Trigger warnings:
Body horror, mentions of cannibalism.
"Wake up now, the boss wants you to see this."
Dodak's eyelids were heavy. Reaching his hands out to rub them, he was petrified to realise that his wrists were cuffed to chains, which were attached to the walls. He struggled to open his eyes, adjusting to the lighting of the room. He found himself in a room with no windows, with a group of men and women walking about. Before he could get a better glimpse at the room, the horrid stench hit him. It smelled of rotting flesh. Dodak retched and choked at the scent. It was definitely built up over time. Redirecting his attention, a familiar voice from across the room brought him back to his senses.
"Finally woke up?"
The horde of people moved to the side, making way for the owner of the voice to be face to face with Dodak. From his seat, he smirked and blew a kiss at the former.
Seeing the face of the cannibal again made Dodak snap back into flight mode. He turned his head to his hands and tugged at the chains and realised they were bound tightly. There was no way he would escape.
"Stop trying. It's no use."
Dodak snapped his head back towards the cannibal, glaring at him with as much ferocity as he could muster.
The man was seated on a throne of what looked to be made with bones. They were welded together while skulls were littered around it, creating the look of a mountain of bones.
"MHMM!"
The muffled cry directed his attention towards the left of the room, where a woman was sitting.
She looked horrible. She was missing an arm and leg while her neck was chained and bound to the wall in a similar fashion to Dodak's. The amputations were obviously done haphazardly, as the wounds were wide open and the crimson flesh was flashed to the world. Dodak could see part of the central bone of her upper thigh through the wound. The bone was probably cut right through.
"Well Miyeong, meet your new friend. What was your name again?"
"Fuck you. Why would you need to know my name before you kill me?"
The surrounding people, who Dodak presumed were likely part of the scheme, flinched when he retaliated at the man. From what he could tell, there was a hierarchy, and the man was their leader. Perhaps if he could talk to the followers privately, they would help him. Maybe they were also trapped here like him.
"That was rude. Like I said, I prefer my food to be silent. I only like the screaming when they're getting eaten. It provides more of a…thrill, doesn't it?"
He looked towards his followers, expecting an answer. They were all silent, their heads all facing towards the floor. He slammed the side of his throne, narrowing his eyes at them and scowling.
"Yes sir."
"That's good. And because of your little outburst, I realise you don't know who's in charge. So I'll show you right now. Bring me her leg."
Upon hearing that, the followers picked up the cleaving knife from the table and rushed over to Miyeong. She looked at them, eyes wide in horror, shaking her head as she pleaded for them to spare her.
"No please! I didn't do anything wrong! I kept quiet. Please."
Two of the followers held her remaining leg in position while two others held her wrists. Another picked up the cleaver, his hands trembling as he raised it. He swung it downwards with all his force and the blade pierced into her leg, trapped on the bone. The crimson blood sprayed outwards everywhere, tainting the man's pants and the floor. The red liquid oozed and oozed from her artery, spurting like a fountain.
She screeched and cried in pain, tears bursting from her eyes as she struggled, thrashing her arms as the sound of the chain clanged. The man retrieved the cleaver and shakily brought it back up again. He closed his eyes and swung back down again, the blade this time not penetrating much further. The sound of the bone cracking was painfully crisp but was quickly drowned out by the cries of Miyeong.
Seeing as the thigh was still intact, the man reached down and picked the cleaver back up, but the extreme violence seemed to have shaken him up. He was quivering intensely, the cleaver in his hands wavering. His grip on it loosened and it fell onto his leg, piercing into his shoe.
The man cried in pain as he bent down to remove the cleaver from his foot. Soon, his shoe turned from a clean white to a crimson red.
"You're all useless. Do I have to do this myself?"
The cannibal stormed forward and shoved the man into the wall. The sheer intensity of it made the wall crack, forming a dent on the concrete wall. He picked up the cleaver and smirked at her.
"You didn't think it would be so simple right?"
He slowly inserted the cleaver back into her thigh and sawed. With each sawing movement, the cracking of bones and her cries grew louder. His smirk turned into a grin. The gruesome sounds were soon drowned out by his manic laughter. He sawed for what felt like ages until her thigh fell off.
Miyeong had become motionless, having passed out from the intense pain. He looked at her freshly cut thigh and gave it a big bite, savouring it as if it were a delicacy. After three more mouthfuls, he threw it onto the ground and smirked.
"Eat it. Now."
The followers, who Dodak had realised were all thin and pale, rushed forward to the thigh and fought for bites out of it. Watching this, he realised they were all starved and had grown accustomed to this. They were beyond saving.
"I hope you enjoyed the show. I have yet to taste an awakened one and look forward to it. When Miyeong is done, you're next."
With that, the cannibal went out the door and left.
Dodak knew he had to do something. Call him a monster, but he only had at most two more meals worth of time left. Miyeong still had an arm and her body. He had to convince the followers somehow to let him out. Even then, he would have to stealthily escape from the room. Fighting the cannibal was not going to get him anywhere. He was unsure whether he could even escape, much less lose a limb or two.
"Are y'all really…enjoying this? Do you not want out of this?"
They looked at him, their eyes watery and remorseful. No one replied to him.
"Seriously, you can't expect to keep on living like this right? Sooner or later, you guys will be on the list."
"And what do you expect us to do? Fight back? He can kill us with a single punch."
One of the women from the group had spoken out. As much as he wanted to argue back, he knew they were right. The strong controlled the weak. All they could do was play along with his game and hope to somehow make it out alive. But he could not lose hope.
"Let me out. I have powers. I'm the only one who stands a chance against him. It's now or never."
The group turned towards him, their eyes expectant and shining with a glimmer of hope.
"If you are what you claim, then why did you get captured?"
That one question stunned him. He had thought they were desperate to escape and would cling to any chance they got. He was wrong. Survival was higher on their list than escaping.
"I was caught off guard. If we can ambush him, we can kill him for sure. Here, I'll show you."
Dodak had finally gotten their full attention. They were desperate and he had to take advantage of that.
He took in a deep breath and blew out the green mist, letting it swirl and dissipate into the air.
The poison was useless against the cannibal. Dodak knew that, as he was so painfully shown in the room. But if he could trick them to let him out, he could potentially escape and use them as fodder. It was his only hope.
"You're sure you can defeat him? Look at what he did to Jaeyong. One shove and he's dead."
Dodak realised the Jaeyong they were referring to was the cowardly follower that had dropped the cleaver on his own foot. He looked towards the man and noticed that the impact had crushed his skull. It was deformed and cracked, his body limp and motionless.
"I'm the only chance you've got. All of you know that."
They remained silent. Dodak knew he had given the wrong answer. He had come off as desperate, not confident. He needed to regain their trust.
"We need a concrete plan to move forward. I can fight him, but I'll need your help. Does he have any known weaknesses?"
"This is not exactly a weakness, but you could perhaps try a…different method. He only kidnaps and eats a specific type of people."
"Elaborate."
"If he's…interested in you. We realised that when he knocked all of us out. He only chose to eat the ones he liked. The rest, he tried to convert, like us."
Dodak did not know how to react. From what the group were saying, the only way to escape was to seduce the cannibal? He breathed in a sharp breath as he prepared himself for what he had to do.
Unbeknownst to them, the cannibal was standing outside. A devilish smile formed on his lips as he prepared for the show of his life.