A/N: As usual, I would recommend putting the video on loop.

Both women averted their gazes to him, though; in the process, Deidre noted that (f/n) visibly tensed and seemed to shrink back in her restraints. Unfortunately, the cables kept her arms above her, and she only could shift on her knees by a fraction. (F/n) winced from the action as some debris scraped across one of her dark bruises, and Deidre desired to dart over and help, but fear kept her still. Even if she did attempt to race over to the younger woman, the creature before her would stop her.

"I honestly didn't expect you both to be up so soon," he remarked, leaning against the same wall that Deidre was resting on. His arms crossed and a lackadaisical expression overtook his countenance. "Good thing I checked." Callest examined them both. "I can't have you making too much noise and giving away your location." He chuckled, but it held no humor in it. "After all, we're still missing three of our guests, and I can't have a loose party sneaking around this area."

He pushed himself off of the wall and began to walk towards Deidre. (F/n) went to protest, but a stern glare was sent her way, and she didn't say a word. The younger woman's lips, though, began to quiver, and Deidre would've been shocked to see her so obedient, but all of the markings on (f/n)'s body gave the older woman enough information. Again, Deidre saw her mouth a few similar phrases. I'm so sorry. It's my fault, all of it.

Her view of (f/n) vanished as the creature crouched in front of her. His wrists crossed and rested on his knees. "I'm not going to kill you yet. And, (f/n) isn't going to be dying anytime soon." The creature's very pale blue optics analyzed her expression, but he could hear her pounding heartbeat and unsteady breath. Even if she wasn't expressing her terror on her face, it was as clear as a sunny day. "No, you're a toy for Nick more so than (f/n)." Nausea began to form in the older woman's stomach, and her hands clenched into fists as a way to calm her body down.

"(F/n), used to do that too." He stood up to his feet and diverted his attention to the (e/c)-eyed woman. When his gaze greeted hers, she broke eye contact and stared down. "But, I managed to remove that. Sometimes, she forgets." The male shrugged and chuckled, indicating that there was some punishment that happened to (f/n) should she clench her fists. His eyes focused back on Deidre.

"What did you mean by spoil?" Deidre managed to ask without stuttering, but her heart rate didn't decrease. She tried to summon a more confidant expression upon her face. Much to her dismay, it failed, and she only carried a neutral air, but it was unlike the creature in front of her. Whereas he could hide his emotions presently, she couldn't.

"Why should I answer you?" He scowled, and she finally spotted an emotion from him: disgust. "Besides, you're not even part of that. You just created a new situation for me, and I finally can get rid of that other annoying human." His frown grew heavier, and his form towered over hers unnervingly. She wished that she could meld into the wall and leave his attention for awhile. If she could bring (f/n) with her, that would be even better.

"Nick doesn't even know you," she argued, but her voice's volume didn't rise. Almost, it quaked instead. She probably shouldn't be challenging the creature, but it kept him busy, and he had admitted that he didn't plan on ending her life. So if she learned more on the situation, she might have a better chance of survival down the road or ... a worse one. Given his present distaste of her, Deidre suspected that her future was most likely going to be grim.

"No, he doesn't, but he knows Ether." Callest crossed his arms once more. "He escaped him and thought that he could carry on with his vile human existence with no punishment." Deidre looked ready to counter his words, but the male beat her to speaking. "Like (f/n), he revealed my kind's weakness. Even if he never admitted to it as much as she did," hate entered his optics, and they shifted over to (f/n) before they went back to her, "he still did." His right fingers tightened around his left upper arm. "I lost my home and had to acclimate more to human society." It seemed like the creature would vomit.

"So what?" Deidre questioned harshly, and his eyes narrowed to her. Her tone was by no means powerful. If anything, it only gave away her trepidation more, but she didn't back down. (F/n) was in no position to defend the two of them, and Deirdre didn't even know if (f/n) could anymore. She was broken in more ways than the older woman probably ever could understand. "Nick lost his teammates to ... Ether." Speaking presumably the other creature's name for the first time sounded odd to her ears, but she didn't desire to call Ether some nickname that would in turn apply to the creature before her since they were of the same species.

"Ether had killed them horribly for entertainment. He had feasted upon them and made it all a joke. It's natural to reveal the weakness of an enemy like that." The creature before her leaned down and placed his hands in his pockets. A sickened, wrathful mist swirled in his eyes, and she audibly gulped. "They were the victims, not him."

"Deidre ..." (f/n) started before she cried a few more tears. The older woman heard them hit the flooring, and the new creature snapped his head back to the twenty year old.

"Pathetic." The creature stood up fully and began to walk over to (f/n). Her (e/c) eyes widened, and she tried to back away, but the creature grabbed a fistful of her hair and tugged upwards. A sharp cry left the younger woman. "You're making too much noise." His face lowered to hers. "And, you're defending her claim aren't you? Ether was never the victim?" He raised a brow, and his left nails glided under her chin.

"... N-No, I ..." She almost released another sob, and Callest smirked, urging her to go on. "... I know she made a mistake." His feet stepped to the side, and he put (f/n) on display for Deidre, who watched the interaction in dejection and horror. (F/n) couldn't meet Deidre's eyes, but the older woman noticed that they were apologetic and revolted, though; the revulsion in the younger woman's gaze was directed towards herself.

"What mistake did she make?" the creature inquired, his smirk enlarging in an unsympathetic manner. There was no enjoyment in his expression. If anything else, it was heinous.

"Ether, ... he's the victim." Callest went to release her hair. "But, he's also not the victim." Instantly, he brought up his knee into her midsection, and the breath got knocked out of her. He let go of her hair and shoved her head aside, like it was nothing but a speck of dust.

"Looks like we have more work to do. Thankfully, we're in no rush," he commented, staring down at her as though she was the grossest thing on the planet. Deidre stared at them speechless and watched as (f/n) painfully tried to regain her breath. The younger's body no doubt desired to hunch over, but the cables tugged back and continued to hold her in the awful position.

"Deidre ..." Before another word could leave past her lips, the creature wrapped his right hand around her neck and tightened its hold on her. She began to choke, and her fingers grasped at the cables. (F/n), though, lacked the energy to do much else.

Not being able to watch anymore, Deidre screamed, "Stop!" Callest, however, maintained his hold until (f/n) lost consciousness. She slumped a little in her binds, and heavy bruising already was forming around her neck.

"Now," Callest focused back on the older woman with an annoyed expression, "she should've stopped at saying that he was the victim. But, I think that you might've given her a little confidence back since she wished to distract me from you." He faced Deidre fully. "She saw your mistake, and she didn't want you to face the consequences." A chuckle parted from him. "Makes sense since it sounds like she saved your life from Ether before, but the point is that Ether is the victim. My species is the victim."

"Your kind constantly thinks of us as beings less than human. Things to be experimented upon and kept in cages." The creature rubbed his nails together. "When in fact, you're the lower being that deserves no higher honor than being our food source." His steps were slow and calculated towards her. "Yet, you barge into our homes like you own them. And when we fight back and kill you, you blame us, but you're the ones trespassing. You're the ones messing with something you can't handle, something that is your predator." Unadulterated rage consumed his optics. "And when one of my kind is considerate towards your kind, you overlook it and constantly think him to be the one to blame."

Absolutely terrified, she gulped again, but she didn't have it in her to argue even if she disagreed with him on several of his points. All she could manage was, "That's what you meant. You're referring to (f/n) and her being spoiled." Her voice didn't stutter, but it was barely audible.

"I am as well as the rest of you. I don't need to go into details, especially regarding Ether and (f/n). Her level of denial is something that has been hard to crack, but it's getting there. Just some more modifications." He chuckled and glanced back to the unconscious woman. "She already did call out for him and smile." Deidre froze. That didn't sound like (f/n) at all, but the display that just happened ... Well, she supposed that it could happen after that.

"But, I'm tired of talking with you." Her brown optics stared up to him hurriedly, and she regretted causing her headache to make itself known again. The pain soon disappeared, however, as conscious left her once again.