Prologue/Epilogue
25 years ago…
Ben’s POV
I glanced up as the door once more opened. Every time it did, I felt dread fill me from head to toe. I hated seeing that door move. Every time it did, nothing but pain and suffering followed. But no matter how much I screamed and begged, no matter how much I cried for mercy, I was given none…
The Whipping Man entered!
A whine slipped my lips seeing him. His face was saddened as always, but despite being the only person here who cared for me in this hellhole, even he couldn’t defy the King’s orders…
“I’m so sorry, my boy,” he said softly, as he let the silver whip fall to the ground with a clang. “But the King has ordered another round of lashings.”
My eyes immediately filled with tears, and I struggled to silence my sobs. Even if I fought it, I knew it was in vain. My wrists were held by silver chains, and the second The Whipping Man spun the lever, I would be strung up like a pig ready for slaughter.
Naked…
Exposed!
The chains clanked and groaned as they moved across the stone floor, echoing in the emptiness around us. All too soon I felt the familiar tug against my wrists, and I couldn’t hold back a sob.
“Pl-pl-please!”
I begged. It had been days, I think, since my last lashing. Blessed peace where my wounds had healed and I’d been eating stale bread, savoring it because I didn’t know when I’d be fed next. There was even a part of me that longed and wished that the King may have forgotten me, and would just leave me here to die in peace…
But my prayer went unanswered...
And the Whipping Man returned!
Why?
Why did the King hate me so?
What had I done to deserve this?
“I’m sorry, my boy,” The Whipping Man once again said, when my feet no longer reached the floor. “But I have to do as the King’s demands. I can’t disobey his command!”
“You’re a MONSTER after all!”
I heard the whip crack before I felt the burning pain. It sliced my back from shoulder to spine, making me arch and scream in pain. By the time the second crack came, my screams were silent, and my tears dried up. By the third one, my whole body felt like it was on fire as the silver tore my flesh open. It felt like being burned alive, only no death would release me from this hellfire...
Occasionally a scream would still escape my lips, but after a while I could barely recognize my own voice. I didn’t understand why this was happening to me. One moment I’d been at home, waiting for my mother and father to return from a mission. And the next I’d been taken away along with all of my father’s men. I remembered them asking what to do with me. Some even said to let me go, because “he’s just a kid”!
But I’d somehow ended up here instead…
Tortured and hated!
Why?
Why was this happening to me?
Blood dripped from my toes and gathered in a puddle beneath me. Between strikes, I did the stupid thing and looked down and saw my own reflection. Wondering if the red in my eyes was blood, or---
Suddenly, I felt like every fiber in my body was on fire. Everything inside of me felt like it was boiling, and my skin seemed to tear itself apart. My bones snapped and reformed into--- what?!
I didn’t understand---!
What--- what was happening to me?
I screamed and--- growled?!
Something inside me tore out, and I was powerless to stop it. It dragged me down, filling my mind with darkness and rage. Red rage that felt as thick as the blood that pooled by my feet. It was angry, vengeful, and powerful. It was rage and pain personified. And there was only one thing going through his mind...
Kill!
“Good,” I heard The Whipping Man say, an evil smirk on his face. “Soon you’ll be ready! And you’ll help me take down the Werewolf King!”
I didn’t know what he was talking about.
All I felt was pain!
Hot, burning pain…
And someone chanting the same word over and over again…
Kill…
Kill!
KILL!!!
