The Fallen #1: Chambers & Chains

Part One: Beaten

Lace woke up, feeling her blood run through her veins once again. I'm alive.

A glitchy voice made her turn her head. "[-[@¢€¥..." the familiar little girl said, clutching her small doll.

Lace turned around, flashing her a warm smile. "Hey, Lola..."

The small girl crawled towards Lace, her long pale-green sweatshirt dragging across the floor. Lace picked up the small girl and hugged her reassuringly.

Lola teleported out of Lace's arms and held up her doll. "¶[@¥..?"

The older girl gave her a delicate smile, shaking her head. "Not right now, sweetie, sorry."

The girl frowned, lowering her doll to the floor. "W#¥ π°+?"

"We're going to be called for lineup again soon, and I don't want that to interrupt us," Lace stated.

Lola looked sad, but nodded.

As if on cue, 'his' voice came over the loudspeaker. "I need Red H, Torn L, Glitch L, Flare G, Fluffy G, and Winged-" He paused, hesitating for a second. "And Ex-Winged L to line up next to chamber number seventy-three this instant."

Lace knew that she didn't need her wings to levitate, so she scooped up Lola and jumped about a foot above the ground.

"Could you teleport us, Lola?" she asked in a sweet tone.

The child nodded happily, raising her doll.

Lace blinked, and they were in the hallway next to room 73. Another little girl bounded across the hallway on all fours; Lace recognised her as Grace, or 'Fluffy G'.

Lace dropped back to the floor.

"Lolly!" Grace said happily, standing back up on her legs.

Lola smiled, teleporting down from Lace's arms to hug her friend. Grace's ears twitched happily, as this is the only time any of the kids got to see friends from other pairs.

Then Boss walked in. He was a broad-shouldered tall male with a wide-brimmed black hat, and everyone knew his face very well.

A small boy with bright red hair and another boy with orange-tinted blonde hair walked up from their chamber - chamber 78. The red-haired boy was named Hond, and the orange-haired boy Garni. They were 'Red H' and 'Flare G'.

Then came Luke.

He approached from the same hallway that Grace had, his plushlike body being pulled along by a string that he was controlling; the only way he had to get around. This was 'Torn L'.

Grace turned away from Lola, smiling at Luke. "Lukey!" She walked over to him and scooped his small body into her arms.

"SILENCE!" Boss yelled. Grace physically jumped, spinning around. Lace stepped closer to Hond and Garni, prepared to take any hits they might've received. The boys stepped closer together, something Lace had noticed they do when they're scared. Lola teleported right behind Lace, clinging to her ragged clothes.

Boss looked at the kids huddled behind Lace, then looked to Grace and Luke. They weren't behind her.

It happened in an instant. Boss raised his hand, Lace leapt to protect Grace, and she got smacked down and onto the hard concrete floor. Grace had leapt back with Luke still in her arms, shielding the small being from any harm that may come, while Lola had teleported behind Garni and Hond.

Lace's forehead was bleeding. Again.

"[@¢€!" Lola shouted.

The little girl's long green sweater had spots of Lace's blood scattered across the front area, as Boss had flicked his wrist after hitting the back of her head with his over-calloused fist.

Lace knew this because she had intentionally landed with her head to one side, putting the three youngest in her view.

She flashed a weak smile to Lola, her own blood blocking the vision in one of her eyes. The little girl was crying and was flickering in and out of the spot she was in. Lace was pretty sure she knew that it was most logical to run, but would be punished later once Boss found her again.

That weak smile must've triggered something with Lola, because she just started bawling her eyes out. Her glitchy voice hurt everybody's ears, but nobody said anything about it because all of the other kids knew that she was extremely sensitive to scolding and yelling.

"Get up." It was quite sudden; Boss gripped the back of her arm and twisted it into a very distorted and painful position, forcing her up while doing so.

"You know what happens when you try to take the blow for one of the other experiments, Floating L," Boss said, eerily tilting his neck while making direct eye contact with the bleeding pre-teen.

Lace just nodded, never letting go of that weak smile that had protected the other kids time and time again.

Her head hurt. Seriously hurt. She was bleeding from the back of her head, as well as from her forehead. She wiped her arm that wasn't suspending her in the air over her eyes and forehead, leaving a smear of blood on her bruised arm.

Then, came something she definitely wasn't expecting. A growl.

Grace clawed at Boss's arm, though having to jump to do so. Lace looked to her side, seeing Luke now in Garni's arms.

The small fluffy child-wolf hybrid had tears streaming through her fur, but was visibly shaking - with anger or with fear, Lace didn't know - and was still trying her best to get Lace free.

She dropped her smile for a second, looking at the smaller kid in surprise. "Grace, no, I can't have you getting hurt after I took a blow for you, it would be a waste of my efforts... Back away, dear," she said, her weak smile returning.

She looked up at Lace's bruised and battered body, then looked at the very few scratches and lack of fur along herself. "Y-you've taken too much for me, Lacey..." Lace shook her head. "No such thing as too much when protecting all of you, dear. I can take it." She felt a tear run down her own face, but didn't go to wipe it off or to stop it. She let it fall, still never letting go of her smile.

"Oh, stop with the heartfelt conversations and self-sacrifice, you can't protect people when you're knocked out." Boss said, shaking Lace by the arm.

She quickly snapped her head over to him, just as his fist collided with her face. She dropped to the ground again, this time immediately trying to force herself up. The impact took long enough to actually trigger something that she managed to stand up and give the terrified kids one last smile, before her vision began to be spotty and her feet seemed to cave out from underneath her. The last thing she saw was Lola lunging towards her to try to stop her fall, then her head hit the floor.