The Dungeon of Depraved Beasts (An Erotic Horror Novel) (11 page)

Olivia walked
into her room and nearly screamed. Michael was sitting on the bed, holding a
small iron rod.

“Do you have
to?” Nae demanded.

“What’s going
on?” Clearly Nae understood what was going on but Olivia was clueless.

“Gorside’s
orders,” Michael said, with a nasty smile.

“I’m sorry,” Nae
said, “Michael is going to brand you.”

“What?”

“With your
number. Most of the prisoners have it.”

Olivia suddenly
understood and began backing away towards the door. “There’s been enough
torture,” she protested.

Michael stood up
and grabbed her by her hand, yanking her towards the bed. “We can do this the
easy way or the hard way,” he paused to look at Olivia. “I personally like the
hard way because it means I get to lay on top of you and hold you down.” Olivia
felt bile rise in her throat.

“Sit on the bed,
Olivia,” Nae said quietly. “Hold out your wrist. It will only take a second.”
Tears ran down Olivia’s cheeks, but she listened to Nae, taking a seat on the
edge of the bed. Nae sat beside her and held her free hand. Olivia could see
the disappointment on Michael’s face and she was happy not to give him that
small satisfaction.

Michael grabbed
her other hand, shoving the robe up her arm. He rubbed the delicate skin at her
wrist and then without warning shoved the burning iron against her skin. Olivia
shrieked with pain, falling onto the bed as Nae tried to steady her. It was
over, but Olivia continued to cry, cradling her sore wrist. She heard Michael
leave, but she could only think about the white-hot pain of her wrist. Sobbing
quietly, she sat up, turning her back to Nae and continuing to cradle her
wrist.

“Olivia—”

“Leave,” Olivia
said harshly. Olivia wanted everyone gone, including Nae. She heard Nae stand
up and leave the room, the door quietly clicking shut behind her. Olivia curled
up into a ball and cried until she felt that she had no tears left.

* *
*

A few hours later, after Olivia’s
wrist had begun to throb slightly less and she had finished feeling sorry for
herself, she rang her bell, hoping it was near dinnertime. She dressed quickly
in her pajamas and Michael opened the door. Olivia didn’t know whether she was
relieved or worried that it wasn’t Samuel. Nasty as ever, Michael pushed and
prodded her down the hall as if she were cattle, and she came into the small
kitchen room. It was empty besides Nae who was sitting with her head on the
table. Upon closer look, Olivia could see Nae’s shoulders going up and down.
She was crying.

“Nae!” Olivia said. “What happened?
Is it about earlier? I’m sorry.”

Michael snickered. “That bitch got
what she deserved. She was a troublemaker.”

Olivia looked between Michael and
Nae, confused. How did Nae get what she deserved? Michael laughed again and
left.

“Nae? What happened? What did they
do to you?”

“It’s not me,” Nae wailed, picking
her head up from the table and looking at Olivia with red-rimmed eyes. “It’s
Emily.”

Olivia felt the blood drain from
her face. What had happened to Emily? She had forgotten about the fresh bruises
she had seen that morning. She had been so wrapped up in herself that she had
barely noticed.

“What’s happened to her?” she asked
in a barely audible voice.

“He killed her! I warned her! She
pushed him too far! She already had too many chances.”

Olivia sat down woodenly;
disbelieving that Emily was actually dead. She remembered Emily smirking,
saying that Gorside had only kept her around because she was a good fuck.
“How?”

“I don’t know the details,” Nae
sobbed, “All I know is that Samuel and Michael had to go in and get her body a
few hours ago. Samuel said she had been beaten pretty badly.”

Olivia didn’t know what to say. She
had known this place was terrible and she knew that they were in real danger,
but something about Emily’s death made everything more real. “I can’t believe
it,” she said to herself, sitting at the table.

Nae sniffed and shook her head in
agreement. She stood quickly, “I’m sorry, Olivia, let me get you your plate.”

“It’s fine! I don’t need to eat!”

“Of course you do,” Nae snapped. “You’re
going to need your strength – especially if Gorside decides he wants you.”

“What?” Olivia whipped her head
around. “He can’t! I belong to Rurik!”

Nae laughed coldly. “That doesn’t
matter! Gorside is the Master! He takes whatever he wants. He brought you for
Rurik, and he can just as easily take you.” Nae softened when she saw how upset
Olivia looked. “Let’s hope Rurik hasn’t been singing your praises,” she added
quietly.

Olivia felt sick and she forced
herself to hold down the food she mechanically put into her mouth. Sex with
Rurik was bad enough, but Rurik was an absolute prince compared to his father.

“At least she’s out of this hell
hole,” Nae said quietly. “He can’t hurt her anymore and she was spared having
to carry his child.”

“Was she pregnant?” Olivia asked
disbelieving.

Nae nodded. “She had just found
out.  I wonder if she provoked him on purpose…” she trailed off, shaking her
head as she busied herself at the sink.

Olivia tried to digest the
information but she just couldn’t. It was too much. And the one creature she
wanted to talk to more than anyone was Leo. Monster or not, Leo understood
Olivia in a way the others didn’t. And like Olivia, he was a prisoner too.

“Did Rurik give me Rec Room time?”
Olivia asked distractedly.

“Oh, yes, I forgot. An hour today.”

Once Olivia was finished, Nae led
her upstairs. “I’m sorry about Emily. I know you liked her,” Olivia said as she
got out of the elevators.

“I like all you girls,” Nae said
somberly.

Leo was in the Rec Room, along with
two other creatures that Olivia had never seen before. At least, not in the Rec
Room. Perhaps she had passed their cages in the dungeon. One creature was
covered in slimy scales, and had a long green tail. His green head resembled
that of a human, but the rest of him was reptilian. The other monster had two
large wings that were folded up along his body, and a gruesome head that was
covered in tufts of black hair. He was hideous. Leo had been so deep in
conversation with the others that he hadn’t heard Olivia at first. When he saw
Olivia, his snout twisted into a grin and he came to her side.

“I want you to meet Frederick and
Jeff. I was just telling them about our plan.”

“Our plan?” Olivia whispered. “Can
you trust them?”

“Yes,” Leo said confidently.

“How can you be sure?”

“Because I know them.”

Olivia took a deep breath. After
Emily’s death she was even more focused on escaping this nightmare. She didn’t
want to take any chances.

“So what? We might think we can
trust a lot of people, but we can’t.”

Leo studied her closely. “You’re
upset over the girl Emily.” Olivia nodded, feeling her shoulders slump. Leo
touched Olivia softly with one of his paws. Before it would have made Olivia
cringe, but it didn’t bother her now. “I know Frederick and Jeff. They were
brought here with me. They were my ser—, I mean, my friends.”

Now Olivia studied Leo and then
turned to peer at the other two monsters. She shrugged. What choice did she
have? She and Lep were sure to need help. “I’m worried that Gorside might take
me from Rurik. He might want me for his own,” Olivia blurted out.

Leo stilled and then spoke quickly.
“He can’t. He could kill you! He needs a replacement.”

“I know! But how is that going to
happen?” she moaned.

“One of his damn monkey guards will
have to find him one,” Leo said to himself, as he began pacing the floor.
Frederick and Jeff stayed back, watching.

Guards? Did Leo mean Samuel or
Michael? Were they responsible? “What do you mean?” she spoke up. “I thought I
stumbled into this universe and Michael and Samuel just came to collect me.”

“Yes that can happen. I believe
that you were handpicked though. And then a portal was set up somewhere that
you would cross. Samuel and Michael have picked women before. What we need is
for one of them to pick a new woman, instead of using what’s already here,” he
said, motioning at Olivia. Olivia swallowed. That would mean forcing an
unsuspecting woman to come here. How could Olivia want that? “Too bad we don’t
have an in with the guards,” Leo muttered.

There was a long pause. “I do,” she
said quietly. Leo stopped and looked at her. “I do. Samuel. He has some kind of
thing for me. Feelings. I don’t have any feelings for him,” she said quickly,
unsure of why she felt she had to explain herself to Leo. “But he’s told me
that before, and I’ve told him to leave me alone.”

“You have to convince him to find a
new girl. Or suggest something else to Gorside. Use whatever leverage you
have!” Leo sat down on the couch and looked out the window. “I don’t think that
landscape is real,” he said offhandedly. Olivia moved to the glass. It looked
real to her. Leo continued. “I don’t believe this castle of tortures could be
laying amidst such beautiful land. I don’t know where we are, or what the
surrounding lands look like, but I don’t believe this view.” Olivia craned her
neck, trying to see to the East and West. Lush, beautiful land for as far as
she could see. A beautiful setting sun.

“I think we need to move faster. I
think we need to bump up our timetable.” Leo was on his feet again and Jeff and
Frederick were moving closer. Leo took Olivia’s hand again. This time he
noticed the number eight burned into her skin. “What the hell?” he growled.
Olivia tried to pull her hand away, but Leo turned it over so he could better
study her wrist. “They branded you,” he accused angrily.

“It’s fine,” Olivia said, finally
wrenching her hand free.

“It’s not fine!”

“What were you going to say before?
About out timetable?” she asked, trying to distract him. Nothing could be done
about her wrist now.

Leo shook his head. “I want to talk
about your wrist!”

“Leo, you said we need to move
faster. Let’s focus.”

Leo sighed. “Maybe a week. No more
than that. We’re running out of time.” He paused. “It’s going to be okay,
Olivia. I’m going to get us out of here.”

The elevator doors began to open
and Leo dropped her hand. Olivia turned quickly to look out the window. “Let’s
go you filthy animals,” came Michael’s nasty voice. “I have to take you all the
way back down.”

The three monsters made their way
into the elevator and once the doors had shut, Olivia turned back around. She
missed Leo already. He had a calming effect on her. She didn’t know why, but
she trusted him completely. A few minutes later, her time was up and Olivia
nearly wept when she saw it was Samuel come to collect her. He gave her a small
smile, but it was awkward after their earlier sexual encounter. Which Olivia
had enjoyed. Without any drugs.

As soon as the elevator doors
closed, Olivia turned to Samuel. “I need your help.”

Samuel looked surprised, and then
almost happy. “Anything.”

“Nae is worried that Gorside may
try to take me from Rurik now. Or share me. Since he’s lost Emily, he’s going
to need a new sex slave.”

Samuel’s face twisted in horror and
Olivia knew that the idea had never crossed his mind. “He can’t! He’s a
thousand times worse than Rurik! I can’t even believe Emily lasted as long as
she did!” Samuel paused. “I can do it. I can find someone new.”

Olivia nodded, but her conscience
was getting the best of her. “Except, how can we do that, Samuel? How can we
subject someone else to this torture? Rip another person away from their
lives?”

Samuel shook his head resolutely.
“We have to.”

“But isn’t there another option?
Something else we could do?”

Samuel raked his hands through his
hair. They were running out of time; the elevator was almost on Olivia’s floor.
The elevator pinged, letting them know they were on her floor. Samuel pushed
Olivia out and began walking her to her room. “I’ll think of something,” he
said out of the corner of his mouth. “For now, let’s hope he’s satisfied with
nymphs. I’ll go up and remind him of the spells they can do. That should get
him excited for them.”

Olivia nodded gratefully. Just as
Samuel was about to lock her in for the night, she reached out and grabbed his
hand. Samuel looked startled. His hand felt warm in her own hands. “Thank you,”
she whispered.

* *
*

The following two days passed
without incident, though Olivia still felt that she was walking around holding
her breath. She kept waiting to be summoned for Gorside, but the silver lining
was that Rurik seemed even more possessive of her. Perhaps he too was nervous
about her being stolen for his father. Olivia had seen Leo in the Rec Room two
nights ago. She had been worried when she didn’t see him last night. But the redhead
had been back, reading
Little
Women.

“Was there anyone else here before
me?” Olivia had asked worriedly.

The redhead had seemed surprised
that Olivia spoke to her, but she had answered with boredom, “A wolf.”

Olivia had relaxed; Leo had been
here, only their times hadn’t crossed. That morning, Olivia had felt like Nae
was acting more normal since Emily’s death. She had been moping and snapping at
Olivia, but today she seemed re-energized. Like every morning, Olivia was
deposited to Calista and Daphne’s care. The number eight on her wrist was
finally starting to heal, though it still made Olivia sick when she looked at
it.

“Tell us about your painting,”
Calista said, smiling.

“We heard you were a painter,”
Daphne added.

“Who told you that?” she asked with
surprise.

“Nae saw some of your artwork in
the Rec Room. She said you were great.”