Rehab for SuperVillains (18+)
Chapter 266: The Girl

Chapter 266: The Girl

"Okay, this is unnecessary," she hissed, her voice sharp, her tail swishing with agitation. "I said I’d listen to you, Master. I always do!"

"I know," Kael murmured, his voice low, soothing, his hazel eyes watching her closely.

"Then why—" Tila began, her voice breaking, her shoulders trembling with restraint.

"Just in case," Kael said, his tone gentle but firm, a quiet promise beneath his words.

Tila breathed out hard through her nose, her body tense, her tail stilling, her shoulders shaking faintly with suppressed emotion.

Then came another sound, another click, colder, heavier, pressed against her neck.

The collar locked into place with a quiet finality, like a door sealing shut, its weight a chilling presence against her skin.

Her breath caught, her heartbeat thudding against her ribs, a wild rhythm of fear and defiance.

"...Don’t tell me that is...?" Tila whispered, her voice trembling, her black eyes hidden but wide beneath the blindfold.

Kael’s voice was soft, steady, a quiet anchor in her storm. "Power suppression collar."

A pause, heavy and suffocating, the hum of the engine filling the silence.

"Liss’s drug is going to wear off soon," Kael added, his hazel eyes flickering with concern, his voice low.

Tila’s entire body tensed, her breath hitching, her tail frozen.

She swallowed, her mouth dry, her voice a sharp whisper laced with bitterness. "So that’s how it is, huh..."

"You know it’s not personal," Kael said, his voice heavy with regret, his hazel eyes softening as he watched her.

"Remember this when I come back to kill you," Tila snapped, her voice sharper now, the bitter edge cutting through her whisper, her shoulders trembling beneath the blindfold.

Tila couldn’t see him, but she felt his presence, close and heavy, a storm of trust and betrayal swirling between them.

"...I have a bad feeling about this," she whispered, her voice barely audible, raw with fear, her tail twitching faintly.

Kael’s hand moved to hers, his fingers curling gently around her cuffed knuckles, a tender touch that contrasted the cold steel.

"It’s going to be fine," he said, his voice soft, a quiet vow, though doubt lingered in his hazel eyes.

Tila didn’t believe him, not fully, her heart pounding with a mix of fear and resignation.

But she nodded, just a slight dip of her head, her black eyes hidden, her tail stilling, the car speeding forward into the last place Tila would ever want to return.

_____

screeeeeech~

The car rolled to a stop, the hum of the engine fading into a deep, unnatural silence that pressed against Tila’s senses like a weight.

She felt the shift in momentum through the seat, the quiet lurch of the brakes, the engine’s dying pulse echoing in her chest.

The silence was wrong, too heavy, not peaceful but suffocating, a void that made her heart pound beneath the power suppression collar around her neck.

Her black eyes, hidden behind the blindfold, widened, her tail twitching faintly, her cuffed wrists tense in her lap.

The car doors clicked open, the sound sharp in the stillness.

The air outside was dry, thick with an oppressive weight, carrying the distant, grating caws of crows, their cries jagged, as if warning of something unseen.

The sound made Tila’s skin crawl, her body stiffening in the backseat, her maid skirt clinging to her thighs, her black hair a tangled mess.

Kael opened her door, his presence a quiet anchor beside her.

Tila jerked away, her voice sharp, trembling with panic. "Nope. Nope. I don’t like this. Let’s go back to the shit hole. Right now."

"Tila—" Kael began, his voice low, steady, trying to soothe her.

"I said no!" she snapped, her cuffed wrists thrashing in front of her, her black eyes wide beneath the blindfold, her tail swishing violently. "There’s something wrong here—I can feel it—Master, Kael, please—!"

Kael’s arms wrapped around her, firm and grounding, his warmth cutting through her rising panic.

She fought for another second, her breath sharp and ragged, before his hold steadied her, his chest a solid wall against her trembling.

"I’ve got you," he said softly, his voice a quiet vow, his hazel eyes glinting with resolve she couldn’t see.

Liss stepped out of the car with barely a sound, shutting the door behind her, her footsteps crunching on gravel as she followed, her blonde ponytail swaying, her blue eyes scanning the surroundings behind her sunglasses.

Kael helped Tila out, his arm firm around her waist, guiding her as her boots touched the ground, the cold bite of gravel a shock against her soles.

Tila froze, her breath catching, the scent hitting her first—rotten wood, wet moss, cold, dead air thick with mildew and time, a stench that clawed at her senses.

She wrinkled her nose, wincing, a sharp pain throbbing behind her forehead, like something buried in her skull was clawing to get out, a primal instinct screaming danger.

"This place..." she whispered, her voice shaking, her black eyes wide beneath the blindfold. "This is—"

"Shh," Kael said, his voice soft but firm, close now, his arm steady around her waist, guiding her step by step.

"It’s alright. There’s nothing wrong."

But her feet felt heavier with each stride, as if the earth itself resisted her.

The sunlight had vanished.

Even the crows had fallen silent, their absence more ominous than their cries, the air thick with an unspoken threat.

Tila’s ribs ached, her knees weakening, her body screaming to run, her mind clawing at a buried familiarity in the scent, the air, the dark soil underfoot.

They walked for what felt like minutes, though it could’ve been seconds, each step a battle against her instincts.

Kael’s hand on her waist kept her moving, his warmth the only thing tethering her to reality, her heart pounding, her black eyes darting uselessly behind the blindfold.

And then they stopped.

"We’ve arrived," Kael said quietly, his voice steady but heavy with an unspoken weight.

The blindfold slid from her face, the soft fabric brushing her cheeks as Kael untied it.

Tila blinked, her black eyes squinting against the expected light—

And saw nothing.

Pitch black.

Endless, suffocating darkness, a void that swallowed the world, pressing against her senses like a living thing.

Her breath caught, her black eyes wide with terror, her heart slamming against her ribs.

She opened her mouth, but no sound came, the silence a chokehold around her throat.

Then.

A scream ripped from her, a raw, bone-deep cry of terror that tore through the air, rising like a wave and crashing with such force that the crows nearby erupted, their wings flapping wildly into the sky, their cries scattered and frantic, echoing her fear.

Tila didn’t pause to breathe.

Her scream only grew, a piercing wail that rang in Kael’s ears.

The darkness around her pulsed like a living nightmare, threatening to swallow her whole. Her black eyes were wide, lost in the abyss.