Yuzuha's grip on reality was slipping, as if the very fabric of time and space had unraveled in this dark, suffocating place. The walls loomed around her, darkened shadows that pressed in, heavy and oppressive. They seemed alive, pulsating with a sinister energy, folding in on her, pulling her into their embrace. She couldn't even remember how many days had passed, or how long it had been since Dametri—masked, silent—fed her, kept her alive in this hellish labyrinth. One meal a day, a cold, mechanical exchange. No warmth. No kindness. Just the relentless silence of the void.
Her eyes drifted to the stone wall, the blade-scrawled letters burned into her mind like a brand. DAMETRI.His name, a twisted reminder of the madness that had gripped her life. She reached out instinctively, her fingers brushing over the jagged scars that marked her skin, the phantom pain of it alive in her veins.
"Yuzuha, my little throne,"his voice slithered into her thoughts, so low, so dark, it cut through her like a blade. The words weren't just spoken—they commanded, they mocked, and the weight of them crushed her chest. He was the puppeteer, always in control. And she? She was nothing more than a marionette, dangling from strings she couldn't even see, her every move dictated by his will. The cold, unforgiving chains around her wrists were the only reality she had left. They were a part of her now—an extension of the torment, of the endless despair.
Her breath caught in her throat as his form emerged from the shadows, towering, his grin the only thing visible beneath the mask. The darkness seemed to cling to him, feeding off the pain he caused. He reveled in it, bathed in it, his power over her growing with each passing second. The chains—she could feel them tightening, as if to remind her of just how little she mattered.
"Listen, Yuzuha," he murmured, his voice a slow, venomous drawl. "These doors are your fate." His eyes glinted, cruel amusement flickering in their depths. "One choice. One decision. And the consequences are irreversible."
The doors. Two options, two fates. The first door—Escape. White, pristine, promising freedom, a false hope dangling in front of her like a carrot on a string. The second—Stay. It beckoned like the darkness itself. Dametri's voice slithered again, sharp and cold. "You know what they mean."
Escape. What did it even mean anymore? To leave this place? Could she even escape the scars that marked her soul? Could she escape the fact that she had already lost so much? Haruto… had she lost him too?
Her heart thudded in her chest, each beat a thundering reminder of her torment. One decision. The countdown began, echoing in her mind like a death knell. The seconds stretched on, an eternity in each fleeting moment. What do I have left to lose?
"One, two, three..." Dametri's voice was mocking, a twisted lullaby in the midst of the chaos. Each number felt like a lash against her resolve, pushing her closer to the edge. Could she even make a choice? Was it even hers to make?
"Four… five."
The finality of it, the weight of the choice, settled like a stone in her chest. Her body shook as the words slipped from her lips, broken and fragile. "I choose the first door. Escape."
Dametri's smile was a cruel twist of satisfaction, his eyes gleaming with the promise of more pain to come. "Are you sure, little throne?"
She was no longer sure of anything, not of her choices, not of her will to survive. But she couldn't stay here. She couldn't bear this suffocating nightmare. Her hand reached out, trembling, to grasp the chains. Escape.
With a flick of his wrist, the door creaked open. The light that spilled through the crack made her heart race, her pulse quickening as she braced herself. But when her eyes fell upon the figure waiting in the room beyond, her heart shattered.
It was him. Haruto.
But it wasn't the Haruto she remembered. The playful grin, the warmth in his eyes, were gone. Instead, he stood broken, his body battered and bruised, chained and shackled. His once vibrant spirit had been reduced to a hollow shell, a reflection of everything she had feared. His head hung low, his energy stolen, replaced with emptiness.
"Haruto..."Her voice cracked, a ragged breath escaping her as disbelief ripped through her. "No. No… this can't be happening."
Her world spun, her vision blurring with tears as she turned to Dametri, her chest tightening with rage and anguish. "What have you done to him? What do you want from him?"
Dametri stepped forward, his grin widening, dark amusement dancing in his eyes. "You think you're the only one who suffers, Yuzuha? You think you're the only one trapped in this game?"He spoke as if it was all some cruel game, a toy to be twisted for his amusement. "Everyone you care about is just a pawn. Just like you."
Her breath hitched as she looked into Haruto's eyes—those once bright, hopeful eyes now dull and haunted. "I—I'm sorry,"he whispered, his voice so weak, it shattered her. "I never wanted this. I... I developed feelings for you. Is that a crime?"
The words felt like a knife to her heart, cutting deep. Feelings? Haruto? A confession, when everything was falling apart? Had he really fallen for her in the midst of all this horror?
"Feelings?" Her voice trembled, barely a whisper. "You… you betrayed me, Haruto?"
Dametri's laughter filled the room, a mocking sound that echoed through her very bones. "Betrayed? No, Yuzuha. He's just another piece on the board. Like you." He pressed a button on the remote in his hand, and before her eyes, everything shattered.
Flames erupted in front of her, a sudden inferno that consumed Haruto in a cruel, fiery embrace. His scream was torn from his lips, but it was lost in the roar of the flames, his body disintegrating before her eyes. Her heart stopped. The air left her lungs. Haruto was gone.
"NOOO!" The scream ripped from her throat, raw, desperate, filled with a pain she couldn't even begin to understand. "NOOO!"
She fell to her knees, her hands reaching for something that no longer existed. The tears fell freely, uncontrollably, as her sobs echoed in the suffocating silence. Her world, her heart, had shattered. She had nothing left.
"Why? Why him?" she gasped, her voice breaking under the weight of her grief.
Dametri's voice was a dark caress, almost soothing in its cruelty. "Because, my dear, this is what happens when you lose everything. This is what you become when you see the world for what it really is. A game. A cruel, unforgiving game."
His fingers brushed against her hair, trailing down her cheek, his touch cold, like a predator savoring its prey. "I will show you the truth, Yuzuha. The darkest, most twisted truths. I'll show you how ugly this world really is."
Her world had already shattered, but now, in the face of this relentless cruelty, she was left to pick up the pieces of what was once a life—if there was anything left at all.