CHAPTER 173: CH 173: TRUTH AND DARE (2)

Tasha met with Dave’s gaze, her eyes refusing to look away. Her pride screamed at her to spit in his face, to laugh off his twisted game. But that void... The oppressive cold... The unseen beasts circling in the dark like vultures with fangs...

No.

Not again.

And yet, she couldn’t let him see the fear twisting inside her like a knife. She swallowed hard, forcing her voice into something steady, almost defiant. Almost.

"Fine," she said at last, her jaw tight. "I’ll play."

The words came out sharper than she intended, but her tone cracked at the end, softening unexpectedly. To Dave, it landed like music, an unexpected sweetness in her reluctant surrender. He tilted his head, a smile tugging at his lips as he nodded, clearly amused.

"Good girl," he said, savoring the moment. "I knew you’d see reason."

Dave then clasped his hands behind his back, a casual air about him as he circled Tasha once more. The dim torch light dancing shadows across the walls and over his face, making his expression unreadable.

"Alright," he said, voice light but edged with anticipation. "Here’s how it works: I’ll state the truth... and then follow it up with a dare. Simple, yes?" He stopped just in front of her, tilting his head slightly. "Are you ready?"

Tasha didn’t answer with words. Her eyes narrowed, her lips curling into a tight frown. Then she gave a single, stubborn shake of her head, no. Not in agreement, not in protest. Just... defiance.

"Do whatever twisted thing you’ve got in mind," she muttered, her tone laced with disdain. "I don’t care."

Dave let out a short scoff, amused. "Still so full of fire," he said, more to himself than her. "Let’s see how long that lasts."

He took a slow step back from his position, he then raised his gaze slightly as if addressing the ceiling, his voice turning theatrical.

"There once was a lady," he began, his tone dripping with mockery, "ugly on the outside but strangely, she’s sexy on the inside. A truth no one dared to say aloud, yet those who know knows."

Tasha’s brow furrowed.

"She had power, status, influence. But beneath all of that? Pettiness. Petty enough to obsess over a harmless young boy. A boy who, by all accounts, had done absolutely nothing to her. He had only defeated her twenty-year-old nephew in a single, clean strike during a sparring match. An incident that had brought in a lot of issues."

Dave’s eyes gleamed low, watching all of Tasha’s reactions with delight. "Oh, how her pride had shattered," he continued. "Her ego burned like she was the one that was punched on the face. She couldn’t let it go. And instead of laughing it off like an adult, she stewed. And then, she declared him an enemy. But not just any enemy, her greatest one."

Tasha’s face tightened, her fists clenched, but she said nothing.

"Yet, her hatred wasn’t enough," Dave said, his voice lowering, "No, not for her. She contacted a mad scientist, someone unhinged and cruel, and then ordered that the boy and his group who had went for expedition to be taken. They were dragged away to a strange building like lab rats. Their aim was to use them to perform numerous, unspeakable experiments."

He paused, letting the silence fill the space between them like thick smoke.

"And all this was caused just because the young boy had defeated the lady’s nephew with one hit, in a friendly spar." He leaned in closer to her, his eyes locked on hers, daring her to deny it.

Dave’s voice then echoed across the cold stone walls like a sermon spoken from a pulpit, calm yet razor-sharp. He paced slowly, deliberately, letting his words settle with weight.

"She didn’t just plot from the shadows," he said. "She abandoned her teammates, her so-called executive members. She left them behind just to orchestrate her perfect little revenge. Every decision, every betrayal, every scheme... all of it were carried out in secret."

He stopped and turned, his eyes gleaming with theatrical satisfaction.

"These are the actions of Tasha," he declared, raising a hand slightly. "And now, they are no longer hidden. They are spoken aloud, for anyone listening to hear. The truth, at last, revealed."

Tasha’s face contorted, horror giving way to rage. Her head jerked from side to side in denial, her long hair whipping around her face.

"No, no, no!" she shouted, her voice cracking from the force of emotion. "You twisted bastard! You’re the one who nearly killed my nephew!" Her eyes flashed, brimming with hate and desperation. "You’re the monster here! You’re the bad one! Why are you blaming it on me?!"

Dave simply raised an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth curling with cold amusement. "Perhaps I am," he mused, "but let’s not wake the entire manor with your tantrum, shall we?"

He turned to the small table beside him, picking up a torch whose light shines weakly in the stale air. Then he closed his eyes, exhaling slowly.

He then pictured the void space in his mind. He knew it was a dark space with no end. A realm where time stood still, where terror was born not from what was seen, but what was heard, and what was waiting.

The moment he formed the thought, the air around him shifted. It grew colder, denser, as though the room itself were recoiling. When Dave opened his eyes again, the world around him had changed.

And now he found himself in a pitch black area filled with an endless void that stretched out in every direction like the maw of a sleeping beast. He was only able to see a little due to the dim torch he had with him.

And then he could see Tasha standing right before him. He had pictured her appearing along with him inside the void space. She blinked rapidly, her body trembling not from cold, but from something much worse. The sudden silence. The heavy air. The raw wrongness of the space that pressed against her skin.

Then she heard it, the sounds.

Low, guttural sounds, snarls, snorts, breathing that came in uneven huffs from behind her.

Slowly, she turned around to look behind her.

A wall of glowing eyes stared back at her. Misshapen creatures with jaws too wide and limbs that didn’t move like they should. Beasts! They didn’t roar, they growled, deep and visceral, like thunder scraping across bones.

One lunged forward a step.

"GRAWWL!"

A blast of rancid wind and spit burst from its maw, spraying across her face and shoulder. The force of it staggered her. Her body tensing up with widened eyes, and lips parted out, but voiceless.

Tasha didn’t need to ask where she was. The oppressive stillness, the suffocating weight in the air, and the faint sound of distant snarls had already told her everything.

She was back.

Back in the void.

And this time, the beasts had noticed her presence. Or maybe someone made them do.

Her heart stuttered, and a chill swept down her spine as glowing eyes blinked open in the darkness, one by one. They locked onto her like predators spotting an easy kill. The silence broke, first with a low rumble, then a chorus of savage howls that tore through the air like blades.

"Fucking shit!" she gasped, her voice trembling, barely audible over the growing stampede.

The horde in the distance had begun to sprint, dozens of them, charging with terrifying speed, claws raking against the hard ground, jaws snapping open in anticipation.

But the one closest to her didn’t wait.

With a sickening snort, it lowered its massive head, thick muscles rippling beneath its coarse hide. Before Tasha could react, it launched itself forward like a battering ram. Its skull slammed into her stomach with bone-crushing force, knocking the air from her lungs and sending her flying.

Her body hit the floor hard and slid, arms scraping, knees bouncing off jagged terrain. Pain shot through her every limb. By the time she skidded to a stop, her skin was scraped raw, her breath ragged, her limbs trembling from the shock.

She looked up, dazed, blood trickling from her elbow.

But they were still coming.

She could hear them getting louder; the thunder of countless paws pounding the earth. And oddly, impossibly, they didn’t even glance at Dave. They surged past him as if he didn’t exist, invisible to their senses. He stood calmly in their midst, untouched, unaffected, as though the chaos was nothing more than a passing breeze.

But she wasn’t invisible.

Every beast’s attention zeroed in on her, drawn like moths to a flickering flame.

"No, no, no!" Tasha choked out, scrambling to her feet. Her vision swam from the impact, but she forced her legs to move. Her instincts screamed louder than her thoughts.

She ran.

Her feet pounded the ground, wild and desperate, each step fueled by pure survival instinct. She couldn’t see them clearly, but she could hear them closing in, gaining ground toward her. It was relentless and monstrous. And she didn’t dare look back.

Every muscle burned, her lungs begged for air, but she pushed harder, faster. The darkness blurred around her. She had no destination, only the need to run, to live.

Tears stung her eyes, but she didn’t stop.

"What the fuck did I do, you bastards!" she screamed, voice cracking mid-shout, swallowed by a sob.

It sounded less like anger now.

More like a cry for help.

More like fear.

And then a voice could be heard from the shadows, "Will you do as I say now?"