A few days had passed, and inside the cold, damp cell, the air was heavy with anticipation as Benson's heavy footsteps echoed ominously. The torchlight cast eerie shadows on the walls as the rusty door swung open, revealing Benson's malevolent grin, a gaping chasm that revealed the depths of his wickedness and cruelty. He carried a wooden tray filled with seemingly fresh bread and soup, a cruel glint in his eyes as he beheld the weakened and emaciated form of Chase lying on the ground, surrounded by puddles of fresh and dried blood, his body now bony and depleted from losing a lot of blood and being hungry.
"Well, well, well, look who's still hanging on," Benson taunted sadistically, his voice dripping with malice, like a predator toying with its prey. "You're quite the resilient one, I must admit. But rest assured, your defiance only makes your eventual submission all the more satisfying."
Benson's cruel laughter filled the cell, sending a shiver down Chase's spine, like a vicious storm threatening to drown him in fear and helplessness. "Oh, how I relish the taste of your courage," he sneered, circling Chase like a predator toying with its prey.
"Hungry, are we?" Benson sneered, thrusting the tray toward Chase. "Feast on this, like the wretched creature you are. A taste of desperation is all you'll ever know in this wretched cell."
Chase's stomach growled from hunger at the sight of the food, but he knew that showing any sign of weakness would only fuel Benson's sadistic pleasure, like a wounded animal trying to hide its pain. Summoning a flicker of courage, he locked eyes with Benson and pushed the tray away with as much disdain as he could muster.
"I won't be broken by you," Chase declared, their voice surprisingly resolute despite their weakened state. "You can try to break me, but my spirit won't be swayed by such petty tactics."
Benson's grin widened, seemingly delighted by Chase's courage. "Ah, but it's not just about physical hunger," he taunted, leaning in closer to Chase. "It's about breaking your spirit, making you feel like nothing but a worthless, forgotten soul..." Before Chase could react, Benson latched a black choker around Chase's neck.
"What is this?" Chase asked, trying to burst the choker, but it wouldn't budge.
With a twisted sense of pleasure, Benson lifted a morsel of rotting bread and forced it into Chase's mouth. Chase retched as the food tasted fresh but turned foul as soon as it hit his tongue. "Ugh!" Chase vomited up the bread, but Benson held his mouth, pouring the soup into it. Chase struggled, but Benson's grip was too strong.
After pouring all the soup, Benson locked Chase's mouth shut, forcing him to savor the vile taste. "Mmm, such exquisite suffering," he mused mockingly. "Knowing you're desperate for even a mouthful of this filth, just to cling to the hope of survival.""
Chase felt sick to his stomach, wanting to vomit, but Benson kept his mouth blocked. His mind and body waged a fierce battle against the torment of the disgusting soup. Finally, Benson released his grip, and Chase vomited, emptying his stomach, of the disgusting soup, in the soup its hand worm moving around, he shivered just looking at it.
"You may think you have power over me," Chase shouted, their voice quivering but defiant. "But my resilience is stronger than your wickedness."
Benson's expression darkened, and his amusement turned to irritation. "You speak as if your pitiful resistance matters," he spat, slamming the tray down on the ground with a resounding thud. "You'll learn soon enough that your courage brings only more suffering."
As Benson turned to leave, he tossed a cruel parting remark over his shoulder. "Hope you enjoyed your feast, for it may be the last taste of 'hope' you'll ever know."
Outside the cell, Ava was walking the bustling streets of the city, searching for any clue about Chase's whereabouts.'What s this feeling' A feeling of urgency gnawed at her, guiding her down an alley where she found signs of a fierce battle.
"There's been a fight here," Ava observed, picking up a broken spear. "This is Chase's spear!" Her excitement surged, and she hurriedly followed the trail of destruction, hoping it would lead her to Chase, not finding any more clues she ran to Freya's meeting room, bursting in with the snapped spear in hand.
"Ava" Freya looked up in shock of Ava bursting into the meeting room.
"Freya, I found Chase's spear!" Ava exclaimed, showing the broken weapon.
Freya's eyes lit up with hope. "That's a good clue. Let's investigate further and search the area."
"In an alley, there had been a fight," Ava explained worriedly.
"If his spear is broken, there was definitely a serious battle," Freya deduced. "Let's go quickly and search for more clues."
"We should also request the king to send a search squad to help us," Ava suggested as they left the meeting room together.
Meanwhile, back in the cell, Chase lay on the ground, feeling a strange sensation in his stomach. 'What happening?' He sensed tiny movements, "Ahh!" then felt stinging bites, "There is definitely something inside me".Panic consumed him as realized something is inside of him.
"Ahh!" Chase started feeling multiple bites in his stomach all over, everywhere he felt small feet crawling inside him.
"I need to get them out," Chase said wildly. "Ahh!" Chase cried out, trying to force himself to vomit. After a couple of seconds, the biting got worse, as he felt more tiny feet crawling around inside him.
Chase stuck his finger in his mouth to force himself to gag, "Ugg!" after a couple of tries, he finally felt something coming out. He kept doing it repeatedly, and finally, one more, and thousands of tiny black sharp-clawed bugs fell out of his mouth. Spotting what was inside his body, his blood crawled as he started back gagging himself to force more out. At that moment, he felt something stuck inside his throat, forcefully gagging, an egg-sized mass of dust came out of his mouth, and thousands of bugs came crawling out of it. He stared at it in shock, still feeling more bugs inside him.
Suddenly, Benson's sadistic voice taunted him once more.
"Do you like my magic bugs?"
Chase glared at Benson with hatred. "I hate you. When I get out of here, I will hunt you to the end of the world."
"Ha, as you said yourself 'When,' indicating never for me," Benson laughed while walking away.
Chase continued gagging and killing a thousand bugs that tried crawling back up him, trying to get back inside him.