Tasting Darkness
Chapter 56: Aleera POV

The next morning, I awoke cold; Darius walked into the room and tossed some clothes at me.” Get dressed and get to class,” he snapped. I looked at the clothes on the bed and scrambled for them, snatching them and chucking them on. Anything for the extra warmth they would provide. I was just thankful he wouldn’t make me go to class in my bra undies. Darius stood in the doorway, watching as I got changed.

He growled when I took too long, and I looked down at my feet, which were still bare. Great, back to no shoes again, thought. At least I had pants and a blouse. “You try to run, you try to speak to anyone; I will retake your voice,” he said before waving his hand and giving me my voice back. Warmth tickled my throat, and I went to explain I wasn’t running. The moment my lips moved, he gripped my throat.

“That means speaking to me too; I don’t want to hear it. Now get to f*****g class,” Darius sneered before turning on his heel and leaving me. I swallowed and walked down to breakfast, hoping that Tobias would feed Ryze. Worrying about him kept me up most of the night, and I wondered if Ryze caught his own dinner last night when I didn’t come up to see him. I made m y way to the mess hall. The moment I stepped in, all eyes went to me. I grabbed a sandwich and moved to an empty table.

Something felt off this morning. I didn’t know what, but something felt different as I glanced around the crowded room. Leering eyes watched me from where I sat alone in the mess hall. M y usual spot was taken, preferring to be closest to the exit where I mainly remained unnoticed. Closer to the door was safest because it gave me an escape route.

Their sleazy gazes had me on edge as they watched me hungrily. I hated this place. There were no other women here. Most of all, I hated being the subject they loved to torment. All made worse by the fact I am powerless to stop them.

The surrounding chatter quieted down and made me quickly glance around before I ducked my head when I noticed them. Darius had entered the room with my other three mates. They walked to the back of the room and took seats at the back, which I thought was a little odd; I rarely saw them here. It appeared they had something to talk about with their recruits because Darius spoke about some crap I showed no interest in knowing. Keeping my head down, I ate quickly, wanting nothing more than to get the hell out of here and also worried if Kalen tried t o speak to me, I would be forced to ignore him or lose my voice if I tried.

However, the moment I stood up and went to chuck my rubbish in the bin, my muscles spasmed, my feet faltered as I tried to take a step away from the table, and my entire body locked up with one command.

“Aleera, freeze,” came a voice. I recognized the voice instantly and dreaded what he would do this time.

My entire body stopped at the command. I couldn’t move an inch, and everyone erupted with laughter. Oh, how I tried, but I couldn’t so much as wiggle a toe. What were these savage men going to subject me to this time. They never usually went this far. Usually, they tormented m e, chased me, hurt me. However, this was the first time they used compulsion on me, and it felt wrong as every muscle in my body tensed.

My eyes went to my mates at the back; Darius, Tobias, and Lycus watched from the far table. They were always happy to witness my suffering. Kalen, however, glanced around the room before he looked at me and dropped his head.

My stomach dropped when Zac got up from his seat. My lungs constricted at the cruel smirk plastered on his face. Zac sauntered over to me before he stopped in front of me. His eyes hungrily looked me over from head to toe. Zac was the worst out of all the recruits I have come across here. The vile bastard had no boundaries. He was usually behind my worst degradation. Zac walked around me slowly and plucked the sandwich wrapper from my fingers while I remained unmoving.

“Stand up straight,” he ordered, and I gritted my teeth. My forced body did as commanded as Zac’s cold magic caressed over me. A violent shudder ran through me in repulsion as I tried to fight against the command, but it was pointless. I was a puppet on strings, and he was the puppet master at this moment.

“Nothing to say, Aleera?” he chuckled, and the entire room erupted with laughter. Except for my mates that watched from the back with expressionless faces.

“Nothing I say will stop you. Did you want me to beg? Beg for you not to do whatever vile thing it is you intend to do?” I spat at him, knowing I would probably lose my voice for speaking

Being trapped in this place, I learned quickly not to beg. It just made the torment worse when I did. They didn’t care that I was female; they didn’t care I was powerless. All they cared about was the control they had over me.

“You’re right. It wouldn’t stop me; the guys and I want you to put on a show for us,” Zac said i n an amused tone. I glanced around the room to replace the men all were leaning forward eagerly; one even winked at me while another licked his lips.

My eyes darted to the table where my mates sat. Not a scrap of emotion was shown on their faces for what I was about to endure. They would not help me, not that I expected them to. They never did. If they just told them who I was to them, if their soldiers only knew. I wouldn’t have to deal with this shit daily. However, I knew they would deny it if I spoke up.

Darius had threatened to kill me if I told anyone here who I was to them. So I had kept my mouth shut. They hated me, and the feeling was mutual. Yet, I couldn’t bear to see them hurt, s

o how could they watch my humiliation with no expression at all?

My eyes went back to Zac, who looked me up and down. Was he going to make me dance? What did he mean by a show? I was already on display. How much worse can it get?

“You could always say no?” Zac teased before he scoffed.

“Oh, that’s right, you can’t. Poor helpless Aleera, always so easily influenced, so easily overpowered, must truly suck being the weakest form of Fae,” He mocked. His demonic eves ran the length of me in a sleazy, obscene way. His gaze stopped at my breasts, and I felt my stomach drop somewhere deep and cold within me. I knew what he was going to say before he said it. Prayed, I was mistaken, but his following words confirmed my thoughts.

“Strip, Aleera,” Zac said, his voice coming out like a purr. I blinked at him, tried to fight his compulsion with everything in me, even though I knew it was pointless. My eyes burned as tears threatened to spill, and my hands shook as I tried to resist doing what he asked.

“All of it, I want to see you completely bare” My fingers forcibly undo the buttons on my black blouse. My breathing became harsher as I tried to resist his compulsion. A sob tore from my lips that sounded more like a whimper. My vision blurred as my top fell open and revealed my black bra. Zac gripped my shirt and yanked it, my shirt tearing painfully from my body under the force he used. My scars were on display for everyone to see. The worst was the burn that went from my shoulder to my h*p.

The men watching hollered and whistled, and some even poked fun at my burned, scar-ravaged skin. Was this high school? Were they truly this immature? Fully grown men, and they were all subjecting me to this. Worst of all, my mates just watched. Although I noticed Kalen looked away when my eyes fell on him; he almost appeared to look guilty, like he wanted to step in and stop it. My fingers were still working to undo the buttons and zip on my black slacks. My eyes stung from the tears that brimmed and spilled over as I bent over to remove my pants.

“Please stop,” I choked out as I stood upright. How could they all be so cruel?

“All of it,” Zac commanded again.

My entire body shook at his command, my cheeks burned with the humiliation, tears ran down my cheeks and dripped off my chin, and I could hear them all talking and laughing.

My bottom l*p trembled as my hands reached behind my back and fumbled with the clasp of m y bra. A hiccuped sob left me as it unclipped. I couldn’t handle it, so I clenched my eyes shut so I didn’t see their faces watching me. I hoped it was stuck, but of course, it would come undone easily and expose me more.

Zac’s hand ran down my arm from my shoulder to my elbow as he pulled the strap of my bra down. My eyes flew open at his touch, his other hand moved to my h*p, and I felt the bile rise i n my throat. The feel of his hands on me disgusted me. I wondered how far he would take this. Looking over at my mates, Kalen got up and walked out along with Lycus. Darius and Tobias, however, were enjoying my torment.

“Hurry, Aleera, take it off, take it all off,” Zac purred, as he tugged my bra strap off my other shoulder. I stared at Darius. Is this what he wanted? Was this still not humiliating enough? His eyes darkened when Zac ran his hand up my side before grabbing my breast roughly. He twisted my nipple painfully, making me cry out, and I felt more tears spill over as my bra fell away. The room erupted with whistles and vulgar taunts.

Darius and Tobias could stop this, and I pleaded with my eyes for them to step in, just this once, and not subject me to this. My hands shook violently as they reached for my panties. It was the last article of clothing I had left, the one place left untouched.

My fingers gripped them, and I closed my eyes and went to tug them down. When something wet splattered on my face and skin. The sound was so sickening it made my eyes fly open to see b***d drops on the floor before b***d pooled around my feet. Zac’s command was suddenly gone, and I felt the weight of it lift when arms wrapped around me, crushing me against a warm chest.

My entire body shook, and the place fell silent. Tobias’s scent wafted to my nose, and a choked sob left me; I hated them, f*****g hated them, but his body was the only thing shielding me from the watchful eyes of everyone else. The thunderous growl that echoed around the room made me whimper.

When suddenly all the windows exploded with Darius’s rage, the blast sent shards of glass everywhere before I heard more sickening tearing sounds, b***d washed over my toes, and I heard popping sounds followed by screams. B***d spatter hit me from everywhere, coating me in b***d, and Tobias was murmuring something, but I couldn’t understand anything until Darius’s voice boomed through the room. His words left no room for debate or argument and I shook as publicly claimed me.

“Nobody touches our f*****g mate,” He snarled. The collective gasp from those present was audible. My toes squelched in the b***d, and I looked down and could see Zac’s body by my feet. The room cleared quickly, the screech of chairs was loud as everyone took off and ran out.

“Get her back to her room while I clean this up,” Darius snapped at Tobias, who turned to steer me toward the portal Darius opened.

Bile rose in my throat when I saw b***d covering the walls and ceiling, b***d everywhere along with limbs. Zac was dead, and his entire group of friends, the man that licked his lips at me also dead, a few I recognized that catcalled and whistled also blown to shreds, their limbs lying everywhere like they suddenly exploded, while Zac’s body was in pieces. His hands were removed, his head was almost severed off completely, hanging beside his body, and a hole lay i n the center of his chest. Tobias pushed me through the portal which led to my room. The moment I was in my room, I smacked into Tobias.

“You just let them, you just let them do it!” I screamed, smacking and punching him. Tobias whimpered, and my fist connected with his face. Tobias tried to restrain me, but I wouldn’t stop. I hated them, hated them, they all just watched. Tobias became angry, pushed me back before walking back through the portal and disappearing as it closed. As soon as it did, my knees gave out beneath and turned into a sobbing mess as my knees hit the floor.