The mansion was eerily quiet after the party. Most of the guests had gone, and the hum of distant chatter was now nothing more than a muffled echo. But Yuzuha knew—Dametri wasn't done with her yet. The night wasn't over.
She was led through the darkened hallways of the mansion, the floor beneath her feet cold and unforgiving. Dametri's presence was like a storm behind her, the weight of his every step pressing down on her shoulders. Her pulse quickened, but she forced herself to breathe steadily, to maintain the last shred of composure.
When they reached the door to his private chambers, Dametri didn't speak. He simply unlocked it, stepping aside for her to enter. The room felt colder than the hallways, the air thick with a sense of foreboding.
Yuzuha's heart beat harder, each thrum a painful reminder of what she'd been enduring—what she still had to endure.
Dametri closed the door behind them with a soft click, the sound cutting through the silence like a knife. His eyes never left her as he approached, slowly, deliberately. Yuzuha didn't move, standing frozen in the center of the room, her hands trembling at her sides.
"Do you know what happens to those who defy me, Yuzuha?"His voice was a low growl, every word coated with malice. "You can pretend to play your little games all you want, but you can't escape the consequences."
Yuzuha swallowed hard but kept her head held high. "I haven't escaped yet, have I?"she replied, her voice trembling just enough to betray her.
Dametri's lips curled into a twisted smile, the corners of his mouth twitching as if he found her defiance amusing. "That's the thing about you, Yuzuha,"he said, stepping closer. "You think you can stand up to me. You think I'm the one who's trapped, when in reality, you're already beneath me."
Before she could respond, he was upon her, grabbing her by the arm with a grip so tight it felt like her bones might snap. She gasped, but he didn't give her the chance to recover. He spun her around, slamming her against the cold stone wall.
"Do you feel that?" he whispered into her ear, his voice soft and deadly. "That's your body telling you who's in charge."
The sudden force of the impact left her breathless, and she struggled against him, but her limbs felt like lead. He was too strong. Too overwhelming.
"Stop,"she gasped, but the word was weak, pathetic.
Dametri chuckled darkly, his hand trailing down the length of her back, leaving behind a trail of fire in its wake. "You think I'll stop? You think that because you say the word, I'll just walk away?"
He spun her back around so that they were face-to-face, his eyes gleaming with a cold, cruel intensity. "You don't get to control anything, Yuzuha. Not here. Not now. And you never will."
Yuzuha's chest tightened, the weight of his words crushing her, but she pushed it down, clinging to the last of her resistance. Not yet.
His hand found the side of her face, gripping her jaw roughly as he forced her to look at him. "Do you think you're some kind of fighter? That your defiance means something?"His voice dropped to a dangerous whisper. "I can break you. I can tear down everything you've built, and you'll have nothing left."
The sharp pain in her jaw flared, but she kept her eyes locked on his. She would never let him see her weakness.
Dametri laughed at her stubbornness, an eerie sound that made her skin crawl. "You're an interesting one, Yuzuha. Most would have begged by now, but you..."His fingers tightened. "You still think you have power, don't you?"
She didn't answer. Instead, she spat in his face.
For a moment, there was only silence. Then, slowly, Dametri wiped the spit from his cheek, his expression unreadable.
"You really don't learn, do you?"he said, his voice calm, dangerously so. "You think you can fight me, resist me?You're just a puppet, Yuzuha, and I hold the strings."
Before she could react, he gripped her by the throat, lifting her off the ground with an ease that made her vision blur. His face was inches from hers, his cold, unfeeling eyes staring into hers as he watched her struggle for air.
"Tell me, Yuzuha,"Dametri murmured, his voice almost too quiet to hear, "Do you still think you can escape me?"
Her lungs burned. Her vision blurred at the edges. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest, but she didn't answer him. She refused.
He threw her back against the wall, her body slamming against the unforgiving surface with a sickening thud. She gasped for breath, pain flooding her body as she crumpled to the floor, but Dametri wasn't done.
"Get up,"he ordered coldly, his voice sharp and commanding. "You're not going to get out of this so easily."
Yuzuha didn't move. She couldn't. Her body ached, and her vision was spinning. Her mind screamed for escape, but there was no escape. Not from him. Not from this.
Dametri's eyes darkened, and he took a step toward her, kneeling down so that he was at eye level with her. His fingers grabbed her chin once more, lifting her face to meet his. "You know, Yuzuha,"he whispered softly, his tone almost affectionate, "I could break you in so many ways. But I think I'll make you beg first."
The words were venom, each one sinking deeper into her soul. He could do it. He could break her.
But she would never beg.
"You want me to beg?"she whispered, her voice hoarse, a hint of defiance still lingering. "You think that would give you control over me?"
Dametri's smile was cruel, almost amused. "I don't need you to beg, Yuzuha. I just need you to understand that you have no choice. You will bend to me. And one day, when you're completely mine, you'll remember this moment. You'll remember who made you what you are."
His fingers dug into her skin, bruising her jaw. Yuzuha gritted her teeth, refusing to cry out, refusing to let him win.
But inside, something was cracking. Something deep and buried.
And Dametri knew it.