7 6.Kidnapped

'.....'= Thoughts 

"....."= Conversations 

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When Ethan regained consciousness, the first thing he noticed was the throbbing pain in his head. Blinking away the dizziness, he tried to sit up, only to find himself bound and gagged, his surroundings dim and unfamiliar. Panic surged through him as he struggled against his restraints, but the binds held fast, leaving him helpless and vulnerable.

As his senses gradually sharpened, Ethan strained to make out his surroundings.

His surroundings seemed to be shaking a bit helping him understand that he was in a vehicle and was being taken somewhere. He looked around and saw another four people who were bound just like him. Two of them were awake while the rest still seemed unconscious. The vehicle rumbled on, and Ethan could hear the muffled sound of voices coming from the front of the vehicle.

He looked at the two people beside him who too were observing him with panicked eyes. But due to being gagged they couldn't say anything and just watch helplessly.

Ethan sighed and tried to remember what actually happened. He seemed to be sleeping and a sudden sound startled him awake and someone hit his head. He lost his consciousness and then awoke here.

Ethan's heart raced as he took in the grim scene around him. The horse wagon rocked and jostled as it barreled down a rough and uneven road, the only light filtering in from small cracks in the wooden walls. The other two captives, were just as bewildered and frightened as he was.

Ethan's eyes shifted to the masked figures that towered over them, who too were sitting in the horse wagon with them. The masked kidnappers, all clad in dark clothing and armed with muskets, watched their captives with cold, calculating eyes. Not a word was spoken among them, and the atmosphere was heavy with tension and foreboding.

As the hours passed and the landscape changed around them, Ethan's fear morphed into a deep sense of dread. Where were they being taken? Who were these masked men, and what did they want with them?

The questions swirled in his mind, unanswered and terrifying. The rumble of the wagon wheels seemed to echo his growing sense of hopelessness, and he knew that escape was impossible in their current predicament. The only option was to endure and wait for an opportunity to present itself.

Days turned into nights, and the wagon journey seemed interminable. The kidnappers offered only a minimum amount of food and water, just enough to keep them conscious and alive.

As the days passed, the wagon rolled steadily onward, carrying the captives further and further away from the familiarity of town and civilization. Furthermore any attempt to communicate with their captors was met with rough shoves and harsh reprimands.

After seven long days of jostling and discomfort, the wagon finally came to a stop in a secluded area far from any sign of civilization. The kidnappers dismounted and began to untie their prisoners, their masked faces giving nothing away as they herded the captives into a clearing where another group of ten individuals awaited them.

Ethan's heart sank as he realized that they were now deep within the territory of their captors. The leader of the group, a tall and imposing figure with a cruel glint in his eye, stepped forward and surveyed the captives with a look of disdain.

"You have all been brought here for a purpose," he announced, his voice carrying the weight of command. "You should be honoured that you are the chosen ones. Inferior people like you would never even get such a chance for their entire life even if they sacrificed everything."

After his little speech, the leader of the kidnappers kept quiet and didn't explain anything. Soon Ethan and the other five people were transferred to the leader and his subordinates.

Their journey through the forest continued, however now in a different horse wagon.

'How do I even escape? Even if I used my talent and copy a necessary ability from these people, it would be of no help. I would die just from a bullet of their musket,' Ethan wondered trying hard to think of a plan to escape from here. From the little speech of the leader he concluded that the fate that awaited him after the end of journey was definitely not something good. But currently being restrained, he couldn't even move his limbs. Moroeover there would always be at least five people continuosly keeping watch on them in rotation.

Just a little bit of a movement from anyone of them would meet with a beating from the masked guys.

These people seemed quite alert and didn't slack from their duty at all.

Ethan calmed his mind and glanced at the leader who seemed to be staring at him since they were brought here. He had a cruel gleam in his eyes which also showed a bit of anger directed towards Ethan.

'What did I do to him now?' Ethan wondered as he had no idea why the leader of the group was making such a face towards him.

"Look at him," the leader snarled, his voice cold and filled with malice. "A pretty face, too pretty for his own good."

Ethan winced as a slap landed on his face, the force of it making his head snap to the side. The sting spread across his cheek as he tasted the metallic tang of blood in his mouth. The leader's cruel laugh echoed in the confines of the wagon, spurring on the masked men to join in, their laughter a cacophony of malice.

"Look at him now, not so pretty anymore, are ya?" the leader taunted, his eyes filled with a sadistic glee as he delivered another slap to Ethan's face. Each blow felt like a branding iron against his skin, the pain pulsing through him as he fought to keep his composure.

But before Ethan could even regain his bearings, the leader's foot connected with his groin, the impact stealing the breath from his lungs as a sickening wave of agony crashed over him.

The masked men cheered as Ethan doubled over, his vision swimming with tears as he fought to hold onto consciousness. The leader moved towards Ethan his face inches from Ethan's face as he spoke in a low, menacing tone.

"I won't let you bleed, won't let you have any permanent damage. But I will still make you suffer, make you regret being so damn beautiful."

With that, the leader's hands continued their relentless assault, alternating between slaps and kicks, each one a merciless reminder of his power over Ethan. The pain was like a relentless tide, dragging Ethan deeper into an abyss of agony as he gritted his teeth against the urge to scream.

'Sadistic bastard,' Ethan goraned with pain as his mind quaked with tremendous anger towards the leader. But except cursing, Ethan couldn't do anything.

"Stop the wagon," The leader suddenly ordered.

As the wagon came to a halt in the heart of a dense forest, the leader motioned for the masked men to hold Ethan steady as he climbed out, dragging Ethan along with him. The cool air of the forest was a sharp contrast to the stifling confines of the wagon, but Ethan's relief was short-lived as he found himself hoisted up against a tree, his arms secured tightly behind him.

The leader looked at him, his gaze filled with a feral hunger as he spoke,"Such a shame to waste all this beauty on a worthless wretch like you. But I'll make sure you remember the price of it."

With that, the leader continued his assault, each blow a cruel testament to his sadistic desires. The onslaught seemed to stretch on for an eternity, the pain blurring into a haze of torment as Ethan's world narrowed down to the agony pulsing through his body.

But even through the all the pain, Ethan refused to give the leader the satisfaction of breaking him. He clung to the fraying edges of his consciousness, his will a defiant spark in the darkness as he endured the relentless onslaught.

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