(A/N):
Drop a meme here that you find funny. Or reflects your mood.
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Danny pushed deeper into the woods,
Muttering under his breath as he replayed the heated argument with his girlfriend in his mind.
His thoughts were so tangled that he didn't notice the ground sloping sharply beneath his boots.
Until it was too late.
"____"
His foot slipped.
"Ahhh!"
He tumbled down the slope, branches whipping across his face,
Until his body slammed into something metallic.
Clang~
A sudden, sickening clang filled the air as he was caught in a wall of interlinked chains hidden in the undergrowth.
The jagged, sharpened links bit deep into his skin.
"Gaaahhh!"
Danny screamed, thrashing instinctively.
The more he fought, the deeper the steel carved into his flesh.
His cheek split open, warm blood dripping down his jaw.
His forearms were flayed by the sharp edges, crimson streaks staining the chains.
His legs were tangled, pinned painfully at twisted angles.
Every breath sent a burning sting through his chest as he tried to wriggle free.
"____"
Panic surged in his eyes.
"H-help! Somebody!"
His hoarse voice tore through the silence of the woods, echoing into the night.
Creak~ Creak~
"____"
"____"
"____"
But only the metallic creak, creak of the bloodied chains answered back—
Swinging ever so slightly from his struggles,
Like a cruel instrument designed only to prolong agony.
Danny thrashed in agony,
The sharp links biting deeper into his flesh every time he struggled.
The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth as rivulets ran down his cheek and neck.
His screams tore through the night, echoing across the woods.
Then—
Footsteps.
Thud. Thud.
"____"
He froze, his breath ragged, heart hammering in his chest.
Someone was coming.
"Help! Somebody—help me!"
Danny cried out, voice breaking.
A pause.
Then a familiar voice, sweet yet unsettling, drifted through the trees.
"Danny? …Is that you?"
His head snapped toward the sound, relief flooding through him.
"Sally! It's me! Please—please help me! I'm stuck!"
His voice cracked with desperation.
"These damn chains… they're cutting into me!"
Branches rustled as Sally stepped closer, the faint glow of moonlight catching her pale face.
Her lips curled into a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
Behind her, shadows moved—
The rest of the family trailing silently, their breaths heavy with anticipation.
"____"
"____"
"____"
Danny, blinded by pain, didn't notice their hungry stares.
He kept pleading.
"Please, Sally… it hurts. Get me out of this thing!"
Sally crouched just out of his reach, her head tilting curiously as her gaze traced the blood dripping from his arms and legs.
The corners of her mouth twitched.
"Don't worry, brother,"
She whispered sweetly.
"We'll take care of you."
Danny's relief faltered for the first time as he caught the strange gleam in her eyes.
His breathing quickened.
"Sally… what do you mean by that?"
The rest of the family stepped closer, their smiles stretching wide, drool glistening in the dim light.
"____"
Before Danny could catch his breath,
Jackson stepped forward from behind her, his towering frame blocking the moonlight.
He knelt beside Danny, coughed once, and without a word began loosening the blood-soaked chains.
Cough~
Danny flinched at every tug,
Each movement carving another line into his skin.
"Easy now,"
Jackson muttered, his tone oddly calm.
One by one the family members stepped forward,
Their warped faces half-hidden in the gloom.
They joined in, pulling the cruel metal apart with unnatural ease.
Their eyes lingered on Danny's wounds a little too long,
Their tongues darting across cracked lips.
Fear crawled through Danny's chest,
"____"
But the relief of being freed drowned it for the moment.
With Jackson hauling him up by the arm and one of the strangers propping him against a shoulder,
Danny staggered to his feet.
His head spun, blood dripping into his eye.
Then he froze.
"____"
Sally stood before him, her smile tender… and wrong.
"Brother,"
She said softly.
Danny blinked.
"What? …Why did you just call me brother?"
His voice cracked, confusion plain on his pale face.
The group fell silent.
"____"
"____"
"____"
Jackson and Sally exchanged a loaded glance, something unspoken sparking between them.
Finally, Jackson stepped closer, his expression unusually grave.
"There's something you need to know, Danny,"
He said, lowering his voice as if sharing a sacred truth.
"It's about your family. About where you really come from."
Danny's heart pounded in his chest.
Despite his fear, despite the unease gnawing at him, the word family hooked him like bait.
He leaned forward, eyes wide with a desperate hunger.
"What… what do you mean? Tell me."
The forest grew darker as Jackson and Sally guided Danny deeper into the woods,
Their hulking relatives trailing behind like shadows.
Finally, they reached a clearing lit by the dull orange glow of a campfire.
Around it, crude wooden stakes had been driven into the earth, raw minced meat piled in bowls and on flat stones,
Filling the air with the coppery stench of blood.
They eased Danny down onto a wide stone slab, rough and cold against his battered body.
The silence pressed heavy on him—
"____"
"____"
"____"
Only the crackle of firewood and his own shallow breaths breaking through.
Sally crouched close, brushing a strand of matted hair from his face.
Her smile was oddly tender, unsettling in the firelight.
"Sit still. You've been hurt enough already,"
She whispered.
Then, with a flick of her eyes,
She signaled to one of the deformed cannibals.
The creature obeyed instantly, slinking off into the shadows.
Danny's eyes darted around the circle of faces staring at him, their gazes unblinking, their mouths twitching with suppressed hunger.
His skin crawled, but his body was too weak to resist.
He swallowed hard, trying not to let the fear show.
Minutes later...
The cannibal returned, clutching a battered metal first aid kit.
It handed it over to Sally like a loyal hound bringing back a bone.
"Thank you,"
She murmured, not looking at the creature as it shuffled back into the darkness.
Opening the kit,
Click~
Sally knelt on the ground before Danny.
She soaked a rag in antiseptic, the sharp smell cutting through the iron tang of blood.
Carefully, almost lovingly,
She dabbed at the wounds on his arms and face.
The sting made Danny hiss,
But he stayed silent, watching her every move.
"____"
For the first time since falling into the trap, his heart slowed.
The pain was still there,
But the touch—
Gentle, precise—
Was almost comforting.
"Why are you doing this…?"
Danny finally muttered, his voice low, wary.
Sally's hands paused for a moment on his skin.
Her eyes flicked up to meet his, her smile curling wider, both sweet and sinister.
"Because, Danny,"
She whispered, voice thick with meaning,
"you're one of us."
Danny's breath caught in his throat as Sally's words sank in.
'One of us.'
His wide eyes darted between her and Jackson,
Looking for some sign that this was some kind of sick joke.
But Jackson only nodded gravely,
Nod~
His face softened by a strange pride.
"What she says is true, Danny. You've always been one of us. You just didn't know it yet."
The words struck Danny harder than the chains ever could.
Before he could reply,
A guttural cheer erupted around him.
"____"
Cheer~
The cannibals, as if those words had been a signal, howled in excitement.
"CELEBRATION!"
One barked, its deformed jaw unhinging in a crooked grin.
In an instant, the clearing exploded with chaos.
Figures lurched and twirled around the fire,
Their grotesque shapes cast into wild shadows by the flames.
Dum~ Dum~
Drums appeared from nowhere—
Animal hide stretched over bone frames—
And the beat began, loud and primal, thundering through the night.
Jackson threw back his head and roared in rhythm with the drums,
Then seized Sally's hand.
She laughed—
Haha~
A high, shrill sound—
And the two spun together around the blaze,
Their bare feet pounding against the earth.
The others joined in, stomping, clapping, shrieking.
The clearing felt alive, like the forest itself had been swallowed by madness.
Danny sat frozen on the stone slab, heart racing, mind reeling.
His wounds still burned, his muscles ached,
But in the glow of the fire he felt suddenly small—
Like prey in the center of a predator's den.
A female cannibal broke from the circle,
Her face twisted but her movements oddly graceful.
She carried a battered tray piled with dusty glass bottles.
Without a word, she pressed one into Danny's trembling hand.
The liquid inside shimmered, dark and amber, reeking of strong alcohol and something else he couldn't place.
"____"
His mouth was dry.
Against his better judgment, he tipped the bottle back.
The burn scorched his throat,
But then a strange warmth spread through his body, numbing the pain.
He drained it in one long pull,
Then another, the bottles emptied one after the other,
The cheers of the cannibals rising each time he lowered an empty one.
By the time the third bottle clattered to the ground,
Danny's head was spinning, the firelight blurring, the beat of the drums rattling his skull.
All around him, the celebration swelled into a frenzy.
The family had accepted him.
Welcomed him.
And in his drunken haze,
Danny wasn't sure anymore if that thought terrified him… or thrilled him.
Sally's eyes glittered in the firelight as she exchanged a silent glance with Jackson.
"____"
"____"
A signal passed between them, unspoken but clear.
One of the cannibals—
Its face slashed with old scars—
Lurched forward, carrying a crude wooden bowl.
The liquid inside was thick, dark, and steaming faintly under the fire's glow.
The smell of iron clung to it.
Sally took it carefully, almost reverently, and turned back to Danny.
Her steps were slow, deliberate, as the drumming softened just enough to make the moment feel sacred.
She crouched before him,
Her bloody fingers brushing against his as she pressed the bowl into his hands.
"Drink,"
She whispered, her voice lilting and tender,
As though offering him medicine.
"It's your right, brother."
Danny, swaying from the drink, blinked blearily at the bowl.
"____"
The warmth from the alcohol dulled his thoughts.
He didn't question, didn't look too closely.
His lips parted, and he tipped it back.
The thick liquid coated his tongue, metallic and heavy.
He coughed once at the strange texture,
Cough~
But then—
Something in him shifted.
A strange rush filled his veins, hotter than any liquor.
His head buzzed, his chest pounded,
And a twisted pleasure slithered up his spine.
He lowered the empty bowl, breath ragged, lips stained red.
The clearing erupted in howls of approval.
Cheer~
Cannibals pounded their chests, stomped the earth,
And shrieked Danny's name like a chant.
Danny's bleary eyes darted to Sally.
"____"
She leaned close, her lips brushing his ear, and whispered with a satisfied smile:
"You've tasted family, Danny. Now… you're truly one of us."
And as the fire roared higher,
The drums thundered once more, and the dance around him turned into a frenzied spiral,
Danny found himself… smiling back.
Danny's lips were still stained with crimson as Sally tugged him up from the stone slab.
Her grip was firm, almost possessive,
Dragging him toward the fire where the cannibals thrashed and stomped in savage rhythm.
The drums pounded.
Flames leapt skyward.
Shadows warped and twisted around them.
Sally pressed her body against him, moving with raw, primal boldness.
Her hands trailed across his chest, her hips swayed to the beat,
And her eyes burned with hunger—
Not just for flesh, but for him.
Danny, stumbling and drunk, tried to shake his head, tried to clear the fog clouding his vision.
His breaths came heavy, uneven.
But then—
His mind betrayed him.
"____"
Through the blur of heat and smoke,
Sally's face shifted.
He blinked, and it wasn't Sally anymore.
It was Toni.
Toni's eyes, Toni's lips, Toni's smile, pulling him deeper into the rhythm.
His resistance melted.
His trembling hands rose, cupping her face as though clinging to the woman he loved.
And when Sally leaned in, Danny didn't stop her.
Their lips collided, hard and hungry.
Cheer~
The crowd erupted into a deafening cheer, the sound primal and ecstatic,
Their voices echoing like the howls of beasts.
Jackson grinned like a proud patriarch, the others stomped and clapped, their grotesque faces lit with savage delight.
Sally deepened the kiss, her movements bolder, hungrier, claiming him as their own.
Danny's world spun.
His heart pounded.
His smile broke through, drunken and dazed—
Unaware that in the frenzy of firelight, blood, and lust, he had finally fallen.
Meanwhile...
Mansion...
Jojo was sprawled lazily on the couch at the mansion,
His head resting comfortably on Hope's lap.
She sat upright,
A knife and apple in hand, feeding him neat slices as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
Jojo chewed with half-lidded eyes, clearly enjoying the indulgence.
Across the room,
Inadu knelt before a low table cluttered with herbs, candles, and ancient runes.
Her hands moved with deliberate care as she prepared a ritual.
Even Freya, who prided herself on her knowledge, leaned close with curiosity—
It was a rite unfamiliar even to her.
Hope's voice broke the quiet hum of preparation.
"What kind of ritual is this, Inadu?"
She asked softly, her fingers brushing Jojo's hair as she fed him another slice.
Without looking up,
Inadu answered while tying a length of black thread around a bundle of herbs.
"A binding and revealing. Something that hasn't been done in centuries. You'll understand when it's complete."
Just then, the creak of footsteps echoed down the staircase.
Thud. Thud.
Hope turned her head to see Joshi and Lizzie descending,
Searching for her absence from bed.
The sight that greeted them froze them both.
"____"
"____"
Jojo, sprawled and carefree, looked perfectly at ease with his head in Hope's lap.
She, in turn, seemed entirely unbothered,
Absentmindedly stroking his hair as she fed him another piece of apple.
Joshi's lips curved into a knowing smirk, amusement dancing in his eyes.
Smirk~
Lizzie, however, went stiff, her cheeks flushing crimson as her gaze darted between the two.
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(Author's POV)
(A/N):
Thanks for reading the chapter!
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