Victim

Chapter 14 - Powerless

Xander's POV:

"Master will be your owner."

Horror made its way into Xander's brain as he heard those words. He glanced at Master beside him, noticing the calm look on his features. He didn't even see any pleasure on his face, just a sickening acceptance that was so unnerving it made Xander want to beat the shit out of him. Pure anger threatened to spill out of him, but he knew he was in no position to fight anymore.

Slowly, his senses started to send reports back to his brain. There were bruises and cuts and scrapes, his ribs must be bruised, and his arms and legs ached. He kept his eyes closed, not because he didn't want to see where he was, but he thought it would hurt too much to open them and see Marley again. But the most pain was increasingly coming from his burning heart.

He had seen a wide array of emotions from Marley, mostly gleaned knowledge from observing her from afar, but he had never seen her in such a raw or...vulnerable state of mind. Not even when her mother had died. He had never seen her so hurt...so destroyed.

Watching Marley be welded was the worst experience of his life. He had been helpless to stop it from happening. He had been helpless to save her, something he had vowed himself to do as he comforted a grieving Marley in his arms.

He had failed her.

Seeing her in such a desolate state wrenched his heart out as he watched her face pale. Xander tried to steady his breathing and calm the panic. He watched as Master nodded to Gerald and the other man, and left Xander.

Master walked towards Marley, gently laying a hand on her shoulder. Xander snarled, rage pulsing through his veins. Gerald looked down upon him, giving Xander a small chuckle.

How dare he even look at her, much less touch her.

He saw Marley visibly trembling from the older and more powerful man, especially since she couldn't move or do anything to protect herself. Kendrick stopped beside Master and whispered a few words into his ears, receiving a nod back.

Master continued inspecting Marley, running his hands along her arms, legs, chest, and face. Xander nearly suffocated on his fury and this time he couldn't stay quiet.

"Don't you dare touch her! She's not a thing you can buy." He screeched the words out, forcing his aching body off of the ground. Surprisingly Gerald and the other man didn't do anything, and his self-conscious told him something was wrong, but he ignored it.

This was too important.

He weakly limped up to Master, aware of Marley gazing at him with round eyes. He could also see the warning in them, but his pride wouldn't allow him to surrender already. Stopping in front of him, he glared into the leader's eyes defiantly.

"Don't. Touch. Her." Xander spat out, pausing between each word to allow it to sink into his brain. Master narrowed his eyes until they almost looked slit, like a feline. Xander saw his fists tightening so hard that he could see his knuckles turn white.

'Who do you think you are, barging here like this?" Master dangerously sneered the words out quietly, a dare in them. The whole clearing went quiet, and Xander felt his blood run cold.

The men eagerly stared at their Master, their attention slowly drifting away from Marley as Master said those words. The girls nervously trembled, fear locking their eyes. Something was wrong, Xander could feel it.

"I warned you multiple times before not to mess around with me. Everyone here listens to me. No one defies my orders, and they always get punishments if they do." He growled in a syncopated whisper, sending Xander's heart beating faster than before in quiet fear.