Chapter 24 - Punishment

I eventually slept off while counting the drips from a nearby leak. It must have been at three thousand and four hundred that I eventually passed out. The last thought I had was how foolish I had been in bed an hour earlier, wondering if Damon had been so upset with Jacob for touching me for sentimental reasons. He treated me like property, not caring if I was alive or dead as long as it was done at his command and with his hands.

I was just another source of pride for Damon, who leads the Losten Pack Northern Reserve.

And just as he's taken my life, I'll make sure it's me who ends his.
I could remember thinking, "I want to torture him," but Posion is too forgiving.

The noise of someone descending the stairs startled me awake. The cellar was still completely dark, so it took me a while to recognize that there were multiple sets of footfall. The march came to an end.
"Who's there?" My bones continued to tremble, I was still so weak from the shock I had received earlier.

I noticed that the lone lightbulb hanging over the cell had been turned on and that there was shuffling. I could see that Maria was there, and Evan was beside her.

"Ava," Evan rushed to the cell. "Get her out now," he whirled to face Maria.

Maria said coolly, "I can't."

I stand up. It was hard for me to believe that the plan had succeeded and that Evan was here in front of me. I truly had hope for the first time since I had emerged from my ten-year coma.


"Why not? Are the keys not with you? She's bleeding, look at her!"

"Evan?" Whispering was not my intention.

"Don't touch that!" was yelled by Maria as I narrowed my eyes and grabbed the cell's bars.
It was too late, and I could not have possibly forgotten about the electric shocks. Indeed, this one was even worse than the last one. A spine-tingling scream escaped my raspy voice as I was hurled to the center of the enclosure.

"No! Ava!" Evan let out a cry and hurried to approach the cell.

"You fool, back off! Keep your hands off it!" Maria cried out to him. I closed my eyes, attempting to still the agitation that the ache beneath my skin had brought about. My heart felt as though it had stopped beating. Trying to open my mouth felt like I would have to lose my teeth one by one. I was afraid they would slip out, so I gripped my own fingers.

"We have to do something, she's gonna die if she stays here!"

"She's only going to be here for one more night, we can't do anything about it."

"Why is she in there?"

"She probably said or did something to annoy him."

"The alpha?"

"Obviously She frequently tries to push his patience and he is a very powerful man."

"The key is right there, we can let her out now-"

"If we let her out now, then he will put us in there with her for weeks as punishment, is that what you want?"

Evan didn't reply to anything. There was a sound of something sliding inside the cell. I was immobile and blind. The aftereffects of the pain still had me trembling fiercely.

"We should let her work through things on her own. In case it wasn't clear, this is the cell. Every werewolf has at least one. His father used it for his doll as a kind of disciple. Damon, er, master, will use it for his doll now that he's alpha."

Evan, sounding defenceless, said, "It's not right. I can't just leave her here."

"You will do what's best for both her and yourself. I brought you down here just to make sure you knew what goes on in this house."

"I will kill him, Ava, I promise," was Evan's statement that seemed more genuine.

I was unable to answer.
"Shut up!" "Leave, there's more to see," growled Maria.

Maria told me before she departed "He told me to give it another night. Eat your food; you'll be alright."

A few hours later, Maria returned by herself. I hadn't touched my dinner, so she corrected me. I could'nt, and I had no way of explaining that to her. Upon her third return, she declared, "All three meals remain unopened." You must eat."

Despite the rumbling in my stomach, I said, "I'm not hungry,"

"Listen to me, you can't let him break you, not now."

I blink away my tears, saying, "I just can't."

I was in total darkness for the remainder of the day. I was certain that I was about to lose my mind. I had come to hate Damon more than the name itself. My thoughts had strayed into dark realms, where I pictured his father's body being dug up and placed on the bed next to him so he could wake up next to it. I imagined myself hacking out his chest while holding a silver knife. Not only did I want to physically harm Damon, but I also wanted to mentally harm him.
Maria reappeared.

"Damon is coming tomorrow morning to let you out, but only if he feels you learned your lesson."
I snickered.

"Stop it," she growled. "Would you like to stay here longer? Apologize to him and address him as master."
I stayed silent.

Once again, I slept by myself. The same leak's sound carried me to sleep.
Although it wasn't in the morning, Damon arrived as Maria had promised. His drunk slurs and the sound of heavy footsteps woke me in the wee hours of the morning. He went for another lever and flicked it down, and I sat up and stirred as the light bulb came back on.

After saying, "So," he put both hands on the cell's bars and started to open the doors. I was left wondering if he had disabled the shocks or if they were ineffective for him. "Did you learn your lesson?" he asked, stepping into the cell and bending down to meet my gaze.

I gave him a scowl. Right now, I hoped I could hurt him with just my glance and tell him to "go to hell."