Raven (Book One of the Dark Lycans Series)
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Aggravation

Looking up, I saw stars and realized I was outside this time. My hands were chained to the ground, and at the sides of my body. I was laying down with my back against a hard surface.

My night vision sharpened as I blinked a few times. I looked up again and saw black bars crossing the sky. Anger and rage began to build up inside me.

"Those assholes put me in a cage? Oh god they are going to pay!" I gritted my teeth in fury. The one thing that I hated most about the Hunters, was that until I was eleven years old, I was forced to sleep in either a cage or a prison cell.

The cage was about 4 feet across, 4 feet wide, and 6 feet tall. I stood up, my leg had healed from the shot, but the chains around my wrists barely gave me enough space to stand fully straight. They were attached to the base of two sides of the cage, opposite each other making my arms pull to the side.

I noticed a coating of some kind of powder on the bars and my chains. Taking a closer look at it, I realized it was some kind of substance that if inhaled, would cause weakness in the body.

I remembered from my studies that it was called inualidus. And, was one of the substances that someone can't develop immunity to. So, while I wasn't immune to it, only large quantities would have the slightest effect on me.

Luckily the coating wasn't very thick, so I would not be weakened too much. But, it would be really fucking difficult to break out of my chains and the bars, not to mention the fact that I just realized I am really far above the ground.

When I layed on to my stomach, my chains weren't pulling on my wrists too tight, so I was able to see over the edge of my cage. I realized I was at least ten stories above the ground.

Standing and taking a quick review of my surroundings, I concluded that I was at the top of a tower. A sharp cough sounded from behind me, making me jump and whip around, only to be jerked back roughly by my chains.

I sat down so the chains were loose enough for me to twist slightly, it let me catch a look of what was behind me. There was a bridge-like structure leading to the tower I was on. The brown haired man from before was standing with his hands behind his back.

"How the hell did you guys get me up here?" I asked in disbelief. I wasn't the lightest person, thanks to my heavy muscles, but I was still only five foot six.

"It wasn't too hard, now, are you ready?" He asked with a hinting tone. My heart dropped, well this can't be good, I thought.

"For what?" Luckily, my voice didn't show my anxiety towards his answer.

He grinned evilly, "Punishment,"

"You'll never break me." I stated rather dramatically. The man laughed, and shook his head.

"We'll see about that." He took out a mask from his pocket, placed it over his nose and mouth, and walked to my cage. I noticed he was wearing gloves as he unlocked, then opened a door to my cell. Using a different set of keys, he unlocked one of my chains from my wrist, freeing my right arm.

As soon as my arm was loose, I swung it hard at his head. The metal around my wrist caught his temple and a loud cracking noise was heard. He yelled and stumbled back into the side of my cage.

Almost instantly, there were five more men at my cell door. At the sight of their leader's bleeding head, they ran at me. I kicked one man's shin using my heel, but not very hard since I was barefoot.

Throwing kicks and punches, I knocked out a few men, but more kept coming.

Someone caught my right wrist, and since my left hand was still chained, I wasn't able to free it. I was thrown roughly at the walls of my cage. The hard metal bars left a numbing feeling across my entire body.

A man yanked my right arm behind me to meet my still chained left one. My face was pressed up against the bars, but I was still able to see a blonde man unchain my left arm. When I tried to move my left arm, it was quickly yanked back so both my arms were immobilized.

I groaned in frustration, my wolf was begging me to shift, but I couldn't let them know about her.

My body was yanked away from the bars, my wrists held together in an extremely strong grip. I stumbled slightly from the sudden movement. The man holding my arms shoved me through the cell door and I thrashed around, trying to loosen his grip.

His hands tightened around my wrists, and I felt my bones starting to be crushed. Instead of fighting, I fell completely limp.

I was flipped onto my back, my arms over my head, and dragged. The rough stone under me was most likely ripping at my black jumpsuit, but I didn't care at the moment.

I watched my cage become smaller, as I was dragged across the bridge-like structure. My arms dropped, and I let out a small cry as I suddenly fell back.

I fell down the stone steps, my back painfully hitting the hard edges. The only thing keeping my head from being splattered on the stairs, was the man holding my arms above my head.

I sat up so my butt hit the stone instead of my spine. A jolt ran through my body at each drop between steps.

After what felt like 15 flights, we finally hit a flat surface. The man dragged me across the smooth floor and suddenly came to a halt.

Someone yanked my arms and pulled me up to my feet. I was about to start fighting again, but I was shoved backwards and then picked up by my wrists.

My arms were over my head, and I started kicking my now suspended legs. There were five men around me, and two each grabbed one of my legs.

They pulled me back and my feet landed on a flat, cold surface. Mt heels hit something and I looked down to watch the two men lock my feet into some kind of metal apparatus.

The rest of my body hit a metal wall when, one of the men crossed my wrists and slammed them against the wall. More metal enclosed my wrists and locked them to the wall above my head.

The men let go of me after locking a metal collar around my neck, and another one around my hips. They walked away, leaving me trapped with my feet shoulder width apart, and arms crossed above my head.

My surroundings included a huge stone wall similar to a castle's, and no roof. It was still night, and based on the moon, I had first woken up here nearly a week ago.

I saw a dark figure moving down the stairs, and saw it was the leader. He approached me with a scowl on his face.

I smirked when I saw the bloody bandage wrapped around his head where I had hit him. I raised an eyebrow when he suddenly smiled.

"I'm going to have fun with this," he grinned mischievously. I was taken aback slightly at the hunger and determination in his gray eyes.

"I never got your name, I am getting tired of calling you The Leader." I questioned. He furrowed his brows at my calm tone, but shrugged.

"Matthew. Now Raven, how old are you?"

"That's a boring name, can I call you Asshole instead?" I asked keeping a straight face. I found that when I'm in this position, I feel better when I can control the situation by controlling the person who has the upper hand. In this case, by irritating Matthew.

"No, you may not. Now answer my question," he replied with gritted teeth.

"Okay Asshole, so I am nineteen years old if you must know. Oh wait, what is the date?" I asked remembering that it might have been my birthday while I was passed out.

"Don't call me that. Its August 16." I smiled at his clenched jaw.

"Oh, well then today I turn 20. And since you don't like Asshole, would you prefer Douchebag, or Dickhead more?" I smirked when he let out a groan of frustration.

"Shut your fucking mouth!" He yelled. My eyes widened.

"Wow, looks like Dickhead has some serious anger issues." My comment destroyed his last string of restraint.

He pulled out a dagger from somewhere and threw it. I gasped as it flew straight towards my chest,

And peirced my heart.