Next performer

Rasmus immediately took one of the children and took the gag off him, also loosening the cloth they tied his hands with. The little boy struggled to get free from his hold but his grip was too strong for him.

"Leave me! I'm not going out there! I don't want to die like this! Let me go!" He shouted and kept crying.

"Listen you little mut! If you don't want to end up like him, you had better fight." Rasmus said and pulled him up from the chair. He then took him to another room where he would be lifted onto the stage just as Malakai was. This time, instead of putting the knife in a tray, he was given it to hold in hand.

********

Back on stage, Malakai was hanging on the little thread he had between life and death. He watched his arm get eaten and now the beast was ready to chomp down on him again. He closed his eyes accepting his fate with more tears dropping from his eyes.

"5..4..3..2..1!" The audience counted along with the virtual projection of a countdown. Just then, a blast had gone off killing the beast in an instant. It's blood splashed the stage. Malakai could barely see for his vision slowly went dark. He only knew the beast in front of him was no more and his body was slowly being lowered off the stage. The time limit for him to be with the beast had elapsed. Every child will be given an amount of time to get feasted on by beasts. If they died before the time elapses, then they would have a feast 'in their honour'.

As the body of the nearly lifeless boy was being taken away, another performer was being lifted on stage. The audience cheered for the young one who did his best and the new one who would hopefully give them a good show. While some of them wanted the children to last, others wanted to see them get eaten.

"Welcome, Michael Howell!" A voice announced. The little boy who was dressed same way Malakai was, stood already shaking and crying. He held tightly onto the knife knowing that was his only way of survival. There was no helping him, there was no saving him. He had to rely on himself. But, what can a ten year old do against a beast?

"Aww, he's already crying."

"He's even more cute than the last one, maybe I should add him to the list."

It didn't take long since he arrived for his monster to be released. A beast of the same kind as earlier came out, only this one had red skin and went on the attack immediately. After trying so hard to mentally prepare himself for the battle for his life, he immediately took to his heels running around the stage, trying to avoid the beast. He moved his legs fast, turning back from time to see if the beast was closing in.

When it launched itself, Michael would immediately move out of the way to avoid being pushed to the ground. He couldn't keep running, he knew the beast would catch up to him. So he had to at least, slow it down.

"If I'm correct, listening to the countdown and then watching the previous peformers body being lowered and the beast's blood everywhere, it would mean there's a time limit. I just need to last, I have to avoid getting caught at all cost." He thought and immediately turned back with a slash to the beast's fore limbs. It easily cut through almost cutting them off cleanly.

Though he was happy with the outcome, he wondered about something. "I have seen beasts before, this one's skin is too easily cut by this small knife. Are we being given a chance to survive? No, this is still wrong. What will they even get out of this?"

The beast cried out in pain and paused for a while before continuing the chase. It was now slower than it previously was. Michael then saw the blade Malakai had used and while running past, he picked it up. The beast kept chasing after him, this time making large leaps due to its defective forelimbs. Two out of six was damaged, but it made only minimal damage.

Michael seeing the beast hot on his tail turned to make another cut but he was caught this time. His hand was now in the beast's mouth. The teeth instantly crushing the bones. "AAAARGHH!!" He shouted and stabbed the beast in its head repeatedly with his other arm while screaming.

The beast was gnawing on his arm relentlessly. Neither was Michael relenting as he kept driving the blade through the beast's hide. He could feel its grip slowly loosening and then he stabbed it on the neck. Any part of the beast he found, he kept goring at it.

"CRAAAWW!!" The beast let out a cry and let go of his arm. Michael took the opportunity to run. His arm was bleeding profusely, but not as much as the beast was. He had severly hurt it and that in itself was a good thing. He just had to keep running. He held onto his right arm which was damaged.

"I will not die here. I will escape, I will go back home." He said to himself while running from the beast which was still on the chase although much slower. Both their blood oozed from their injuries dripping all over the stage.

Watching the boy try to get away was beyond entertaining for the audience. They cheered on watching. They would be more excited to see him get hurt as much as Malakai was, all he was doing was run away but him surviving meant they would get more shows, so they were happy.

"His..his blood, it's everywhere, he's leaving it everywhere. Just let me go! I promise I won't do anything." Roderick continued to beg his colleagues as he watched from above. He was going crazy watching the children, not just him, they all were and were beginning to second guess their decision to be present for this one.

"You are too hyper, even your seat is shaking and you expect us to trust you?" Renjiro said. Roderick kept begging but they kept deaf ears. All their attention was on the boy on stage. The amount of blood he was losing and th pain shooting up his body was making him drowsy and he was losing his footing.

The beast even after all those stabs to the head kept moving forward at him. The blade was too small to reach any vital parts anyway so it would only cause numerous cuts and bleeding. But the blood loss and injuries was taking a toll on the beast as well.

"I can't stop, I can't stop." Michael kept telling himself trying to move his legs faster. The beast getting closer launched itself forward and knocked Michael off his feet. He fell with his stomach to the floor. It then dug its razor sharp teeth into the boys body. It aimed for the neck but due to the way the boy fell, the beast's teeth went into his shoulders instead. Michael was unable to do anything because of how he fell and could only lay as he got eaten.

"AAAH!! AARGHH!!" He screamed as the beast feasted on him.

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Hello, author here, participating in my first WPC. Giving the world of revenge a try, so here's a story about secrecy, greed, power, bloodshed, gods and demons, and a young man who finds himself between them all.

You can let me know your thoughts in the comment section.

I hope you enjoy reading.