Sinful [malexmale]

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

I'd come to the conclusion that no one was coming for me.

The days dragged on by and blurred into one long painful existence. I stopped trying to comfort myself with childish prayers that someone would come here and bring me home. I stopped uselessly pulling at the stake that pinned my chain to the frozen ground. Julius kept all sharp objects out of my reach. No, it was more like he kept everything out of my reach. The only thing that I was allowed was the thin knit blanket and laying on the bed.

It was late winter now.

The air was chilly and the only thing that kept it remotely warm was the heater Julius had ordered and put in the room, thankfully, right next to the bed so my feet wouldn't freeze. He didn't give me any clothes, and I didn't ask for any. Just laid on the bed and watched my breath turn to soft clouds that faded into the dimness of the tent. He always left a light on for me, like he was leaving his dog at home while he went to go about his business.

And his business was killing my soldiers and tormenting people for information. He'd come into the tent the other night bragging about how he'd destroyed a troop of Hell soldiers not too far off down the mountain range, dangerously close to Duat, who warned both Hell and Hades that if they came anywhere near their borders, they'd rain a fury down upon them that would make a mockery of theirs, so they steered clear.

There was no word of Dev or Anza or Jaques, or even Lucifer.

But I slowly learned not to care anymore.

Julius had started feeding me, without my having to beg. After I lost twenty pounds, he decided it was best that I get something in my stomach, so he had Gloria bring me scraps of whatever was left, so we could eat together. She always came in trembling, but her head somehow held high as she walked to the bed and sat beside me. At first, I didn't want to eat. The food tasted like ash in my mouth, the water like fire coursing down my throat, but Gloria had finally shoved a handful of bread crust in my mouth.

"Sit up," She commanded, patting at my back and pulling on my shoulders, "Get up and eat. It's rare to get treats like this." I wanted to shove her and tell her to get the fuck away from me, but she was the only one who spoke to me like I wasn't a whore, so I reluctantly moved in the bed and sat beside her, legs dangling over the edge of the bed. The bread crust was stale and the water had bits of dirt in it, but it was better than nothing.

"I never caught your name." Gloria said one night as we made a feast of bread crust, old water, and apple peels. I gave her a wary glance, surprised she finally spoke to me like she wasn't angry with me. She was being unnecessarily casual, and that bothered me for some reason.

"Doesn't matter." I replied. Gloria narrowed her brown eyes on me, but there was something too wide and adorable about her eyes to appear threatening, so I ignored her as I swallowed a mouthful of water to wash down the squishiness of the apple peels.

"Then what do I call you?"

"Doesn't matter."

"Should I just call you whore?" Gloria demanded. I snapped my head to pin her with a glare that actually made her shrink back from me.

"I'll snap your neck if you call me that." I said coldly. She glared back at me now, scooting back to my side and snatched our shared water bottle out of my hands so she could take an angry sip.

"Then tell me your freakin' name. You'd be the only person here who would, except Julius, but nobody cares about his dumb name." She muttered, shoving the bottle back at me and taking the last couple pieces of bread crust. I frowned at that, then looked at the water bottle in my hand before heaving a heavy sigh, rolling my eyes.