Forever Caged [Complete]

Pure coincidence that this is the 'unlucky' chapter. I thought it was funny when I divided up the roleplay posts and it turned out this way.
Sometimes I believe Ember would make a good rapist because of how well she plays Rendell.

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Chapter 13: Switch


Lesara was rummaging through his things and making sure he was all packed up for his trip. He gave Cherry and Arna their orders for while he was away, and was dashing this way and that, making sure he forgot nothing. Finally, he called up the stairs. "Reyvn! Are you ready?"

Reyvn came down the stairs, his heavy suitcase thudding behind him. He tried not to let it hit so hard, but he wasn't quite strong enough to lift it. He made it to the bottom, and sighed. "Ready, Master Lesara." He had a brown leather bound book tucked under one arm, obviously intending on taking it with him. He'd gotten much better at reading in the past couple weeks, thinking his vocabulary by now was colossal. The book under his arm was a fictional tale about shad and elementals, which was aimed at audiences over his age. He was quite pleased with himself, and thankful Lesara had taught him to read. He could even hold a pencil now, though his letters were still very messy. He held the book out so Lesara could see. "May I take this with me?"

Lesara investigated the book. "Of course. But how on earth did you get it past the lions? Have you been talking with them recently?" He picked up the boy's suitcase while Arna and Cherry helped load everything else up. "Rendell has a nice collection of books too. You'll like it there."

Reyvn gave Lesara a small smile. "Thank you. And, I just asked them. They said they liked how well I cleaned the library, and let me take it." He glanced at Arna, his smile faltering just a little as he thought about the words spoken to him about Rendell. Arna said he couldn't be trusted, but Lesara seemed to trust Rendell well enough. He supposed he'd just have to be cautious until he understood the man.

All too soon, Lesara and Reyvn were bouncing along the road that led to Rendell's home, which was more secluded than Lesara's. The trees were so thick it made the naga wonder how the carriage got between them. Soon, they were in front of a dark manor. The stones that made the walls were stained with time and ivy growth. The bushes in the front made somewhat of a maze, with marble statues popping up here and there.

On the steps past the maze waited Rendell with a glass of wine in hand. "Hello!" he called out, waving a hand casually.

Lesara took Reyvn by the hand and led him through the maze with ease. "Hello, there. I brought Reyvn and all his things. Take good care of him," Lesara told Rendell. He turned to Reyvn and hugged him. "Remember, if you be a good boy, I'll bring you back something pretty."

Reyvn watched the scenery slip by through the window, finding the place a little eerie. He let Lesara lead him through the maze, and found his heart starting to race. Why? He took a closer look at everything, then realized the reason. It was too much. It was too similar to Koumori's mansion. Everything seemed grim and overshadowed, and his small wings twitched in anxiousness. Something felt...off about this place. Like nature didn't quite agree with whatever had happened, and his own body reacted to it. He looked at Rendell when they cleared the maze, and felt his hands get cold. He decided then, that he really did not want to be here or anywhere near Rendell. But what choice did he have? He wrapped his arms around Lesara a little too tightly, not wanting the naga to leave. "All right," he said quietly.

Rendell waved goodbye at the carriage. He pushed the heavy, ornate door open and held it for Reyvn. "Don't worry about your baggage, I'll take care of it," he said. As he walked in, the shadows seemed to back away. The house was unusually grim, and some of the furniture had dusty sheets on it, only adding to the eeriness of the place. "Please forgive that it is dark, I do not much care for light."

Reyvn frowned, watching Lesara's carriage disappear back into the trees. He turned and went inside, then waited for Rendell to show him where to go. He followed the man, looking around cautiously. He memorized as much as he could, but wished he didn't have to. He would have loved to simply turn right back around and go after that carriage. "I don't mind," he said softly. He had grown up in the shadows, after all.

Rendell opened the door to what looked like a hardly used sun-room. Potted plants lined one of the walls, all their leaves turned towards the dusty windows. Crisp white sheets had been laid out on a squishy new mattress and a small book case squatted next to the bed. On top of the book case was a tablet and a few pens. "Lesara told me you have this liking for light, so I hope this will be suitable. This room does not get much use, but please, make yourself at home."

Reyvn squinted at the sudden brightness of the room, waiting for his eyes to adjust. He hadn't expected any room to get any sun, judging by the house's setup or the landscape outside. He was glad to see the man was considerate, at least. He stepped inside, inspecting it a bit before turning to face Rendell. "I like it; thank you."

Rendell nodded. "Your case will be up shortly. Dinner is at eight. I might call you up to my chambers before then. You'll know." With a sharp turn, he left and closed the door behind him. He wasted no time vanishing into the shadows, shaking his head to rid himself of the headache the sudden light gave him.

Reyvn sighed, then frowned after the door shut. He already knew he wasn't going to like it here. He set his book on the top of the short bookcase before examining the tablet and pens on it. He set the pad of paper and one of the pens on the bed then sat down on the plush mattress and pulled off his shoes. He looked around for a clock, and found a simple wooden one set on the nightstand near the head of the bed. It was still early afternoon, so it'd be a good while until dinner. He flipped open the tablet, picked up the pen, and began to sketch.

Meanwhile, Rendell was in his room, untangling a series of leather straps. "Hmm... this should do nicely," he said to himself. He then remembered Reyvn's case by the front door. Ought to deal with that, he thought. Dark tentacles crept from the shadows and swallowed the case, then spat it out by Reyvn's door. He sighed to himself, smiling. It had been too long since he last had fresh meat to play his powers on. Arna was getting far too used to it, and with Reyvn being so scarred up, it would be easy to hide any new marks.

Reyvn heard a thud at his door, and set his things down and went to open it. He looked down at his case, confused for a moment. He leaned out of the doorway, looking around. Did Rendell have other servants? He didn't see any. He sighed, and hauled the luggage through. He set it at the foot of his bed, then sat back down and continued drawing. When he was done, he tore out the sheet of paper, folded it thin, then found the dog-eared page in his book and slid the paper between the pages. Now he had a proper bookmark.

Rendell occupied himself with untangling his ropes and cleaning his harnesses. Soon, the chimes rang for supper. He bled through the shadows to the dining room, where a vast spread was placed on the table. All too much for one person, but the boy was still growing. Who knew how much he ate? He sat and waited for Reyvn.

Reyvn heard bells, and glanced at the clock. Finally, dinner. The hours seemed to drag by, and he'd gotten pretty hungry by now. He set down his book, then left the room and headed for where he thought the dining room might be. He was careful where he stepped, believing for some reason that if he walked wrong there'd be a trap to fall into.

Rendell smiled when the boy made it to the kitchen by himself. "Keen nose?" he said casually. He daintily cut his steak and took a bite. He hated eating this meat, it got caught in his canines, but it tasted so good. He looked at the boy, not bothering to conceal his hunger. Would the boy taste better?

Reyvn took a seat not too close to Rendell, and glanced at him. "I guess so," he said quietly, before picking out a few things and setting them on his plate. He cut the steak into squares before popping one into his mouth, and decided he liked the flavor. A lot. He downed another bite before sampling the colorful clump of vegetables. They tasted good, too. But he couldn't help but feel...uncomfortable. Maybe it was the way Rendell looked at him, or the sheer eeriness of the manor, or the way the shadows sometimes didn't cast right, or that they seemed like the only two people in the entire house. He decided it was all of these things. After a few more bites, he looked up at the blonde again. "Is there...anyone else in this house?" He was sure there must be, because how else could the food be here?

Rendell nodded. "Of course. I have a few cooks and a maid, but they stay out of sight. The people in this house get headaches easily." He thought it was a silly question, but the boy would learn soon enough. He continued eating, thinking about what else he should tell Reyvn, but thought it best he find things out for himself after a moment of internal debating.

"I see." Reyvn turned his attention back to his plate, then began eating again. He stirred his vegetables into his mashed potatoes, and before much longer he was done. He sat back, relaxing for a moment before looking again at Rendell. "What do I do with this?" he asked, indicating his plate. Normally Cherry or Arna would clean up the table, but he wasn't certain whether to leave it or clean it himself here.

Rendell stood up. "Just leave it. The maze is open if you desire to be outside tonight. Don't go too far though," he warned. "At ten, I expect you to be in your room. I will speak to you after that, if you are not tired." With that, he departed.

Reyvn frowned, deciding he didn't like Rendell's attitude. He got up, leaving the dishes, and headed back to his room. He didn't much like the maze of bushes, though the plants themselves were pretty. The entire estate just made his skin crawl and his wings twitch, and he certainly didn't wish to be in the garden at night. He shut his bedroom door, and sat back on the bed. He was glad he'd selected such a thick book, because he didn't want to finish it quickly and then have nothing to do while Lesara was away. He picked up where he left off, where the tricky wind elemental was leading the main characters through a foggy forest. He'd glance at the clock every so often, and at about nine-thirty he began to doze with the book on his chest.

Rendell heard the clock chime ten, and slipped into Reyvn's room via shadows. It was fun using his powers to sneak up on people. In one hand, he had a bundle of leather straps. He reached out and touched Reyvn gently with the other.

Reyvn was just on the edge of sleep, images flickering through his mind. His wings twitched at the sudden presence of magick, and he jolted awake when Rendell touched his shoulder. He gasped, quickly jerking away and scooting back before he realized who it was. He closed his eyes and sighed before marking his place in the book and setting it aside. As he looked back up at Rendell, his eyes paused on the straps in the man's hand. Oh no, what plans were there? "...Master Rendell?"

Rendell smiled, his canines glinting in the light. "Are you tired?"

Reyvn gave a small nod. "A little, but I'm all right." He didn’t like where this was going.

"Good," Rendell almost purred. Like whips being slung, tendrils of darkness lashed out of the shadows and yanked Reyvn in. Darkness was everywhere, blinding, and all that could be heard was Rendell's deep voice, almost humming. "Don't scream now," he said. Just as quickly as they were swallowed, Reyvn was ejected onto a large, four-poster bed with black satin sheets. Rendell was right behind him and landed neatly on the floor next to the bed.

Reyvn would have screamed if he wasn't so stricken with fear. He found himself thrown face-first onto a soft, silken bed, and pushed himself up on his knees. His eyes adjusted quickly to the sudden darkness, and he looked about. He saw two heavy wooden bedposts, and didn't need to look behind him to know that there were two more. He recognized this scenario, and quickly turned to sit and scoot back. He felt his body tense and grow cold from the sudden fear. He watched Rendell, eyes wide. "Please...don't."

Rendell grinned wider as tentacles crept from the shadows and wrapped around Reyvn's wrists and ankles. The boy was forced into the air and pulled into the spread-eagle position. "Don't worry, I'm just taking measurements. For now," Rendell told him. The tentacles lowered the boy so he was in front of the demon, and he began measuring him here and there, not sparing the occasional squeeze.

Reyvn shrieked, trying to grasp at the bed to keep the shadows from taking him. He pulled at the black tendrils, but when they didn't give, he stopped struggling. He squirmed under Rendell's touches, not liking any of it all.

Once Rendell was done molesting the boy, the tentacles threw him back on the bed and held him down tight. One more slithered over his mouth to quiet him before he started to scream while Rendell opened an armoire that seemed cluttered with blades that caught the dim candlelight.

Reyvn gasped when he was again tossed onto the bed, then felt something soft and cold wrap around his mouth. What the hell was this man? He caught sight of the assortment of blades in front of Rendell, and renewed his struggling. No, no no no, this was not happening again. This man was as bad as Koumori, if not already worse due to the shadow magick. He pulled hard at the shadows, but they didn't budge. He kept quiet, and instead made his wings shrink away and disappear. If he was going to be hurt, he certainly didn't want any damage done to them.

Rendell rummaged around for a moment, testing the sharpness of this blade or the edge of that. Finally, something caught his eye. He pulled out a very chunky silver ring and slid it over his finger. On the ring was an effigy of Death, his scythe curving down to make a sharp blade that reached past Rendell's fingertip. He went to the boy, and sliced open the material on his thigh, just barely grazing the skin.
"You know," he said, "this happens to be one of my personal favorites. It's small, yet efficient. I like efficiency." His eyes glowed orange in the darkness as he leered at Reyvn.

Reyvn was only slightly relieved that Rendell picked out such a small blade. Those ring-blades were commonly used by Koumori too, when he was intending to just tease and scratch. He already figured Rendell would be more violent, but at least he knew he'd still be in one piece after this. His leg tensed and tried to flinch from the demon’s touch, his own meeting the glowing ones boring into him.

Rendell grinned at Reyvn. "You know this has a partner, don't you?" He continued carving away at Reyvn's clothes. The tentacles pulled the boy's limbs this way and that, making his body more accessible to the blade. Other tentacles shredded and mended the leather straps behind them, while one more came out with a gleaming tip. He brought it close to the boy's throat. "Are you scared?"