𝐌𝐘 𝐀𝐃𝐔𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

二十九 | 𝐂𝐑𝐔𝐌𝐁𝐋𝐄

adulation (n.)
adoration. worship.
admiration. devotion.
reverence. favor.

「 𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝑻𝑾𝑬𝑵𝑻𝒀 𝑵𝑰𝑵𝑬 」
𝐂𝐑𝐔𝐌𝐁𝐋𝐄

꧁꧂

When (Y/N) woke up that morning, the last thing she expected was for Ferid to take her outside on one of his faction's scouting missions. It hardly made any sense to her why he would bring her, but then again, she also hardly could make sense of any of his whims, so she merely went along with him. Not only that, but it gave her a chance to escape from the stifling confines of his mansion that she was often subjected to stay in.

Walking with him out of the capital and up to the surface, she squinted and shaded her eyes from the harsh, invading light of the sun. It had been a while she had been outside, and if she were being honest, she missed the sensation, her expression visibly relaxing at the exposure. That is, until she caught sight of the several hungry pairs of eyes pinned to her form, something that immediately made her shrink back and hide behind Ferid, much to his sadistic delight.

"There you are," Crowley hummed as he approached the two, flicking his gaze in between them. "And you've brought (Y/N) along..."

"Of course," Ferid smirked, placing a hand on her shoulder. "She's my pet. She goes where I go."

(Y/N), once again, frowned at the term.

However, she stayed silent.

Already she could practically feel the disproval and caution from the vampires surrounding her, vampires all in Ferid's faction which was probably why they weren't being vocal with their displeasure of her presence. In fact, she noticed how some even exchanged glances upon Ferid's rather strange behavior towards Crowley's question that regarded her—behavior that couldn't easily be explained. More than humiliated, she couldn't to shrink backwards, wishing the floor would just open her up and swallow her whole.

Unfortunately, her wishes went unanswered.

Long before this exact moment, she knew none of her wishes would ever be granted.

It would be best not to wish at all.

    After all, any hope that she may have had was squandered time and time again, so what was the point of wishing when she had no hope? Just the thought alone made her bitter, but she had no time for bitterness when Ferid roughly yanked her along by the chain of her collar to keep up with him and his legion of cutthroat vampires. Thankfully, those same vampires are directed to the roofs of several buildings to scope out the surrounding territory and see if they can catch a glimpse of any stray humans that they could then corral.

    "So, (Y/N)..." Crowley started with a small hum as he glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "Did Ferid think you needed a walk?"

    She bristled at his derisive word choice.

    "No matter," he then continued with a chuckle, clearly enjoying the interaction. "I'm glad he did. It means I can spend more time with you outside of our usual games of chess. I truly can't help but wonder what your reaction will be to the hunting and herding of other humans. Will you be angered by the notion? Or disgusted? Perhaps even impassive? I'm quite curious to see."

    "What does it matter to you what my reaction is?" She muttered.

    "It matters quite a bit."

    She frowned.

    His words were cryptic at best, however she had no time to decipher them when Ferid grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her closer to him, his smile serpentine as he side-eyed Crowley. It was clear he wasn't about to let (Y/N) mingle with others, especially not the Thirteenth Progenitor, instead choosing to keep her right by his side when he so usually was. Crowley wanted to laugh at Ferid's obvious attachment even though Ferid himself so naturally chose to ignore it, cupping his chin in mild fascination.

That is, until he was distracted.

"Humans!" A vampire roared from up above, unsheathing her weapon to attack.

(Y/N) snapped her head up at that, her eyes widening at the thought of other humans—humans, not bound by the shackles of servitude to vampires. Once again, the flimsy amount of hope she had that she thought had all but been snuffed out flared to life like a roaring fire, her heart pounding in her chest in anticipation. She was able to practically taste the freedom on the tip of her tongue, she was so close. So close, it seemed, that a human dressed in a formal uniform ran up to Ferid and (Y/N) with a strange looking weapon in his grasp, attaching the vampire with speed and precision.

It was enough for Ferid to release her chain.

And it was enough to allow her a few precious seconds in time to make a run for it.

Scrabbling to pick up her chain so it didn't drag, (Y/N) used what little energy she had to race away from where Ferid and the man were fighting, and ducking away from the main street where the battle was occurring to hopefully slip away from the vampires and reconvene with the humans. She could practically hear her blood pumping in her ears, an adrenaline-fueled rush that kept her body in this active mode of running.

I can do it!

Her thoughts lightened.

I can make it!

Something flashed in the corner of her eye, and abruptly she was pushed to the ground, all air leaving her lungs in that moment. Gasping for breath, choking, she gazed upwards into Crowley's calm gaze, a small smirk toying on his lips as he leaned in closer towards her. His expression definitely seemed friendly, yet (Y/N) knew—she knew the cruelness behind such a look.

"You're a lot braver than I gave you credit for," Crowley chuckled as he stared down at her, his eyes tracing the curve of her face. "Or stupider. I'm not sure which one it is, but you do have guts, so I'll give you that." His hands dug into her wrists painfully tight, and as she gasped, he uttered, "Don't ever try that again. We will hunt you down. And we will find you. There's something about you that cannot be replaced, so we cannot ever lose you or misplace you. You'll learn to understand."

With that, he picked her up and began his journey to return her back to Ferid.

Though Crowley himself wasn't entirely inclined to the fact, he knew that even with Ferid, it meant that (Y/N) was still an ideal he could be intertwined with. Such a thought was far too tantalizing to be ignored, so he ensured he wouldn't be able to.

━━━━━━━━ ꧁ ♥ ꧂ ━━━━━━━━

「 𝑻𝑶 𝑩𝑬 𝑪𝑶𝑵𝑻𝑰𝑵𝑼𝑬𝑫 」