Alexandra's POV—
Ah... Wha... I-I... my body hurts too much. Am I alive? I tried to open eyes. With some difficulty, I opened my eyes. I flinched in shock when I saw a group of people looking at me as I was a specimen for them. I tried to open my mouth but I wasn't able to utter a single word. I looked over my body and found my arms and legs were tied up with ropes. My mouth was gagged as well.
I glared at them and frantically struggled in my bindings. "Mphmm!! Mphmm!!" It was useless as my mouth was blocked. Only muffled sounds were heard.
"Don't struggle, woman. It's futile," said an old man. I immediately turned my attention towards him. He was wearing extravagant clothes. He was bald and held a stick in his hand.
The old man continued, "My name is Tom. I am the patriarch of this house," he turned towards the rest of the people around him and pointed them one by one, "Henry, Mona, Laura, and Keiran... these are my children. Although, there is one more. You will meet him. Oh, I forgot! That woman is my wife, Kiara." The old woman, Keira waved at me.
I glared at her too. I raised my bound hands, signaling them to release me. "Mpphmm!!" A muffled shout came out of my mouth.
"Release you? You want me to release you, don't you? It's regrettable... lass, but I can't release you," said Tom, faking a regrettable face.
I kind of guessed that they didn't intend to release me. The young man, Henry walked towards me. Crouching, he grabbed my face and took out a handkerchief from his pocket. He rubbed it roughly on my face, clearing out the zombies' blood on my face.
"Mphmmm!!" I struggled to get away from his hold but I wasn't able to do anything. Not just the bindings, even my body was restricting my movements. I was still aching and my body lacked stamina.
'System. Where am I?'
[I don't know. But know it very well that you are still in the Disrewk town. After you lost your consciousness, you were caught by these people. You know, I am not surprised that you are in this predicament.]
'Isn't it because you always forget to tell me the important details?'
[It's not my fault. It's yours. But I will entertain you once. Remember you can earn coins by killing the zombies. You can use your earned coins to buy stuff from the store. Levelling pills would make you suffer from backlash and so will the other instantaneous powerup pills.]
'How long do I need to wait to use my powers? I tried but I couldn't use them.' I tried once gain to conjure a dagger in my hands, only to meet with nothing.
[Your metal ability is taking its time to accumulate. While you have levelled up, your ability still needs time to replenish itself. So, you need one more day. Ok~ Good luck, I believe you can get out of here... alive.]
'Wait!!!'
The system didn't respond to me. It left me again. Suddenly, my hair was grabbed roughly. Grimacing in pain, I recollected my focus and glared at Henry, who was grinning at me.
"Focus on us, will you?" warned Henry.
What do they want from me? I am not a zombie if that's what they are worried about.
"You were unconscious for almost three days," said Tom.
His words shocked me completely. The accursed system once again left the crucial information.
Tom continued, "You covered up with blood all over your body. So, we tied you up. We are not taking any risk. But now, we know that you are not a zombie. You are still a human. Henry?"
"Yes, Father?"
"Take off her gag, will you?"
"Yes, I will."
Henry untied the cloth wrapped around my mouth and pulled the stuffing in my mouth as well. I coughed loudly after my mouth was freed. My throat was parched. Even a desert would be less dried than my throat.
"W-what d-do you... want?" I rasped with all my capacity.
Tom smiled at me. He walked towards as Henry took a few steps back, standing in the corner of the room.
"I want you," said a new voice.