Where's Casper?

Foxglove

*Dante's POV*

My head hurts terribly, and I'm afraid that if I try to free myself more, my wrist will start bleeding. 

I wonder where we are. There's water pouring from the ceiling and falling directly on my leg, or at least I tell myself it's water. It's some kind of red liquid that looks like it's going to stain them permanently.

And there's him. The last person I want to see. He smirks. He's sitting on a big, black armchair. I wish I was. The steel chair I'm tied to is way too small for a normal human, and I know he put me in it just to satisfy his sick need of seeing people suffer.  

"How are you doing, Dante?" He says, lazily passing a toothpick under his nails. "Wait. You can't answer."

He stands up, walking to my chair, throwing the toothpick on the ground. He pulls what I think is a shirt from my mouth and laughs.

"When Aric gets here, he'll turn you into cat food and then eat you alive!"

Why is he laughing? I just threatened him! He takes his green lollipop out of his mouth and stuffs it into me. It's wet. I gag.

"You know, you would've been so cute if you knew when to shut the fuck up." He takes his lollipop back, crunching it in his mouth. It isn't even sweet, being one of the many cheap candies the northern people sell. It's supposed to be apple flavored, but it doesn't taste like anything.

"You gross me out, you know?" 

It annoys me, how he laughs without even hearing a joke. I can't see him right now. He's behind me, one of my now blind spots. He puts his elbow under my head, pressing on my neck.

"If you say one more thing, I'm going to... you know... pop your head off and sell it to skull collectors."

How was I supposed to know? He lets go of my neck, moving his hands towards my torso. He slides his finger into an old bullet hole. His nail goes deeper, reopening the wound. My pants aren't the only ones who are starting to get a red tint. I clench my fists and grit my teeth. I have never ever met a worse human being in my whole entire life.

"Who are you going to yell for? Aric? He's done! Poisoned with the tears of the Unwed Bride. Now I know what you will say. Caspar, the tears of the Unwed Bride only kill girls! Yes, but find out that if you add some foxglove to it, it will give the opposite effect. I asked Jacks to sneak into Casper's room, slide some in her drink, she and Aric kissed and BOOOM! Bye-bye, Aric."

"Is he dead, too?"

"No, silly. She's a girl."

_____________

*Casper's POV*

It doesn't matter how many unsaid things I said to him that day. It doesn't matter how I cried until my eyes turned red and swollen. He didn't listen to me. He didn't wake up. I've only known him for one month, but he slowly became my whole life.

I haven't slept in the last two days. Some of the most skilled circus actors are searching for Dante at the moment, but I can't. When I close my eyes, I see him. When it's too quiet, I hear his heavy, agile footsteps. He's not there, and that destroys me. 

Take this moment, for example. I can swear he's in the room with me. He's right here. Hiding behind the curtains. But every time I draw them, he switches places. He's so fast that I can't even see him when he leaves his hiding spot. Yes, I forgot. We're playing hide-and-seek. But he's a cheater because he stopped playing the game and left me searching for him.