Chapter 3 #2
Her steps appear lax, but I can feel the tension coursing through her body with each one she takes. A clink echoes, sounding like the tick of a bomb getting ready to explode. Before I have time to react, she’s pulling my hand that was around my neck away and latches it to the other.
Handcuffs. “What’s wrong? So scared you have to cuff me, Kate?” I tease, my words clipped.
She scoffs at my innuendo. “As if. It’s just protocol. Now get up.” But she contradicts herself and kicks my side. Her hand grips the chain in between the cuffs, like she was planning on dragging me out of here, and I seize my opportunity.
With every ounce of energy I can muster, my hands grip around her wrist, and I lift my legs up in one motion, securing my legs around her neck and pulling her over me. Her scream of surprise ricochets off the walls, and I hear the pounding steps of guards rushing toward the chaos.
I haul her up, pinning her back to my chest. “I thought you weren’t scared,” I breathe in her ear. All the air I lost is back, my stunt surprising her enough to release the hold she had on my supply altogether.
She lets out a guttural cry when I grip her hair and smash her face into the bars.
Quickly bringing my hands up and over her face, I wrap the chain around her neck.
She grapples against the restraint, trying to gain purchase and free herself, but she won’t—not unless someone physically drags me off her.
And if they do that, I will be taking her fucking head with me.
The girl in the cell stares at me in astonishment. I can’t tell if she’s disgusted or rooting me on. I don’t give a fuck. I’ll get her out. I have to.
The guards pile into the room, and I can’t help but look at their starstruck features.
“What’s up, boys…or gals? Did you come to watch the show?” Just as the words leave my mouth, my whole body locks up. Electric shock courses through my body, and I seize.
My grip goes lax, and Kate drops out of my hold, crawling away as fast as she can. My knees hit the ground first, and my bones rattle, but another current pitches me forward, and I smack my face against the unforgiving concrete. Blood pools under me, and the taste of copper infiltrates my senses.
Another shock comes, and I’m forced onto my back, my body withering, trying to get away.
“She’s crazy!” Kate gasps. Maybe I am, because even as the current rushes through me, I can’t help the sinister smile that pulls at my lips.
“Is that the best you’ve got?” I egg them on. It works. Shock after shock greets me, and I’m desperately praying that one will push just enough to let me finally be at peace.
“Enough!” his voice reverberates, bouncing off the metal bars and sending another type of shock through my system. Instantly, my smile fades, and I slam my eyes shut. I don’t want to see him. I don’t want to hear him. I just want him to leave me the fuck alone.
The bolts still run through my body as he nears, and I squeeze my eyes tighter in tandem with his steps, but my body stays unmoving aside from the involuntary jerks.
In one swift motion, Callum yanks me up, gripping the chain that binds my hands, and tosses me over his shoulder. The movement makes my stomach lurch, and it finds a new home against his shoulder. The little food I have stored there threatens to come up, but I push it down.
As soon as we make contact, the electricity dies, and my body sinks with relief. Once I have my bearings, I thrash, trying to break free, but his arm is slung over my back, holding me captive against him.
My body is overexerted from trying to fight my way out of the cell.
Though it was fun, it was useless. I should’ve known better.
But in the moment, it didn’t matter whether I was making it out or not.
Any consequence would’ve been better than what it felt like when the biggest betrayal of my life stepped foot inside.
The long walk and the smell of bleach lets me know exactly where we are. I let my body go limp against him, despite all my instincts screaming at me to get away.
But I can’t.
Not gentle in the slightest, he slams me down on the patient bed. All the plans of swiping something off the table are gone as straps are pulled over my body, keeping me pinned.
Finally, it’s time.
When I open my eyes, I expect to see Callum, but instead, Kate looms over me, examining my body.
“You’re going to pay for that little stunt,” she seethes. Her hand raises and strikes me in the face. My head snaps to the side as the taste of copper instantly fills my mouth. My tongue snakes out, and I wince when it runs along a cut on my bottom lip.
I let the blood trickle out the corner of my mouth, like a river of crimson exposing all my sins.
“Gods, you’re pathetic.” She spits. Literally. “But just because I can’t kill you, doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun.” Kate has that glint in her eye, the same one she used to get when she had a great idea.
They were never that great.
Her next move comes faster than I can process.
Even if I wanted to react, I couldn’t. She drags a blade down my arm, and I let out an ear-piercing scream.
My vocal cords tear from the strain, and it feels like I’m swallowing nails, chest heaving with each breath I hiss through clamped teeth.
Spit and blood fly out through my mouth, dropping back down, splattering across my face.
Fucking gravity.
“Do you know how many times I dreamed of doing that?” She beams, like a weight has been lifted off her chest and she can finally breathe.
I don’t respond. Not that there’s a chance to before she’s taking the knife and plunging it into my thigh. My eyes pinch closed, and I wait for the pain to subside.
Inhale…
Exhale…
Images from my past try to transport me to a different time, another world.
Something to get me through the apparent torture session.
Flashes of my dad play in my head, to my surprise, and—against my will—my mother’s face pops in uninvited.
Part of me wonders if she knew. She did always say something was wrong with me.
More wrong than maybe she thought. It pains me to know I’ll never get my revenge.
The bitch died before I ever got the chance, leaving me nothing except the desire to haunt her with my ghost.
Maybe this is her doing that to me.
I wonder how long this will take to heal. Now that my magic is gone, it’s not like I can heal myself. Just as the questions drift through my thoughts, my mouth is being pried open, and I’m choking on whatever liquid is being poured in.
Pain spreads over my chest as I choke, nearly aspirating as it goes down the wrong pipe.
“Don’t be so dramatic. It’s just something to help the healing process along.” The only answer I give her is sputtering.
Finally getting my breathing under control, I gasp in the air. My wounds are beginning to stitch back together but not fully. The vindictive bitch probably wants them to scar so I have a piece of her everywhere I go.
The assault continues, and I block out as much as I can. She seems content with her work after a while. I have no idea what kind of destruction she’s placed on my flesh, but I’m grateful I don’t have a mirror waiting for me back in the cell.
At some point, I blacked out from the pain.
A vague memory resurfaces of being carried from the room back to my cage.
I had no energy left to open my eyes or take in my surroundings.
Instead, I surrendered to the blackness that called to me, my body welcoming the cold concrete I’ve become accustomed to.
My body curls into a ball, and that’s the last thing I remember before I’m being whisked off into another world.
I don’t think there’s ever been a time I have felt so lonely. The girl in the other cage has been giving me the show of throwing away the water that I so desperately crave. We play the same game of charades, and I still have no idea what she’s trying to tell me.
But I don’t care anymore. I can’t care. There isn’t anything I can do here. I’m everything I told myself I wouldn’t be again. I’m weak and fragile, a shell of the girl I worked so hard to become. And I’ve fallen victim to the skin of the person I never wanted to identify as again.
When the guards stumble in next, the girl gives me a sideways glance as she empties the contents of her cup in her mouth.
If I don’t get water for one day, it won’t kill me. But what if it does? It doesn’t matter anyway.
Copying her, I let the water sit inside my cheeks and wait for them to leave. Once the door is closed, she points at me then my bucket before demonstrating the act herself.
The sacred water pours from my mouth into my shit bucket. There’s a sense of loss as I stare at it, and regret starts to set in.
“Are you happy?” I ask her. She nods, and I’m curious what the reasoning is. How long has she been doing this? I’ve never paid attention, always just assuming she was as desperate as I was.
She waves her hand to catch my attention, keeping her back toward the door. Giving me a sideways look, her hand hovers over the bucket, twisting and turning until the water in the bucket slowly starts to rise.
It’s the most beautiful and foul thing I’ve ever seen. Not wanting to draw any attention, the water drops back down after barely reaching the rim, and neither of our eyes moves from one another.
I mouth the word, “How?” She starts making gestures with her hands again, but this time, I really try to pay attention. Gathering what I can, I have her repeat the message one more time.
Holy shit.
The lightbulb finally goes off in my head, and I could literally kiss her right now.
The water.
Whatever they’re using to repress our magic—it’s in the water. The tears fall without permission. It starts out slow, a drop here and there. Then a river. Then a fucking waterfall.
I’m getting out of here. We’re getting out of here.