"I can have you kill right now"

Sweating profusely........

Tied up by his hands with hard, big chains......

Scars, cuts, and wounds filled his chest...

It still wasn't enough for Ryan, he wanted to make him suffer

"Please I beg you, my Lord, l know nothing of this"

He said, being hanged for his death

Ryan looked down at the man, smiling coldly and viciously.....

"You don't have anything to be ashamed of, your family was a part of it"

He continued. 

Ryan grabbed the man by his shoulders, forcing him on his knees. 

Then he lifted him to his feet, grabbing hold of his neck in his free hand...

The man struggled, he did...but Ryan didn't let him go

he held onto him tighter, making the man choke on his words

"My Lord!" the man cried out

His eyes were closed as if in pain

"I am so sorry, I promise I'll tell you everything I know"

The man tried to pull away from him.

But he held on even stronger.

Ryan smiled...

His smile dropped immediately, making the man's heart skip a beat

"Where is it?"

Ryan asked glaring at the man

"I don't know sir, please, spare me"

The wounded man said crying profusely, holding onto him

"If I ask the second time and you can't provide me an answer, I will have no choice but to let your wife live the rest of her life as a widow"

Ryan said......

The man gasped and yelled......

"Please, I know nothing of the stone, I only work as an apprentice for.......

"DO I LOOK LIKE I GIVE A FUCK ABOUT THAT!!!!!!"

Ryan stood up angrily and grabbed his neck

"Tell me where your master kept the stone"

He tightly squeezed his neck, holding air from his lungs making sure that he would be dead before he even knew what happened.....

"I... don't...kn.....

He was cut off by Ryan's hand coming down on his mouth, muffling his words completely... 

He continued choking until the man was unconscious and bleeding from his throat. 

Ryan sighed again at the disappointment, he looked around and sighted a guard

"Get rid of the body"

He ordered

"Yes my Lord"

The guard answered with a bow and took away the body

"And get me, Lucas"

Ryan said dismissively walking towards his hallway

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Aurora stared at the ceiling of her grandparents' house as she breathe heavily, she couldn't believe it, she is finally leaving the house after being caged like a prisoner for three years.

As much as she hated to admit it, she was tired of staying inside this house where she was not allowed to go out, and it wasn't that she didn't enjoy spending time in her grandmother's company anymore, she just wanted some freedom from being cooped up all day. It wasn't a huge problem though, Aurora is used to being confined. She was almost nineteen now, which was old enough to make her own decisions about her life. That also meant she could go out of town on her own if she wants.

She clenched the mattress of her bed as she stared at the clock intensively

"Arghh, why is time moving so slowly, it should be eight already"

She said quietly not as to wake up her grandparents

It remains just an hour for her to leave the house and time seems so slow in her place

* * * * * * *

"Come on, just ten minutes and I'm out of here"

Her mind is filled with thoughts of getting out of the house

She got out of bed and quickly got dressed and made her way downstairs 

The smell of breakfast fills the air, and Aurora smiles slightly

“Aurora”

Her grandfather greeted her warmly

“Good morning, Grandpa.”

She smiled softly at him and sat down across from him

“Grandmother, I'm going to leave now"

"So soon, can't you at least have breakfast first"

Maltida yelled

"Um..... Breakfast is good but I'll keep Samantha waiting, she must be outside"

Aurora said waiting to open the door and get out

"This is 8 am for Lord's sake"

Her grandfather said

"Samantha my foot, I don't like that girl for one second, something tells me she is up to something, just stay and you will go out next time"

Matilda said with a concerned look

Aurora secretly rolled her eyes, she knew her grandmother is just finding a way for her not to go out

"Grandma, you said I can go, you are just making excuses"

"Sweetheart, don't yell at your grandma"

Her grandfather said, his eyes on the newspaper he was reading

"Grandfather, don't tell me you are supporting grandma?"

"Aurora, I am your grandma and I want you......

Her nagging was interrupted by a knock on the door

There was a second silence before the door opened

A girl in her early twenties peeped into the room and smiled

"Sorry to interrupt,....."

"Samantha!!"

Aurora beamed with joy

"Oh thank goodness, I thought I lost my way to your house"

Samantha said and drafted her attention to the elders

"Hello, Aurora grandparents "

Maltida glared at Samantha and rolled her eyes so hard that she felt pain

"Just call me Maltida"

"Hello child, how are you"

George, Aurora's grandfather said with a smile

"I'm good, Aurora's grandfather"

She answered, making George chuckle

"Are you ready?"

Samantha asked Aurora

"Yes, let's go"

Aurora said taking her leave

"Wait Aurora, you must come back in the next three hours"

Maltida yelled trying to sustain her anger, but her fear grew stronger by the second

* * * * * * ** * * * * * *

"Well that was a drama"

Samantha leaped on the road of their way

"Yeah, that's my grandma"

Aurora rolled her eyes

"I feel like she is hiding something from you, don't you think?"

"Really? I never thought about it"

"Are you fucking kidding me? She doesn't let you out of the house, no parents will ever do that"

"I think she is just protecting me"

"From what monsters"

Samantha smirked

"I think so"

Aurora answered making Sam letting her a huge laugh

"Oh my, Aurora, you are so naive, aren't you? It's pretty obvious that your grandma is hiding something big from you, like a secret, it's been up to three years since you last left the house, and you say she is protecting you. Nah! She knows something"

Samantha said, her hands in her skirt's pockets

They walked down the road and through the market...

In no time, people started complimenting Aurora's beauty, she was pretty enough to catch the eye of a prince, but she didn't mind that one bit.

No, not even for a second...

She was happy.

This town wasn't so bad. They lived in a small, but cozy village with its little village council, it was very peaceful and quiet there. There were many things to be grateful for, but this was the most pleasant place she had ever visited. The air was fresh...

"Wow, all eyes are on you Aurora"

Samantha said

"Really?"

Aurora arched with a turn

Samantha was right, all eyes were on her, and the villagers stared at her like they were seeing an Angel, it's made Aurora giggle a bit creeped out at the same time..

"Wow, I'm not surprised, you are gorgeous"

Sam uttered with a smirk

"I wouldn't say gorgeous tho"

Aurora said her cheeks all red

Samantha looked at her, for and some reason it made her blood boil, she scoffed staring at Aurora blushing...

"So where are we going?"

Aurora delightfully asked, breaking the long silence

"You'll see"

Samantha answer with a smirk on her face

They didn't talk about anything else till they reached their destination

It took them some time but they finally got there

"Here we are princess"

Samantha said with a hand gesture

Aurora stared at the building for a minute with a confused look

"What is this place, it's looks so scary"

"A bar place"

Sam answered nonchalantly

The girls entered the entrance and immediately noticed that the place was packed

There were tables and chairs everywhere and the dance floor was filled with people

Sam guided Aurora to one of the seats near a small table by herself 

"This place is crowded, huh?" Aurora commented with a little nervousness

She wasn't sure if it was okay being there after all

Her grandparents always used to tell her not to be around strangers or places she couldn't get out of

Sam just smiled

"Yeah, this place gets a bit more popular in the afternoon"

"Why?"

"It's kind of like a gathering place for couples who don't feel alone"

Sam explained softly

Aurora nodded in understanding

"And you can find guys here too, I guess"

"Yeah"

Sam replied nonchalantly again

She looked at Aurora with a soft smile on her lips, her eyes held nothing else but fondness for this beautiful girl

Who she found the most intriguing person in the world 

Even though they never talked much 

Aurora felt so comfortable with Sam that her heart swelled every time

That she could feel her heart beating fast

Just thinking about her was enough to make her happy

"So how come you know so much about this stuff?"

Aurora asked shyly 

Sam tilted her head

"Well I've been going to this place my whole life, I know everybody here like it's the back of my palm"

"Really? How?"

"Well.....

"Hello ladies"

A voice interrupted

They both looked back in fear and saw a man in his mid-forties...

His clothes looked tattered and he has a dirty beard

"Jeremy, please go away, you are scaring her"

Samantha said with an unconcerned look

"I didn't know you were bringing another one today for us"

The man said staring lustily at Samantha

"Another one?"

Aurora gasped 

"Just leave and don't talk to her"

Samantha said glaring hard at him

"Oh......why..... Sammy"

He asked softly with a fake smile

Samantha stood from her place beside Aurora

"You're scaring her Jeremy"

Jeremy smiled apologetically before leaving

"Who was he?"

Aurora asked with appealing eyes

"Just ignore guys that come to you....... You know what, we are leaving"

She frowned grabbing Aurora's hands and leading her out of the bar

Before she could leave, a voice interrupted

"Samantha wait!"

A little boy said stopping her

"Seb, what's wrong?"

Samantha asked

"It's Kude, he wants to see you"

He answered staring at Aurora beside her

"That moron"

Samantha rolled her eyes

"Fine, I'll be there, you go on"

She said and watched as the boy left her presence

"Aurora, don't go into that bar, I'll be back, okay?"

"Fine, hurry"

Aurora replied and also watched as she left...

Immediately she left, all eyes were on her again, and all men in the bar kept staring at her with lustful gazes in their eyes, Aurora felt uncomfortable because of it. She was used to this kind of attention from men, but today it wasn't helping her to feel good about herself at all. She felt her cheeks getting warm and she started sweating a little too... she couldn't stop herself though. 

She was about to leave when the same little boy that called Samantha came to her again...

"Miss, Sam is looking for you"

"Sam? Really?"

"Yes"

"Okay show me the way"

She said and followed the boy

The boy led her through a hallway and into a room

"Wait here, I'll get her"

The boy said and with no hesitation, he shut the door

"Wait....."

Aurora said walking towards the door...

She tried to open it but it was locked, in fear, she banged the door hard

"Hello.....hello.....Let me out"

"Hello pretty"

A voice interrupted her thoughts, she turned around and saw a man staring at her

"Hi"

Aurora said with a scared look, the man terrified her a lot.

He looks scary and tattered.

He stared at her lustily like he wanted to tear off her dress

"You look gorgeous, are you an Angel?"

The man asked as he took a step closer to her

"I.....I.....I..... don't think so sir"

She said moving away from the man in front of her

"Well, I'm not a regular angel. And your name is Aurora?"

He asked still looking at her with a predatory look

"Yes"

Aurora whispered with fear 

"That's a beautiful name for a beautiful girl"

The man said taking another step closer to her

"Please.... leave... me alone"

Aurora said trying to move further away from the man but her legs were numb and she couldn't move them properly. 

Her heart was beating loudly, she closed her eyes

and prepared herself for the worst

The man grabbed her by the waist and started kissing her neck, then moved down to her chest

she could feel his rough hands against her skin through his dirty clothes

she pushed him away in horror, her face was flushed

"No.... please.. stop........please...."

She pleaded with the man, her voice shaking in fear

the man didn't listen to her, instead, he grabbed her by her shoulders and held her there with one hand, and continued kissing and caressing her body, she tried to push him off again but failed miserably. He had a strong grip on her wrists which made it hard for her to do anything else

"Let me go!" She cried out weakly

"Why are you here all alone? You're beautiful and you're young"

He said holding onto her tightly, Aurora screamed as the man suddenly shoved her up against the wall his lips were already on hers, Aurora gasped in pain when he accidentally hit her back with his elbow  

"Stop!"

Aurora screamed again in frustration as he pulled her hair gently and kissed her

She felt sick to her stomach, she pushed his chest

but he only chuckled darkly

"You have such soft skin, I could get lost in it"

He said licking his lips

"Please..."

Aurora sobbed trying not to lose control of herself

he laughed again and ran a thumb across her lower lip

"You taste delicious"

He whispered into her ear, Aurora felt like vomiting

But instead, she bit the man harshly on his arm

The man groaned as he pulled his arm free and stumbled backward.  

"Oh, you are gonna get it"

He said, moving forward for a slap, but before he could reach for it, he stopped immediately.....

Aurora closed her eyes for the worst hoping for the worst but felt a long silence...

She opened her eyes and saw the man standing, shaking with a sword pierced into his abdomen blood pouring out of it...

His head fell back as if his neck had snapped and hit his shoulders, causing him to crumple to the ground, lifeless.

Her breath came in short gasps, tears were starting to gather in her eyes...

Her eyes later saw another man, with a sword filled with blood, he was the one who stabbed him...

He was tall with broad shoulders, but his face was covered with a scarf, so she couldn't see his face...

but his build told her who he was, his chest was rising and falling heavily from his exertion... He took a look around then turned back to Aurora and gave her an angry scowl before turning and attempting to leave

"Wait, are you just gonna murder someone and leave me here........sir?"

she yelled trying to make herself heard over the sounds of thunder. Her voice echoed through the valley...

The man stopped walking, looking back at her with a glare that could melt a mountain, "I can have you killed right now."

"Huh?..... I'm just saying...."

She said, her heart pounding...

"There is blood everywhere and.....

"Oh, I didn't realize I murdered your husband?"

The man interrupted with a smirk that can be seen through his scarf

"Husband!!! Why do you think that this man is my husband?"

Aurora angrily asked

"I don't know, girls in this town are capable of doing anything"

He answered with an almost menacing grin... but it looked more like he wanted to laugh...

Aurora felt her blood boiling as she glared at him with a fire burning in her eyes

"Just please help me out"

Aurora calmed her nerves and stared at him

"Why should I?"

"You can't just leave me with a dead body"

She said with teary eyes

The man somehow saw her and took pity, she was right, if someone see the body with her, she will get blamed for his death

"Fine, but you owe me"

He smiled reaching out for her hand

"Owe my foot"

She muttered under her breath stretching out her hand, the blood almost filled the room but Aurora's hand was long enough to reach his

She felt him wrap her fingers in a tight grip 

And then there was nothing 

His body suddenly went limp, he couldn't feel his nerves, and he felt dizzy for a second...

Aurora observed that and held his scarf tight, but unfortunately loosened it, revealing his face...

Aurora froze as they both stared at each other...

She didn't know who he was, but Ryan's face appeared in the view

TO BE CONTINUED