Haereditas: The Lost Art

Chapter 8: It's Getting Darker

Lorelei woke up to the sound of slushing water that hit her repeatedly in the face. Hard debris scratched her arms as she was dragged through the cold, damp floor. She could hear muffled chattering from the person grabbing her legs, gripping it with an iron hard fist. "We are so close. I got her," the mysterious man said. "She's probably - - - there in -," was all that she could make out from his next lines. It sounded like a piece of cloth was covering his mouth, blurring everything that he was saying. She had no idea where she was, but she definitely knew that he was not good news. Him sounding like he's eating iron nails didn't help her in getting her bearings straight. Her head was still woozy from being knocked up in the tunnel that she once were in. She was swollen and in pain, groaning as she tried to get even a peek of where they were heading to.

"Don't even try to break free," the man warned her, halting and placing her legs down. "I know that you're damaged pretty bad. You'll die down here if you resist."

"Ughhh," she groaned. It was all that she could manage with her consciousness still floating around.

The man pulled down his scarf, revealing his face. She could barely see with her blurred vision, but a familiar feeling was tugging at her gut. "We need you to get it for us," he chuckled under his breath. "Sorry, I know you will."

The mysterious man placed his bag down and fumbled inside, bringing out clanking tools and finally pulling out a piece of rope. He untangled the roll and tied up her arms on her back, bringing her up and leaning her on a wall. Her head dangled around, barely being able to be held up by her fading strength. She was still groaning from the pain, her head pulsing with such a burning pain that spread down her torso.

"Wh-who are y-you?" she managed. She tried to take a glance at him, but she couldn't even open her eyelids at all. "Wh-w-why?"

She can hear him laughing to his delight, enjoying her pain and misery as he grabbed another trinket at his bag. "You have no idea, haven't you?" he said. "Poor girl, you were being dragged along in this scheme without even realizing it."

"Who the h-hell are you?!" she grumbled. She tried to break her hands free but she ended up falling forward instead. With no strength to keep her up, she dwindled down in an instant, dropping like a lamp face-first. "Uggh."

He broke into a laugh as he crouched near her to flip her and land her on her back. "You're so pathetic." He stood up and went back to tinker with his bag. A small glimmer of light was coming from where he was, glaring at her directly. She noticed the light coming from the end of the path behind him, hitting her face directly. Her eyes struggled to keep up with the light, and it became even harder for him to recognize the mysterious man's face.

"You know," he said, "I never expected that it'd be you that I'd be taking."

"What did you mean by that?" she asked.

"Oh," he chuckled mockingly, "you don't need to know about it." He proceeded to place all of his things back in his bag and marched back to her, crouching next to her. He brushed her hair to the side, and said, "You're just a little pawn in all of this, honey." She grabbed her in her cheeks, gently caressing her face, then suddenly gripping her neck, pushing her down until she was choking. "All of this won't even matter in the end."

She was clawing for her breath, scratching and trying to move his arm away as her breath faded away. "I-I c-can't bre-"

"Oh honey," he smiled at her, leaning closer to her as he smelled her hair. "Can't breathe, can you?"

He took a deep breath in before letting her neck go, leaving her gagging and coughing as the air filled her lungs back. He brushed his coat and proceeded to bring her back up and lean her back to the wall. "Hey," he whispered to her ears, "Let's meet each other again sometime." That was all she heard before he punched her in her gut, passing out as the pain filled her entire body.