I was dragged away even as I begged them to stop. I twisted and fought against the men's iron grips, kicking wildly, but their hands only clamped down harder. I couldn't die like this—not without knowing who I was, who my parents had been, where I came from. Not like this.
"No! Let go of me—this is wrong!" I screamed, my feet scraping uselessly against the cold floor as they hauled me forward. My voice cracked with desperation.
"Quiet, little lady," one of them growled low, "or things are going to get a lot worse for you."
We stopped in front of a rusted, crusty-looking door. One man gave a sharp nod; the other reached out and shoved it open. The hinges let out a long, grating screech that echoed down the corridor like a dying animal.
They shoved me inside.
The door slammed shut behind me. I heard the heavy clank of a lock sliding into place.
I threw myself at the door, pounding with both fists until my knuckles stung. "Open it! Open this door!" I yelled until my throat burned.
Silence answered—thick, suffocating silence.
Then came a sound that turned my blood to ice.
A low, rumbling growl rolled through the darkness.
I froze, heart slamming against my ribs. Slowly, I turned.
Two glowing red eyes hovered in the black, unblinking, watching me.
Everything else was swallowed by shadow.
I couldn't see the rest of it. I didn't want to.
But it could see me.
My trembling hand slid along the rough stone wall, fingers scraping until they finally brushed a switch. I flicked it on.
Harsh light flooded the space, banishing the shadows in an instant.
The cage—once pitch-black and suffocating—was now painfully bright. And what it revealed made my stomach lurch.
Scattered across the filthy floor were bones. Human bones. Skulls stared up with empty sockets, some cracked, some gnawed. Please don't let these be from wolves, I thought wildly. Please don't let them be from people like me.
My heart hammered so hard it hurt. This was the demon cage. They'd brought me here to die.
"God, please help me," I whispered, voice cracking. "I don't want to die."
A low scrape came from the far corner.
I swallowed hard and turned.
Something massive emerged from the gloom—first a hulking shoulder, then the rest of it. A shadowy beast with burning red eyes set in a grotesque, muscular frame. Horns curled from its skull, claws scraped the stone with every step. This was it. The kyokai the wretched woman had spoken of.
Her son. Turned into this.
The creature locked eyes with me and unleashed a deafening growl—a screeching, guttural roar that vibrated through my bones and made my teeth chatter.
Then it charged.
My eyes flew wide. I spun and ran, legs pumping in blind panic. The cage wasn't large; there was nowhere to go. I dodged left as it lunged, its claws raking the air where I'd been a heartbeat before. It snarled in frustration and swiped again. I ducked, rolled, scrambled away—anything to keep distance. Every near miss made it angrier, its growls turning into furious bellows.
"You need to stay calm," a calm, cold voice echoed from above. "Or you'll only make him angrier."
I skidded to a stop and looked up.
High on a balcony overlooking the pit stood the queen and the king. They watched me like spectators at a gladiatorial show—her expression faintly amused, his utterly indifferent.
The beast circled, red eyes never leaving me.
And above, they waited to see how long I'd last.
Was this just a game to them? Watching their own son—twisted into this monster—devour people for entertainment? My God…
I was still running, legs burning, when the beast slammed into me. The impact knocked the air from my lungs. I crashed to the ground, skidding across the bone-littered floor. Pain exploded through my ribs.
The creature stalked closer, claws clicking against stone. I clawed at the floor, trying to crawl away, but my body refused to obey. In one brutal motion, it seized me—talons digging into my sides—and hurled me across the cage.
I hit the far wall hard. Bones cracked. The world spun as I crumpled to the floor in a heap.
The pain was blinding, overwhelming. I couldn't move. Couldn't breathe right. I'm so weak… so pathetic. This was it. I was going to die here, torn apart while the king and queen watched from their balcony like it was theater.
The beast broke into a run, massive form barreling toward me, jaws wide.
Then—flashes.
Images burst behind my eyes: a sleek wolf sprinting through mist-shrouded woods, silver fur gleaming under moonlight. It raced straight toward me. Voices overlapped, faint and urgent, words I couldn't grasp—ancient, melodic, pleading.
Elena… Elena…
The name echoed in my skull like a heartbeat.
The beast blurred at the edges. My vision swam. No—no fainting. Not now. If I blacked out, I'd never wake up.
Get up. Get up. GET UP.
I whispered it to myself, forcing my trembling arms to push against the cold stone. My hands shook, weak as water.
Elena… Elena… Elena…
The voices grew louder, pounding inside my head until it felt like it would split open. I couldn't take it anymore.
I surged to my feet and screamed—raw, primal, tearing from deep inside me.
The sound echoed off the walls, louder than anything human should make.
My knees buckled. I dropped, gasping.
When my eyes fluttered open again, the beast was right there—inches away.
I flinched hard, falling backward onto my palms. Its massive head loomed over me, hot breath washing across my face. Teeth gleamed, clenched so tight I could hear the grinding.
Then, to my utter shock, the beast dropped to its knees. It bowed its massive head low, claws scraping the stone as if in submission.
Panic surged through me. I seized the moment—scrambled to my feet and bolted for the door. "Open it! Please, open this door!" I screamed, pounding on the rusted metal until my fists throbbed.
I glanced up. The queen stood alone on the balcony now, staring down with wide, stunned eyes. Shock… and something darker. Disappointment? As if she were upset I hadn't been ripped apart yet.
"Please!" I yelled again, slamming harder.
The lock clanked. The door swung open.
Relief flooded me—I sucked in a shaky breath—but before I could step through, the king strode in past me, brushing my shoulder like I was nothing. He went straight to the beast.
I spun around just as a guttural growl tore from the creature. It clutched its head with both clawed hands, body convulsing. Then the impossible happened.
The claws retracted. Fur melted away like smoke. Muscles shifted and shrank. In seconds, the monstrous form was gone.
A naked boy—about my age—knelt there, chest heaving, dark hair plastered with sweat. Human. Real. Breathing.
"Son… is that you?" the king asked, voice cracking for the first time.
The boy lifted his head slowly. "Dad," he rasped, weak but clear.
The queen shoved past me without a glance, tears already streaming. "Ramon! My darling, you're back!" She dropped to her knees and pulled him into a fierce embrace. "Oh my goodness… I'm so glad you're back."
"Mom," he murmured into her shoulder.
"Guards!" the king bellowed. Footsteps thundered in. "Summon the consultant elder—now!"
The guards vanished.
I stood frozen. What the hell was happening? I'd just watched a beast—a demon, a kyokai—turn back into a human boy. Their son. Ramon.
And now his eyes were on me.
Piercing. Unblinking. Intense enough to steal the air from my lungs. He stared straight through me, like he knew something I didn't—like he recognized me.
The room tilted. My vision blurred at the edges. The last thing I registered was the faintest smirk curling on his lips… before everything went black.
I collapsed to the cold stone floor.