I woke up cold.

My body was freezing. They'd gotten rid of the coat I'd been wearing, and the short dress under it provided me with no protection.

My face also hurt. It felt hot and tight, crusty from the dried blood. It was a dull, throbbing pain I woke up to. Trying to open my mouth stretched the cut on my lip. I could taste fresh blood again. My vision was impaired, right eye dealing with resistance as I tried to open it. My left opened fine. That must have been a very strong left hook.

I tried to lift my head, feeling pain shoot down my neck and back. There was a stiffness in it's movements. A resistance that only came from being stuck in a position like that for several hours.

Gritting my teeth to stifle my groans, I slowly raised my head, feeling my bones audibly grate against each other. The popping sounds echoed in my ear as I turned my head this way and that. I moved slowly this time as I finally looked around the place. I hadn't been able to see much in general the last time I was awake. But this time, I couldn't see much because it was dark and dimly lit.

We were in some kind of warehouse. High ceilings, rusted metal beams and cracked skylights. I could hear rustling feathers. Birds were nesting up there. This might be an abandoned factory. I remembered hearing about those when I'd arrived in town.

A cold breeze brushed my bare legs, drawing attention to the missing doors on the other side of this place. The distance between freedom and this chair seemed far. Almost impossible to attain considering how tight I was bound to this chair. The coarse rope had already cut into my skin. And I wasn't sure if my limbs were cold because of the breeze or because my circulation was being cut off.

Considering how sadistically happy Sylvia had seemed while beating my face into pulp, I would be surprised if it was the latter.

"Evening, Ryleigh." Lou's voice was rough. It sounded similar to the rasp Mike had when I'd woken up. "Nice breeze outside."

Turning my head to the right, I met Lou's eyes. My eyesight was adjusting to the dark now, and he looked much worse for wear. "I c-can see that." I couldn't stop my speech from stuttering. My teeth were chattering. "Hunters g-got your t-tongue?"

"Yes." He grinned at me, dark eyes shining and voice calm as if he was talking to me over a counter. "Angel grew his back." I could see the dried blood on his chin.

"Through considerable effort." I barely heard Mike mumble. Even Lou was whispering. "How do you feel?"

"F-fine." I replied, a strong shudder passing through my body. I couldn't say how shit I was actually feeling. Compared to these two, I'd been let off easy. "S-sorry it took me so-so long to find you, Mike."

"You're not obligated to look for me or worry about me."

"You're m-my friend. Of-of course, I'll worry about you." I tried to lean forward, these ropes had no give in them. "H-how are you? I di-didn't get to see you."

"Trust me. You don't want to." Mike sighed. Lou nodded grimly.

"I-I want to." I stifled a groan as I felt the rope cut into my shoulders. "I want-t to see."

I could see some of Mike. I could see his bowed head, the golden hair on top. I could some of his side profile and how dark it seemed here. He didn't seem good.

"Ryleigh." Lou called out my name, drawing my eyes to him. "Look at me first, and then decide if you want to see the feather's condition."

Look at Lou? I frowned, meeting his eyes. He seemed serious. Very serious. My eyes were drawn downwards to the rest of his body out of a morbid sense of curiosity. But the more I saw, the more I regretted waking up.

Lou was shirtless. At any other point of time, a reason to celebrate, but I just wanted to throw up the more I saw. I wanted to curl back into the suffocating darkness in my head... I wanted to scream.

Cuts marred his entire chest. I could see a very deep wound right where his unbeating heart should be. And much lower, his... his stomach was slit open. Bile rose to my throat as I looked over the guts spilling out, resting on his lap and spilling to the ground like dark, messy coils of what almost looked like snakes. All that... All that was inside a human body? Where does it fit? How does it...

I jerked my head around to the other side, body hunching up as I audibly gagged. My stomach closed up tightly on itself, reminding me it was empty. Saliva coated my mouth, dripping off my stinging lips as tears rose to my eyes.

Fuck.

Fuck.

Fuck fuck fuckfuckfuckfuck-

Wait. Mike.

If that's what happened to Lou... what they did to Lou... What did they do with Mike?

"Mike." I whispered, through the lump in my throat. I could hear other voices too. The Hunters had heard me. "Mike."

"Ryleigh, don't." Mike replied, making no effort to keep his voice down anymore.

I didn't hear him. I had to see him.

My legs were tied by the ankles to the legs of the chair. My feet were resting on the rough cement. They had a grip on the cold ground, but no actual mobility to be able to move me. I gritted my teeth, ignorring the rope cutting into my skin as I pushed my body, throwing whatever strength I had into making myself move.

And I did.

The chair groaned as it dragged across the concrete, moving a few inches at a time through my efforts. I could see the Hunters speed up. They could see me. I had to move faster. I had to see Mike.

An audible gasp of pain exploded from me as I jerked my body forward harder. My hands were closed into fists, vision glued on the bowed head of golden hair to my right as the rest of his body came more and more into view. The Hunters were closer now, almost to us. I had to move. I had to see hi-

I felt the chair falter. It's leg catching on the uneven concrete below my feet. My gut curled as my struggle tipped the chair, eyes squeezing shut in anticipation. The chair leaned sideways, falling away from the other two. It slammed loudly against the concrete, making me cry out in pain as it twisted my left foot sideways. My head jerked sideways, smacking against the ground as the left side of my body took the brunt of the fall. The air left my lungs with the strength of the impact.

My vision flashed, ears starting to ring as the chair came to a rest. I was gasping for air, struggling to get a breath in as my eyes dragged themselves over to Mike. My vision was spotty, my eyes barely open through the throbbing in my head, but I could see him. He was farther away from me. However, from this angle, I could still see him. All of him.

His blue eyes met mine through the shaggy, bloodstained hair as he started to raise his head. My eyes immediately went to a long, white scar on his throat. I could see the dried blood that had flown from it like a waterfall. His chest was covered in slashes and stab wounds, some of them seemed to be festering, rotting because of how long they'd been left untreated.

His guts were cut open. But the slash and stab marks continued all the way down to the waistband of his boxers. It was hard to see in the dark, but they were also complete soaked in blood.

I couldn't hear anything. I could barely breathe, but the state of his bare legs sucked the rest of the air out of me. I felt a choked cry escape me as my eyes went to his shattered kneecaps. A mess of blood and broken bone, sticking out of the skin and twisted the wrong way. His legs were bent sideway- leg- his leg- I can't- hi-

My mind went blank. I don't think I was breathing. Amidst the throbbing in my head, my face hurting and seeing these two in a condition like... like this- it felt like I was going to crack.

I vaguely felt someone grab my chair through the mental breakdown I was on the cusp of having. My vision was righted, and I could no longer see Mike's full body. His blue eyes were atill glued to mine as he fully raised his head. I caught a glimpse of his ragged, features s his hair fell away from his face. Biting my lip, I turned away from it. I couldn't look anymore. He was... He was missing an eye.

"You're all monsters." I whispered, staring down at my feet as I felt something warm trickle down the side of my throbbing head.

"We're not the monsters." One of the Hunters standing in front of me replied. "They are."

"Unlike Mike, I'm not missing an eye." I hissed, looking up and meeting the eyes of the three men and sole woman leaning over me with my seething glare. "Looking around here makes it clear who the real monsters are."

The lady sneered at me. "You have no idea what you're talking about. They've killed hundreds of thousands of people. Crippled mentally and physically several others- just because you got lucky serving them drinks doesn't mean you know who they are."

"They use people." A man standing beside her spoke. He had a thick, gray beard. All these people looked like they should be retired and sitting at home watching over their grandkids. "They use and throw them away."

"So what?" I growled, narrowing my eyes, as I felt my anger rise. "So... fucking... WHAT?!"

Surprise crossed through the Hunter's faces. I could see some additional pity in some auras. They stepped back, and through their confused forms, I spotted Sara, Sylvia and Grey hurrying over from the entrance. Sleep was clear on their faces, and in their muddled auras.

They approached us with curiosity on their faces, wanting to know what had been happening. The lady who'd spoken earlier turned to them. "She's a lost cause." I frowned at that, feeling blood start to trickle down my forehead as I tilted my head.

Sara's confused, sleep-muddled eyes met mine. I could see some fear cross through as she met my angry, contorted features. She took a step back as I bared my teeth at her.

"How could you..." I whispered through gritted teeth. "How could you just stand by... and watch torture like this?"

Sara bit her lip, her aura shifting to guilty tones of brown. "I... I-"

"They deserve it." Sylvia hissed, pushing past the people standing around me. She lowered her head so she was inches from my face. The hate in her aura was palpable. It felt cold, almost painfully so. "They killed everyone we loved. They killed our family."

"It was painless." I hissed back. "Most of them didn't feel a thing. You could have atleast returned the fucking favour!"

"Why?!" She snapped back at me, her eyes starting to fill up once again. "You think that 'painless' excuses what they did? The amount of people they killed?" She scoffed, shaking her head as if she was disappointed at me. "You claim you're human, but look at you right now. You're defending murderers. You're defending beings who care nothing about other humans, including you. Beings who use and throw humans like they're trash!"

"So... SO, WHAT?!" It took a bit for me to yell. The pain, the anger, the... the guilt I was feeling ever since I'd seen Mike was fuelling me. Giving me the energy to scream. "SO FUCKING WHAT, SYLVIA?! YOU'RE NOT IN ANY PLACE TO BE TALKING ABOUT USING PEOPLE! YOU SIT ON YOUR BLIND THRONE PRETENDING YOU'RE BETTER THAN ME, AS IF YOUR FUCKING CULT HASN'T USED AND THROWN PEOPLE ASIDE AS THEY SEE FIT!"

Sylvia flinched away as my volume rise a notch. "PEOPLE USE PEOPLE! THAT'S HOW THE WORLD FUCKING WORKS!" I gritted my teeth, tilting my head to continue. "That's how... the world fucking works. But I don't see your little fucking team of missionaries going around torturing other humans. What about humans who use humans, huh? What about rich corporations that don't pay tax while people working minimum wage have to skip meals, or rent, or medical necessities to pay theirs? What about rich ass brokers who scam innocent people out of their life savings? What about con men who go around using people to achieve what they want and then throw them away?! WHAT ABOUT YOU?!"

"WHAT ABOUT YOU ABSOLUTE SHIT FUCKERS WHO TOOK AWAY THE ONLY GOOD THING IN MY LIFE?! THE ONLY THING THAT COULD MAKE ME FEEL HUMAN WHILE MY LIFE WAS GOING TO SHIT?! YOU GUYS USED ME TO GET CLOSER TO THE DEMONS AND ANGELS!" My voice cracked. "I-I had nothing when these guys came into my life! NOTH-THING! You placed Will into my life, and you took him back..." My voice was hoarse from yelling. I was starting to feel my anger fade into something sadder. Something I hadn't felt in a while.

I pulled back, meeting the eyes of everyone surrounding me. "You guys used me." I jerked my head to the side. "These guys used me too, but atleast they weren't shady about it. They used me for drinks, I used them for the money and the... and the company. But you? You pathetic beings call yourselves human? Why? Because you have a soul? Because you have f-feelings?"

My dry throat was making my voice crack. I paused to take a deep breath, letting my throat rest for a short moment. "You're not human." I whispered. Sara looked away from me. Sylvia's aura seemed to be boiling with anger. "For what you've done to me... what you've done to these guys, you're only humans in name. But seeing this place, seeing all this... you're the real freaks here."

I trailed off roughly, my chin raised defiantly as I held their angry gazes. They seemed slightly dumbfounded.

The silence after as they absorbed my words was deafening. The first one to speak was Sylvia.

"Who do you..." She growled, hands curling into her fists by her side. "Who do you think you are? You haven't been through a fraction of what the people in this room have dealt with. You haven't seen what demons and angels can do. What happens to the bodies they leave behind. You wil-"

"I know what will happen to these bodies they'll leave behind." I cut her off. Blood started trickling into my eye, making my vision turn red. "And I can assure you it's through none of their fault."

Lou snickered. I even heard Mike let out a wary laugh.

Sylvia's jaw tightened. She raised her hand and I was unable to stop a flinch as it approached my face. But all she did was grasp my jaw, pulling me towards her.

There was something about Sylvia. An odd pressure I could feel around her. It was making my hair stand on end. Nothing like the kind Lou or Mike exuded, it felt a lot more... mental.

And as I met her roiling gray eyes, I could feel the subduing effect it was supposed to have. Like an alpha wolf staring down a member of its pack.

"You will never... understand. What we've been through under their hands. What others have been through... Just because you got lucky, doesn't mean others did."

"I don't know others." I hissed back. Unfortunately for her, I'm not one of her pack.

She narrowed her eyes, pulling her other arm back. "You selfish bi-"

I couldn't pull my head back because of her tight grasp on my chin. All I could do was turn my head to the side and screw my eyes shut in expectation.

"Stop, Sylvia."

Stop?

I cracked the only eye I could open, open. One of the old men surrounding me had grabbed her elbow. His eyes flickered to me. I could see the rage in his aura. "We have other ways to put her in her place. She's going to get the same treatment as the other two." He pushed her arm down without any resistance. "Since she considers them her friends... she's going to suffer when we kill them in front of her.

I felt my gut plummet. Kill them? Kill them in front of me?

My eyes flickered to the side and back. It was involuntary, but I could see the subtle satisfaction crossing through Sylvia's eyes. "You might be onto something there, Matt." She dropped her fist entirely, letting go of my chin a moment later. "That might be fun."

I swallowed dryly, feeling fear fill me. They were right. I was barely hanging onto my sanity after seeing the state these two were in and if I had to... if had to watch them die, or suffer anymore. I couldn't... I don't think I could handle it.

"Besides, we have another surprise for you." Matt gently pushed Sylvia aside, replacing her in front of me. He reached behind his back, pulling out what seemed like a kitchen knife.

I felt my situation here slide further backwards as I saw it. But my face stayed blank. "You going to uh... chop me a salad?"

"Well..." Matt shrugged. "You haven't eaten or drunk anything in over 24 hours, so I bet that'd feel nice, wouldn't it?"

"Very much so." I mumbled, watching the knife as it closed the distance to my neck. I pushed my head back, blinking some blood out of my eyes. "Maybe a drink too, while you're at... it..."I trailed off as the cold steel pressed against my neck.

Matt slid the knife up the curvature of my neck to rest on my cheek. "You, of all people, should know very well that this knife isn't just for cutting vegetables."

There was silence. He probably expected an answer, but I was preoccupied with how much pressure he would need to apply to break skin. That knife was extremely sharp no matter what form it was in.

Lou suddenly whistled. "No way." He rasped. "Is that the knife, Ryleigh?"

Matt sneered, eyes shifting to glare at Lou. "Shut up if you don't want this to be used on you, demon."

"Right." Lou scoffed. "I'd barely feel it already with all I've already been through. Anyway, is that the knife, Ryleigh? I mean, I can't make it out. But, is it?"

Matt hesitated at Lou's words, looking over his shoulder at the twins. "Is it, Sara?"

Sara was quiet for a few moments. I saw her head pop up over his shoulder for a moment. "It... I don't know. I just picked it up because it had an aura for some reason."

"The knife we used to have was rusty and didn't have an aura." Sylvia's voice was dry. "I don't think that's it."

"But it might be." Matt pulled the knife away from me. "We have a few specimens to try it on."

I stiffened. Both Lou and Mike were in bad shape. I don't think they'd survive that knife being used on them. "It-"

"I've heard that thing can switch shapes." Mike cut me off. "Depending on the owner's will, it can morph." For fucks sake, Mike- who's side are you on?

"Owner?" Matt frowned, taking a moment to think before look at me. "You own this?"

I shrugged. "I mean... It looks familiar to something I have in my kitchen but..."

"That might... explain the aura." Sara suddenly spoke up. Her words hesitant. "The knife was already weird. But if it had enough of a consciousness to choose an owner, it could be 'awake' for lack of a better word." Eyes turned to her. She shrank from the attention as I started to wish she stayed quiet. "So, it might have changed it's form according to the owner's wish or ease of use." Her eyes turned to me. "Ryleigh's ease of use."

I felt eyes move back to me. And I started to wish I could shrink away from them. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"It's the only reason it would have an aura." She shrugged, her voice very matter-of-fact.

It's hard to want Sara dead considering how much she hates all of this. But then again, I do wish she was out of the way. It would be a lot easier to pretend to disown this knife without her.

"Well..." Matt turned back to Lou. "Testing it won't hurt."

Lou stiffened, eyes starting to darken as the knife got closer. "Get that away from me." He rasped.

His voice sent chills up my spine. I sat up. "Wait! Wait! Sara's right! That's the knife! The one that can hurt demons and angels! It chose me!" Matt's eyes flickered to me for a moment as my desperation dropped into my voice. "D-dont hurt them!"

Matt looked me over. His aura shifted even before he spoke or moved. My gut tightened. "Might as well be sure." He smirked, holding my stare as he raised his hand and plunged the knife deep into Lou's thigh.