INIZIO

XXXI | THIRTY ONE

She hadn't realized she had fallen asleep until a sharp sting electrified her spine and jolted her awake. Out of instinct, her nails transformed into claws and she felt herself clawing at the air, accompanied by her shriek of pain; only to hear another howl of pain come afterward.

Pulling herself awake, Giselle peeled her eyes open and realized she had blood in her hands, and her heart seemed to thrash fiercely against her ribcage. "What?" She murmured, half-conscious of her surroundings.

"- Told you not to! I'll get a nurse!" Footsteps thrummed against the metallic floor.

Jayden, UNIPO, Mikhail. The train of thoughts annihilated any traces of sleep and yanked her brain awake. Her throat burned, but it was the skin of her neck that was killing her. Giselle raised her eyes in search of the fountain of blood and realized it belonged to the officer next to her.

He glared at her in a hateful manner, and Giselle couldn't help but smirk. So, he has been the jerk to wake me up with kisses.

One of his arms was damaged, a long and slick line cut across his bicep to the point it made his bone visible, and in his other hand, he held the small control remote that monitored her collar. "You shouldn't play with that thing if you don't know how to use it," she said hoarsely. She bit her trembling lip and turned away from the ghastly scene.

"Beastly freak," He shot back instead, as a nurse finally appeared to aid him. Giselle rose a brow, turned back, and sneered. She then began to cough exaggeratedly, which immediately caught the attention of the nurse.

"Product five hundred ninety–eight, are you alright?" He asked, clearly more concerned over her slightly sore throat rather than the officer's torn limb.

The officer cursed under his breath. "It's fine! I on the other hand -" He was abruptly cut off by Giselle, who pretended to choke on the necklace she had on. "It-" she gasped, "Burns!" she exhaled.

This alarmed the nurse more, as he turned and saw the control remote in the hands of the officer. "Sir, will you be kind enough to give me the remote please?"

"First tend my goddamn wound! Or give me some painkillers or something!" The officer vociferated. He continued gasping in pain, and the blood on the floor seemed to increase. The sight was causing Giselle nausea.

"And I will first give me the remote to relieve the product. If it arrives damaged to the base, your superiors will make sure to cut up more than just your arm," The nurse glared at the officer, "besides, last I recall, your sole duty was to guard it, not torture it."

The officer fumed Giselle with a glare, before tossing the remote control into the nurses' hand. The nurse pushed some buttons and soon the collar fell to the floor. Looking down at the floor, Giselle caught sight of her bright pink and red neck reflected off the shining floors. She winced internally. Well, apparently, it hadn't all been drama.

"Dear lord. If the Jurat sees it like this-" The nurse trailed off, and began inching toward her.

"Don't worry too much about me, tend his bloodied arm. It was just the hot collar against my skin that was hurting."

The nurse was far too shaken to pay any attention to her words. Giselle's lips pressed into a thin line. Taking the first aid kit from his hands, she directed herself to the officer. "You take care of my neck; I'll take care of his arm."

The nurse barely nodded, as his nimble hands got to work on her burnt flesh.

"I am not letting that thing touch me!" The officer snarled.

Giselle narrowed her eyes and shrugged nonchalantly. "Suit yourself. It's me or nothing. He isn't going to touch you until he is done with me."

After a minute of debate, the officer finally gave in.

Exactly. She thought to herself. I truly am a chained queen.

As her fingers tainted in blood, Giselle remembered the nights she would fall asleep wounded, just as badly, and without the attention of the nurses that surrounded her. All the kids she had fought against, all the people she had to push past to survive.

"Could you be gentler?" barked the officer.

Giselle slowed down, and to her misfortune, felt the collar replaced by a lighter one.

"I'll continue, you should rest, this collar is much lighter than the last, and has restricted access," the nurse pointedly looked at the officer, "it shouldn't be a bother. The Jurat will be awaiting you." He left her and began to finish up the officer.

Another officer stood by the doorway, and she led her down a narrow hallway. "No one should bother you here," and ushered Giselle into a small cell. Then she locked her up and left her with four plain silver walls and a small window from which only dark skies were seen.

-

They had been right.

He inhaled sharply, although his lungs seemed to have lack air. The view was penumbrous, the trees seemed to dance in fear, and the sky was empty of stars.

Rachel shuddered next to him, and he unconsciously pulled her closer to him. "She lied, didn't she?" she whispered. Vadim didn't answer. Instead, he stalked forward, leaving Rachel to follow, and began to search for the signs that Giselle had left behind.

They were easily spotted, Giselle left them in plain sight, and to the normal eye, these were meaningless, but Vadim knew her better. On a tree, straight ahead, there was a wild rose – Giselle was fond of them for a strange reason, and this one pointed to the north; uphill.

"Come on," he pulled at Rachel, who gripped at her sweater tightly.

"Will he be fine? Jayden, I mean," Rachel asked, as her fingers interlaced tightly with Vadim's.

"Giselle wouldn't hurt him to kill him, only to make it seem like it."

Rachel's fingers tightened more. He stopped in his tracks and he turned to face her. She didn't dare look at him. Her eyes were glued to the ground.

"Hey," he pulled her chin up to face him, and even so, she didn't want to meet his gaze. "We'll manage to get away from all of this. You'll see."

Rachel's lip trembled. Her tear-filled eyes shone brightly against the moon's light; they were deep blue, unlike her brother's. And unlike her brother, she was sharp and knew more than she led on. Vadim knew that, and he also knew that all she wanted was to discover the truth behind her father's death and her mother's manic state. But she wasn't willing to pay the price for the truth.

Yet it was too late to go back.

Her fear seemed to ebb a bit with his words, and she forced a smile upon her pale face. She took both of his hands firmly and took a deep breath. "Let's go find Jayden."

Vadim's lips curled almost imperceptibly, but he knew she would see. She always seemed to see.