You didn't know why you couldn't move, you wanted to, badly, but something held you back.

❛MOVE!!❜

The voice was back again with it's shrilling alarm-sounding voice, sending weaking, fearful waves across your body.

Unfortunately, you couldn't see much or make out the man looming above you. All you could see was the intense, almost hypnotic stare of his eyes, gleaming in opalescent hues that shifted slowly, mesmerizingly, like colors caught within a prism.

You felt a knot of dread tighten in your stomach as the man's gaze seemed to reach past your eyes and into your head, almost as if he was staring right through you.

You couldn't finish your panicked thoughts as the man stepped forward.

❝Oh how rude of me! Here, let me help you up, you poor thing. You are in no condition to be on the floor.❞

He held out his hand for you, which you could barely make out in the dark. Though it looked more like a claw than a hand. You didn't want to take it, but you couldn't think about getting up yourself.

As you took the man's hand, a shiver shot up your spine, leaving your skin prickling with unease.

Why was his hand so goddamn cold?!

It felt almost wrong to hold his hand. He was trying to help you, with no intention of harm, but your instinct was to let go and run. Your leg twitched in response to the strong instinct to run, but you held back.

You couldn't really anyway if you tried . . .

His grip was surprisingly gentle but graceful, each finger curling around your hand in a way that felt both careful and considerate, as though he was savoring the simple act of helping you up.

Once you were on your feet, he didn't immediately release your hand. Instead, he held it for a lingering moment, his gaze still boring into you. It was sharp, very observing, giving you an uncontrollably chill.

The silence stretched between you both, becoming weird and awkward for you.

❛Okay this is guy is getting creepy. Stop staring at me and let go of my goddamn hand!❜

❝There we go . . . Now all we need is a little bit of light.❞

His voice was smooth, a slurred purr that brimmed with an unsettling kind of warmth. He seemed to be talking to himself.

But he finally released your hand. His shadowed form drifted away from you, and you watched as he stalked behind you, your eyes not leaving him.

Just in case he was up to something . . .

You weren't completely comfortable being alone with this guy.

The small flick of fire lighting caught you by surprise, expecting him to flip on a light switch rather than light up the lantern you saw earlier. The first thing you did when the room lit up was to inspect your surroundings.

You were in a place quite different –– of course you knew that but . . . This was . . . Really different. Like . . . Old-fashioned, but quite . . . Luxurious.

Remembering the man, you quickly shifted your gaze to him, seeing him sitting down on a pillow with a calm expression.

He . . . ? Well he wasn't –– you didn't expect him to look . . . You expected him to look creepy instead of . . . Decent looking?

You weren't going to straight out admit he was a little good looking . . . Since he was still considered to be a creep to you. But it was said in the back of your mind.

His face was slim and sharp, his skin pale and sickly, almost looking as if he were dead as his skin glowed from the source of light. His hair was light silver, an odd circular blood-stained pattern adorn on top of his head.

His hair was parted to his left, the shorter parts around his face flaring out around his head, curving almost everywhere with one strand left down his face to fall inbetween his eyes, while more of his hair seemed to drape down his back.

He wore a blood-red turtleneck of a design that made it look like the part between his neck and upper chest was covered by a black substance that was dripping slightly down his body –– the same design seemed to be repeated on his wrists.

Your eyes moved down, seeing that he was wearing a pair of tan-colored pants, secured with a pale green belt, its buckle a bright silver. And down to his crisscrossed feet, he wore a pair of black tabi socks.

❛What a weird outfit.❜

❝Come sit, I'm sure you have some questions for me dear.❞

His patted the soft mattress that you were once laying on, motioning you to sit down. You would of missed that part if he hadn't said something first as you were focused on the fact he had long and sharp nails.

So you weren't exactly wrong about his hand looking like a claw in the dark.

❛I wonder where he goes to get his nails done.❜

After a couple more seconds of looking at his hand, you realized he was still looking at you like he was expecting something.

Oh, right! Sit, sit.

Quickly, you walked over and sat back down on the flat bed you were on before, only now realizing that you did have many questions to be answered.

Also how worried you should be . . . You were in your house but now you're here . . . With some weird man. But you were also in the snow too? Yeah here comes the panic.

❝How about we start off with introductions first? Get a little comfortable with each other. My name is Douma.❞

You had to stop yourself from making a weird face from the . . . Unique name. It wasn't bad, you just had never heard a name like that before.

Well now its time to say your name. You didn't want to, considering you couldn't exactly think straight from the amount of questions you wanted answered. It was getting hard to breathe from the overwhelming confusion.

But you took a deep breath before answering, feeling yourself start to get tense.

❝I'm (Y/N). And . . . Where exactly am I?❞

Okay good way to start. Don't rush the questions.

Douma gave you a smile before answering.

❝You're in my cult. In one of my guest bedrooms.❞

Your heart dropped at the answer, staring at him with surprise. He stared back at you with the same face, though his gaze seemed to be studying you. Now he knows you're not with this at all. And he was right.

That's not gonna sit right with you.

❛A CULT?! Nope. I knew something was off with this place, but for it to be a cult? Yeah no, last straw.❜

You exhaled dramatically, your eyes widening as you stared down at the floor.

❝Okay –– I don't . . . You –– respectfully, why am I in a flipping cult? I was at home, originally.❞

Your thoughts were over brewing like a full pot on high heat, not being able to speak correctly from the amount of things you thought about asking and doing.

Deep breaths, deep breaths we can figure this out.

❝Your home?❞

He laughed almost mockingly as if you told a joke. You looked back up at him confused, your eyebrows furrowing in slight annoyance from that question. Why is that amusing?

❝There wasn't a house in miles where I found you dear. Unless you consider the freezing snow to be your home.❞

He jeered, pulling out something behind him, which looked like a golden fan.

You felt your hands shake just a bit, as you shifted them on your lap. You looked down to take a deep breath, only now realizing how shot up your heart rate was.

You'll go home soon . . . Just don't worry.

❝I was at home. My home.❞

You repeated, trying to collect yourself.

Was it always this hot in here?

What's that smell? Are you hallucinating?

Is there even any oxygen in here?!

No, no! Just take a breath and calm down!

❝And I found you in the snow. Far from any kind of home.❞

He's lying.

Right?

At this point you weren't listening. You didn't want to listen. Because it didn't make any sense.

Before you could start protesting against his statement, a sudden breeze hit your face, making your flinch. You snapped your head up to see him holding out the shinning gold fan he had before, directing towards you with a smile. He flicked his wrist and started fanning you.

Uh . . .? What do you do?

You stared at the fan and then at Douma who continued to smile at you. Despite being surprised from the kind gesture, you relaxed a bit. The cool breeze the fan made was just what you needed.

❝Better?❞

He asked, putting his head in his hand as he watched you visibly relax. Even though it was just a little, you still needed that. You nodded, clearing your throat to speak, but he beat you to it.

❝Aw I'm glad I can help! Now I have a question for you. What's your favorite color?❞

You let him speak, looking down for a moment, expecting him to ask a question like, where do you live? Or, what do you remember before magically appearing in the snow?

But when that came out of his mouth, you tilted your head back up to Douma to see if he was joking. He looked to be serious. I mean –– maybe if he didn't look dead serious, you'd think he was asking that to calm you down.

What happened to, we both don't know how you got into the snow?

For a moment you stayed silent, not knowing how to take what he said. You shifted uncomfortably on the mattress, reaching out to gently lower his hand so he wasn't fanning you anymore.

He lifted his thick eyebrows in surprise, snapping the fan closed with an attentive look in his eyes.

❝No offense, but that's not important at all right now.❞

His smile softly faltered, giving you a slight weird feeling in your chest. You wanted him to stop smiling so much earlier, but now that he was, no smile on his face seemed to make you feel more uneasey. Maybe that wasn't the best thing to say right now? But to be fair he said something that wasn't good to say right now either.

❝Ah . . . I see. Well I can't help you figure out where your home is, if you can't remember how you got in the snow. But I can help you with being safe in the meantime. You can stay here until you're all healed up.❞

He leaned back, placing his fan down with a stoic face.

It took you a moment to register his words.

Was that a little adittude?

Wait ––

He wanted you to what?

He wanted you to stay? Inside a cult?

Uhm. Hell no.

You were not going to stay here.

You were going to go back to your home. Despite not knowing where to look. You were going to find it rather than stay here.

It was your turn to laugh in this conversation, laughing a little nervously as you waved him off and shook your head.

❝Yeaah . . . Abouut thaat . . . No thanks. I'd love to stay, but I just remembered something. This is a cult and there is no way in hell I am going to stay here. So goodbye, nice meeting you.❞

The room seemed to drop a whole twenty degrees after you stated that you were leaving.

The candle in the lantern flickered for a moment, catching your attention. Like something ran by it. As your eyes slowly got back to meet his, he was staring at you.

With no emotion on his face. Just staring. The look he gave made your stomach twist and your heart pound. Okay now was definitely the time to run.

Without thinking you got up and stood on your feet, only to see him stand up too.

Before you could even look up, a forced laugh escaped him, which held a hint of sickening and dreadful intent.

❝Oh my dear what are you talking about? You're staying here silly!❞

Your head snapped up to him as one of his muscular arms wrapped around your shoulders, your body tensing in shock.

❛Okay what the hell! Get the fuck off me!❜

Douma smiled widely down at you, which was clearly forced after the emotionless expression he gave you thirty seconds ago.

You weren’t exactly scared earlier, but now you could say in this moment, you kinda were. You didn't know him and now he's all hands on you, telling you that you're staying.

He forced you to sit back down, surprising you for a moment. You sat there in disbelief as he walked to sit in front of you, sitting criss-crossed with his hands in his lap.

❝I found you. And saved you. Don't forget that. So, therfore, you are now mine. One of my possessions.❞

Huh?

What?

Excuse me?

What?

He's not being serious right now, is he?

Oh no, he's serious.

Great.

You got kidnapped by a psychopath.

❝Uhm . . . ? Excuse me?❞

You asked, a little startled from what he said. He leaned in close, making you back up, but he gave a eerie smile in response.

❝You're not leaving! And it's as simple as that. You're something I found, therfore I get keep.❞

What do you even do?! He's just straight up saying that you're ❛his❜ now apparently!

You wanted to speak up, but you couldn't find something to say against it. Does he have any idea how crazy he sounds?! This mental freak!

❝I know this might be sudden for you but . . . Finders keepers! And . . . I found myself a treasure ~ ❞

You stared at him in disbelief, your lips parting to say something, but you held it back. Okay . . . Okay . . .

Well now you're some kind of treasure to this guy. That's just –– that's just great! You barely just woke up and now you're being claimed as treasure! That's –– what luck you have!

When you realized you were still eyes locked with this guy, you looked away, coming up with an excuse quick.

❝I just woke up . . . I'm still too tired.❞

You mumbled tiredly, only now realizing how you still felt sluggish from waking up earlier. Out of the corner of your eyes, Douma nodded, giving your knee a pat before he stood.

❝Oh, of course my dear! Why don't you rest . . . I'll have my followers make you some food!❞

You could barely hear Douma's words as your ears started to ring, your head weakly moving up at he stood, turning and leaving you alone in the room in your thoughts.

. . .

What the hell just happened?