Seren mechanically licks her cracked lips, her mouth so dry her tongue sticks to her palate, but she cannot bring herself to care. A bump in the road makes her head bounce by a few hairs. The pain is debilitating and the urge to retch hard to control. A hand to the back of her head had confirmed that the van’s dirty floor was sticky with her drying blood, giving the fetid stench of the place a metallic tang. Terms like shock and concussion had drifted in her mind, still, she cannot bring herself to care. Dark paths flicker in her mind, not a surprise considering she has been kidnapped by creatures coming straight of a horror story, still, she cannot bring herself to care, because Milo is dead.

Milo is dead, Milo is dead, Milo as died a few feet from her, surprise and horror painted on a face made to smile and laugh. The physical pain of it overwhelms even her current discomfort. It feels like her chest has been gouged open and her heart torn out. Breathing is a constant effort.

Milo is dead.

Out of the hundreds of people she had ever met, Milo had been the diamond, the wonder, the miracle. He had been a light and an inspiration and to her disbelief, he had loved her with all his heart. And now he was gone, twenty eight years of experience, and knowledge. A font of wisdom. Kindness beyond measure. Gone in an instant. The weight of this realization cages Seren’s mind like a steel trap. She is numbed, stunned, paralyzed. Reality comes down to physical pain and mental anguish. There is nothing else. Nothing, except anger.

Simmering outrage starts a slow burn at the back of her mind. With casual violence, the monster have destroyed that which was irreplaceable. Their filthy hands have stained what was pure and beautiful in Seren’s life.

The van stops. A minute later the back open. Seren forces herself to focus on what can be seen. Concrete ground and a concrete wall. Tall trees. Outside. A city.

The two monsters climb in, the van inclining under their weight. The killer looks as menacing as before, his dark eyes glinting with malevolent intent.

“I like the way you look now.”

His voice is harsh and gravelly but the intonations seductive. This thing has spent time in human presence. The stupid one turns to him. To Seren’s satisfaction, his head still bear the mark of a wound.

“He said…”

“I know what he said, shut up.”

The Killer turns to her and smiles, displaying sharp and uneven fangs. Seren is sure that the reveal is on purpose. The killer wants her to be afraid.

She stares, unflinching, registering his height, reach, stance. He is fast and powerful, much more dangerous than the other one. Well balanced. Seren could not take him even if she had been at her top, even if he had been human. Not with her bare hands at least. It doesn't matter. She is still alive, and she will have her chance.

The killer's smirk turns into an ugly grimace, full of hatred. Only Ugly’s tug on his dirty sleeve seems to hold him.

“When I’m done with you bitch, you will show me some fucking respect. I own you bitch, you’re mine.”

Seren can see Ugly’s incessant tug, still Killer squats next to her, his voice slurred and angry.

“I know your kind bitch, you think you’re better than me but I’ll fucking break you like I broke the others. I’ll take good care of you, you can count on it. “

Seren closes her eyes and shivers and the killer stands up, satisfied, but this is just an act. Seren knows his kind as well, and her time will come.

Very soon.