Word Count: 1964

~Kiva

I roll my head back, groaning.

Consciousness has struck me harshly and quickly, dragging me back up to reality. My vision spins, something on the back of my head aching sharply.

It slowly dawns on me that I was hit viciously on the back of the head.

My vision eventually starts to steady, the messy splotches of colour finally piecing together to reveal my father.

"Kiva," he says in a calm, steady voice.

I blink. I'm in the room where I saved Erin, tied down to the bed. When I lift my hands, they are weighted down by thick iron chains.

"Why am I tied down," I ask breathily, trying not to let panic overwhelm me.

"Did you follow me, sweetheart?" father asks, taking a tentative step toward me. Behind him are two guards who stare me down menacingly. "Did Ark have you follow me?"

I let out a long breath, trying to process what is happening.

My father now knows that I've learnt about what is going on here. I'm tied down in a place where girls before me have been tortured and murdered, and Erin is nowhere to be seen.

"It doesn't matter how I got here. Please untie me so we can talk," I beg softly, pressing my nausea down as I imagine the blood stains beneath the sheets.

"Once we are done speaking, I'll untie you," he assures me.

I clear my throat, needing to go into defensive mode. "I just didn't want to be left behind. I wanted to spend the weekend with you."

"You untied one of my girls."

I shudder. "One of your girls?"

He sighs, glancing behind him at one of the guards.

I raise my hand, gently touching the back of my head. I gasp at the bite of pain that follows, and when I pull my fingers back, they are smothered in blood. I almost gag.

Father turns back to me. "Do you know what this is?"

I swallow my pride. I need to get out of here, and fast. I look down and I see rivets of blood trailing down my chest from my neck, dipping between my breasts.

"Honestly? No."

"Who is Ark to you?"

"My kidnapper," my voice is trembling, which isn't acting on my part. I'm losing blood quickly, causing the edges of my vision to be plagued with a hazy vignette of darkness.

"Is he your friend? Do you work with him?" he insists, his patience starting to wane.

"No, I don't work with him," I snap, pressing my legs up to my chest. "I told you his name...I...I came back to you."

Once upon a time I would never have guessed my father could be capable of harming me. It didn't seem plausible, and yet now, there is a monster buried beneath his skin that I have yet to witness.

He may just kill me for what I know.

"I have been conducting this business for a long time, Kiva. I kept it from you, because I wanted you to enjoy your youth before having to face how royals like us make money," he explains tentatively.

So he was always planning on telling me.

"Did mother know?"

My throat constricts at the thought, a choked sob forcing through. The thought of the woman I loved so much being as evil as my father would be too much to bear.

"No. She was too fragile, especially as she got sick. It was this business that paid for her treatment, even if it didn't work," he tells me, as if he expects me to rejoice.

My jaw hardens into a painful clench. "What else did it pay for?"

"Everything, Kiva," he whispers.

The overwhelming extent of what he's telling me is too much. Another sob breaks loose, although it doesn't stop, followed by a pained wail. I wrap my arms around my legs, crying so hysterically I can feel my tears melting into the blood.

Father reaches out to touch me but I press myself back, staring at him with horror.

I've lived my entire life ignorant to the horrors my father was involved in. My life has been so easy, so comfortable, all paid for with blood.

"Hey, don't cry. Once you see the brilliance of this, you will understand," he attempts to soothe. "You are to take over this business when I am done."

My crying pauses. He seriously thinks I want anything to do with this?

"And what exactly, father, is this business?" I question.

He wipes at his damp brow. "Girls volunteer to come here and...satisfy the clients wishes."

I almost choke on a horrified laugh. "Volunteer? They volunteer?"

"In a way, yes." He swallows thickly, starting to shake. He makes excuses for what he does, tries to rationalise it. It keeps him from spiralling, letting him truly believe he is doing something morally okay.

"The profit from this has been immense, and we are only getting more interest," he adds.

"I thought you loved me, father," I breathe.

His brows draw together. "Of course I love you."

"Then why hurt these girls? They are just like me," I press my hand to my chest, ignoring the warm blood that now drenches it.

He straightens, seeming to come to his senses. "No. You are a Princess. You are entirely different."

"If I'm so different, let me go," I snap.

"I will. I just need to know that you're not going to freak out if we let you go," he says calmly, motioning at the guards who stand by, only willing to release me upon my fathers command.

"I won't..."

"You'll stay here and listen? You'll try to see where I'm coming from?"

I pause. I'm here, attempting to have a civil conversation with this monster and I have no idea where Erin is. She could be getting slaughtered right now for daring to try to leave...

"Where is the girl? Erin?" I panic.

Father rubs the back of his neck. "She's been secured elsewhere for the meantime."

"Are you going to kill her?" I whisper, heat crawling over my skin as images flash in my mind of what they may have planned for her...this innocent, young girl who doesn't deserve to know such horror.

"She has already been sold. It's out of my hands now," he tells me, carefully monitoring my reaction.

"No, you have to save her," I insist. "She doesn't deserve to die."

Panic rears it's ugly head and this time I don't have the strength to resist it. I start blindly tugging at the chains, wishing they would uproot themselves from the concrete floor.

"You've always had a fragile heart, dear. When you take over, you're going to have to avoid seeing the girls, aren't you?"

He says it so calmly anger surges through me. How demented does he have to be to think this is okay?

"I will never take over your business, you deranged freak!" I scream, yanking until it hurts, until the iron bites into my skin. I feel trapped, suffocated.

"Kiva-"

I kick at him as he tries to approach me, bed sheets curling up around my feet. I'm suffocating in panic. No amount of air that I draw into my lungs is enough to sate me.

"No, get away from me!" I yell. "You are not my father, you are a monster!"

He backs away, horrified at my outburst. "You need more time to calm down, don't you."

He hussles his guards backward toward the door, pulling out a tissue to wipe the sweat gathering on his forehead.

"Get back here," I growl.

The door slams and he is gone.

I fall onto my side, hugging my knees, not caring that my head bleeds onto the sheets, joining the others.

I'm going to die here, but who cares? My life is a sham, a lie. My father is a monster and I am too. I lived off the blood money of innocent victims like Ark's sister. How could he ever love me?

My sobs are quiet, my throat aching the more I cry.

I can feel unconsciousness creeping up on me, luring me into its blissful darkness. I almost fall into its seductive arms, until the door opens again.

I sit up a little. I'm hallucinating.

Louis, or what must be some blood loss induced version of Louis approaching my bed. My old friend, who I haven't seen since Ark cast him out one night long ago and warned never to return...he's here.

"Louis," I breathe.

"Kiva?" He's at my side, helping me sit up. "What are you doing here?"

He really is here. I feel his warm hands touching my freezing skin, see his eyes roving over the blood, my face.

"My father locked me up," I tell him, my senses slowly returning. "What about you?"

"Why would he do that?" He runs his hands down my arms, to the chains that lock around my wrists.

"I found his business and he thinks...no he knows I'm going to expose it," I tell him steadily. I could be making a mistake confiding in him, because what on earth is he doing here?

"I can get you out of here." He reaches into his pocket, pulling out a small set of keys. He fumbles around, trying each one in the lock.

"Why are you here?" I whisper.

"It's a long story. And it's not a good one," he mutters, brows furrowing as he tries yet another incorrect key. "Your father is in the meeting room. I know an exit we can take."

"Do you have transport out of here?" I won't make it far if we have to run through the forest. I'm on the verge of collapsing already.

Finally the right key inserts into the lock, a satisfying click ringing through the room.

Breathing out a sigh of relief, I feel them fall away, the weight being lifted. Terrible gashes slice across my wrists from my panic attack, although I feel no pain now.

"No, but I live nearby now. I'll take you back to mine," he assures me.

There is so much I want to ask him, but one cold thought stops all the rest as he helps me to my feet, letting me use his body for leverage.

"Wait. Erin."

He stares at me. "Erin?"

"There's a girl in here who is about to fall victim to another one of my father's clients," I explain. I can't just let her stay here just so I can escape. If anything, I should be in her place and Louis should be saving her.

Louis lets out a long breath. "I know where they will be keeping her. Meet me outside. We can take the path to mine through the forest once I have her."

He quickly tells me about an open window in one of the back rooms before he hurries off.

Sure enough, he's right. I slide open the window and clamber out, swaying on my feet as the sun strikes me.

Stumbling my way around the building, I lurch into the forest, managing to press my body behind a large tree before one of father's guards stops me.

Come on Louis, now it's your turn.

A few excruciating minutes pass before I see Louis rushing around, Erin unconscious in her arms. My gaze roves over her as he approaches me. There's no blood, but she's out cold.

"She has been drugged," he tells me, his breath ragged from the struggle.

I look at him grimly. "Let's get out of here."

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I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! and as always it is available 10 chapters ahead on Radish!

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~Midika 💜🐼