Chapter 5: Chapter 5 – Cruelty Lies in False Hope

"Please, Master!" Gardenia dropped to her knees and bowed low until her forehead touched the grimy floor.  "Please!"

"Kekekeke." Cristo snickered.  "She's begging!  She's begging!" He clapped loudly.

"Kekekeke," Opher joined in and clapped alongside his twin brother. 

"How disgusting," Faust said with a hiss.

Gardenia closed her eyes, trying to block out the scorn, mockery, and disgust from her 'family.'

"You dare?" The sultry voice of her master commanded the room to shut up.

Her body trembled as the chair screeched across the floor.  Each click of her master's shoes tapping against the floor strangled her lungs.

Without warning, she felt a sharp prick against her scalp.

"Kya!" She yelped.

Her master grabbed her hair close to her scalp and pulled her body up.  Each strand of her hair gave away from her master's cruel hands.

Slowly, she opened her eyes.  Her breath stuttered to a halt.

Her master's blood-red eyes dilatated as they focused on her.  His long silver hair was brushed to perfection, and not a single strand of hair was out of place despite the rage thundering in his eyes.  His sharp canines revealed themselves as his lips pulled back into a sneer.

"M-Mast-"

SLAP!

Her sight blurred, then slowly refocused on her family lounging in their chair.  Some watched with boredom, while others immensely enjoyed the scene.  Her neck hurt from the sudden forceful twist.

Gardenia held back the hot well of tears from bubbling over.

Slowly, she faced the man who beat her as easily as he breathed.

This man was her jailor, her nightmare, and her 'husband.'

Through the pain and the fear, she pleaded once more.  "Please master, spare them."

Despite being mated, he forbade her from calling him anything but 'master.'

"My useless, stupid queen." He flung her body across the floor.  Her head smacked against the hard floor.

Bright spots danced across her vision.

"I ask so little of you, and yet," her master paused, staring down at her with such cold, impassive eyes.  The hatred felt warmer than indifference.  "You cannot follow a simple order."

Gardenia's arms shook as she slowly sat up from the floor.  Hot tears overflowed and dripped down from her bruised and swollen eyes.

"My king," a voice wrapped in sin spoke out.

Lady Gwenyth approached her master and leaned her head against his shoulder.  Her hair was styled in a neat coif, and her body was adorned with rubies that matched her eyes and the colour of her hair.

Gardenia was envious of how Lady Gwenyth could ease her master's ire with a single touch.

"Do not waste any more of your energy on her.  You are just and fair." Lady Gwenyth crooned.  She sneered at Gardenia.  "Let us feast and forget this fool."

Gardenia's eyes widened.  She looked back at the villagers locked up in the small cage like animals.

Her chest ached, and the pressure behind her eyes rose.  'No, no, no!'

The villagers huddled together; their bodies trembled before them.

'It's my fault.  It's my fault!'

If she had never left her room, none of this would have had to happen.

Gritting her teeth, she couldn't give up.  The pain was familiar to her.  The mockery was the only form of communication she received from her clan.  So... this was nothing.  Her chest constricted in pain.  'This is nothing.' She repeated to herself.

"Master!" Gardenia limped two steps toward him.  "I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to leave my room.  I didn't mean to disobey you." She dropped to her knees and hands.

Lady Gwenyth grimaced.  "Have you no shame?"

Shame?  Gardenia scrunched her nose.  She would pay the cost with her pride to save the humans in a heartbeat.

The humans did nothing wrong.

Everyone was kind to her despite her being a stranger to their village.

For the first time in a long time, she felt a spark of emotion unlike fear and dread.

"They mean no disrespect, master.  They will not endanger us-"

"Endanger?" Her master scoffed.  "You truly think we rounded these animals because we're scared of them?"

His tone was neutral, but she knew what was to come.

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Her body tensed, waiting for another strike.

"You shame me." He grabbed her throat and squeezed.  "You shame me with your 'fascination' of these filthy creatures."

Gardenia gagged, and she tried to pry herself out of his unrelenting grip with weak hands.

"If I could kill you, I would.  You have been nothing but a waste of space and time." He squeezed tighter.

Before he could completely crush his throat, he let go.

Her feet stumbled a few steps back before her knees gave out.  She coughed until her saliva mixed with blood dribbled out.

"Regardless of your dalliance with these creatures, I have already planned to kill them." Her master brought out the handkerchief and wiped his hand before tucking the satin cloth inside his three-piece black suit.

He crouched low until he was at eye level with her.  "Your naiveté is starting to get on my nerve, girl.  Shall I show you?  The true colours of these creatures you are so engrossed with?"

Gardenia furrowed her brows.

Her master smirked before standing tall.  He grabbed the back of her hair and dragged her across the room.

"Ugh!" Her hands scrambled, trying to hold her hair at the base to prevent her master from ripping more of her hair.

He finally stopped and threw her in front of the imprisoned humans.

"I will free one of you." Her master's voice commanded the human's full attention.  He unsheathed his sword that hung from his waist.  "If one of you volunteered to stab her, I will free you."

Hushed murmurs rippled through the group of humans.

"Well?" Her master asked.  "Are you hesitating because you're loyal to her?  Did spending half a year with her create some sort of bond with her?" He mocked while cocking a brow at the villagers.

One of the burly men, Shawn, stepped forward from the crowd.  He glanced at Gardenia.

Shawn owned a small farm.  He always brought fresh milk to the villagers.  Sometimes he would nick a bottle and share it with her.

Shawn was righteous, strong, and generous.

Gardenia lowered her gaze.

"My lord." Shawn wrung his fingers together.  "Please, may you spare more than one?"

Gardenia also knew that he hated vampires with every fibre of his being.  It was her fault for lying in the first place.  Despite her status, she was not disillusioned by the fact that if the villagers knew what she was, she would never receive their warm smiles and generous hearts.

She lied to them.  All of them.

She lied for her benefit.

"Then, for every stab, I shall free one of you," her master said with a smile.

Just like her, her master was also a liar.

Gardenia looked up and saw the light return to the villagers' eyes.  It was hope mixed with hatred.  She dropped her gaze again, unable to shatter their belief.

Her master did not need to prove to her how fickle human beings could be.  She knew that times had changed.  She watched the animosity between the two races grow to the point of no return.

She bit the inside of her cheeks.

If she wasn't so greedy, perhaps she could've pretended that she was okay when her clan destroyed the village.

If she didn't dare to hope, maybe, the chronic ache that ailed her heart would grow to be numb.

If she stopped chasing a long-lost memory, she could finally muster enough courage to act.

But she still chose the path of being a selfish coward in the world of infinite possibilities.

Her master unlocked the cage, and Shawn's leather boots and the tip of her master's sword greeted her.

Her eyes trailed up the sword, the hilt clenched tightly in Shawn's hand, the shackle that bound his wrist, and finally, his eyes.

Her vision grew hazy.

She knew the pain of broken hope was incomparable to the beatings, the mockery, and the indifference.

The hope that shone in his eyes were a beacon of light. A dream within a dream that he and the villagers would escape if they stabbed her. 

She closed her eyes.

She couldn't bear to tell Shawn the truth. She couldn't tell Shawn that her master was lying. 

She stayed silent. Just like always, she stood by the sideline when humans suffered at the hands of her master. 

Just like her Master, perhaps, she, too, was cruel.

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