THE HUNT

Five

    "Is this entertaining to you?" I hiss as the door slides open and Kylo Ren steps through. He looks at me with a carefully calculated expression before deciding to ignore me. He slides a tray of steaming food across the table, then watches me with his arms crossed.

    "Eat." His voice is tense, and I scoff.

    "Bad mood today?"

    Immediately he's in front of me, gloved hand rolled into a fist around the collar of my shirt. The shirt I decided to put on before forcing myself to go to sleep. I force a laugh, though terror streaks through my blood, curdling in my stomach.

    "Eat." He growls, forcing me towards the table and pushing me into the chair roughly.

    "I'm not hungry." I say, not looking up.

    "Eat." I feel a pressure piercing my head, and my hand lifts from my lap, picking up the utensil and sticking it into a slice of fruit. "You're paying a visit to your fellow resistance scum today."

Casius.

The traitor.

"No." I manage. "I won't go."

Ren grabs my chin, wrenching my neck and face towards him.

"I own you." His grip tightens. "You do as I say, and you will do it gratefully." He releases me, stepping back. "I could kill you instead."

"I wish you would." I counter.

"You have five minutes." He tells me, words clipped. "You will finish eating, and you will change your clothes." He crosses his arms as I begin to involuntarily shovel food into my mouth. "Then you will leave this room, where I will be waiting." The food is disappearing fast, and I'm beginning to feel sick. "We will go to your resistance friend, and you will kill him."

Horror tears me in half.

"No-" He lifts a finger, and my voice ceases.

No.

No. I won't.

Despite my mental protests and effort to resist him, I finish my food, and he leaves the room as I step over to the dresser.

At least he'll allow me to have a little bit of privacy.

The clothes I've 'chosen' for myself are black. The shirt is stretchy and tight, with long sleeves. The right shoulder has the First Order insignia embroidered. The pants are a bit baggy and made out of a canvas-like material, similar to something I would wear back home. There are large, square pockets on the outside of each of my thighs. I slip on a pair of heavy, leather boots that only rise as far as my ankles.

I run my fingers through my hair before stepping outside the door. Kylo Ren waits there as promised. He still has a hold on my conscience, and hate brews in my chest. He gestures for me to follow him as he leads me only a few doors down the hall. He reaches into his cloak, drawing a knife. He tucks it in my hand, eyes narrowed. He leans down, lips next to my ear as the doors slide open, and Casius leaps out of a chair, dropping a book.

"This is the beginning of your ruination." He says quietly. I try to stop my feet, but they carry me into the room.

"Hunter!" Casius sees the knife, backing up. "What are you doing?" I try to plead mentally with the Supreme Leader, but if he can hear me he doesn't let on. I grab his shoulder, angling the knife. "I only told them our names!" He begs, tears spilling onto his cheeks. I grew up with him, I've never known life without him, though we've never been friends. Even though he's a traitor, a silent cry builds in my throat as the knife cuts through his body, angled towards his heart.