“Let me out,” the voice softly demanded.

Gary stood up, walking towards the rickety cage before halting himself. 

‘Wait, why am I doing this?’ He wondered internally. 

He had to actively fight against himself from moving forward. He felt compelled to open the door and let the beauty out. 

“Come on,” the girl prodded.

He took another step forward, then forcibly stopped himself yet again.

‘Is it because she killed Bob? …No I don’t think that’s it,’ Gary debated, racking his brain for the answer. ‘If it’s not fear, what is it?!’

“Mhm. Getting cold feet, are we? Come on, let me out,” the blonde said, once again prompting Gary forward.

This time he relented completely, instead taking several steps backward.

‘This is crazy. It’s taking everything in me to resist. What the hell is this girl?!’

“Haah,” the angelic girl sighed at his actions. “I was hoping you’d be stupid enough to be goaded into releasing me from this cage. I guess you’re stronger-willed than I gave you credit for…not that that means much. Well, it’s fine. We can have a nice little chat here. Let’s start with introductions. You go first.”

“...” Gary bit down on his lip, drawing blood, in order to stay silent.

The girl gave the lack of response a warm smile that didn’t quite make it up to her eyes. Her cheek was still red from the slap, and she had several cuts around her body.

“Oh so we’re playing that game?” she giggled, shifting in her restraints to sit up more straightly. “Okay! Let’s see how long you can keep your mouth shut. Anyways, my name is Riot. I would say it’s nice to meet you…but it’s not.”

Gary bit down on his lower lip even harder.

“Mhm. I said let’s start with introductions, but the truth is I don’t really need one from you. Your name is Gary, the swiss eel man over there,” she pointed to the cadaver leaning onto the table. “Is…no rather…was Bob.”

Gary’s eyes widened as he once again fought back the urge to confirm what the girl, Riot, was saying.

‘How does she know that? It’s standard procedure to not let merchandise know our names. I’m sure we didn’t s

The cute girl tilted her head to the side in an adorable manner, a knowing smile making its way across her face. 

“And if I’m right…you had another partner named Joe?”

“HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?!” Gary shouted.

Riot’s smile shifted into a smirk.

“I’ll tell you, but you have to get me out of here and take these restraints off,” she replied, shaking the cuffs on her arms and legs.

‘Didn’t we lock her arms behind her back? Well, whatever…this is probably a bad idea, but whatever.’

With a shrug, Gary arose from his chair and made his way to the cell. He proceeded to open it.

“Wait,” he said, lingering at the door. “How about a compromise? I’ll take off the shackles on your legs, but the ones on your arms have to stay.”

“I’m okay with that,” Riot replied.

The snail man proceeded to undo the chains, and then took a step back. 

The blonde girl got to her feet, dusting herself off.

“Ehehe. Not that I’ve caught your interest, how about we take a seat,” she pointed to the table that Gary and Bob played cards at. “And get comfortable, hm?”

Gary agreed and sauntered back over to his chair. 

Riot gracefully walked to the chair containing Bob’s corpse. She nudged the piece of furniture, throwing the dead man to the floor. She climbed the chair, sitting as if the dead body didn’t exist. 

“So Mr. Gary, who’s your employer?” She asked.

“Lord Shelkier,” he replied instantly, grabbing his mouth as the words left it. “Wait, tell me about how you know who I am.”

“Yeah, yeah in a second,” the girl waved off the inquiry. “Now why does this Lord Shelkier want you to kidnap people?”

“Well, from what I’m aware of, it’s to keep up the morale of his troops.”

“And why does…”

—⁕🎕⁕—

The two continue to converse, with Riot harvesting all the information that Gary possessed…while Gary didn’t learn anything but the girl’s name.

“I see,” the blonde nodded. “In that case, are there any other girls here right now?”

“Yes,” Gary replied, seemingly completely caught in a trance. “Follow me,”

He stood, walked to what looked to be a closet door, and opened it. As one might expect, there were several articles of clothing hanging within the room. 

Gary shoved the clothes to the side, revealing a hidden corridor. He quickly stepped in, with Riot following closely behind.

Gary skillfully led the way down the tunnel, receiving several comments from the girl behind him about the less than stellar odor of the pathway.

After a few minutes, and several choice words from the blonde, the odd pair arrived at another door. 

Gary wordlessly unlocked it and swung it open. 

He moved forward to take a look inside, as curious as the girl behind him.

‘I don’t usually come down here, I left everything besides the initial capture and the drop off to Bob. He enjoyed it anyways. I just cared about getting my money.’

The room itself looked like an old deep freezer, that hadn’t been cleaned since it was built. Gunk engulfed the floors, walls, and ceiling, emitting a putrid smell.

Inside the room were over a dozen of girls, that could only be described as broken. Broken physically and psychologically. 

“Disgusting!”

Gary heard Riot shriek, and then he felt a sharp pain in his back.

He looked down only to see a blade sticking out from his stomach.

“Haah,” Riot let out a breath, seeming to calm herself. 

She removed the blade from Gary’s back, and he toppled forward. Riot walked around stopping right in front of the prone Gary.

She bent down, coming within inches of the snail man’s face.

“I don't see a point in keeping my promises with scum, but I’m feeling whimsical. So I’ll tell you how I knew who you were. Let me put it as simply as I can so your sick brain can comprehend it. You never kidnapped me. From the start…I. Let. You. Do. It. Hell, I’m even the reason that you're here in the first place. I’m the one who got Joe put up for execution.”

The explanation dawned in Gary’s brain.

‘She let us do it? So we probably didn’t even knock her out? She completely and utterly fooled us.  Baited us… lured us in. And we bit in eagerly like the hungry fish we are. She reeled us in and gutted us.’

“Ehehe, it seems like you figured it out,” she giggled. “But it looks like your times running out.”

Gary looked at his hand, which had been covered in blood from the puddle pooling from his abdomen.

Riot grabbed the man's chin, lifting it upwards.

Gary puckered his lips, the blood loss making him delirious.

“Ehehe,” the girl laughed once again. “You thought I was going to kiss you? In your dreams.”

She slashed Gary’s throat with her blade, severing his vocal cords and causing a deep gouge in his trachea.

“But isn’t that interesting,” Riot mused. “You’ve lost your inhibitions in the last moments of your life… doesn’t that make you just like your friends, Bob and Joe? The ones you looked down upon?”

‘Me like them? No way! I’m better than them!’

“Honestly, even though they were absolutely despicable, they were still entirely more admirable than you. At least they followed their passion, instead of doing anything for a quick buck. “

‘No! I’m better!’

Riot let go of Gary's chin, and stood back up, wiping the grime from her clothing.

“Well anyway, you should try better in your next life, if you get one! Ehehe!”

Gary continued to silently scream as his life seeped away.

‘No! No!'

As his heart slowed and his consciousness wavered, he continued to stare at the girl in front of him.

 The undeniably angelic face that he had sacrificed his life for started to look like anything but.

Lulla

Hi guys! It's been a couple of days. School is rough, I'm sorry. I can't promise any consistence, but just know I am trying...just not succeeding that well right now. Anyways, next chapter we'll dive into cleaning up the aftermath of what just happened, then maybe some training. From there we'll go onto the trip to the tree...then after that we might meet someone interesting...so look forward to the future! Otherwise, thanks for reading and please have a great day!