“Hey Pru. C’mere girl.”

The fox’s eyes, onyx pools that seemed to dance in the firelight, focused on Esmeralda. Pru had always unnerved her; something eerie lurked behind those eyes, she thought.

Pru ambled over and sat at Esmeralda’s feet; she reached down and scratched the fox behind the ears. Silvia hummed with pleasure.

“She’s warmed up to you. She’d never listen to anyone else like that, besides me.”

Esmeralda smiled. “I’m glad I meet her standards.”

Silvia extended a hand and ran it through Esmeralda’s hair, brushing her fingers just barely against Esmeralda’s ears; Esmeralda felt electricity bubble within her. She closed her eyes and let Silvia continue.

“Your hair is so beautiful, pet.” Silvia let out a low laugh, half purr, and kissed Esmeralda’s cheek, whispering to her as she did so. “Let’s go downstairs. I have something to show you.”

With another kiss Silvia stood up, moving to unlock the heavy wooden door in the corner of the room. Esmeralda opened her eyes slowly, excitement and terror pouring into her heart. Her hands shook. She stood and followed Silvia into the cellar.

The room they entered was suffocatingly musty. Silvia lit a candle at the bottom of the steps, and though Esmeralda knew what to expect the vile scene still shocked her: a man was blindfolded and bound to a chair in the middle of the room, his face bruised, swelling, and bloody. His clothes were filthy, stained with sweat and blood and things Esmeralda didn’t want to think about. He struggled as flickering light threw her teacher into relief.

Silvia’s thick curls framed her callous smile. “Watch closely, pet. It’s important you get used to this now.” Esmeralda felt Pru sidle up beside her just as Silvia reared back and kicked the man in the stomach, sending him sputtering.

She leaned close to him as he coughed, speaking in a low, hungry whisper. “I don’t like to play with my food. Talk, and you’ll save yourself a lot of pain.”

For some time the scene unfolded as Esmeralda stood stock still, absorbing each moment with agonizing attention. Silvia hurt the man; the man, in agony, refused to talk; Silvia hurt the man again. As time went on her savagery grew, but he continued refusing to answer her questions. Esmeralda grew dizzy as violence slowly overwhelmed each of her senses, the sounds and scents and sights of the cellar slowing turning also into tastes and feelings within her mind. Her legs felt weak.

Rubbing her bloodied knuckles Silvia strolled over to Esmeralda with astonishing nonchalance. She leaned in close. “It’s your turn, pet. Just like I taught you.”

Once again she kissed Esmeralda on the cheek; Esmeralda nodded grimly and approached the man, light gathering around her fingers.

Silvia’s words echoed in her mind: “Like pulling a tooth.” She could see them slithering coolly out of the woman’s icy smile: “Just reach in and give it a yank.”

Esmeralda was close to him now, her arm submerged in blinding light up to the elbow, a terrible and unnerving light. The man thrashed; Esmeralda willed herself not to hear his screams as she reared back and plunged her arm deep into his chest.

Esmeralda’s eyes opened with a jolt, her heart pounding earthquakes through her entire body. Everything was still. She saw little in the darkness of night, but knew she was in bed. She felt Astrid next to her, whose warmth was a calming weight against her body.

For a long time, Esmeralda lay there in the darkness, perfectly still and trying not to think, until a fractured sleep seized her, and she dreamt no longer.