[Content Warning: This chapter contains graphic violence, torture, and disturbing imagery. Reader discretion is advised.]
Nero's eyes fluttered open. His head throbbed, vision blurred. When it cleared, he realized he was strapped to a chair, wrists tied tightly behind him. A single lightbulb swung above him, casting a pale cone of light over his body while the rest of the room lay in darkness.
"Shit," Thom's voice cut through the gloom. "He's already waking up. Anika, should I give him another dose?"
From somewhere behind Nero came her calm reply. "No need. Elias, you ready?"
Confused, sluggish, his body still heavy from the drug, Nero forced himself to focus. Dorne stepped into the light, holding something metallic in his hand. He crouched low, meeting Nero's half-lidded gaze.
"Should've known it wouldn't last long on you," Dorne said with a crooked smile. "But I really hoped you'd stay out cold for this part."
Do what? Nero thought, his drugged mind unable to form the words aloud.
Dorne stood, moving behind him. Thom handed Anika a thick steel screw, nearly as long as Nero's hand. Then, with a cold click, Dorne pulled the trigger on the object in his hand. A drill whirred to life.
He patted Nero's head gently, almost mockingly. "I'm sorry for what I'm about to do."
Anika wrenched Nero's right arm against the wall, forcing it flat. The drill whined louder, then bit into steel.
The screw pressed into his elbow. Then came the grinding shriek of metal tearing through flesh and bone.
Nero's scream ripped out of him, raw and broken, as blood sprayed across the wall.
He thrashed, muscles straining, but the ropes held firm.
When Dorne finished, Nero's arm was pinned to the wall by the steel rod, and his flesh healed over the screws, sealing them inside his body. This time, there were no dark cracks. His body convulsed from the agony—tears streamed down his face, snot ran from his nose, and spit dripped from his mouth.
Then Anika yanked his other arm across. The drill pressed again. Steel chewed through bone, bursting through his palm and into the wall.
His second scream was worse than the first.
Dorne and Anika stood before him, their clothes splattered red. Dorne cupped Nero's cheek with his blood-soaked hand, smearing crimson across his pale skin.
"You're bleeding again, and there aren't any cracks covering your body," he said with twisted amusement. "Isn't that great? You were so shocked when your arm was chopped off and no blood came out. Aren't you glad you're becoming more… human?"
Nero's chest heaved. Sweat poured. His voice barely scratched the air. "Why?"
Dorne smiled softly. "Wouldn't you like to know? But…" His grin widened. "You'll have to wait a little longer."
He picked up another screw. This one he drove straight through Nero's knee, piercing the tibia and anchoring him to the concrete floor. The drill's shriek mixed with Nero's tortured cry until his throat went hoarse.
Left knee. Then right.
Four rods in total. Both arms, both legs—pinned like a specimen.
Nero slumped against the chair, drenched in blood, sweat, spit, snot, and tears. His body trembled, his breath ragged. His flesh healed over the screws, swallowing them inside.
Dorne looked down at his ruined clothes and laughed bitterly. "Well. That was my favorite T-shirt and jeans. Guess I'm the one who ruined them."
Nero's lips cracked as he whispered again. "Why…?"
Dorne crouched close. His words were almost gentle. "You asked why? Why do this? Simple. We're going to offer you to the king of those creatures. In return… we get power. And immortality."
King…? Nero thought through the haze.
Dorne glanced at Anika. "He's not going anywhere. You can let him go."
Nero felt the ropes loosen—but not by human hands.
Only then did he realize something else had been holding him down.
Something peeled away from him. A figure of shadow slithered back into the dark. It had glowing white eyes, rows of jagged teeth gleaming, its form shifting like smoke. Then, silently, it dissolved into Anika's shadow.
The three of them turned toward the stairs.
Dorne looked back one last time, smiling faintly. "Oh—and FYI, no one can hear your screams. So don't hold back."
The door clanged shut. Silence swallowed the room, broken only by Nero's ragged breaths. He tried to scream again, but the sound scraped out raw, thin. The darkness pressed in, heavy, endless. No one could hear him.
Inside Dorne's house, Vinn and Kato were preparing to head toward Thom's house. As they stepped out, they spotted Thom sprinting toward them.
"Why are you running?" Kato called.
Thom skidded to a stop, breathless. "Where's Nero? Your other teammate… what's her name again?"
"Kee—Rhea," Kato supplied.
"Yeah, Rhea," Thom said, catching his breath. "She sent me to tell you to bring Nero to her. She has questions for him."
Vinn and Kato froze. Kato's voice shook. "Isn't Nero at your place?"
Thom looked confused. "No! He's not there. I just came from there."
Kato swore under his breath. "Shit!"
"Shit? What? Where's Nero?" Thom asked, panic creeping into his tone.
"He said he was going to your place… and told me to check on Vinn," Kato replied.
"Did he… run away?" Vinn asked, dread in his voice.
"Run away? Where would he even go?" Kato said, swallowing hard. "We're screwed if we lose him."
"This is bad," Thom said. "Should I tell Rhea?"
Kato snapped. "Are you crazy? She'd chew us up—or worse. She'd kill us both."
Vinn's jaw tightened. "We need to find him. Kato, let's go."
Thom nodded. "I'll help."
They quickly formed a plan. Kato suggested, "We should check the path Nero was heading toward."
Vinn shook his head. "He could have gone anywhere. Searching the forest at night is going to be a nightmare."
Thom added, "We should split up. Cover more ground that way."
Vinn hesitated. "That's just a way to get picked off one by one."
Kato shrugged. "True, but we can't cover this whole area together. We'll never find him in time."
Vinn exhaled. "Fine. You follow the path Nero took. I'll go the opposite direction." He looked at Thom. "What about you? Do you have any guns? I saw Nero destroy yours earlier, fighting that monster."
"I don't have any," Thom said, "but Dorne has one in his house. I'll grab it and head straight forward."
"Alright," Vinn said, resigned.
Kato added, "You'll need a radio too. Vinn, you head out. I'll get the spare from Strider and start searching."
"Okay, but hurry," Vinn replied, already jogging toward the forest.
Kato and Thom split off. Kato retrieved the radio, and Thom entered Dorne's house to search for a weapon. Vinn disappeared among the trees.
Moments later, Thom emerged from downstairs with a hunting rifle with a suppressor attached to it.
"Will you be alright with that thing? It looks old," Kato asked, examining the gun.
Thom loaded it smoothly. "Don't worry. This baby's more than enough to keep me safe from wildlife."
Kato chuckled. "Fine. Here's the radio. Frequency's set—call us if anything happens."
Thom took it, and they went their separate ways. Kato called out through the radio: "Vinn, Thom and I have started the search."
"Copy that, Kato," Vinn replied. "Alert everyone if you find him."
"Alright," Kato and Thom answered.
The call cut off.
Kato turned and started jogging down the road, scanning the darkened buildings as he moved.
A suppressed gunshot rang through the night. The sound was too faint to be heard from a distance, Vinn was already quite far away to hear it.
Kato crumpled to the ground, a bullet through the back of his head. Blood pooled around him as his body slid a few feet from the momentum.
Dorne stepped out from a shattered building, clapping slowly. "Nice headshot. That's our sniper."
Thom grinned. "Honestly, I wasn't sure I could hit him in the head. I thought I'd miss, and you'd have to step in."
Dorne laughed as he stepped over Kato's lifeless body. "Give yourself some credit. You're a damn good sniper… and a great mechanic."
Together, Thom and Dorne walked toward Dorne's house, leaving Kato behind.