Bearclaw Valley flat horror

for abel, indra tag for ref! <3

as he had done with @Indra III, merrick showed up each day in tumbleview to inform @Abel Redleaf that his mother had never existed and that he belonged to the bear.
it became sportive for him.
it became necessary to merrick.
laurel must be excised.
today he limped toward the high jutting den with a sliver of meat. "come out, come out," he whispered in a cackle to the boy.

Thoughts of escape crossed Abel’s from the moment he was kept prisoner in this terrifying place. His legs buzzed with the need to flee at every hour. 
Maybe I’ll try my luck today. He thought this each morning. Slivers of confidence would build up in his heart. Everyday, without fail, the one-eyed man would come and knock it over.
Abel stepped out of his cell on quivering legs. He looked at the meat that was held between yellowed teeth, and pain rooted in the depths of his belly. Just as quickly as he stole a glance, his eyes fell to the floor and his tongue nervously swiped across his lips.

merrick tossed the meat into the snow.
"you can have this. first. repeat what i've said about laurel."
the last remaining pupil dilated horrific and stygian. once indra and her brother had completed their assessments, he would prepare them for the bear.
and if the bear found them wanting, well.
he waited.

His eyes alight with feverish, animalistic urge when the meat is thrown before him. The smell slowly coaxes him out of his fear. He’d swallow it whole here and now. But first.
”repeat what i’ve said about laurel.”
She isn’t — she isn’t r-real. He spoke out of desperation than anything else. His eyes were fixed onto the meat. He shook with anticipation.

"she isn't real and she never was," merrick corrected with a ghastly and benevolent smile.
"come down and eat."
he wasn't ready to be unpenned yet. if he was, this time would determine it. "don't run. you know what happens then."

His breath caught in his throat when he was corrected, and for a moment he believed the food would be ripped away from him for his misstep. But the man only smiled and ordered him to eat. He’d no need to repeat himself. Abel scampered towards the scrap of meat and clasped it within his jaws. It was nearly gone before his captor spoke again.
I know — He went into a fit of coughs. What was left of his little meal fell down his throat, causing him to cough even more.

merrick could never be accused of being paternal. all the same he raised his paw, aiming to strike roughly between the shoulder blades and dislodge the captive bite.
"don't gorge yourself. if you are ready to open yourself to the bear, then you will be fed as one of us."

With one strike, Abel coughed up whatever was left of the meat. It fell to the ground, shredded by teeth, snow clung to the bottom.
It was pure impulse that held him, if only for a moment. And perhaps it was that impulse that drove him to mutter defiantly; I don’t want to know about your bear.
That impulsivity, that suit of armor, was burnt to dust by searing regret. A painting of a brave wolf was cast aside as soon as the artist made his first stroke. Here returned the cowardly child, trembling and ready to piss himself at a moment’s notice.
I’m sorry, he whispered, I-I didn’t mean it.

defiance?
merrick arched his brow. he smiled and turned away from abel, as if there was no reason to have a reaction.
the shark's gape of his teeth; he twisted against his own wounds and sought to throw the boy forcibly to the snow.
"but you will learn," the bearwolf said evenly, single eye burning with malice. "or you will be a blood sacrifice."
merrick snorted a hot draft of horrid air over abel. "do you want to see indra again?"

Abel expected to be struck. He braced himself for it in the few seconds he had. Still, he could not prepare for the pain, no matter how tightly he’d tense.
His body was thrown onto the icy floor. His bottom jaw hit awkwardly against the snow. Blood welled from where he’d hit his tongue.
He couldn’t be completely sure what a blood sacrifice was, but he could take a guess. D-don’t kill me. Please, Abel whimpered under his breath. I do. I want to see her. His voice grew more desperate.

the smell of blood whispered in the air. "i will not kill you so long as you fix the bear in your mind and dedicate yourself to our purpose."
merrick stepped back. "get up."
a pause. "you will see her when i decide you are ready. today is not that day."