The Dungeon of Depraved Beasts (An Erotic Horror Novel) (7 page)

Olivia waited until Rurik had left
the room, and her eyes flew open. Did that mean she would be granted more time
in the Rec Room? Her mind flew to Leo and she desperately hoped he would be
there if that was her reward. Olivia went to pick her gown off the floor and
she was dismayed to see it was nearly ripped to shreds. Trying the best she
could, she slipped it around her, and then pulled it closed, just managing to
cover the important parts of her body.

As she made her way across the
bedroom and out towards the door, the full realization of what happened hit
her. She felt her eyes well with tears and she wanted to be as far from Rurik’s
room as possible. She wrenched the door open, hoping to see Nae, but instead it
was Samuel.

Suddenly the day’s events caught up
with her, combined with her emotional distress and the sight of Samuel as
opposed to Nae. Olivia burst into tears and Samuel sprang into action, slamming
Rurik’s door shut and whisking Olivia into the stairwell.

“You need to stop,” he hissed, his
arm around Olivia’s shoulders. For some reason, this only made Olivia cry
harder; her body wracked with sobs. “Olivia, please,” Samuel pleaded. “They
can’t see you like this.”

“W-who?” Olivia choked, as tears
cascaded down her face. She pulled her shredded dress tighter around her,
feeling exposed in front of Samuel.

“Any of them,” he whispered.
“Enough,
please
.”

Olivia took a few ragged breaths,
and wiped furiously at her tears. Her breathing began to steady and she
realized that Samuel was rubbing her back and murmuring quietly. Shocked,
Olivia flinched and backed up against the wall, her eyes wide. As if caught,
Samuel scowled at her.

“What were you doing?” she
demanded.

Samuel shrugged. “Let’s go,” he
snapped, moving down the stairs.

“Samuel wait!” Something about
Olivia’s voice made him turn around. This time his eyes were not unreadable.
They were filled with sadness and longing.

“Why were you being nice to me?”
The mask came over Samuel’s face once more, and he continued down the stairs.
Olivia pleaded with him again, but this time Samuel said nothing, depositing
her outside of her sleeping room. Confused, bewildered and broken, Olivia
entered her room. The four bare walls and tiny bed were a welcome respite.

* *
*

A few hours later, Nae came for
Olivia. She had a purple robe under her arm and wordlessly she helped Olivia
into it. Olivia had little dignity left, but she appreciated Nae’s efforts. Nae
led Olivia back upstairs to Room number Eight where Calista and Daphne usually
prepped her.

“The room is empty,” Nae whispered.
“Have a quick shower and come back out here and meet me. I left an outfit for
you on the couch.”

Olivia gave Nae a grateful look and
slipped into the room. It felt strange being alone in there and she wondered
where Calista and Daphne were now, especially Daphne. She took a quick shower,
scrubbing her skin clean until she was raw. When Olivia walked past the mirror,
she had to do a double take. Angry bruises bloomed across her lower half.

Ashamed, Olivia hurried to the
couch to find the pajamas Nae laid out for her. To her surprise, she found
regular clothing. Lying on the bed was a pair of black yoga pants, a white
camisole and a pale blue fitted sweater. Happily, Olivia dressed; glad to be
wearing something other than cocktail dresses and pajamas.

Olivia left the room and Nae
quickly led her back downstairs to the small dining room. To her relief, there
was no one else in there. Nae quickly cooked Olivia a meal and once Olivia
began to eat, Nae took a seat next to her.

“Are you alright?” Nae asked.

Olivia shook her head, and took
another bite of her meal. “Who was Mastiv?” Olivia asked.

Nae seemed taken aback, but she
quickly regained her composure. “He was a monster that was helping smuggle some
of us nymphs out. He was caught by Rurik.”

Olivia nodded, Nae only confirming
what she had believed. “And who is Leo?”

Nae shrugged. “He’s just another
prisoner here. I don’t work with him. I only help the female humans.”

“But why are there other monsters
here that are prisoners?”

Nae laughed a hard laugh. “Who
knows why Gorside captures other monsters? Sometimes they have disobeyed. Other
times he uses them to do grunt work around the fortress.”

“And you?” Olivia asked quietly,
“How were you captured? What exactly do you have to do?”

Nae turned away quickly and Olivia
could hear the emotion in her voice as she spoke. “I was playing with my family.
One of my children ran off into the woods and I chased after him. Next thing I
knew, I was falling through a dark hole. I’ve been here ever since.” There was
a long pause. “I think it’s been around five years.”

Olivia was sad for Nae, but she
couldn’t stop herself from asking the next question. “And what are your duties
here?”

Nae eyed her warily. “If you’re
asking me, then you probably already know.” Olivia waited patiently. “My job is
to help with the human females. I cook for them, help them get ready, and take
them back and forth to the masters.”

Olivia decided to tell Nae what she
saw. “I saw Daphne and Rurik today. I was right there. In the bedroom. I could
hear everything.”

Nae gave her a rueful look.
“They’re disgusting, aren’t they?” she asked. “They can’t even wait until
you’ve left the room before they have to continue with us. Daphne is a favorite
among all of them.” Olivia couldn’t believe how chipper and happy Daphne was,
considering that she was one of the favorites sex toys for the monsters.

“You’re turning into one of Rurik’s
favorites,” Nae said wryly, “Once you’re finished, you’ve been granted an hour
and a half in the Rec Room.”

Olivia’s heart leapt. Perhaps she
would meet Leo there again. She quickly finished her meal, not even tasting the
food. She hurried to follow Nae upstairs. To her disappointment, the Rec Room
was empty except for Emily. Olivia was surprised, considering the bruises she
had seen on Emily that morning.

Emily gave her a small smile. “I
was extra good today,” she said rolling her eyes. “I guess Gorside wants to
reinforce my good behavior.” Olivia laughed quietly with Emily. Emily moved to
the big windows. “I miss it, don’t you?” she said wistfully.

“What?” Olivia asked, pressing her
nose to the glass to look at the lush surroundings.

“The outside. Home. Everything.”
Olivia nodded vigorously, she missed it all too.

The elevator door swung open and
Michael stood there. Olivia had forgotten how mean he looked.

Emily sighed. “There goes my twenty
minutes.” She got in with Michael, and gave Olivia a small wave.

Olivia moved over to the art table
and began drawing. Paint was her medium of preference, but she didn’t mind
charcoal either. She drew her family’s house, complete with her tire swing in
the backyard. She became so engrossed in her work that she barely registered
the elevators opening and closing.

“Somewhere special?” a voice asked
over her shoulder. Olivia whirled around to see Leo peering over at her
drawing. He instantly repulsed her, but then she was filled with hope and
happiness.

“Leo!” she exclaimed.

He chuckled. “That was quite a
greeting. It’s nice to see you as well.”

“I wanted to apologize,” Olivia
said in a rush. “I felt so bad about yesterday and how rude I was to you. I
didn’t really believe that you were a prisoner, but now I know you were being
truthful.” She lowered her voice just in case. “And I’m in. Whatever you are
planning, I want to be a part of it. I can’t stay here.”

Leo’s snout seemed to spread into a
smile. “That’s the spirit.”

“But we don’t know when we will see
each other!” Olivia argued. “I sleep in one of the rooms and you sleep in the
dungeons. Meeting up here is random-”

Leo cut her off. “This is not
random,” he whispered quietly, “We both are up here for good behavior. If we
keep behaving, we will keep getting sent up here. Even if we don’t meet for a
day or two, it has to happen again. I’ve been doing all my work, plus the work
of Mastiv—that’s how I’ve managed all this Rec Room time.”

“Where is Mastiv?” Olivia asked,
knowing that Mastiv could have answers to helping them escape. If he was still
alive.

“I don’t know. I was hoping you
might be able to find out from Rurik.”

Olivia inhaled sharply. She would
need to be coy, and act dumb. It was certainly worth a try. “Okay. I’ll work on
that. What else?”

“That’s the first step. And making
sure we don’t step out of line. Don’t go acting like that dumb blonde of
Gorside’s. She’s going to get herself killed.” Olivia knew that he meant Emily.
Everyone seemed to think that Emily was doomed. “Once we know where Mastiv is
being kept, I will try to get to him. I think he had found a portal in the
castle. But I’m not sure if it was only smuggling the nymphs back to their
land.”

“Oh,” Olivia hadn’t stopped to
think that there were a number of creatures from a number of different
universes. “But what about us? How will we get back to two different lands?
What if the portal doesn’t go to Earth? Or to where you are from?”

Leo sat in a chair across from
Olivia, his haunches at an uncomfortable-looking angle. “Well, yes we need to
find an Earth portal, that’s for sure.” He gave Olivia a piercing gaze. “For
both of us.”

“You’re going to Earth?” Olivia
asked incredulously.

Leo let out a laugh that sounded
almost like a bark and matched his wolf-like appearance. “Going
back
to Earth,” he
corrected. This time Olivia let out a snort.“I’m from Earth too,” Leo said
defensively.

Olivia nodded with amusement. If
Leo wanted to go back to Earth with her, he was more than welcome.  She didn’t
know of any other talking wolf-monsters on Earth. She was truly starting to
feel like she was losing her mind.

“Now come with me,” Leo said,
gently taking her hand and leading her to the oversized couch. Olivia tried not
to recoil at his touch, and Leo did a good job of ignoring her if he noticed.
“As I said yesterday, I want to know your story.”

Olivia sighed and took a deep
breath. It would be nice to make a real friend here, and she might as well put
her trust in Leo.

* *
*

Forty minutes later, the elevator
opened for Leo to be collected. He gave Olivia a meaningful look at stepped
inside. Olivia sat back on the couch, realizing that she still had almost
thirty minutes left to herself.  Leo had turned out to be an excellent
listener, and she had poured her heart out to him, telling him of her college
life, her art, and her dreams. She told Leo about her family at home, and the
worries that she had now that she was missing.

In fact, she had spoken so much
that Leo hadn’t gotten a word in edgewise. Olivia still knew nothing about him,
and now Leo knew her entire life story. Olivia felt guilty for talking so much,
but she also felt hope. And once she moved past Leo’s hideous form, he was
actually quite kind and funny on the inside.

Olivia’s time was up before she
knew it, and she moved towards the open elevator, expecting Nae. Instead, it
was Samuel’s face that peered back at her. Caught off guard, Olivia moved
cautiously into the elevator. The doors slid closed but Samuel didn’t push any
buttons. Olivia waited expectantly, but nothing happened. She moved towards the
buttons to hit them herself, but Samuel’s arm cut across her path, blocking
her. Bewildered, Olivia stared at him.

“I don’t want him to touch you,”
Samuel whispered, his voice pained. Olivia was at a loss. What did Samuel mean?
Who was he referring to?

“Who?”

“Rurik.” Samuel said the name with
such hatred that Olivia knew it was the absolute truth. There could never be
such emotion behind a false statement.

“Samuel,” Olivia said slowly, “I
don’t understand.”

“Don’t you get it?” Samuel asked,
closing the distance between them, his blue eyes flashing. “I don’t want his
hands on you.” Samuel reached out and cupped her face. Olivia jumped, pulling
away and backing up against the smooth metal doors. She didn’t understand what
was happening.

“You...you hate me!” she
spluttered.

“I don’t!” Samuel argued. “I was
only doing my job! But...I can’t explain it—there’s something about you. I want
to protect you!”

Olivia shook her head, and spoke
mostly to herself. “This is wrong. This is all so wrong.”

Samuel quickly hit the descent
button. “We don’t have any more time. They’ll ask questions.”

“Samuel-’’

“I’ll try to come for you instead
of Michael. He’s a brute.”

“You’re a brute!” Olivia said
furiously, thinking of how Samuel had twisted her arms back behind her, causing
her knees to buckle from the pain.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, “I
didn’t know you then.”

“You don’t know me now! How can you
say that?” she demanded angrily. What the hell was going on?

“But I can see you’re different.
You’re pure and sweet! You don’t belong here!”

“No one belongs here,” Olivia
moaned as the elevator stopped and the doors slid open.

Samuel’s face twisted into the one
of hardness that she was now so accustomed to. She stumbled behind him to her
room, her mind spinning as she tried to comprehend what was happening. How had
Samuel gone from hating her to having feelings for her? He quickly unlocked her
door.

“Get in,” he growled, but his eyes
were soft and pleading.

“What do you want from me?”
whispered Olivia, still not understanding Samuel.

“I don’t know,” he whispered
quickly. “Just know that I’m not who you think I am.”

He pulled the door shut, leaving
Olivia alone in her room. Without thinking, Olivia dressed in her purple
pajamas, feeling more alone and confused than ever.