Chapter Text
The large built man easily dodged the attack, before swiftly grabbing you by your nape and forcing you to your knees.
Despite your valiant effort, the man had little trouble with bending your arms and locking your hands in metal cuffs behind your back.
You panicked when you’d thought your hat had fallen off, but luckily you still felt it firmly in its place.
The crowd of goons suddenly parted like the sea, as a shorter man emerged from their midst.
He strode confidently, striking fear into the people beside him, who cowered like dogs in his presence.
He approached you slowly, with the sure air of a panther about him that knew he was the largest predator in a 30 mile radius.
You looked up defiantly, despite your kneeling position. Still panting from the exertion from the earlier fight.
The man eyed you like you were but vermin to be crushed under his boot.
He came to stand before you. Unwilling to give further into humiliation and crane your neck to meet his eyes you looked away, purposefully ignoring him.
A strong hand came to grip your jaw, the joint creaking with an ugly sound as he dug his fingers in, moving your head without your say.
His eyes caught for a moment on the sharp points of your canines.
His gaze was cold and calculating. Nothing but indifference in his one healthy eye.
“Seemed the trap we set has attracted a rat.” He enunciated the last word clearly. Speaking casually as if this was just another pesky task to complete. A problem to take care of.
Yes, admittedly, you’d fallen for an obvious trap. Stealing goods from Silco’s tradesmen, which were suspiciously unguarded, was stupid.
But you’d been desperate.
Business hadn’t been good in the weeks prior and you needed a hit to keep yourself afloat.
It just so happened that Silco had set a trap that wasn’t meant for you, yet you’d found out about it. Information leaked from the original source and somehow got to you.
But nobody was dumb or brazen enough to actually follow the clue. Not even the person that the trap had been for originally.
Or maybe they had seen you getting beat by Silco’s goons and quickly made their exit.
Either way. You were in deep shit.
At least I won’t have to worry about getting by this month.
You thought cynically.
Silco’s grip tightened as his nails left dents in the soft skin of your face.
“Speak, rat. What should I do with you?” He mocked.
You remained quiet, keeping the brave stare. Of course, you were scared, but you found that the feeling of having nothing to lose dampened the fear of imminent death.
“Maybe I should show you mercy. I’m sure someone with your minuscule amount of survival instinct will perish soon enough.”
It was clear that he also recognised how utterly idiotic your choice had been. Even if he didn’t know what had driven you to forego all reason.
You still didn’t dare to speak. Sure that anything you could say would be used against you.
He turned your head from side to side, inspecting you. His thumb prodding at the skin around your eyes. Probably looking for signs of drug use. All he would find was faded acne scars and the healing cut that you’d acquired across your brow and eye just days prior. As well as your strangely pale eyes.
He hummed thoughtfully.
“You don’t look ill. Not as much as any other cretin in this gods-forsaken place anyway.
Maybe I’ll keep you. A thief with nothing left to live for might be useful.”
You grimaced, shame brewing at the thought that your situation was so obvious to see. It caused juvenile spite to cloud your judgment.
“I’d rather die than work for you.” You spat. And in that moment you really meant it. You were dead tired.
There was a twinkle of surprise in Silco’s expression.
“Oh really? Well, I’d hate to give you what you want after you were so rude.”
He mused. His hand shoved your face away, before he turned to leave.
“Bring him back with you. Put him in my office. And cover his eyes.”
With that, he was gone, and a piece of fabric was roughly tied over your face to cover your sight, hair pulled into the knot without care.
Then you felt a sharp sting in the back of your arm, followed by heat underneath your skin, before the world went black.
You woke to the sounds of arguing. Loud voices going back and forth.
“You always instruct to knock out any targets we bring back. How should they’ve known that this one was special?” A deep, feminine voice spoke, clearly upset.
“Your men should ask before they pump potentially important captives full of sedatives! The dose was too high for his body weight, he could’ve gone into a coma.” You heard Silco growl past clenched teeth.
“Oh, come on. This was some fucking stray you picked up. And he’s fine! I checked his vitals after they brought him in.”
“ That is not the point and you know it. Your men disregarded my instructions and I do not tolerate such disrespect!” He sounded furious.
“Get it under control and school your lackeys unless you want me to sort out the ones who don’t listen.” His voice dipped into a threatening rumble.
The woman stayed quiet and but you could hear her scoff.
“Fine.” She was clearly unhappy to submit. But did so anyway. Probably because she knew that Silco would be much harsher in his methods of “reeducation”.
You continued to pretend to be asleep. Your head was throbbing with a dull ache and your eyes and mouth felt incredibly dry. Still, you felt alive enough to potentially escape should the moment present itself.
The door slammed and you nearly flinched, but quickly tensed your limbs as to not move.
Still it was no use.
“I know you’re awake.” Silco’s, less than amused voice shook you. A cold shiver running down your spine.
Steps approached and a hand pulled off the blindfold covering your face, some hairs ripped out as he removed it.
You winced as the light of a table lamp hit your eyes. It wasn’t bright, but your system was still fucked up from the drug you’d been injected with.
You blinked rapidly, effectively blind for a few seconds. A sharp pain shooting through your tender head.
“They gave you a high dose. You’ll be feeling like shit for a few more hours.”
Instinctively, you wanted to rub at your head, but noticed your hands were still bound with heavy cuffs behind your back. You were sitting on a wooden chair. More like tied to it.
You tested your range of movement, gasping when you felt the sting of raw flesh against the metal.
Silco watched you without any certain emotion.
You wanted to curse at him. Whatever situation you were in now was much worse than being thrown off a cliff by Silco’s underlings.
You tried to stay still, fearful of any more pain. You knew the wounds would get infected if they didn’t get cleaned soon. Further dread filled you.
Thoughts of dying slowly as you waited for sepsis to take over and end you was spreading panic through your body.
You would actually die like vermin.
You flinched when you heard the clinking of metal. Ripped from your spiral of thoughts.
Silco had rounded the chair and unlocked the cuffs, the material sticking painfully to your skin as he removed them.
You were just about to bring your arms back in front of you, when two strong hands gripped each of your arms and held them tightly behind your back.
They were turned this way and that as he inspected the damage.
As soon as the cuffs were gone, Silco moved back to your front and tied your lower arms together with some type of cravat, the fabric looking way too expensive to be used as a restraint. He made certain to leave the wounds uncovered.
In that moment as you watched him stand to retrieve something, half wondering if he might leave, you remembered your hat.
You could still feel the pressure, but age old, ingrained paranoia drove you to truly confirm that it was still there.
You lifted your bound arms to feel over the fabric.
You relaxed incrementally.
At least your secret hadn’t been revealed.
Silco returned with first aid supplies in his hand. Drenching a rag in some type of solution before dabbing it on the wounds on your arm.
You hissed as the sting began spreading through your skin, the solution slowly soaking into your flesh.
You wanted to pull away, but once again he had a tight grip on you.
You theorised that this might be some manipulation tactic. Caring for you so you begin to trust him.
Still, he seemed entirely clinical about it. Not being particularly gentle in his care, like this was merely a practical task he had to perform.
You guessed if he’d already went through the trouble of bringing you here, he wouldn’t let you die by infection.
No, right. That wouldn’t be economical.
After a few minutes he was done, the wounds wrapped in clean bindings.
“Stand up.” He commanded.
You had half a mind to stay right where you were, but his voice was stern, striking a primal instinct within you.
So you obeyed him.
“Let’s get this off of you.” He spoke, almost disinterested.
He undid the ties on your arms before reaching to take off your jacket. A big, bulky thing you’d stolen. Hoping it would hide the parts of you that nobody was supposed to see.
You recoiled, gripping at the jacket defensively.
Silco’s eyes narrowed.
“It’s rather rude to keep on your jacket and hat inside. Especially as a guest.” He insisted coldly.
You froze.
“I can’t take off the hat.” You insisted. Fear creeping into your limbs once again.
What would he do if he found out? Would you be killed? Experimented on?
He stepped closer.
“Take it off. I’m not playing around, boy.” He growled. It was unlikely he actually cared about your manners, much more likely that he disliked your disobedience.
You stood tensely, staring at him.
When he reached out to grab you, you couldn’t help the instinctive reaction taking over your body.
You snarled. Bearing your teeth. Eyes wide with warning.
There was realisation in his gaze as he watched your pathetic attempt to seem threatening.
“Take off the jacket. Or I will make you regret it.” He seemed serious. You had to weigh your options as your thoughts ran rapid circles in your mind.
Defeated, you undressed. Dropping the jacket. Shaking slightly. You could feel your tail peak out from behind you, pushing against the fabric of your shirt, aching to be free after being bent and hidden for so many hours.
“The hat too.” He commanded further.
You shook your head desperately.
“Don’t make me repeat myself again.” His voice was a low threat.
You swallowed.
Your vision swam as you finally took off the hat.
You did your best to press your ears against your head, hoping your hair of the same colour might conceal them.
But Silco spotted the movement of their nervous twitching immediately. It didn’t help you in this moment that your longer shaggy hair hid the fact that you had no human ears on the sides of your head.
His face didn’t betray surprise.
He remained quiet for a moment, inspecting you in your fight-or-flight ridden state.
„Show me.“ He coaxed.
You looked up, only your eyes moving, feeling like you might be struck by lightening should you move any further.
You finally found it in you to relax your ears again. To let go of the strain in the small muscles.
They perked up. You knew, because you felt the cold air of the room caress the sensitive skin. A stark contrast to the warmth that the hat had previously provided.
Silco still didn’t show any reaction.
He merely stared at the strange body parts atop your head.
„You have a tail too, don’t you?“ he asked after a while. You nodded shortly, deciding that hiding was no longer an option. He would do what he would do. Maybe that was use you for experimentation or kill you, like you deserved. The shelter mutt you were.
A freak of nature. A disfigured one at that. You dreaded his next command.
„Show me.“
You grimaced, but still you turned around and lifted your shirt slightly, letting the short tail spring free.
The appendage was cropped. The rest of your tail cut when you were a child, to better hide the atrocity you were.
The tip had regrown most of its fur. Short and smooth, shining in the low light despite your malnourishment.
It was tense with the instinct to tuck between your legs. Yet it stood on end. Refusing to submit to fear, keeping a remnant of defiance and aggression.
Silco didn’t linger for long.
„Alright, turn back around.“ He relented. He came over to grab you. Pushing you into the chair and tying you back up.
When he saw your defiant gaze, he sensed that you were thinking about how you could escape.
He leaned down to meet your eyes sternly.
„Let me make this clear: if you actually manage to escape, I will make sure that you are prey to every retched being in this forsaken place. And you will never find a single moment of peace until you are inevitably killed.“
Despite your previous lack of submission, you felt ice cold fear settle in your veins.
You swallowed, then nodded. Filing the hope of escape to the back of your mind.
“Now, Cheer up.“ He continued casually. Making his way towards the door where you were unable to see him.
„I have great plans for you.“ It sounded almost sadistic as he said it, then he added:
„Don’t you dare move while I’m gone.“
You heard the door open, then clink shut. Locked.
You were left alone.