"Who sent you to kidnap me?" Belladonna immediately asked him, skipping straight to the meat of things.

"The Matriarch." The stranger, never breaking eye contact with her as he had been ordered to, answered blandly. Not because he lacked personality, he was just annoyed and answering because he had to. Like a stroppy teenager, huffing and sighing between begrudging answers.

It made Belladonna want to slap him, so she did.

WHAP!

His bone cheekbones nearly cut her hand when she did so, but even still it was worth it just to feel the sting on her hands, and to pay him back for a fraction of what he did to her precious fluffy baby, who was still resting comfortable in her other arm and held close to her chest.

Midas beside her let out a sharp whimper, as if he was expecting some retaliation from the stranger, and a few others in the camp started to pay more attention to them, as Belladonna continued her interrogation.

"Answer properly. Who is the Matriarch?"

"She is the Matriarch. That is all she is, all she has been for a very long time. Longer than anyone has ever known, other than the other founders.

She is the leader, and the founder of the Blood Clan."

Belladonna frowned slightly, glancing at Midas, who shrugged in confusion, before she sighed and contemplated for a moment. The Matriarch... was that the woman in her dream? It was possible... No, not just possible. It was most likely the case.

Those dreams definitely felt too real to be just dreams, just like this ’game’ did, and the connection she felt with that woman did feel motherly, in a way.

"Why does this Matriarch want me? Why did she send you?" Belladonna asked, slapping him again. Partly for fun, partly for appearances. Her observers needed a reason for why she was able to get information out of him, and this was the best she could do at the moment.

The Stranger opened his mouth to speak, but the words never came out. Instead his eyes widened, staring into Belladonna’s with a hint of fear and panic, as he choked on his own words. Literally, as he started to wheeze and let out strained gulps as he simultaneously tried to speak and swallow his words.

His throat locked up, trapping the breath alongside the air, as his body tried to perform two opposing tasks at once.

"What’s going on? Is something the matter? Is it the chains?" Midas panicked. Although he had asked about them, he had absolutely no intention of releasing these chains. If it meant this guy died, then so be it. He was insane and besides, this was far from his goal in this game.

Conspiracies and murder plots were not his thing, unless there was something he could sell involved.

"I think... he has orders not to. Stop, don’t answer the question and breathe." Belladonna quickly answered, as the Stranger immediately gulped down the words and gasped for breath.

Belladonna leaned back, narrowing her eyes and giving him a moment to regain himself, as she thought about it more.

’He has to obey my orders, for some reason, just like Bai Yin. Is it because I am purer than he is? I’m vampire-like, and they always have some kind of order or heirarchy. If Bai Yin is a thrall, which is like the lowest of the low, then this guy could be the level above that.

Like a Vampire Noble or something, and I am like a Duchess? That makes sense, and the Matriarch is probably like a Queen or Empress. If the hierarchy is involved, then anyone below must obey anyone above, and if this Matriarch told him ’Tell no-one’ or something along those lines, then he would obey her above me, although he clearly tried to do both... 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Crap. If that’s the case, and the woman in my dreams is this Matriarch, could she just order me in my dreams? I can’t imagine she would send him if that was the case, but it’s a possibility I need to be careful of.

There has to be a way I can get around it. Dream of Earplugs? Stupid idea... But worth a try.’

Shaking her head at her own plans, Belladonna looked over the stranger again. His feeble body looked so utterly pathetic, and like this she could probably snap him like a twig.

"What would happen if I killed you right now?" She finally asked with narrowed eyes.

The stranger chuckled,

"The Matriarch would feel my death, and send someone else to follow the trail and bring you back. The next time, they might not be as kind and gentle as I was. Especially to the blood-bags. She will keep sending people until she gets what she wants, and she always gets what she wants."

"How did you find me in the first place?"

"Simple. I tracked you using an object which I know you had in your possession, and followed your trail. We have a particular scent, and if you know how it becomes very easy to track." The Stranger answered with a creepy smile, as he leered at Belladonna and sniffed at the air, earning himself another slap or three.

Belladonna touched her hand to her chest, as if she was feeling for something, although she did not know why she did that nor what she was supposed to be feeling for. So she ignored the strange action, forgetting about it almost immediately, before narrowing her eyes at this stranger.

"So I have to stall for time, and deal with you. Can’t kill you right now, because that gives me less time... it’s a tricky situation.

Although... first I have one last question." Belladonna said coldly, her eyes gaining a deep well of murderous bloodlust and boiling rage, as she leaned in close. She stared directly into the Strangers eyes, as she whispered lowly,

"Did you hurt my cat?"

The Stranger shuddered in fear, wanting desperately to answer no. But he couldn’t stop his body from nodding his head, to which Belladonna smirked and shifted her position.

She finally broke eye contact with him, as she whispered his final order in his ear. An order that made him freeze up and turn deathly still.

Belladonna leaned away, ordering Midas to release the Stranger. It was an order that was faced with a lot of panic and confusion, especially from those who had survived his slaughter. But after much convincing, Midas did as she instructed as the mercenaries prepared their weapons.

However when the chains fell, revealing the warped and blackened flesh where they had pressed against his skin, the stranger didn’t lunge at them or try to attack. Instead he slowly stood, walked over to a nearby tree and started to slam his head against it.

Over and over, he bludgeoned himself.

When the tree broke, he found another, and then another. When they broke, he found a rock. When that crumbled to dust, he simply resorted to using his fists. The entire time, Belladonna watched with a content smile, as he beat himself to death.

All the while, she gently stroked Beans’ soft fur, as he purred happily in her arms.