I turned my back in reproach, not even trying to hide the wound in my voice.
"Why don't you expect a 'thank you' from me for a piece of meat? For everything. You don't expect me antyhing." I asked. "You make those people kneel for a crust of bread; why don't you expect the same from me?"
Dante's dark laughter made the freezing air in the room tremble. "Oh,honey," he said, his voice echoing in my mind. "I don't need your gratitude. I want your life and your soul. My understanding of gratitude isn't performing a few tricks and grinning like a monkey."
"I'm so tired of this b-llshit." I whispered, blinking as I looked at our misery. "When we tear your palace down over your heads, maybe we'll be the ones grinning like monkeys."
Before the words could even leave my lips, the system's ruthless punishments exploded across my body.
[SYSTEM: Slaps to the buttocks x3]
[SYSTEM: Realistic bite sensation on the nape x3]
[SYSTEM: Nipple twisting sensation x5]
"Oh! Stop it!" I groaned, caught between pain and a forced, strange arousal.
Dante's whisper was harsher this time, more commandin.
"If you scream a little louder, they'll throw you into the real Sinkhole before I can even enter yours. Your blood is mine now. Today, twelve vampire units gave the order to flood that subway. To drown you and your little shi-ttyfriends... If you hadn't bandaged your eyes and plugged your ears, I would have stopped it long ago, Dorian—but I couldn't even see you."
I searched for breath. Every second I failed to die with my honor was a victory for him. "I couldn't die with my honor."
"I am waiting for you to die breathless beneath me, Dorian. Anything else would be a plain, tasteless death. My plans are more important than your honor. "
"Now tell me, who are you? A high-ranking soldier? Or the son of a wealthy clan?" I said.
"Don't confuse me with street beggars," he whisperred. "I am the master of you, and of this system."
I let out a delirious laugh fueled by hunger and exhaustion. A faint, dusty word flickered in my mind.
"Do you know what I crave? Trileçe... I don't even know what it looks like; I've only heard the name. Cake... Tiramisu... Cream Puffs or Eclairs... These were erased from history long before I was born, Dante. If you put them in front of me, I wouldn't know the difference because I've never tasted them! No one on this soil has for generations! If you have everything..."
Suddenly, a hum rose in the middle of the room.
Silent drones gliding from hidden compartments in the ceiling began to lay a fairy-tale feast upon the broken wooden table. Trileçes covered in caramel sauce, Tiramisus smelling of rich coffee, Eclairs with cream overflowing from the sides... The squalor of the room vanished instantly under the grandeur of these massive desserts.
"Fattening you up is my secret ambition, Dorian. Watching you will be a pleasure." Dante said, his voice thickening with desire. "I need a fighter, not a cheerleader"
I stared at these creamy, caramel masterpieces—things I was seeing for the first time in my life—my head spinning. Dante's voice brushed against my ear like a promise.
"I'm going to watch you eat for the first time, moaning with pleasure, Dorian. I love watching your appetite while imagining that 'other' thing you will be tasting for the first time. You're my guinea pig, so I'm interested in your firsts."
Dante's voice glided through my mind like a chilled wine. "Now." he said, his voice thickening with desire. "Spread that cream and the jam inside the Berliner onto your own chest."
I recoiled at this perverted command. The hunger in my stomach was replaced by a fierce, jagged pride. My eyes flashed with spite.
"In your dreams!" I hissed at him. My voice barely managed to break through the groans of involuntary pleasure I was fighting to suppress. "I am not your circus monkey!"
Dante's dark laughter made the heavy, cold air in the room tremble.
"You don't have to grin like a monkey, my life. I only want you to feel the softness, the warmth of that delicious cream and jam as they touch your bare skin. If you refuse... this blissful feast ends instantly. The choice is yours, Dorian."
My fingers drifted toward the soft, powdered dough on the table. I knew he was watching—recording every breath I took, every shiver of my skin as it met the freezing air. I had sold my soul for a dose of antibiotics and a crust of bread; now, for a piece of dessert and the raw instinct to survive, I was surrendering my body to his fantasies.
"No!" I said.
"I want you to write "Sacrifice" on your chest with cream.Because all you do is feel like a sacrifice."
"NO!"
[SYSTEM WARNING: Waiting for Command from the Master. In Case of Disobedience: Temperature will drop to -10 Degrees.]