Blossoms of the Dark

CXXV Selene: Blood

Trigger Warnings:

- verbal abuse

- physical abuse

- sexual abuse

- rape

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I wake up with an intense neck cramp and sore arms.

Sleeping on cold floors with restraints and open hair is not exactly luxurious.

A guard passes my breakfast - rather, a caricature of a breakfast - through the food slot into my cell.

Stale bread, watery soup, pecan shortbread biscuit, with plastic cutlery served on a tray.

Pecans!

Right. I did not tell Madam Ahearn my loathing for tree nuts in my desserts. But I have to be nourished for tonight. Stifling my revulsion, I swallow the biscuit in large bites. Suddenly, I start to choke. There is some metal in the biscuit. I cough it into palms. A lock pick. Madam Ahearn must have snuck into the biscuit. Quickly, I finish the caricature meal and hide the pick beneath my tongue. As I wait for the guards to take me to the interrogation room again, I let my thoughts wander. Tokyo is eight hours ahead of London. By now, Hanada-sama must have noticed that I'm missing. Shouto-kun must be concerned, too. I'll have to come up with a convincing excuse.

After what seems like hours, during which I take another nap, I am summoned to the interrogation room. But Madam Ahearn tells the others that she needs to have a private talk with me in her office. A reminder of last night's scolding, she says. We enter, and once she shuts the door, she turns on me. "So, how are we going to get you out of here? And why is your hair black instead of white?"

"Can I have breakfast first?" I ask. "A proper breakfast?"

She beckons to a tray on the coffee table between the couches. It's a decadent breakfast. Freshly cooked omelette with steam still rising; golden brown toast; a container of cut apples and grapes; a bowl of yogurt; steel utensils. My mouth salivates. Like a marionette, I reach for the fork and butter knife. But Madam Ahearn grasps my hands before they can cut the omelette. "There is a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste inside the bathroom. I have also put a towel and a bar of soap. Wash yourself first, then eat. I promise you the food will remain warm." A bath! I comply enthusiastically. It's a small, but cozy bathroom. There is a shower instead of a bathtub, who am I to complain? I don't know how long I spend inside, but when I come out, Madam Ahearn says that I spent forty-five minutes in there. "You're like my eldest daughter. She takes forever to get ready in the bathroom."

I simply grin and feast on the scrumptious meal.

"What kind of tea do you prefer?" Madam Ahearn lifts a box with an assortment of tea bags. I do not like tea bag tea; I prefer it brewed in the pot, but again, who am I to complain?

"Darjeeling tea. With a dash of milk and a dollop of honey," I respond after a large swallow.

"Exquisite choice," she compliments. "What kind of biscuits do you like?"

Now I can complain. "Nut-free."

She understands immediately, and chides again. "Just like my youngest daughter. A picky eater."

We eat in mutual silence. Having been in her private office for a visible amount of time, I wonder what her colleagues must be thinking, but I don't voice the thought. It is once we finish that we come to the main topic of discussion: my escape.

Stretching leisurely on the couch, I speak, "There will be an envoy to transport me to a much tighter facility. But before that, I assume there will be a grand meeting between everyone on the task force. A congratulation for all their time and effort, etcetera, etcetera. That is when I will strike. There is a particular quirk I have absorbed that allows me to release sleep-inducing pheromones into the air. Whoever so much as breathes will instantly succumb into a deep slumber. The only way to then wake them up is for the effect to pass - which takes many hours - or a series of hard slaps to the face. While they are asleep, I can induce them to dream. I will warp their memories of last night to seem dreamlike, so that they believe that the arrest and interrogation was just a product of their imagination. Thanks to the lock pick you snuck into that nasty biscuit, I can unlock the quirk restraints and get to work. Just keep a gas mask nearby, otherwise this escape will become unnecessarily complicated."