The Werewolf pt.2: the Duke
Mind the warnings on this one!
CWS: dehumanization, teeth whump mentioned (not excecuted), death mention (nothing on-screen), manhandling, death threats, it as pronouns, blood/aftermath of gore, hitting, psychological whump, near-emeto
SPOILER CW: these CWS are spoilers, but they are intense. Skip these at your own risk!! CW: child death strongly implied, though it's revealed to not actually be the case at the end. No child is hurt/shown on-screen. Intense feeling of guilt/grief, self hatred.
Taglist: @why-not-ask-me-a-better-question
MASTERLIST
In the end, the werewolf hadn’t been able to walk to the estate, and was dragged the rest of the way. His fingers had turned white- it was hard to tell whether from fear, bloodloss or cold. The dark wood of the service entrance opened up as though to swallow him whole, and inside it was dim. When the doors closed, the only pale morning light entered through the high thin windows.
Oscar was thrown to the hard stone floor of the mudroom, and with his hands bound behind him, his knees hit the ground with a painful thud. An iron-studded sole between his shoulder blades pushed his forehead to the floor and kept him there. The other hunter kept the bow aimed at him, which pricked his skin like a pair of eyes. Oscar clenched his fists and stared at the rough stone.
Just what had he eaten to deserve such treatment? This seemed like a lot of trouble for livestock. A horse, perhaps? The wolf usually didn’t go for big prey, but he had been hungry lately.
Hushed whispers, fast fading footsteps, then silence rang- save for the drip of his wounds. There was no biting wind in the mudroom, but it was far from warm. Oscar’s thoughts got sluggish, and his fear ran out of stamina. He had almost let his mind drift, when he was startled back to awareness by approaching footsteps. They stopped, before Oscar’s bowed head. The shoes were leather, without any dirt on them.
“So this is it?”
This was a voice that got listened to, no doubt about that. Even if a rich man dressed in rags, his polished accent and air of confidence would give him away. This man was no exception. Tiredness and distaste dripped off his tone, and Oscar felt cold to his core. The hunter pressing his boot into his back responded.
“Yes, your grace. Herrick’s arrow was in its thigh, and there’s blood on its...” The sentence trailed off, unfinished. “Er, well. It's him.”
The boot dissapeared, but Oscar didn’t dare to look up or speak. He wasn’t killed on the spot. Any misstep could stop that.
The Duke spoke.
“Look at me, beast.”
Oscar lifted his head, but he wished he could have stayed curled up. Half-naked and covered in blood, he must look like the monster they thought he was. He tried to stay bend over, both to appear as docile as he could, and to hide himself from view.
“Y-your grace,” he greeted with a hoarse voice.
The Duke looked like he’d been through a hellish night. There were bags under his eyes and his chestnut beard was a mess.
He grimaced in disgust and fury when Oscar’s blood covered front was revealed. His hand twitched, like he could throttle the werewolf then and there.
“So it’s true. I could have you shot right now. I should. It's what you deserve”
Oscar’s mouth turned cork dry.
“...Thank you for not doing so?” It came out like a question, since he wasn’t sure how long it would last. “And... I really am very sorry, your grace.”
“You’re sorry?” The duke asked, as though it had been an insult.
“I am. But..." Oscar couldn’t continue pleading his case, without knowing what his crime was. "Why am I here, your grace?”
The Duke’s expression hardened, if such a thing was even possible. Visciously, he slapped the werewolf, and the ring on his pink finger cut a line on his cheekbone. A fresh trail of red joined the maroon mess on his face, and he barely kept from falling over.
The Duke was slightly out of breath with fury.
“I ought to have you shot like the rabid dog you are! You-! You dare ask me why?”
Oscar hunched his shoulder, bracing for another hit.
“No, your grace, I know I did something wrong! But I don’t know what!” He spoke faster to explain before another hit, or worse, an arrow. “I mean, I don’t remember anything from last night, your grace, please!”
Some of the fury stilled as the Duke took that in.
“You don’t?”
“No. The wolf and I, we’re different things. I don’t remember or control what it does.” Oscar dared to peel his eyes from the floor, and asked in a small voice: “So... I don’t know what I ate last night. Please, could you tell me?”
The Duke glared the werewolf down with a gaze as cold as steel. “I see. I think you deserve to know.” His voice cut like a dagger, his barely-contained fury leaching through like poison.
“It was my son you attacked.”
If he hadn’t been kneeling, Oscar would have collapsed. Everything spun around him.
“No...” he whispered in horror. He had never hurt a human before. He had thought- no, hoped- that the wolf wouldn’t get that desperate, that he could be alright so long as he stayed away from towns...
As tears filled his eyes, he heard the Duke continue. Every bit of hatred in his voice was justified.
“He was barely eight.”
“No!” Oscar couldn’t breathe. He deserved this pain, but he couldn’t bear to hear it. He tried to gasp for air, but it was like nothing was coming in. His voice cracked as he cried:
“No, please! Why didn’t you shoot me right away?”
Then, his thoughts were brought to a screeching halt by a realization. Oh god. The blood that’d been on him all morning, the evidence that had crusted and covered his mouth, his throat, his chest-!
Oscar barely pushed down the urge to be sick. He tried to get his hands free, but the ropes just dug in. It wasn’t as painful as he deserved. He writhed like a wurm on a hook, trying to rub off the nauseating evidence.
“Please, get it off of me!” he begged frantically. The only thing he got for it, was a kick against his back. He fell over and made no attempts to get up.
His face was numb, and his muscles ached from shaking. He was a monster. No other word was enough.
He got up on his knees enough to look up at the father of the boy. The hatred that burned in his eyes was cold. Whatever Oscar’s punishment would be, it would be a careful and slow one. No doubt he’d be grateful when it would end.
“I... I am so sorry,” Oscar managed to stammer out through the lurging of his stomach.
The Duke’s lips tightened.
“Do you think I care for your apologies, beast?”
“No...” Oscar said honestly. “But I don’t know what else to say.” He let his eyes fall down to the floor. Dully, he whispered: “If I had pliers, I’d rip out my own teeth.”
It wasn’t a lie. He should have done so the moment he got his curse, to make sure this couldn’t happen.
The Duke was still for a moment. Then, he spoke curtly to the hunter who’d pushed him with the boot.
“Bring it to the cell. Get that arrow out, we don’t want it to die yet.”
Oscar was hauled upright, but he was entirely supported by the grip on his arms. There was no way his feet would support him now. He tried to go in the direction he was manhandled, too numb with guilt for anything else. The tears dragged white tracks through the blood on his face.
The hunter who held him was the same man who’d given his his cloak, the only thing he had that was remotely human. So maybe, just maybe, Oscar could risk begging.
“Please,” he whispered. “Can I get something to wash with? I think I’m going to be sick...”
Without warning, the hunter slammed Oscar sideways against the wall, knocking his head against it hard. Stars danced in his eyes and the floor morphed and danced.
The answer was clear. Oscar would not be allowed to wash away the blood he had spilled. He bit down bile, and let himself be carried away without another word.
-----------------------------------
The Duke watched the wolf be carried off limply, but his eyes were somewhere far away. He rubbed his forehead, anger making way for bone-deep exhaustion.
He would have to clarify the situation to the hunters later. He couldn’t have the rumor spread that his son had actually died from the attack.
It had gotten close. He felt he’d aged ten years in a night. But he’d been assured that the worst was over, and the boy would survive.
The beast had seemed remorseful. But werewolves were decievers by nature, and the duke would not fall for its tricks. And if it could feel guilt, that would serve him right. He hadn’t earned the mercy of the truth.
No doubt everyone in the estate would be relieved to hear the boy would be alive and well.
Except, they wouldn’t get the full truth either. His son would not be “well” again.
As he stood alone in the chilly mud room, the duke wished he could have killed the beast for what it had done. But he shouldn’t, not yet.
Lycanthropy was a terrible curse. The healers had warned him in hushed whispers that, though his son would recover, there is a very high chance he’d develop the same sickness.
It spread like rabies. And like it, there was no known cure.
The duke steeled his shoulders, and corrected himself. There was no known cure yet. He didn’t care what it would take. That monster in the basement would spit out every last damn secret about its curse, so his innocent boy could be healed. Whatever it would took, the duke would make things right again.
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Six year old Sebastian’s eyes shoot open as he suddenly finds it hard to breath.
Gasping as he tries to find the air that left him his body slightly twitches trying to grasp his sheets underneath him as his little brain enters survival mode and his body tries to find anything to support him & ground him as he tries to fight the desperation the lack of air ignites inside of him.
As he does this. His eyes are met with a dark figure towering over him and tightness around his neck growing as the pain in his lungs, throat and head get worst & he barely manages to grasp the slightest bit of air as he fights to breath.
más his brain tries to fight the pain and fight to live.
his heart shatters & panic grows, hearing his father’s voice in the darkness as the intimidating figure grows blurry, finding himself crying of pain & fear.
“die, you, little, bastard…..I never loved you……you have been the biggest mistake of my life. This family would have been much happier if you had never been born”
Augustus’s drunken slurring fills the room as he begins to squeeze Sebastian’s throat even harder.
the pain Sebastian felt grows to be too much for the small child & everything goes black.
———————————————————————————
Feeling the warmth of the sun & light hit his face
Sebastian scrunches up his face, instinctively pulling up his bedsheets over himself trying to block out the light.
coming to in the middle of the thought however he opens his eyes wide, panicked remembering the scary dream he had the night before.
except, as soon as his mind came to.
unbearable pain shot up in his throat & head making the child panic & a sense of terror come over him.
sitting up slowly, feeling disoriented he pulls the covers off him, realizing he had an accident.
whimpering, afraid his father would see it & punish him.
he gets up as best as he can & tries to take off the dirty bedsheets to hide & try to wash when he can.
after he walks up to the bedroom mirror to see for himself why his throat felt so sore, hoping to find nothing & realize his head is playing tricks on him. But to his horror he is meet with deep burning around his neck in the shape of fingers as his worst fear is confirmed.
panicking he runs over to his bedroom door & locks it before crumbling into a little ball on the floor, sobbing his heart out, feeling afraid, in pain and unwanted.
Sebastian stayed inside his room all day, being in pain & confused.
when night came he grabbed his & Alex’s tiger & lion teddies, a picture of his family that stood on Alex’s night table a blanket & pillow & made another trip out to the near by forest to spend the night where he would start to gradually start to spend more and more nights in. As his father’s temperament and abuse escalated through the years.
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