A sharp, stinging pain ebbed from Skye's head and back. With a raspy groan, he gently lifted himself off the hard surface beneath him, prompting further waves of pain to jolt through his skull. He clasped the side of his head with a single hand and slowly opened his eyes, coming to his senses.

The pattering of rain against metal was all he could hear, and a conglomeration of scrap metal greeted his eyes - he seemed to be lying within the cavity of a mountain of steel, surrounding him on all sides. He had just enough room to sit up and move his limbs, but he couldn't stand up. A few feet in front of him was an opening to the outside, just wide enough that he could crawl through it.

What the fuck? Where am I? Did I get kidnapped?!

Skye patted himself down - his coat was missing. He didn't have his phone, but the pistol was still discreetly tucked under the right side of his waistband and shirt.

...The hell? If I got kidnapped... why would they let me keep my gun, but not my phone? Oh god, what the fuck is going on?

Skye leaned forward and began crawling on all fours towards the only exit, to which the scrap metal responded with a cacophony of creaks. He hesitated with each sound that emanated around him, and yet, no captor rushed over to deal with him now that he was very audibly awake.

His heart raced as he peeked his face through the gap, his head throbbing with every pulse. He looked around, surveying the area from roughly a metre above the muddy ground.

Piles of brown and grey hues - it was a dilapidated, murky scrapyard.

It suddenly clicked. Chills raced through his body. This was Zev's doing.

Skye frantically looked around side to side, up and around, but didn't see any towering monsters.

Hide? Run? Do I...?!

He clambered out of the opening in the junk pile, falling face first into the sloppy ground. Scrambling back up to his feet, he got a better look at the immediate area: it was an open, circular area, encompassed by heaps of metal, with a pair of pathways branching to the left and right at the far end of the area.

With no landmarks to navigate with, he relied on instinct - get as far away from here as possible. He desperately fumbled with his waistband and pulled out his gun, mentally preparing himself to pull the trigger at a moment's notice.

With only two directions to go, Skye ran toward the left path. It was getting harder to discern sounds; not only was his head splitting, but the rain's intensity was picking up. The white noise of water on metal played tricks on his mind, telling him that every which way, his doom was surely just a step away. He repeatedly checked from side to side, glancing behind his back, only looking forward every couple of seconds to see where he was going. He stumbled more than once on the slippery ground, barely keeping his footing.

For a moment, he considered screaming for help, but quickly realized how terrible of an idea that was. Drenched in rainwater and mud, he pressed forward through the straight path between the scrap mountains.

Then, unmistakable, just audible through the rain. That laugh.

"Kyeh-heh-heh!"

Skye reeled around, clutching the pistol with both hands. Nobody in sight in any direction, not even on top of the metal hills.

Where the fuck are you?! Skye resisted yelling it aloud, in the off chance Zev wasn't laughing at him.

He backed up towards a nearby wall of scrap, keeping a keen eye out for that monster. Skye KNEW he heard that laugh. His eyes widened as paranoia crept further into his mind, his gaze jolting in every direction.

A rusty limb quickly shot out from beside him, tightly grasping both his wrists together with a huge hand.

Skye screamed, futilely tugging his arms back to free himself, fixing his gaze on where the limb was coming from. But before he could get a clear look, the hand lifted him into the air by his wrists, leaving him dangling above the ground with his relocated shoulder searing in pain.

The metal began shifting around in both form and colour, slowly revealing a familiar, terrifying creature.

"H-HELP! HELP ME!" Skye belted out, squirming around helplessly. He rapidly pulled the trigger on the pistol, but no gunshot came out.

"You make this too easy," Zev mocked him, flashing an enormous grin.

"PLEASE- PLEASE DON'T!"

Zev ignored Skye's wailing, instead looking up at the gun he was still clinging onto. With their free hand, the volon plucked the gun from Skye's hands, tossed it into their mouth, and swallowed it with a single gulp.

"Ah, ah! I wouldn't want you hurting yourself with that," said Zev.

Fully expecting to be next on the menu, Skye clenched his eyes shut and continued screaming for mercy, his struggling getting weaker by the moment. But as the moments passed, he remained whole and intact - he opened his eyes to see Zev was taking him back to where he'd just escaped from. The volon held Skye off to the side, low enough to the ground to where his feet dragged through the sludge below.

"I thought I would have some fun with you first, human. You do not disappoint."

"Z-Zev, please! Please don't eat me!" Skye cried out. "Why are you doing this?! I didn't do anything to you!"

"You're wrong. But you should be thankful, human. I'm not going to eat you."

Skye felt no relief upon hearing those words - he only worried more about what other fate Zev had in store for him.

"I have been watching you, human. And I have learned things. 'Ray' was a fun little morsel, yes," Zev continued. "He also had a gun. It didn't help him either. And he ran, just like you. Quite alike. But now, we both know that wasn't Ray."

The monster paused for a moment. "'Hey, Ray. How's it going?'" Zev mimicked Skye's voice uncomfortably well. "Ah, ah, that's when I realized you tricked me."

"W-wait, I-"

"And then, I found out. Ah, that's right. You have a sister. That is why I am not eating you."

Upon reaching the scrap alcove Skye had just crawled out of minutes ago, Zev lifted him up and stuffed him inside, back first, carelessly bashing and scraping him on the rough edges of the metal waste.

Skye shouted in both terror and pain, awkwardly shifting around to a vaguely less painful position as soon as the volon released him.

Zev leaned down and looked into the opening, staring at Skye.

"I'm eating her instead."

Until that point, Skye wasn't sure if he'd been crying or not. Now, he certainly was, broken by those four words. His face furled into a horrified glower.

"N-n-no! Oh god, no, god, please no! Zev, please don't! I'll do fucking anything! Leave her be!"

"Ah, ah, do not worry," Zev jeered, "I'm not cruel, see. Once your sister is resting in my gut, I will bring you a memento for you to remember her by. How about her shoes? I never liked the taste. Yes, that will do. Kyeh-heh-heh."

"ZEV, PLEASE! Leave her alone! Fucking take me instead! She hasn't done anything to you!" More tears rolled down Skye's cheeks.

Zev stood up and took a couple paces back, looking at Skye with an inquisitive stare. "I was right to pick you. You really are fun. Kyeh-heh-heh-heh!"

"I'll do fucking anything, Zev, please!" Skye's cries of desperation turned into whimpers as he choked back more tears. "Please... anything... she's innocent...!"

"You had your chance," Zev snarled. "Now you will see what happens when you trick me." The volon reached for something on the outside of the scrap mound, bringing it over to the opening of the alcove. It was an old, discarded machine part of some sort, big enough to seal Skye inside. Zev shoved it into the opening, ramming it against the metal surrounding it until it was firmly lodged in place.

"Goodbye, human. I will see you soon with gifts in hand."

Through the gaps in the junk, Skye saw the volon turn and take its first steps away from him.

"No! STOP!" Skye cried, but Zev continued ignoring him. "FUCK!" he screamed, choking back tears. "ZEV, STOP! PLEASE!"

No reaction from the monster whatsoever. Zev just kept walking, and they soon turned the corner past another mountain of metal, leaving Skye's sight.

Pushing through the pain, he scrambled on all fours towards the plugged opening, positioning his feet against the metal behind him and pushing on the machine part in front of him with as much force as he could muster. Yet it didn't budge.

"Come on, you son of a bitch!" he cried out. He slammed his fists against the debris, all while cussing at the top of his lungs.

The junk moved just slightly. An ember of hope flared up inside him. He continued ramming the metal blocking him in.

Bit by bit, the chunk of steel between him and freedom was moving the tiniest bit with each push, and after enough repeated shoves-

-the debris fell out from the pile, triggering a landslide of scrap to fall down and entomb Skye even more.

"NO... NO!!" he yelled.

He wasn't hit by any of the falling junk, but he couldn't even see the outside world anymore.

He tried slamming his fists against the new chunks of metal. Absolutely no movement.

"FUUUCK!!"

With that, Skye's life was over.

Cassandra was minutes away from being devoured by a wretched monster, and he was completely powerless to do anything about it. After that, said monster would come back and probably eat him. If not, the loan sharks would find him and kill him. There was no calling for help without his phone, and his only means of self-defence was in Zev's stomach.

He wailed and cried as loud as he could until his throat ran dry. He feebly threw his fists at the scrap one, two, three more times.

No movement.

No hope.

It was over.