▪▫▪⚠ TRIGGER WARNING ⚠▪▫▪
This chapter includes threats and scenes of violence against children, as well as threats of sexual violence towards children, and implications of sexually predatory behavior towards children on and off-screen.
Though not explicit nor extremely vivid/gore-y, please feel free to skip the second section of this chapter.
▪▫▪⚠ TRIGGER WARNING END ⚠▪▫▪
Slam!
Dark earthy eyes shot awake at the noise, his curls shook as the dark-skinned male jumped from his slumber. The gruff male groaned in response to his interrupted "me-time" and grumbled curse words beneath his breath.
"Lloyd," an elderly voice hurriedly and sternly called out to him. "You've best come and restrain the lord."
The lanky dark male rose from his "bed" and immediately followed the elderly doctor with a huff.
He had just returned from Volenal, a town near the Swafen Port, over 1000 kilometers away. He was gone for over six months trying to secure a deal with another group to satisfy his lord's greed.
His cot, while not the most comfortable, was enough for him to sleep soundlessly (as soundlessly as one can in a torture cottage with an underground dungeon in the middle of nowhere).
"What's happened this time, Dr. Willis?" Lloyd's voice was laced with annoyance.
"The usual," the elderly doctor replied.
The two men's footsteps echoed in the poorly lit stone hallways and eventually harmonized with the ringing of their lord's booming voice.
"You absolute idiot!" He screamed. "You have brought not one but two of them! Should I even mention that the wrench is bloodied and damaged?! I should have your bloody head for that!"
"What's the matter?" The other voice asked in genuine confusion. "We've got Doc here—"
"— Get out of my bloody fucking sight this instant, you shameful puss-headed fool!"
"Milord," Lloyd cut in, opening the old wooden door. "What seems to be the issue?"
His current lord, Baron Charles Duncan, a human and animal trafficker who had a certain taste for... The young and crème de la crème.
A tall abnormally skin-bone late-middle-aged man with long and white wavy locks, thin brows, and a matching curled mustache.
His clothes for today were extravagant as always, embroidered red-violet fabric and obnoxious fool's gold trimming. His sickeningly pale skin made him look like a skeleton dressed in fancy burial clothing.
"Oh, thank the gods you've returned to me, Lloyd," Lord Duncan's mood brightened and he let out a sigh of relief.
Lloyd's dark eyes glanced at the brute kneeling behind their lord, his bald head looking at the shabby stone floors in shame.
Benson was tall and packed with 275 pounds of fat and muscle, someone who could easily throw his weight around had he not had a lord to follow and a hollow head.
"This fool had gotten his hands on not only the crown prince but also a duke's daughter!" Lord Duncan complained. "Not only that, but it's been damaged! There won't be anyone who wants a broken toy! He wants us to get caught and be broke!"
'Calm down,' Lloyd had to remind himself, his blood boiling from his chest and veins. 'Not yet. Bide your time.'
The dark man nonchalantly swung his arms behind him, grasping his clenched fists. If the snake on his forearm was alive, it would have hissed in fury and flung itself to send Lord Duncan to Hell with the help of its fangs.
"You actually managed to snatch the crown prince?" Lloyd asked. "And a duke's daughter?"
"Twas the work of the medicine Dr. Willis gave me," Benson humbly explained. "With the help of some young thugs from the slums, we snatched them right under the emperor's nose."
Lord Duncan rolled his dark eyes at the sound of his useless subordinate's voice.
"Take care of this, will you, my darling Lloyd?" The lord dramatically brought a hand to massage his temple. "In the meantime, I'll be in the bath until I receive the good news from the only reliable servant in this godforsaken shack. Send Dr. Willis to me when I'm done to continue my treatment."
And with that, the lord stomped put of the room.
"Where are they?" Lloyd began to interrogate the brute.
"Over here." Benson stood from the wooden floors and walked over to two large sacks that were carelessly laying not too far away from the lit stone fireplace.
'Oh, fuck...' Lloyd thought to himself as he eyed the one sack with bloodstains peeking through its fabric.
He wanted to look away; his hands itching to dig his nails into Benson's larynx and pull out his vocal cords. He could, he could at this very moment. There was no one else in the room, besides the what-he-hoped-to-be-unconscious children.
Dr. Willis was probably escorting Lord Duncan to his quarters; and if the children weren't alive, he'd avenge the two of them right here, right now.
He could do it.
He should do it.
What's stopping him?
He can end it all right now. Kill Benson, then go kill Dr. Willis, and then Duncan while the poor bastard is bathing.
He should do it.
He should.
He should... probably check if the children were still alive first and foremost.
'Restrain yourself, Savino...'
Not to mention, Benson didn't do this alone.
"The slumdogs," he continued. "What did you do with them?"
His feet immediately gravitated to the bloodstained sack and his arms found themselves wrapping themselves around the poor child.
"Them mutts?" Benson nervously chuckled. "I let them loose after throwing them gold coins the lord gave me before we arrived at the manor."
Lloyd hummed in false approval. Despite lacking a brain, Benson was intelligent enough to not give away the whereabouts of the manor surprisingly.
His fingers wasted no time searching for the opening of the sack and ripping it off to reveal the unconscious child.
Small lavender flats decorated with a single pearl attached in the center of its matching ribbon bow, white stockings with trickling blood stains down her chubby and short legs that had no business being there.
The dark crimson red and oxidized brown took away attention from her once beautiful gown.
Her hair was plum colored and wavy; its texture similar to his. A single small mole sat on the apple of her cheek.
Savino almost let out a small gasp.
This is was someone he knew.
Vittorino and Mei Lin's second child.
What was her name again? He hadn't seen either one of them since... How many years ago? Three? He couldn't recall.
"Fetch Dr. Willis in here," The tattooed man spoke. "And take the little prince to his cell. Immediately."
Benson scrambled off the floor at the sound of his voice, afraid to disobey his superior.
The brute could care less about what the old ancient doctor says to him, but Lloyd was younger than the both of them but definitely stronger too.
His "Popeye" arms gripped onto the brown linen cloth and pulled it over his shoulders. He left the room in a hurry.
The less interaction with Lloyd, the better.
Lloyd's hands wrapped themselves around the child's body and carefully carried her into his arms.
He stood and walked over to the "dining table" he, Benson, and Willis used to eat their meals. The wood was decaying yet refused to fall apart.
It was a miracle that it hadn't splintered from the weight of... well, anything.
He gently laid her down and grasped her small round face, observing her for any head injuries.
He couldn't help but wonder a multitude of things.
First, what was she doing in the imperial palace? Last time he remembered, Vittorino was pretty strict and overprotective of his children; neither of them allowed to be out of their fief unless for noble business.
The youngest wasn't even supposed to be out of there under no circumstances, for she had health problems, if Savino remembered correctly. And it wasn't like Vittorino was buddy-buddy with the Emperor in the first place, and neither was Mei Lin with the Empress.
So, what was going on?
His finger slid under her jaw, searching for a pulse. The man grimaced. It was faint and weaker than he antcipated. But at least, there was one.
Savino crossed his arms, his lips thin. He should probably contact his cousin.
Tell him that Duncan has his youngest and the crown prince, tell him the location of this murder-torture shack and wipe his hands clean of this before setting off to his next undercover mission.
And maybe the emperor will turn a blind eye from this shady business, though it's a fat chance. He'll work the Imperial Task Force to the bone to get to the bottom of this; after all, it wasn't just his son who got kidnapped under his nose. The Imperial family's reputation was at stake and any power hungry nobility was probably just waiting to bear their fangs at them.
"Lloyd," The only doctor finally enters, shutting the door behind him. "Benson said you called for me?"
Lloyd untucked an arm and presented the girl on the table.
"She's still alive," He says in a detached voice. "It's best for our lord and the rest of us if we can salvage what we can with her, then sell her off at a discounted price. After all you and Benson did to get them both, it's the least we can do to not let it go to waste."
As the words left his mouth, he felt sick to his own stomach. Each syllable scorched his tongue and left a bile taste in his mouth.
The elderly doctor makes his way towards the poor injured child and inspects her. Her most obvious wound, the ones on her thighs, and some minor bumps on her forehead are looked carefully by Benson.
Lloyd watches the older man do his work, his large frame leaning over on the wall adjacent from the "dining" table and his arms crossed. He narrows his dark eyes as he watches Benson lift up the girl's frilly skirt; watching the older man's grey orbs fill with a mysterious glint.
A part of Savino wanted to look away but another part wanted to take a few simple steps and thwack away his wrinkly hands away from the balding doctor and paint the room crimson.
He bit his lower lip and took a few strides towards the doctor and planted himself besides him. He couldn't kill him at this moment but the least he could do was to stay by the poor girl to keep a closer eye on the predatory old man. He'll kill him soon enough, Savino just had to be patient.
Dr. Willis moved his hands towards the child's thighs in a tender manner, as if he was going to savor this moment and sear it through his decaying brain. Dark hands speedily beat the old man's to the girl's body and the dark haired man looked at the doctor with half lidded eyes that seemed nonchalant at first glance, but carried a heavy pressure of daring authority.
"Tell me what to do, doc. I'll try to my best ability to aid you." Lloyd stated with a small smile.
"A-ah, Thank you, Lloyd," Dr. Willis paused for a small moment, bewildered at his strange action, but accepted nonetheless. "Then, shall we get to business?"
Lloyd nodded in response, a cherry smile on his plump lips.
"Remove her bum roll, petticoat, and her undergarments, please." Willis asked. "It'd be the best way for me to access her wounds and see the severity of them if these articles of clothing were removed."
"Of course, doc."
"Make sure you do it carefully and slowly—"
—Rip!
Savino's powerful fingers quickly gripped onto her soft pure white silk bum roll and matching petticoat and effectively tore them away from her body without any further contact.
"—My apologies," Lloyd gave the old man an apologetic smile. "I failed to catch the last part you had asked of me."
"N-no worries, Lloyd." The elderly man nervously chuckled. "Let us continue..."
The old man's fingers were just itching to tough Vivianna, his filthy hands carefully moving inch by inch towards her.
'Sorry, mimma. This is the only thing I can do for you right now.' Savino internally sighed before tearing away her final barrier that protected her from the eyes of a predator. There was nothing could do to aid her but to play along. To tear away the fabric that was just above her wounds and discarded them onto the floor besides him.
He was disgusted. Not only with the people he "worked" with, but himself as well.
'This will be the last time I take a job involving children,' He swore. There was no way Vittorino or Callisto could convince him in the future.
He couldn't bear to take away all of what had shielded her. He was no doctor, he just needed Willis for this one single thing and then he'll send him to the underworld.
"How's it look, doc?"
He thought about the countless other children he saw within the last two years he'd been here. He'd do it for them too.
The old man's beady eyes glanced at Savino's dark contrasting ones, as if he was trying to catch on to whatever the younger man was scheming.
"Well," He begins, his eyes darting back to the blood soaked injuries. "The young thing will need stitches. My estimate is five on each laceration."
"Let's get it on with before she awakens." He demanded.
The old man nodded and walked to the nearest basin of water to cleanse his hands.
At least he was sanitary.
Savino's dark eyes followed the doctor as he returned to him, picking up hos leather bag of medical utensils to perform the procedure.
And with a flick of the old man's wrist, the tools unraveled.
"Spread her legs for me, will you, Lloyd?" Dr. Willis said with a layer of sick amusement.
Savino bit his tongue and gritted his teeth under a kind smile.
"Of course, doc."
✨♥️🥀♥️✨
Viviana woke up to a burning and stabbing pain in her thighs.
There were hands that she felt hold her legs spread wide apart and forcefully down against whatever surface she was on.
She cried in pain as she felt a needle go through her skin and a small thread pulling through in and out.
She wanted to kick and crawl away but could not feel any strength in her body to do so. It was like it was sapped away by something and her body had no means of creating any adrenaline to aid her peril.
Immediately, a hand that was holding her down began to gently pat and rub her thigh, as if it was comforting her.
She tried to look around her surroundings, but the room had nothing besides a small fireplace, some chairs, and windows that showcased the dark sky.
There was nothing to help her identify where she was.
Were they saved? Is that why she was presumably being patched up? Where was Athanasius?
Viviana gathered what little strength she had while laying down and lifted her head to see who was helping her.
But what she saw destroyed any hope she had.
An old man with dead hands sewing a thread through her skin who looked at her with debauched eyes and smile, and a bearded middle aged man who looked like a homicidal manic with a ticking time bomb.
Viviana let her head fall back onto the hard surface and closed her eyes.
There was no comfort in the old man's touch.
Hot tears streamed down her face and cooled as they pooled in the folds of her ears.
'Just endure it,' she told herself. 'You've got to wait until you have more strength.'
But the more she tried to reassure herself, the more she realized how powerless she was.
She tried to drown herself in memories of running around in the long hallways of her home, playing hide and seek with Vincenzo, and hiding behind the skirt of her mother.
It wouldn't be soon until she was found, right?
"I think we're done here," the homicidal manic suddenly broadcasted in a stern and steady voice. A hand could be heard being swatted at before the clinging of metal drowned it out.
"Dr. Willis, you should be on your way to see our lord. He must be done with his daily bath, now shouldn't he?" He continued.
"W-why yes, most likely." The doctor seemed hesitant to leave. "I suppose I should be on my way now."
Then as if it was scripted, the door opened and there stood a large bald brute.
"The Lord calls for Dr. Willis," he stated.
The homicidal manic stared intensely at Dr. Willis as he gathered his tools before switching his gaze to the heavy big boned man.
"I'll have you check in if anything happens, doc." The homicidal manic politely said with a forked tongue.
"Yes. I shall be there," the old man hurriedly walked to the door. "I shall return after meeting with our lord."
"Of course. Until then."
And with that the old doctor left to be on his way to his lord, leaving the tense air to the homicidal manic and the large scoundrel.
"Take her to her cell." The more handsome of the two ordered. "I'll clean up here."
Even though he was a homicidal manic, his long dark curled hair definitely made him more handsome than the evil Mr. Clean.
The bald man grabbed these metal chains from a wooden box in the corner of the room, the chains clinking together as he made his way towards Viviana.
"Yes, sir." Evil Mr. Clean complied, his large calloused hands roughly reached out to her and latched on the chains onto her wrists and ankles firmly.
He walked rather quickly out the door and into a long dark hallway.
There were stone walls and floors that were roughly lit by hanging lamps, followed by a long stone staircase that led to a locked metal door with a small barred window.
The hairs on Viviana's neck jumped at the sight of the door of her impending doom.
Evil Mr. Clean reached into his pocket, the keys rustling in his hands as he unlocked the door of doom and swung it wide open.
She knew that once she was on the other side, there was no chance of her returning.
Her survival instincts kicked in and like a scared little mouse backed into a corner, she opened her jaws and clenched tightly at the arms that held her.
The man screamed at pain and in retaliation he grabbed her by the hair and yanked it back harshly, and then slammed her head into the nearest surface, the stone wall.
"You little bitch!"
Her head and ears began to ring from the impact, her heart pumping with all its' might.
And though she was afraid, most of all she was angry. Viviana knew that if she were to die, she would not go gently into the light.