Chapter 23: Trauma quest II
Baam!
A sudden knock echoed through the house.
In that moment, Ash wasn’t the only one whose head snapped toward the door.
Everyone did, including little Aisha. A tense silence fell over the room as an unsettling feeling settled in. No one spoke; they just stared at the door.
’I can sense it, too,’ Ash thought, ’the killing intent behind that door. I’m certain those aren’t friendly neighbors coming to check on their favorite person. If they can sense it too, then—’
"Wait here. I’ll go check."
To Ash’s surprise, the father stood up from where he was seated and headed straight for the door without another word. It was clear they were nervous. The mother, especially, pulled her daughter into a tight embrace.
As the father approached the door, he took a deep breath, his sweaty, shaky hands gripping the iron handle.
Then, slowly, he opened it halfway, just enough space for him to peek and see who was out there.
His body froze for a moment, fingers gripping the edge of the door tighter as he lowered his head.
"We have come for the girl," a cold, masculine voice echoed from the other side.
Standing there, Ash could piece together a brief hypothesis of what was happening.
This was a dream, a memory. There was no way he could change the course of events. It was going to happen, and he would be forced to witness it.
"You told me I had more time. Please, give me a bit more time," begged the father, his voice shaky and barely audible.
"H-honey, who is there?" the mother asked from behind him before she instinctively shoved Aisha behind her back, acting as a human shield for her daughter.
’I see. Elves have a way of sensing danger,’ Ash mused, simply observing as the scene unfolded. ’Explains why Aisha was always so quick to spot monsters for me during raids.’
To soothe his wife, Aisha’s father turned to face her, his body blocking the entrance.
The smile on his face was plainly fake, but he still managed to get out a few convincing words.
"It’s just the tax collectors coming for their money. It’s nothing to worry about. Take Aisha into the room, please."
There wasn’t much the mother could argue about, not when she could see her husband was desperately trying to keep his cool.
"R-right, I’ll do so and come help you right away—"
What happened next left her shocked and in utter despair.
Crack!
A man’s giant fist, holding a knife, smashed through the wooden door and aimed directly at the father’s throat. It was too fast for anyone to react.
In the next instant, the man’s head was rolling on the ground, blood spewing from his headless body.
"Ahhh!" the mother screamed, shaking in fear and calling out to her dead husband, all while making sure her daughter was safe and didn’t see what had happened.
Unfortunately, it was already too late.
Before the menacing men even walked into the building, Aisha had seen her father get decapitated. Her eyes went blank, her small chest heaving with terror at the sight.
She couldn’t cry, nor could she scream. But the pain in her chest continued to grow as the reality of the situation began to settle in.
’So this is how it starts.’ Ash had his back resting on the wall, arms folded.
The men stormed inside, all wearing black cloaks that covered their bodies from head to toe. At the front of the group was a bald-headed human who refused to cover his face. He wore the biggest grin in the entire world.
He held the knife he had used to slit the elf’s throat in one hand and placed his foot on the dead body as a means to assert some kind of dominance.
"Damn, elves are beautiful, no matter how disgusting they are. So, you must be this unfortunate man’s wife. I sorta feel bad for you, ma’am. Your husband really is a shitty man." The bald man laughed, cleaning his knife with a white rag.
"Who are you? W-what do you want with us?"
As Ash watched, he couldn’t help but be impressed by the mother’s quick thinking.
Not only was she speaking to the intruders as calmly as she could, but she was also communicating with her daughter through hand signs, urging her to run into the room.
Alas, it was all for nothing. Aisha was simply out of it. The shock of watching her father die was still glued to her memories.
Finally, the man spoke, bending in front of the woman and grabbing her by the chin.
"The name is Hapia, and your man over here borrowed money from me and refused to pay back. Quite sad, to be honest. But what’s a man to do? He had to feed his family, even if it meant borrowing from humans."
Hapia grinned at his next words. "Demi-humans like you guys make life interesting for me. So weak, yet too strong to survive. It never made sense to me. In any case, the deal was if he refused to pay up, I get dibs on his sweet daughter over there."
The mother jerked her head away, moving further back to protect her child.
"Elves are rare and very hard to come by. I knew it was only a matter of time before this idiot ran himself into a corner, and what do you know? He did just that."
"..."
"..."
"Aisha, run!!!" The mother turned and shoved her daughter away. Then she spun around immediately, ready to cast a spell, but she wasn’t fast enough.
Hapia grabbed her by the hair and slammed her head into the ground with brutal force.
"You bastard!" the mother screamed, her voice hoarse with pain.
Hapia pulled her up by her hair again, only to smash her head against the wooden floor repeatedly.
Blood bloomed around her head like a dark flower, soaking into the worn planks.
Startled by her mother’s pained cries, Aisha finally snapped out of her daze.
She scrambled to her feet, tears streaming down her face as she saw the gruesome scene.
"Mama!" she wailed, running towards her, only to be roughly shoved aside by one of Hapia’s men.
The man, a hulking figure with a cruel smirk, grabbed Aisha by her arm. "Looks like the little one wants to join the fun," he chuckled, tightening his grip.
Aisha struggled, kicking and screaming, but her small body was no match for his strength.
He lifted her, ignoring her frantic cries, and threw her across the room.
She landed with a sickening thud, her head hitting the wall. A sharp pain lanced through her skull, and her vision blurred.
She tasted blood in her mouth where her lip had split. Fear, raw and visceral, consumed her.
Her mother’s lifeless eyes were now fixed on the ceiling, a silent testament to the horror unfolding.
"She’s a feisty one, isn’t she, boss?" another man sneered, drawing closer to Aisha, a whip in his hand.
The crack of the leather against the floor sent shivers down her spine. Her cries turned into whimpers, her body trembling uncontrollably.
Hapia, satisfied with the mother’s unconscious form, turned his attention to Aisha. "Don’t break her too much," he said, a predatory glint in his eyes.
"We need her alive. A little fear, though, can be quite motivating." He winked at the man with the whip.
The first lash cut through the air before landing sharply on Aisha’s arm.
She screamed, a sound ripped from the depths of her soul as a searing pain erupted.
The man laughed, enjoying her torment, and brought the whip down again and again.
Each strike left a burning trail, a testament to her helplessness. Aisha curled into a ball, trying to shield herself, but there was no escape.
The world dissolved into a blur of pain, fear, and the chilling sound of laughter.
...
[A/N]
Please read the next Chapter with care, warning.