Narrator: Part Four.

Welcome my dear friends, it is your mysterious narrator once again! You must be enjoying my mothers story, maybe not for long after hearing what is soon to come. It is time to catch you up on some missing information here. While my mother takes an evening out to get stalked in downtown Province, my uncle Koda takes the night to sneak out to a more pressing matter.

Backtracking a little bit here to our last meeting, where I explained that uncle Koda has two secrets he is hiding from the family. Well, it is time for me to give you the real perspective of my uncle. It is time for me to show you the real him; not fully because that is later to come. It is time to see what kind of person he really is. Maybe there was a future something that was so damaging to the family which was caused by him. Spiraling into a list of future events from this very night.

Here you have it, Secret Two:

Koda's POV:

Walking through the woods in the dark is not how I wanted to spend my evening, especially after having to do the same exact thing just last night. But it is the approximate time and date he mandated I come meet with him so urgently.

The demand was something I could not argue about, especially because he has had me on a tight leash ever since Ellie has escaped him first time. All of us are on a tight leash. My head is in his hands, their hands. If I didn't show, I'd be punished, and I can't let that happen right now.

I would do anything right now to turn back to spend time with my sister, after being apart ftom her for so long. Knowing where she is, so helpless, but I could not ever interfere or it would ruin everything I've worked so hard for.

Last night he sent me away freely, unknowing that my sister, and two of the other prisoners successfully escaped. Including Lynn, who I've met many times inside the man's disgusting prison. Funny enough to catch her on her escape out.

"You're late!" A voice booms through the forest, unafraid that anyone could hear us.

I don't bother responding just yet, as I proceed towards the back of the building. He holds a large key ring in his fingers, swinging them around like a toy.

I nod at him and he unlocks the back entrance that leads through a corridor of his men's offices...possible torture rooms. My stomach drops instantly while passing by him and entering the building.

His instant anger, shocks me to the core. He is furious with me and I know why. This is not good, but there's no way I will be able to flee if necessary. I prepare to get punished, to get locked up, to never be able to leave this building again.

We enter his office, and he slams the door, but I do not flinch, I expected it. He sternly perses his lips as he avoids any eye contact, "I know who you are to my most prised prisoner Elenor."

My sister is the master key to his plan, one I don't entirely understand myself. I stay silent, wondering how he found out my relation to her.

He continues, "I know because she told me. You are her brother."

That is a lie. Nothing more. I can assume somehow the word got out when I attempted at saving her from the Hunters the night they invaded our grandparents home. I remember telling Ellie that the rabbit had told me to come to her, I lied. I've never met him but she was dreaming of him. That's how I get people to believe me, I tell them what they want to hear.

I didn't find out about the Hunters plan to recapture her. I was told to assist, and followed the few men suit. I had not choice in order to keep a good reputation. My plans changed once I saw that Jane was missing too. Them taking my other sister as well was over the limit, thankfully she got free without them hurting her.

"You don't know what you're talking about..." I say harshly, feeling myself bottle up with anger because everything I've worked so hard to hide from him has been ruined.

The man laughs, "Can't I ever get away with lying to you..."

I smirk, trying my best to hide the fear inside me, becoming my inner Luke is what I call it. Reminding myself of the way he thinks.

I demand, "What did you hear?"

"She spoke of a brother before we wiped her memories so long ago, Koda. After investigating the family for years we knew. The night we set foot to the mansion..." My grandparents property. "...a figure ran off with my Elenor, and attacked some of our men. A second Hunter of mine slipped the details that he saw a glimpse of your face before leaving your vehicle in the woods. And how the girl was screaming your name. Koda. Not the name we know you by."

"I left her there to be captured by your men." I admit.

He raises his voice, "But you knew exactly where you were: at the platform. You were planning to take her back to Elyria, where we are vowed not to travel to until she is dead."

Now everything adds up, the reason why they refuse to go to Elyria. Finally. But it's still not a very smart choice, well for me it's a win. If we keep Ellie there, she is much safer. That so called prophecy everyone thinks of, they are trying to prevent in some way by killing my sister?

"Now you have to vow to me that you will never step out of my line ever again. If you do so I will pick apart each and every one of your family members. I will torture them all, and force you to watch. I will kill everybody that you care about," He sneers.

I don't doubt that he means so or that he will act upon it. I have made a tragic mistake, one that has foiled my plan, making me his puppet until my sister will be murdered.

Tonight I was supposed to come to him with an update on an individual I was ordered to bring back here. Abducting a person to prove to the Hunters that I want to be one of them is something I never wanted to do, but now I'd do it if it meant my family was safe.

"This is not just a warning..." He continues. "...It is that you had discovered who we are, you came to us claiming you knew what we were about. You got yourself into this, but now we know about you. A plan of you exposing us will never happen, unless you sacrifice your family's lives for that."

I cut to the chase, "What do you want from me?"

"To prove your loyalty to me."

"And how would you like me to?" I ask, knowing many many things he is considering, all not sounding appealing at all.

"Elenor needs to be punished as well. She is supposed to get her tongue cut out, now the punishment will be even more extreme."

I can't stop myself from gasping, "You are insane!"

"It will get the job done." He chuckles, "Now, tell me what you know about your sisters wearabouts."

I don't take a single second before blurting, "I don't think you'd be stupid enough to let her escape a second time," I play stupid, knowing that this man has no knowledge that I have been with Ellie.

He begins to believe me, "Elenor has escaped once again, taking two other prisoners with her."

I laugh almost nervously but he doesn't notice. "She's inside, isn't she?"

The man gives me a dirty stare, crossing his arms across his chest. "You don't know where she is?" He doesn't once take his eyes away from me.

"Inside this building." I keep to my plan.

"SHE'S GONE! SHE ESCAPED!" His level of frustration with me increases. Maybe I can't say anything more or he will worsen my 'punishment.'

"Oh, you're not kidding?" I add, just for assurance.

He slams an open hand into his table between us, "NO! You idiot."

You don't have the best security if she escaped twice. I think to myself.

He spits, "You're more clueless then the rest of my men."

The man looks down upon me, leaning over almost daring to grab my shoulder but doesn't, "You know what else? I belive it is time for me to brand you myself."

I can't take a wrong step or my whole family will suffer so I agree, "Alright, brand me then. I consent fully to become your slave in order to keep my family free of your harm, but under one condition."

"And what is that?"

"You agree to not cut out Elenors tongue, torture me instead. It would be more enjoyable. I mean you want my sister dead anyway."

He takes a second to think before agreeing, "Alright. And once we have all of the pieces for the ritual, Elenor will be dead. You have to agree upon so."

I lie, "I accept." I do not agree and hope somehow my sister will stay free.

"And this includes your little friend Lynn. She is part of the ritual as well."

This is news to me that I hadn't heard of, but after a pause I say, "I accept her death as well."

"You will not under any circumstances try to interfere with the deaths of the two, or anybody who will be part of the future ritual. If you do, this deal will be off, along with the protection of your family that you hold over me."

I nod.

The man takes his key ring from his pocket and announces, "Now my son, it is time for your punishment." He walks over to the door, "I will be back."

After he's gone and I'm locked inside I don't dare go rummaging through his desk. I refuse to take a seat and instead pace back and forth, knowing this branding of my skin means immense agony. One of my weakest links is pain, and so now under any circumstances here I can not let these men know this. I have to hide it will everything I can, because it could bite me in the ass in my future.

My second thought is that I must not ever let anybody see my wrist where I will be branded. It is a shame that I will have it forever, and I will always belong to this insane cult.

Much time later, the leader comes back with two beefy men who make me look like a twig. I might be tall but I have no muscle or brawn to my body.

They take me out of the office and through the hallway. This corridor is all I have ever truly seen in the building, and this time it is the same. At the end of the hallway before it connects to another, they bring me inside a dark room.

It smells putrid and all I can understand is that this place is some sort of torture chamber. It is humanlike with its tyle floor and flip switch for lighting with the light source in the middle of the ceiling. The walls are pure white, but stained with dark splotches of red...blood.

"This is where we brand our men, as well as our prisoners. Only your sister has not been branded with our prisoner stamp. That is something I must arrange next time we see her."

The men stay quiet but grab ahold of me and push me into a chair. There's no point in fighting and so I allow them to strap my arms and legs in like I'm going to attempt at escaping.

Afterwards one goes off beside me where something hot is boiling on a one burner humanmade stove. It is not a water but something thicker, I assume an Elyrian molten like substance. From the closet he pulls out a long piece of cast iron and sets it against the wall while he goes rummaging and clinking through a box.

Once he finds what he needs he attaches it to the iron rod. The piece is double the size of a human quarter, maybe about the size of a pirate's gold coin. I watch as he soaks it in the boiling substance, then setting a timer to go off in five minutes.

Will it really only take that long?

"Now young man, I didn't tell you to take Elenor to Elyria behind my back, did I?" His footsteps click in the empty room while he comes towards me.

He doesn't intimidate me this time, and I know that's what he's trying to do. He's not implying I know where my sister is, because he believed me before. He wants to scare me.

"You did not, sir," I murmer. "It still worked out like you wanted."

"No because she's still missing, along with two other prisoners who are part of the ritual. What I want is all of the pieces to this story, so we can get on with our plan."

My hands begin falling asleep at the pressure of the straps around them. I begin to think that my wrists will come out bruised at the end of this night.

"Where do we go searching for them?"

Thoughts run through his head, telling me he doesn't actually think the girls stuck together. How interesting, well at least he's paving the right path for me.

"We already checked your grandparents home." Well that came out of no where. He adds, "You might want to stay away from there."

My stomach drops, "You went back, and I told you not to." I become overly pissed but have to keep it to myself.

My uncle is there right now with Province Guard this very moment, most likely getting tied up and sent back here for imprisonment. I have to go back home to warn them!

The man grabs my jaw, "We will always have eyes on their estate, and you can't stop us."

This was something I never discovered on my own. He mostly thinks about everything so simply, with this one not at all. Well not in front of me.

I must not let Ellie or the other girls ever go back there again. Not even to Earth, it's too dangerous.

The man releases me but doesn't leave it at that, "And now your punishment begins." He gestures towards the men with a purely evil snicker, "Come."

The one not tending to the stove steps infront of me, holding a knife that I didn't notice before. I close my eyes, knowing everything he wants to do to me. He knows about who I am and what I have done to their cult. He wants to kill me.

I open my eyes, finding the two men standing over me. The knife clenched in one fist, "I would enjoy messing with this guys brain so badly that he couldn't function well enough to speak."

"You may not torture this boy, maybe once he deceives me again. If I catch him out of line one more time you can gut his whole family for me."

I shiver from the pure agony coming from my brain, knowing that all of these men want me dead. Knowing that their boss will use me as his pawn. Deciding I don't want my family to ever come to Earth again. I don't want them to even think about Earth!

The man with the knife, holds it with ease in front of my face, "I'll be waiting."

The next man comes from the side, with the piping hot brand ready to go. My stomach churns at the sight of the now red cast iron. It looks like it was burning in a fire for hours, not five minutes on a human made stove. The bottom piece glistens yellow, orange, and red lighting up the symbol of the Hunters.

I don't get the chance to examine the symbol before the other man comes over and rolls my sleeve up. He tightens the strap over my left wrist, making my cry out in pain. Only to be shocked with the most immense pain further up my arm. I squirming my body, clenching my jaw, trying anything to not scream but after hearing my skin sizzle I let out the loudest scream I ever have.

I can't feel the metal push into my skin but I can feel my whole arm being itchy, and hot. My arm feels like it is melting and I begin crying, "STOP, STOP!" I beg, "Please!"

I feel my lungs giving out on me and my breathing becoming heavy. Air doesn't seem to get into my lungs fast enough and my head begins to nod. My forehead drips sweat that I didn't notice previously.

Before I know it the men are unstrapping my arms from the chair and I'm almost confused. They're done? The pain doesn't suffice, and I can still feel the pressure upon the spot.

My body feels almost numb, besides the pulsing pain throughout my arm, traveling through my chest and head. My vision becomes blurred and I can't seem to keep my eyes open.

With no order of my body I fall to the floor of the room, my head hitting the tile like a dead weight. Uncontrollably my eyes flutter closed but in a fury attempt at fighting the exhaustion.

****

My lovely reader, I hope you keep the memories of my uncle's troubles in the back of your mind while you continue my mothers story. In fact, this is the story of how she died; not how uncle Koda saved her.

Next let's pick up from where we left off, shall we?

Now, my mother's little trip to downtown Province had been cut short by her own fear of being stalked. Traveling home and dwelling her in her new bed is where she went.