I promise, the next chapter will be the last.
And for everyone who is like, “Yo, wtf, y u in a rush to end this story!?”
Because! Eventually people are going to catch on that I don’t actually have a plot, and they’ll call the police.
(┛◉Д◉)┛彡┻━┻
we gotta Gordon Ramsay this shit and shut it down!
*~*~*~*~*
Previously on Degrassi:
His facial features softening ever so slightly. “I suppose that if you wanted me,” He hummed, contemplative, before completing his thought, “I would indulge you.” His lips lowered to yours, softly kissing you.
*~*~*~*~*
You felt your heart hammering in your chest, probably audible to Kars’ heightened senses, the sound of your pounding heart exciting him, frightened for yourself and wondering what you’d just gotten into. Was Kars really under the impression that you actually desired him in some sick fashion? Had his egocentrism clouded his mind to such a degree or was this just a ruse? Kars, from what you’d witnessed, enjoyed performing. He loved to put on some sort of display, be it sending you a cocky grin whilst he stripped out of his armor or grabbing your hand and forcing it against his body in a show of power over you, but occasionally you saw something: not quite a slip-up, nothing you'd describe as a crack in the armor, but certainly a break in the relentless teasing, mockery, and performing. You were seeing it now. He broke the kiss, pulling back slightly to look at you, one hand coming up to curl into your hair making your stomach flip, the way he looked at you was frightening in how real it seemed, a raw emotion. Men like him didn’t act like this; shouldn’t act like this.
Thankfully, a shrill cry echoing through the halls broke the moment, his red eyes cut over to the door, Kars’ lip curling up in an aggressive snarl at the intrusion. He let out a hiss of annoyance, fangs on display, causing you to try and sink further into the mattress, frightened by his feral reaction; moments like these stuck in your mind, cementing more so that he was very much inhuman. He lifted himself from your body, his stride made it evident that he was highly displeased by the interruption as he stepped out of the room, making sure to close the door behind him, physically and figuratively locking you away once more.
You swallowed thickly, quickly pulling your underwear back up, trying to ignore how disgusting you felt, wanting nothing more than to run and scrub your entire body raw right then and there. You didn’t dare, not with Kars so close by. You sat up, shrugging your split tunic off and tossing it aside, another casualty of Kars’ lustful aggression, as you wrapped the silken sheet around yourself. You sat at the edge of the bed, flinching when you heard a crash from somewhere deep within the pseudo-citadel you called “home” now. You had no idea how long you’d sat there, eventually you lied down on your side, tears falling unbidden. You silently sobbed, breath hitching as you tried to keep yourself quiet, as if frightened of alerting whatever may be lurking out in the halls, eventually succumbing to your own mental and physical exhaustion.
*~*~*~*~*
Kars bestowed upon you another tunic, but only after a few days, leaving you in nothing but undergarments in that time. You spent most of that time wrapped in or under the blankets, not willing to parade yourself in little to nothing as he liked to do. You found that the garments provided now were more tailored, accentuating certain features of yourself, fitting too well. It was repulsive, as it meant that Kars knew your body well enough to know what would look good on it. You longed for the days of servitude, where you were provided just simple underwear, rarely matching or of a proper size, usually having to trade amongst your fellow humans to find a suitable fit, and a rough formless tunic. Instead now you were playing dress-up for Kars’ sick amusement giving way to whatever sick fantasies the man had. You still had no idea if his games were purely a display of power, or if he actually harbored sexual feelings towards you, or even both. You were stuck. You knew that you would be ostracized and stigmatized should you ever be allowed back with your own kind, should they somehow find out about your escapades.
Working on autopilot almost, most of your days you were stuck in idle until Kars called upon you. Doing simple tasks during the time you were awake, which even the simplest task drained you mentally and physically, before collapsing into the bed, recovering just enough energy to make it through the following day. Kars had begun to make more regular trips to the library, each time you essentially sat bored, coping via your own mental escapism, occasionally being ordered to replace a book once Kars had finished. There seemed to be no consistency with the books: various languages, various ages, various thicknesses. Each time there was a fire lit in the room, which you were thankful for, occasionally tending to it, if not out of boredom.
Normally, you’d sit by the fire or sit on the very edge of the chaise lounge, teetering on the limited space as you tried to keep from physically touching him, but not today. Kars had drug you down and positioned you in front of him, taking up the remaining sliver of empty space on the regal piece of furniture. You lay on your side, Kars’ body situated up against your own, your elbows tucked into yourself defensively, one hand tucked under your chin while the other splayed out against the velvet cushion, as if bracing yourself from rolling off onto the cold floors. Your head rested on the muscular arm that held the book out before him, while his other hand drew invisible patterns over your upper thigh, “walking” his fingers up your hip before making it’s way back down again, repeating the process. He was constantly touching you, as if the idea of his hands not being on you caused him pain, or maybe he just did it to spite you. Curious, you peeked up, lifting your chin a bit as you noticed that you could actually read the words on the page, the book being in a language you were familiar with.
“You can read, can you not?” Your lip twitched in annoyance at his arrogant question, the idea that he would think so lowly of you as to question your ability to simply read. “I can.” You said, tone more clipped than you’d intended causing Kars’ hand to stop. You tensed up at what you assumed was a silent warning for you to be more conscience of your tone. You could practically feel him smile behind you, lips ghosting against the back of your neck causing a wave of goosebumps to rise over your arms. His freehand trailed up, following the natural dip in your waist before removing itself from you, pointing at a paragraph in the book. “If you would.” His tone was mocking, as always. You followed his hand, looking at the page before your eyes began scanning the text, “Out loud.” He commanded, you didn’t have to be looking at him to know that his eyes were narrowed in annoyance, feeling them on the back of your head. You drew in a shaky breath before reading quietly, stuttering a bit. If Kars wasn’t reading, he was free to focus on you, which given his history, was never a good thing. You read, but couldn’t seem to really mentally retain what you’d read, just mechanically saying the words on the page. Some sort of historical account from a Roman nobleman belonging to the Imperial Court. It was rather ironic that Kars was reading about history, as the man had lived through the very era and beyond.
*~*~*~*~*
Kars closed his eyes, listening to your voice, taking note of how you paused for a moment as his unoccupied hand came to rest on your hip once more, swallowing hard before you continued reading. This was the most he’d heard you speak in his presence, normally keeping yourself limited to simply answering him when spoken to. The only other time he’d heard you speak so openly was when you were with Wamuu’s stable hand, unaware of his presence. As you read your voice became more stable, evening out from the unsure wavering tone you’d began with, your fearing this was some sort of test or some other cruel game. With how almost-normal your tone was, he could almost pretend that you were content in his presence. His jaw clenched at the very thought, caught in a crossroads; having been for a while.
He was disgusted by you. Your entire being, your entire race, was not but a primitive subspecies compared to his own. Humans were a waste, weak and useless, attributing hardly anything aside from eradicating themselves with constant warring and outbreaks of disease over the span of his lifetime. The only humans deemed worthy of challenging him were the Hamon users, not that they were any real threat, but it was still amusing to humor them with a fight. Once he acquired the Red Stone of Aja, he would rid the world of the plight that was humanity, sparing only those who he deemed fit to serve him, food source-wise and soldier-wise. Yet, when thinking about you amongst a sea of humans, he was given pause. You embodied everything that he hated, and yet here he was, entertaining himself with you. The very things he hated seemed to lure him into you, your own humanity made you a more desirable prey. He loved it. The power he had to sway you into whatever he desired by just a simple look or phrase, how your skin yielded under his touch, how you were solely dependent on him and him alone; truly intoxicating.
His kind over the centuries had been worshiped by humans at times, seeing the Pillar Men tribe as a higher power, and rightfully so in his opinion. The humans would bring them offerings: food, trinkets they deemed of value, themselves, their loved ones, even their children; anything to please the Pillar Men. Some of the more distasteful of his kind would indulge the humans, enjoying themselves with their offerings, creating a rift amongst them. Kars saw the humans, and the Pillar Men who would involve themselves with them, as an abomination; an insult to his kind. Kars was the one who created the masks, unlocking powers that had been dormant in himself, separating himself to be an even higher being amongst them, eventually leading the way to the genocide of his kind. Unlocking those powers caused an even bigger gap between him and the humans. Yet, after thousands of years of opposing fraternizing with humans, here he was, your body pressed against his as his hand lazily traced circles over your thigh as you read.
Though mainly seen as an aloof, power-driven leader, he wasn’t as compassionless as many assumed. He did and could show mercy to those he deemed worthy to. Esidisi, showing his unfaltering loyalty to Kars, was spared in the genocide of his people, along with Wamuu and Santana, both just infants at the time. He raised both to be faithful soldiers, and while Santana was proven to be unfit for his court, Wamuu made up for it. Instilled in him was a sense of pride and honor that Kars found to be admirable, if not overzealous. He was aware that Esidisi and Wamuu saw you as a distraction, questioning what your purpose was in Kars’ eyes, but he saw it as none of their affair. He was their superior, he was Lord Kars, he would soon be the Ultimate Life form. He wouldn’t tolerate anyone questioning him, not even his closest consorts, he needn’t explain himself.
Kars opened his eyes, eyes tracing your form boredly as he inhaled, the unique scent of you and him combined filling his senses. Instinctually, the pheromones were comforting, the scent of two “mates” combined. He felt you tense up, stopping mid-sentence as your back arched away from him, feeling his nose in your hair. “Continue.” He purred, sensing your heart beat faster, unaware of the ring fused around your aorta, another way of cementing you as his property.
*~*~*~*~*
You flinched away from the tingles that his voice caused, wishing that your body didn’t respond so perfectly to his advances. You continued reading until he abruptly closed the book, apparently done with it. You blinked, trying to remember what all you’d just read about, as well as trying to decipher what it was Kars was trying to learn by reading something so mundane. He didn’t move save his hand skirting along your upper thigh, quiet, likely deep in thought. You’d found that when he wasn’t posturing, he would occasionally slip into a deep brooding mood, something weighing heavy upon him, especially as of recent, those moments becoming more frequent. He was looking for something, that much you knew, but you didn’t know what exactly it was, nor it’s purpose; you could happen a guess that it had to do with his ultimate goal though. You closed your eyes, lethargy having settled in to your body and mind, shifting your body closer to Kars’ without thinking. That seemed to draw him out of his stupor, chuckling as he placed a mocking kiss against your temple, causing you to try and draw more into yourself, trying to hide from him in the limited space you had available on the ledge of the cushion.
“Come,” He removed his hand, which you took as a signal to get up, “I’ve matters to attend to.” He rose from the chaise lounge, leading you back through the hall you’d become familiar with over the last few days, the boarded up windows offering you not even a hint of the outside world, save the occasional wind noise. Today was different though. There wasn’t the wind constantly threatening to splinter the wood. There were songbirds. It caused you to pause in the hall, hearing them off in the distance, unaware of your caged existence. Kars stopped as well, likely more so out of annoyance of your disobedience than the simple callings of birds.
A sly grin took over his features as he moved towards you, “So pretty, is it not?” your eyes shifted over to him for a fraction of a second before they returned to the wooden planks. Feeling as though you were in a daze, you stood rooted to the spot, your mind trying to picture what it may look like out there. Kars saw your reaction, not hesitating to seize an opportunity, standing in front of you, your view now solely on him as he bent slightly at the waist, studying you for a brief moment, his index finger tracing your jawline before speaking, “I have half a mind to let you go.” Your eyes widened, lips parting slightly at his words, as you listened to the world outside; the world you rightfully belonged to. Your mind was instantly clouded over with some semblance of hope, too hyper focused on those words to embrace reality of your situation. Your eyes shifted to the side submissively, focusing on another board just some feet down the hall. “Let you run free, see how far you can get before I catch you.” You knew it wasn’t a question of if he could catch you anymore, simply how long he could hold his own patience. “I quite enjoyed feeling the sun on your skin.” There it was, that feral desire, his hand grabbing your chin, your attention back on the large plum color haired man before you, “The warmth, the radiance.” You winced, his grip tightening as he seemingly became lost in his own emotions as he looked at you, reminding you much of how a Hunter would look down upon a wounded animal they were about to deliver one final blow to.
He felt that crossroads arise once more, torn between his own disgust and desire. He wanted to feel your flesh tear under his nails, watch you crumple to the floor, taste your blood on his blade. If you were anyone else, he would have easily killed you without batting an eye. And yet, he also wanted to caress that same flesh, feel the soft velvet of your skin under his fingertips, watch you come undone with pleasure from his touch and his alone; you belonged to him. He slid his hand from your jaw, down to your collarbone, anchoring it there as he stepped around you, his other muscular arm encircling your waist as his body enveloped your much smaller one. You stood there, reluctantly obedient.
His breath ghosted over your neck, the hairs on the back raising in response, “Slicing your neck would be as easy as plucking a flower from the ground.” He said, a flash of light blinding you for a second as he held his blade to your neck, a pitiful whimper escaping you as you pressed your body against his more, trying to put distance between you and the glimmering edge. You squeezed your eyes shut, waiting for the stinging pain of his blade meeting your skin, body tense against his. It never came though.
You cautiously cracked an eye open, watching as the blade retracted, melding back into his flesh, relieved. He said nothing, stepping away from you to turn towards the dark hall, red eyes looking into the dark, alert. You didn’t dare move, trying to peer through the darkness to see whatever he may see, the sound of birds now being the only noise between the two of you. “Kars,” The low guttural voice from the dark gave the speaker’s identity away, along with the lack of an honorific title, “Wamuu is waiting.” You tried to make yourself as invisible as you could, Esidisi’s frightening form entered into the torch’s light, the stitches on his body looking more grotesque as they caught the shadows. Kars nodded, “I assume you were successful?” Kars asked, his posture lax as he placed his hands on his hips. A smirk was prominent on the second-in-command’s lips, “Of course,” He said with a flourish of his wrist, “Nobody can put out Esidisi of the Flame.” Kars snorted good naturedly, not impressed by his companion's flamboyancies, despite being equally as proud of himself if not much more so. You weren’t sure what Esidisi was successful in doing, but it probably was nothing good.
A while later, you found yourself once again in charge of pouring wine during one of their meetings, not a job you enjoyed doing, especially since last time Esidisi had grabbed you. Esidisi of the flame, Wamuu of the wind. Such odd abilities these men had, the power to manipulate their bodies as well as elements. Kars’ was possibly the strangest: light. It was ironic, really, a being who was forbidden from the sun was blessed with the powers of light. The very blades that manifested from his own body were akin to the very thing he sought to overcome the most; the sun. You hadn’t seen them fight, thankfully, you couldn’t imagine how terrifying it must be to see them at their full power, let alone face them in combat. They were discussing going somewhere, your blood running cold as you thought about being left alone once more, your mental wellbeing being in a fragile state as of late. You lifted your head, watching them through your lashes, trying to be subtle about your sudden interest. Esidisi’s light colored eyes cut over to you, probably feeling that they’d caught your attention, signaling you over with a tap of his finger against the rim of his bejeweled chalice. You swallowed, remembering how his hands held your chin the last time, the heat of his fingertips much greater than Kars’. You tried to keep your breathing shallow, attempting to soothe the hammering against your ribcage, to no avail.
Your hands shook, arms stretched as far as they could in attempts to keep your body away from the Pillar Man to the best of your ability. You knew they found it amusing, your fear, probably able to sense it, just as an animal does. You couldn’t speak for the other two, but you knew Kars enjoyed it, sickly basking in it, knowing that you hadn’t the ability to say no. His right hand man, Esidisi, seemed to be of a similar fashion, enjoying mind games and causing you distress; you were thankful Kars was a selfish leader and didn’t seem to keen on sharing you with anyone. Thankfully, he kept his arms crossed over his broad chest the entire time you were near; you wondered if Kars’ prior reaction to his subordinate touching his property played a part in it or not. “Thank you, my lovely.” A chill ran down your spine at his low voice calling you such, Kars’ red eyes narrowing at the term of endearment. He chuckled, amused with how much he’d riled up both you and Kars in such a simple way, Without another word, you stiffly returned to your self-designated spot by the fire, head lowered once more, mentally berating yourself for drawing too much attention. Their conversation resumed, still discussing traveling, but outside of that you weren’t sure what they were talking about; the word ‘Hamon user’ meant nothing to you, but Kars’ lip curled in annoyance at the term.
“What about the human?” Wamuu abruptly asked, his tone cold as always when it came to you. You kept your head low, not wanting to meet all of their eyes, swallowing thickly. Sick as it was, you hoped that Kars would elect to stay behind, not leave you in the care of the other two, or worse. You remembered how you had mentally spiraled down when left by yourself, unsure if you’d be able to bear going through such high emotional turmoil once more. You heard Kars hum in contemplation, first against his chin as you felt his eyes look you up and down.
“Perhaps we’ll take her along, let her see the human world once again.” Esidisi mused, Kars’ eyes cut over to his companion, not enthralled with the idea, even though he himself had joked about the same thing not long before; let you run free just so he could greedily feel the sun he so desired to feel for himself. “Would that be wise, Master Esidisi?” Wamuu asked, clearly not wanting you involved in their affairs. The white haired Pillar Man snorted through his nose, cold blue eyes cut away from you, bored, “Nobody’s looking for her anyway.”
You felt your eyes widen, knees nearly buckling as your heart seized up for a moment. In just one sentence you felt your world collapse, the last shreds of own mental stability slipping; the sentence being stated so nonchalantly felt like salt in an open wound. It was like a rubber band, wound too tight, finally giving way, snapping. All the daydreams you’d secretly harbored about finally someone coming for you, Callum having somehow lived and raising some sort of awareness of your captivity, or even you managing to escape on your own accord, vanished. It had been weeks surely, since you’d originally been taken. The mantra you’d been mentally telling yourself as you drug yourself from the bed, ‘just hold out a little longer, things will get better, surely’, faded. Nobody was looking for you. Nobody was coming. You had no where to go.
You swallowed hard, your tongue pressing against the backside of your teeth as your hands clenched tighter around the glass decanter, your thoughts spiraling into a swirl of both unrelenting sadness and, oddly enough, anger. How could nobody look for you? How could they just forget you? Cruelly, your mind began to dredge up long forgotten memories, moments you’d been forgotten, moments where you were left out, looked over. You looked at the floor, tears blurring your vision making the dancing shadows of the fire look like a moving watercolor painting along the stone floor.
You heard nothing more from their meeting, the white noise from the crackling fire as well as your own heart in your ears blocked all but your own thoughts. You blinked several times, trying to rid yourself of the tears that clung to the corners of your eyes. You swallowed thickly once more, thinking back to more recent times. Not but some hours ago, you longed for the days you’d spent with your own kind, and now, you realized that you’d been wrong. The humans that you once thought you had some sort of comradery with, were the ones who had turned their back on you once you finally spoke up; all but one. You had no place among them. You had no place anywhere.
Heart aching, you followed Kars back to his chambers, both mind and body exhausted and broken. You knew he could likely sense that you were upset, likely going to try and take advantage of the situation, but right now, you couldn’t care less. You moved towards the bed, but was intercepted by your captor, stepping into your path and looking down at you with a smug grin on his face.
“Does the thought of me leaving frighten you?” He cooed. You wanted to scream yes, wrong as it was, beg him to stay, plead for him to not leave you alone; not now, you couldn’t bare to be alone right now. You knew that his words were intended to be mocking, not actually intending on you actually fearful about him leaving. You looked up, his eyes the color of a sunrise he’d never known, your own eyes flitting back and forth between the space behind him and his features, unable to settle on either one. You felt your emotions break, acting almost out of instinct as opposed to any form of logic. You reached out, arms coming to wrap around this broad form, as you stepped closer closing the gap between your bodies. You closed your eyes, cheek against his bare chest, as for once, you couldn’t care less about the consequence as tears welled up in your eyes, threatening to pour out should you open them.
Kars stiffened for a fraction of a moment, your arms around him on your own accord; no pressure or coaxing on his half. For that one simple moment Kars wasn’t the strong leader of an ancient race, he wasn’t the would-be ultimate life form, he was simply surprised. He blinked, raising his chin to look down his nose at your form, taking in the sight before he wrapped his own arms around you, snapping out of his own uncharacteristic moment of shock, a wicked grin spread over his face as he lowered his cheek to rest atop your head.
“Poor little (Y/n).” You felt him hum, the vibrations coming from deep in his chest, your arms clinging tighter, as if frightened he would attempt to push you away. “Like a butterfly in a spider's web.” He mused, his hand curling a section of your hair around his fingers. You didn’t care. His words had no meaning right now. The only thing your mind could focus on was that here, you were wanted. Though cruel, he kept you here, he kept you close, he kept you safe.
It’s hard and weird to try and get into Kars’ headspace, to try and get across that he’s like, “Kill all humans… except that one. That one’s mine” while still being in character. I know there's some really abrupt mood shifts here, but homegirl has been essentially kidnapped and psychologically fucked with for weeks, she ain't in a proper mind state atm. (Essentially Stockholm Syndrome, but that term wasn't used until the 1970's)
I wrote this while having my own fucking mental breakdown so there’s definitely some real feelings up in this bish.
Esidisi called Lisa Lisa “my lovely” in they eyes of heaven game (albeit mockingly ofc but still) and idk why but I thought it was oddly cute??
