Chapter 4

• “Get up, Ava.”
• The command was delivered without the slightest hint of mercy, its sharpness cutting through the thick air. My body shook involuntarily, but I knew better than to hesitate. If I didn’t move fast enough, the consequences would be far worse. I had learned that lesson well—after all, I’d been here long enough.
• I forced myself to rise from the floor of the packhouse’s cold, stone hallway. My knees ached with the effort, but I didn’t dare show it. The Kings weren’t forgiving. They didn’t care about weakness. Especially not from me.
• I could feel their eyes on me before I even looked up. Lowan, Rogan, Mayor, and Crown. The quadruplets. All four of them were standing in a row, the same arrogant, cruel smirks on their faces. I had known them for as long as I could remember, but I never ceased to feel that cold, suffocating weight when they were near.
• “On your feet, Ava,” Lowan repeated, his voice low, almost a growl, as though I were nothing more than an insect to be crushed underfoot.
• I didn’t respond, didn’t dare. I simply stood, eyes cast down, not wanting to look at the malice in their eyes. It had become a game to them, one they took great pleasure in. I was the constant target, the one they could torment without fear of reprisal.
• It started small, subtle at first. Little jabs. Insults that were just sharp enough to hurt, just clever enough to make me feel small. Lowan’s taunts were the worst—his words like daggers that burrowed deep into my skin.
• But it quickly escalated. Every day, there was something new. A new punishment. A new trick.
• Rogan's favorite thing was the mockery—he’d find some way to make me feel like nothing more than a pathetic fool in front of the others. A harmless, yet humiliating taunt, followed by his unsettling chuckle. “You think you’re better than us, Ava? You think you're special?” he would sneer, a nasty grin plastered across his face.
• Once, he’d trapped me in the kitchen, locking me inside a closet for hours while he taunted me from the other side, laughing as I pleaded for him to let me out. The silence in that dark space was suffocating, the air heavy with my own desperation.
• Mayor, on the other hand, liked to get physical. His version of ‘fun’ was more hands-on, less subtle. One of my earliest memories of him was when I was only a child, attempting to help clean the house when he shoved me into a wall, causing a sharp pain in my shoulder. His sneer had sent a chill up my spine as I tried to push myself back to my feet. “What’s the matter, Ava? Can’t take a little push?” he’d said, his voice dripping with venom.
• But Crown… Crown was the worst. His quiet cruelty was the most dangerous, because it was unpredictable. One moment, he would seem calm—almost pleasant—and the next, he’d do something so horrible that the terror would linger for days.
• I closed my eyes, remembering the way his voice had lowered that one evening when I had made the mistake of looking him in the eye. “You have a lot of spirit, Ava,” he’d said softly, but there had been no kindness in it. “But spirit doesn’t mean anything here.”
• I had learned quickly that if I showed even the slightest resistance, they would make sure I regretted it.
• But this time, it was different. Something had changed. It wasn’t just petty teasing or meaningless games. The air between us felt charged, heavy with something unspoken. I couldn’t understand it at first. I didn’t know why, but I could feel it. This time, their eyes weren’t just filled with malice. There was something else, something darker.
• “Ava,” Lowan sneered, drawing my attention back to him. “You know your place. Don’t forget it.” His gaze swept over me, lingering for a moment longer than it should have, making me feel like prey, trapped in a cage.
• I wanted to argue, to fight back. But I knew better. There was no point. They would win. They always did.
• “Do you remember what happens when you forget your place?” Rogan’s voice was almost a purr, and it made my skin crawl. His eyes locked onto mine, and for a moment, I saw something flicker there. Something dangerous. Something that made my pulse quicken in a way I didn’t understand.
• “You can’t win against us, Ava,” Mayor said, stepping forward, his posture imposing. “You’re nothing. You’ll always be nothing.”
• They moved closer, surrounding me, and I felt my breath catch in my throat. There was no escape. No one to help me.
• I was alone.
• And then, as if I had triggered something within them, their taunting stopped. Silence filled the room. It was a heavy, oppressive silence, one that made my heart race as I looked between them, trying to figure out what was happening.
• Then, it was Crown who spoke, his voice dangerously calm, yet filled with an undertone of something more sinister. “You’re not so innocent, Ava. We know what you’re hiding. We know what you’ve been doing.”
• I froze. My stomach twisted. What had they figured out? What did they know? My mind raced, but I couldn’t come up with an answer.
• “What are you talking about?” I whispered, the words barely escaping my lips. I tried to keep my voice steady, but I knew it betrayed me.
• Crown smiled, a cold, cruel thing that made my blood run cold. “You think we don’t notice when you sneak around, when you try to find out things you’re not supposed to know? You think we don’t see you?” He stepped closer, his presence suffocating. “You really don’t understand how things work, do you, Ava?”
• I shook my head, my chest tightening with panic. “I don’t know what you mean,” I said, but the words sounded weak, even to my own ears.
• Lowan’s hand shot out, grabbing my arm with a force that made me flinch. “Don’t lie to us. You’ve been digging into our past. You’ve been asking questions. That’s dangerous, Ava.” His voice was a low growl, his grip tightening on my arm. “You have no idea who you’re messing with.”
• The pressure in my chest grew heavier, suffocating me. “Please,” I whispered, my voice trembling. “I’m not… I haven’t been…”
• Rogan’s laugh interrupted me, sharp and mocking. “You think we’re scared of you, Ava? You’re nothing. And you always will be.”
• I tried to pull away from Lowan, but his grip was unyielding. My pulse was pounding in my ears as I struggled against him, panic rising in my chest.
• “I’ll never stop,” I whispered, more to myself than to them. “I’ll never stop fighting.”
• And then, everything changed.
• A sudden crash echoed through the hall, shaking the walls. The Kings jerked back, eyes wide as they turned toward the source of the noise. I didn’t know what was happening, but I didn’t care. The distraction was my chance.
• I wrenched my arm from Lowan’s grasp and bolted toward the door, my feet moving faster than I had ever thought possible. The sound of their curses and footsteps followed me, but I didn’t stop. Not this time. Not again.
• As I ran through the hallways of the packhouse, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something bigger was happening. Something dark. And I was at the center of it all.
• But I didn’t know how to stop it.
• And I didn’t know how to survive it.