Chapter II
Since none of my explanations or answers seemed to satisfy him, the water boarding quickly became a part of my new routine.
In fear of my body becoming used to this treatment perhaps (which proved impossible since each time felt almost worse than the first time), a touch of electrocution as thrown into the mix.
It pained me to admit that I preferred this new form of pain, even though I feared the internal damage to be worse.
I'd never felt terror like this before and I was convinced I never would again like I did in those last few moments when my body was convinced it would drown. Only for it to recover and relive the same experience a countless number of times.
I had to give it to them, this was A+ torture.
I'd lost count of the hours or passing days really, the room too dark to tell.
Butafter maybe a week despite it feeling like a month, I'd unsurprisingly started coughing up blood.
It was almost astounding how only little more than a week had rendered my body feeling so broken.
Despite all the beatings I'd had to endure at Zodiac's command, nothing ever came close to this level of pain and utter destruction each day brought.
The sporadic feeding also left my body unable to recover properly so I barely felt able to move.
One of my ankles had since been chained and the weighty iron chain ripped my skin raw at every moment.
This I thought to be particularly cruel and useless since there was clearly nowhere for me to go.
But I guess in their eyes, a justifiable punishment for my first few subsequent attempts to fight back or resist whatever was coming my way.
I reflected on the man in my free moments.
No amount of reasoning could get him to stop, listen to, or even consider my pleas. To him I was nothing. Not even human. I could swear sometimes his eyes looked right through me and his ears stopped hearing my screams. It's like he just went somewhere.
I remember just once, where I thought I'd caught a glimpse of something more.
I'd been out of my mind with pain, in a break between a session of electrocution when I'd started to goad him.
"You're messed up. You know what, for you to become something, yeah I said something not someone, who could do this to another, something really really terrible must have happened to you too. "
I laughed in pain hysterically.
"And it's still happening to you. It won't leave you. But me? I'm going to die or survive and move on from this, because that's what I DO and because I'm innocent. Whereas your pain will keep going and going and..."
I ranted on and off about this for who knows how long before passing out from pain.
But, there was the mere slightest instance in which I managed to catch his dark fathomless eyes and maybe it was just my own pain reflecting, but there flashed a quick something other than dull emptiness.
This tiny change only happened that once though, possibly imagined too. His usual countenance was cold, calculated indifference. I think I would have preferred him showing some anger or anything, and even physically attacking me.
The nothingness was worse.
The cold unfeeling utilisation of his tools was far more sinister and held the promise of continued, unrelenting and worsening pain.
But I couldn't allow myself to spiral, allow my mind to go down that path. Not yet, not when I still had to survive.
For now this was all just happening to me but that was it – it was simply happening. I would remain disconnected from it. I just had to get through this minute, then hour, then day...and continue this for however long it took. I had survived before and would continue to do so.
I instead kept my mind on my mom and my promised future with her, kept my mind on the eventual of reunion with her and escape from these monsters.
This was just another thing for me to survive. And that's what I'd been doing for all these months, despite being thrown into a supernatural world that promised only harm to me, I'd survived. And that was exactly what I was going to do here.
I repeated these words over and over and over in my head, willing myself to believe them.
Willing myself to draw strength from them.
I winced and immediately felt sick at the sound of the door unlocking. Had that much time passed already for the next session of pain to be underway?
I curled into a tighter ball as I faced the wall and braced for the next bout of pain.
The door creaked open and closed as footsteps entered my cell and then momentarily paused.
"I'm done playing fucking games. This time death is the only option on the table for you."
I froze.
This was a different voice.
This new guttural voice didn't belong to my usual captor. Stiffening at the sound of the new threat, my mind raced and alarm bells rang in my head. I instinctively felt the danger promised by this dark voice. I was dead if I didn't manage to get this new man to believe me.
Hope flared and died almost instantly.
I'd failed to make the other one understand for these last terrible days, how would I manage to accomplish anything different in these new few minutes?
"It would be in your best interest to turn around and answer me but if death is what you prefer, I'd be fine to oblige you."
The coarse but clearly concise voice sounded almost bored now.
I willed myself to achingly pick my broken body off the floor and sit up.
Last chance Soleil, you have to convince him and survive this.
You will survive this.
I finally forced myself to look up.
Impossibly deep and impossibly dark eyes met mine, entrapping my gaze.
My executioner somehow managed to look deadlier than my imposing inflictor of pain. Aside from his size, his granite gaze and sinister yes told me everything I needed to know. My death would be an easily managed feat to him, and insignificant at that.
You shouldn't be able to see so much darkness exuding at the mere sight of someone.
I was too busy letting my fear grow to notice the furrowed brow that instantly morphed his face upon our eyes meeting.
Then a feral curse punctuated the space, followed by him ripping open the door and striding out, not bothering to even shut it.
No sooner had he left before two more unknown people hurried into the room. A female and another male were quickly beside me and...freeing my chained ankle?
Nearly frozen in stunned silence, I finally gathered enough words in confusion, "What's going on?"
"You're free to go."
Cue more stunned silence.
Completely rendered speechless, I numbly let them guide me outside as my mind ran wild. This had to be a trick right? False hope only to inflict worse pain later? A great new pain tactic I'm sure.
Now hysterical laughter bubbled up and slipped from my lips. The two apparent rescuers paid no heed to my hysterics and continued walking me across the yard.
The haze gradually cleared a little, with the searing pain becoming apparent with each step I took.
I ignored this, gritting my teeth and forcing myself to keep going.
I could deal with the worsened damage walking on it would cause later.
I couldn't let any chance, no matter how improbable, stand in my way.
I picked up my pace as the two led me through a garden area alongside a massive house.
The yard was of insane proportions, bordered by a tall wall with massive trees on the outside so I could only imagine the surrounding wilderness that lay just beyond.
We finally reached the front of the house as my heart thundered even wilder and my ankle now almost felt numb with pain.
Hope flared once more as large imposing gates came into view.
They were truly letting me go? I was really getting out of here?
I tried to keep all my conflicting emotions at bay for just a little while longer, as I hastened to reach the gates, beyond which my freedom lay.
Just as I neared them, they swung open as if a divine sign.
A car slowly rolled through once the gap was wide enough. But for once my curiosity wasn't piqued and I firmly kept walking towards the opening gates, ignoring the passing vehicle.
I was so close, so damn close to my freedom.
Finally, with only one metre left between me and my freedom, I dared send one final look back.
Falling into the same trap as Lot or Orpheus, I made a fatal error. That one final look at what I had somehow miraculously survive.
My head twisted backwards, and then as if theatrically slowed, a window rolled down precisely at this moment and a face appeared, familiar eyes meeting mine.
Oh shit.