid. They were going to shoot me up again and weaken me more than I already was. I watched them closely, preparing to start kicking if they came near me.
"Well," Hades said slowly, then looked at the papers Lucifer held. Lucifer looked stiff, uncomfortable, like he wasn't sure he liked what he had read in the papers. Hades also looked like he was having trouble wrapping his head around it. What did the papers say? Was it about the shots?
"Goddamn," Hades said at last, reaching up to rake a hand through his hair before he looked at me, "I thought he looked familiar, but shit." Lucifer nodded numbly.
"I'm having difficulties wrapping my head around it too... Are the kids downstairs?" He asked after a moment, making Hades nod. I scowled. Kids? Who's kids? I sure as fuck didn't have any kids. I couldn't have any. The ichor had left me sterile, not that I gave a shit. Who needed more mouths to feed? I could barely feed myself half the time.
"Well, we found your parents," Hades said at last, making me glare at him.
"Fucking great. Tell them to go fuck themselves," I responded. Hades gave me a deadpan stare, then looked at Lucifer, who cocked his head.
"He reminds me of Cain."
"Gods."
"Let me go," I snarled, jerking at the restraints, "I don't give a shit who's whose daddy! Let me go!"
"Might have to sedate him now," Hades muttered, "He's getting worked up again."
"Go fuck yourself!"
"You already said that. Now hold still for a second, it's just a pinch," Hades said, opening up his bag and coming over to the bedside. I writhed further, jerking at the restraints desperately now and trying to roll to the other side of the bed to get away from Hades, who was holding the syringe up and giving it a little tap.
"No! Get the fuck away from me!"
"It's not going to hurt you. It's just going to help you relax."
"No! No!" My voice rose to a scream, and for some reason, that triggered another weird nightmare scene where I was laying on the floor of that stone room. I was facedown and everything hurt. I could still smell the stank of the place, piercing my nostrils like a thousand disgusting needles. I couldn't move, and found that strangely, I didn't want to move. I just wanted to lay there and sleep, but I heard the door open somewhere behind me. I heard big heavy footsteps, and with each footstep, my anxiety rose higher and higher until whoever it was stood over me.
I felt a big hand sink into my hair and twist in the locks, jerking my head up forcibly. I groaned, then gasped as something sharp went into my neck. I was dropped back down to the floor where I shivered from the cold. I couldn't move my legs for some reason. I tried to get up to crawl to a corner to get some kind of warmth from my own body, but I just couldn't get up. I reached out and dug my nails in between the stones to drag myself over to the corner, but a heavy boot came down on my hand and broke my nails off in the stone, making me gasp.
A moment later, a strange heat filled my body. I moaned as it traveled down, down to my groin. I felt hands on me now. Hands everywhere. Someone's muffled voice.
"No! No! Don't touch me!" I screamed abruptly and jerked particularly hard at the restraint and it snapped, making Hades step back in surprise. Lucifer also reared back.
"I thought those were enchanted," Hades said to Lucifer, who shook his head.
"They are, I don't know how he--"
"Get away from me!" I jerked at the other restraint, and finally, fucking finally, it snapped. I rolled over and fell to the other side of the bed, hitting the floor. I scrambled to my feet at the same time Lucifer came around the side of the bed to get me. I crawled under the bed quickly and stayed there, breathing hard as I heard Lucifer try to grab me, then Hades on the other side telling Lucifer to move the bed. Panting, I looked around frantically as I felt the bed above me move.
As soon as I had the chance, I bolted out from under the bed and ran to the door to the bedroom, throwing it open and darting out. I heard Hades and Lucifer curse behind me and drop everything to come running after me, but I was on a fucking roll. I couldn't feel my legs, but they were running and carrying me down the hallway. I started to go down the stairs, until I remembered smashing into the wall at the bottom, so I hopped on the railing and slid down. I ended up hitting the wall anyway, but I was still standing. I ran hard and fast down the hallway, seeing a door at the end, a big white door that looked like an exit.
I kept running, even as I passed a room that looked like it was full of people, who all looked up in surprise as I went running by. I picked up the pace and finally made it to the door. I went to pull it open, but suddenly an arm shot out and shoved it closed again.
I screamed and whirled around to fight whoever was ruining my escape, but it was the big huge male from yesterday. The one that was bigger than Hades. I fell back against the door, feeling tremors wrack my body as I slid down to the floor, staring up at him.
"Jeez, you're fast," he commented, reaching toward me. I scrambled away from him and slid across the floor, managing to get back up to my feet to take off, except there were three other people blocking the only hallway that led out of the room I was in. I panted hard, backing myself into a corner so I could see where everyone was. Of course, it didn't take long for Hades and Lucifer to appear near the other three people blocking the hallway.
"Oh, thank God," Lucifer breathed in relief when he saw me, "Cerberus, be careful. He's a lot stronger than we thought." The big male looked over curiously, then looked at me as I glared at him, putting my hands on the wall behind me. The door was right behind him. I wouldn't be able to make it before he got to me. I looked over at the hallway. The three people blocking the hallway were big, muscular, could easily take me down if I tried to bulldoze past them. Plus, Hades and Lucifer were right behind them, so I'd get caught anyway.
I was trapped.
I was cornered.
I was done for.