Hollow Repentance

- - - - - Torren's POV - - - - -

I thought that this might be fun. I wrapped my hands around her waist and untied the dressing gown, pulling it away from her as I pushed her forwards. Hidden under the gown, I stuck my foot out in front of her and laughed loudly as she tripped over onto her hands and knees. I removed my jacket and tossed it lazily onto the bed, wandering over to the other side of the room as Koerta stood up and lifted her fists in front of her face.

I chuckled at her; she did look pretty ridiculous like that. I had figured she would have learnt that she's much weaker than me by now, but it seems that all humans are highly strung (or maybe just stupid). Either way, this was going to be interesting.

Suddenly, she lunged towards me and I dodged easily, catching her arm as she passed me and swinging her gently onto the bed. She leapt back to her feet and came at me again, even more recklessly than before. She would have no chance against my kind. Again, I swung her onto the bed, only this time, I accidently released her a little too late and she tumbled off the bed and out of view, tangled in the dressing gown.

I laughed, even though I was a little concerned that it might have hurt, and waited for her to get back up. About a minute passed and she didn't appear. Hastily, I rushed round to the other side of the bed and knelt down beside the lump covered with the dressing gown. I couldn't sense her heartbeat or her blood flow. I started to panic and tore the dressing gown aside.

A pillow?! Where the hell was she? I gasped as I heard her sneaking up behind me and spun my head around just in time to see her throwing the dressing gown belt around me and fastening it tightly behind my back. She roughly pushed me to the ground and rolled me onto my back, sitting across me triumphantly.

"Why, you little sneak! Get off of me, you heffalump!"

I laughed at her as she slapped me and turned away to pout. She looked really childish when she was like this; it was so adorable. I tried to sweet talk my way out again.

"Aw, come on, Koerta. You know I didn't mean it. Lets go grab something to eat before bed, how about that?"

She scoffed at me and sat thinking for a while. Suddenly, I threw my weight to one side and knocked her from me, struggling to my feet as quickly as possible. Before I could wriggle away from the belt, Koerta charged forward and tackled me to the ground. Playing for the sympathy vote, I moaned in agony, even though I didn't feel it at all.

I laid beneath her, avoiding eye contact, until she caught my gaze and murmured slowly,
"Well, I suppose I could let you up, but only if you stay down until after I've moved the set of drawers and opened the door. Do we have a deal?"

I smiled and agreed eagerly, planning my next moves as she stood up cautiously and eyed me as she made her way over to the drawers. I stayed motionless and watched her strain to push the drawers out of the way, the weakling. Eventually, she cleared her exit and backed towards the door, her eyes transfixed with mine. She reached behind her and pulled down the handle, swinging the door open.

I knew what I was going to do, but I couldn't give anything away that might ruin my plans. I faked a shocked and angry expression, which appeared to work very well as she beamed at me sinisterly and yelled as she slowly turned to run into the hallway,
"Goodbye, Torren. It looks like this is g--!"

As she turned, I picked myself up and rushed into the doorway in the blink of an eye. Luckily, she didn't notice that I was gone and crashed into me as she tried to run out into the hallway.

"Game over."

I laughed at her as she stared at me in horror, stumbling backwards. With moments to spare, I caught hold of her wrists and dragged her back onto her feet. I pulled her further and she fell against me.

"Aw, you want a hug? Alright, then!"

I wrapped my arms around her and held her close to me, laughing at her feeble attempts to push away. She yelled at me, but I just sighed happily and held her tighter, whispering softly in her ear,
"Mmm, you're very warm, my child."

I listened to her yelp and push with more force, almost enough to actually have an impact on me. I chuckled as she tired slightly and stopped for breath. I heard her choke out through her frantic breaths,
"You're -- freezing!"

I beamed cheerfully as she looked up at me and dragged her to the hallway. Using her feet, she clung onto the door frame and screamed at me, so loud that I couldn't even understand what she was saying. In a single movement, I crouched down slightly and tossed her lightly over my shoulder. I laughed at her as she pounded against my back with her fists and kicked into the air.

"Come on, then. It's time for bed; well, to go to sleep anyway. You won't be going in a bed, now that I know you can pick locks, too!"

She stopped struggling momentarily and gasped as she realised what I meant. She knew, she was going back in the chair. I realised that it wasn't ideal, but I wouldn't tie her legs this time so she wouldn't be cut. I pushed her bedroom door open with my foot and carried her over to the chair as she pleaded with me. I did feel a little sorry for her but, then again, I had just allowed her to beat me, so I had to prove that I was in control really. I mean, I needed all of the superiority I could get for tomorrow.

I threw her lightly into the armchair and pulled her back by the waist as she tried to run again.

"Oh no you don't, my child. You're staying here tonight. It might teach you one day, that you can't beat me."

I laughed at her as she swung blindly at me. Snatching the torn bedsheet from the floor, I secured it around her waist to hold her in place so I could gather the rest of the bed sheet. She struggled helplessly as I fastened her in, becoming more agitated with each passing moment. Once her arms were securely fastened, I reassured her that I would leave her legs loose so that she wouldn't be cut again, but she wasn't very grateful. I ruffled her hair and she snapped at me, growling.

"Let me go! This won't stop me, I'll just rock the chair and smash the balcony open again. Then you'll be sorry!"

I stared at her. She was right, there was no way being tied to the chair could stop her reaching the balcony, especially not when I had left her legs loose.

"You're right."

I moved behind her and wrapped my arms around both her and the chair; lifting her up as if she was nothing. Heading to the door, I shifted her under one arm and pulled the door open, exiting into the hallway.

"What are you doing?! Let me go, you weirdo. Where are you taking me?"

"Well, as you rightly stated, this alone wouldn't stop you from getting onto the balcony and it would be dangerous if you fell from the balcony while tied up. So, I figured you can sleep in my room with me tonight. It has no balcony and I can keep an eye on you. I must warn you, though, I'm very grumpy if I'm woken for no reason. So beware."

My arms began to tire as we reached my bedroom and I hastily set her down next to the bed, locking the door and dropping onto the soft mattress. Pulling my shirt over my head, I smirked as I spotted Koerta gaping at my perfectly sculpted body. I guess she had never seen perfection before, as all of my kind tended to have. It was just the way we were. Climbing under the duvet, I turned with my back facing the child and and sighed softly.

Closing my eyes, I just began to relax when I felt my bed rocking slightly. Spinning over, I spotted Koerta kicking viciously at the bedpost, making it difficult for me to sleep. Turning back over, I called to her in a drowsy voice,
"Stop that, child. If I have to, I'll tie your legs down again. Regardless of what happened before."

I smiled as she stopped, but it didn't last long. She soon started again, kicking with increasing force.

"That's it!"

Throwing the covers away from me, I jumped out of bed and pulled two belts out of the cupboard. Roughly, I fastened them around her legs and the chair legs, mumbling furiously as she protested and moaned at me. Satisfied, I settled back into my bed and sunk down into the pillow.

I finally thought that I was going to get some sleep, this time. How wrong I was. I had barely closed my eyes when she started yelling at the top of her voice,
"You can't do this, you freak! You can't stop me, I'll just keep you awake all night, if I have to. If you intend to keep me like this, I'll stay awake all night too, if that's what it takes!"

I growled angrily and dragged myself out of bed once again. She couldn't see me through the darkness, so I took the opportunity to creep behind her and wrap my arm firmly around her neck, holding her still as she screamed. Yawning, I placed one hand on the back of her head and concentrated on holding her still.

Slowly, her struggles weakened again as I focused my powers on her mind. Withdrawing my arm from around her neck, I allowed Koerta's head to droop gently onto her shoulder and threw a fleece blanket over her. Sighing contently, I resigned back to the comfort of my bed and settled down for a peaceful rest; listening to Koerta snoring softly.

Who knows, tomorrow could actually go according to plan... For once.

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