Diamondback

%?&$#*

The Woman is coming.

I'm so happy.

She only hits the subjects she likes and I'm her favorite.

I can't wait to have her attention again.

I smell her. Her greased hair, her dirtied shoes, her keys. Her foot-

𝖳̶𝗁̶𝖾̶ ̶𝖻̶𝗅̶𝗈̶𝗈̶𝖽̶ ̶𝗂̶𝗌̶ ̶𝖿̶𝖫̶𝖮̶𝖶̶𝗂̶𝗇̶𝗀̶

-steps echo past every cell. Mine is secluded from the rest. Behind a big, rusty door, my separate cell sits-

𝖫̶𝖾̶𝗍̶ ̶𝗆̶𝖾̶ ̶𝗌̶𝗂̶𝗇̶𝗄̶ ̶𝗆̶𝗒̶ ̶𝗍̶𝖾̶𝖾̶𝗍̶𝗁̶ ̶𝗂̶𝗇̶𝗍̶𝗈̶

-alone. Alone. Alone. Loneliness is a curse I was meant to burden. Maybe-

𝖬̶𝗒̶ ̶𝗆̶𝗈̶𝗎̶𝗍̶𝗁̶ ̶𝗐̶𝖺̶𝗍̶𝖾̶𝗋̶𝗌̶ ̶𝗍̶𝗈̶ ̶𝗍̶𝖺̶𝗌̶𝗍̶𝖾̶ ̶𝗒̶𝗈̶𝗎̶𝗋̶ ̶𝖻̶𝗅̶𝗈̶𝗈̶𝖽̶

-this was my destiny from the start. Even if it was, my mind is a deep blackness. I can't remember-

𝖤̶𝗆̶𝗉̶𝗍̶𝗒̶ ̶𝗀̶𝗋̶𝖺̶𝗒̶.̶ ̶𝖤̶𝗆̶𝗉̶𝗍̶𝗒̶ ̶𝗀̶𝗋̶𝖺̶𝗒̶.̶ ̶𝖤̶𝗆̶𝗉̶𝗍̶𝗒̶ ̶𝗀̶𝗋̶𝖺̶𝗒̶ ̶𝖤̶𝗒̶𝖾̶𝗌̶𝖾̶𝗒̶𝖾̶𝗌̶𝖾̶𝗒̶𝖾̶𝗌̶𝖾̶𝗒̶𝖾̶𝗌̶𝖾̶𝗒̶𝖾̶𝗌̶𝖾̶𝗒̶𝖾̶𝗌̶𝖾̶𝗒̶𝖾̶𝗌̶

-anything beyond this cell. This is my home. The Woman is my keeper. She treats me well. I'm fed when I'm good. Punishment is-

𝖳̶𝗁̶𝖾̶ ̶𝗉̶𝖺̶𝗂̶𝗇̶!̶ ̶𝖨̶𝗍̶ ̶𝗁̶𝗎̶𝗋̶𝗍̶𝗌̶,̶ ̶𝗂̶𝗍̶ ̶𝗁̶𝗎̶𝗋̶𝗍̶𝗌̶!̶ ̶𝖳̶𝗁̶𝖾̶ ̶𝖼̶𝗋̶𝖺̶𝖼̶𝗄̶ ̶𝗈̶𝖿̶ ̶𝗍̶𝗁̶𝖾̶

-rare. She's come to take me outside, hasn't she? Her stomps grew nearer and nearer. The metal unlocked my useless cage.

𝖲̶𝗄̶𝗂̶𝗇̶ ̶𝗋̶𝗈̶𝗍̶𝗍̶𝗂̶𝗇̶𝗀̶𝖯̶𝖾̶𝖾̶𝗅̶𝗂̶𝗇̶𝗀̶.̶ ̶𝖨̶𝗍̶ ̶𝗋̶𝗈̶𝗅̶𝗅̶𝗌̶ ̶𝗈̶𝖿̶𝖿̶ ̶𝗍̶𝗁̶𝖾̶ ̶𝗍̶𝖺̶𝗂̶𝗇̶𝗍̶𝖾̶𝖽̶ ̶𝖿̶𝗅̶𝖾̶𝗌̶𝗁̶

Foaming at the mouth, I pounced to the corner. My body jerked with each breath I took. What's going on? Why can't I communi-

𝖨̶𝗍̶'̶𝗌̶ ̶𝗈̶𝗇̶ ̶𝗆̶𝗒̶ ̶𝗁̶𝖺̶𝗇̶𝖽̶𝗌̶.̶ ̶𝖧̶𝗂̶𝗌̶ ̶𝖻̶𝗅̶𝗈̶𝗈̶𝖽̶,̶ ̶𝖧̶𝗂̶𝗌̶ ̶𝖻̶𝗅̶𝗈̶𝗈̶𝖽̶,̶ ̶𝖧̶𝗂̶𝗌̶ ̶𝖻̶𝗅̶𝗈̶𝗈̶𝖽̶,̶ ̶𝖧̶𝗂̶𝗌̶ ̶𝖻̶𝗅̶𝗈̶𝗈̶𝖽̶

-cate? Why can't she understand me? The shock collar sewn into my neck pinched me, giving me a sorry excuse for an electric current. The facility didn't understand my magic, but they did understand torture. No matter how many times they dug into my brain, they could never find-

𝗍̶𝗁̶𝖾̶ ̶𝗋̶𝖾̶𝖽̶ ̶𝗀̶𝖺̶𝗍̶𝖾̶

-the "science" behind my monstrosity. I scratched at the collar, clawed at the collar, but it dug its way deeper and deeper into my throat. I spit up blood onto the floor, hacking and coughing to try and release my lungs from the torture. The Woman stared down at me, remote in hand. She grabbed me by my tattered shirt and dragged me out of the cell, tossing me into a more mobile one. I stayed put. Escape was unnecessary. She shut the cage and draped a black cloak over it. Crawling on all fours, I scratched the red wood of the mobile box cell. The Woman threw on her white coat, grabbed the handle of my cell, and pulled me outside. I could feel nothing but the bumps and digs of the ground beneath me. I could hear nothing but the whispers in the hall, the whispers in my head, and the whispers under my own breath. I laughed the whole way there, caught up in conversation with myself. The dark language we spoke to each other was-