Chains; Feathers

Chapter 2: Lythe

'Into the dungeon you go,' Lythe muttered to herself.

This was the third time she had been caught, and she wondered how many black marks she would be able to leave in her lifetime. Although she appeared nonchalant, she could never be more frightened. This was the biggest crime she had committed.

Inside one of the largest and most brutal underground prisons in the country, many prisoners would either be be killed or kill themselves as a result of the insanity of this enclosure. Her punishment had not been dished out, and she was afraid that she would die even before she knew. Once someone entered, there would be no more hope.

The guards led her through a row of cells, with a marking on each one. The prisoners were rattling the bars and shouting out to her. She tried not to make eye contact with them. Some of their bodies were disfigured and they were just lying on the floor, staring into space. There was no doubt, this place was hell.

As she passed each empty wing, her anxiety increased as she knew that the deeper hers was, the more dangerous the other prisoners would be. She felt the place darken in front of her. As they walked deeper, the prisoners grew quieter. Some of them just stared or hissed at her. Others sat with their backs facing the bars. Lythe knew that they were either serial killers or maniacs.

The guards pushed Lythe forward and they moved faster, as if aware of the danger.

The guards stopped beside an open wing and tugged Lythe backwards by her hair. The cell seemed like beckoning her towards it. She looked away. One of the guards stood at her side and pointed a gun at her head. Another stood behind.

'Hold out your arms.'

Lythe did as she was told, and her gaze followed the hands that ran down her shoulders to her waists, then to her knees. When the guard crouched down, the other lowered his gun and shifted his position.

She saw her chance.

She spun violently and grabbed the gun head, twisting it upwards. Jerking her leg, she booted him strongly in the abdomen. The force caused him to let go of the weapon and stumble backwards. She then turned and struck the guard who was crouching thrice with the grip of the gun, until he lost strength. She decided to save thee bullets. Bloodstains were left on the gun as the man's vision blurred. Lythe forced him down with her leg on his neck. However, the impact of hitting the guard made her hands shake and the gun dropped onto the floor. It spun and stopped moving a distance away from her.

At once, she rushed to pick it up, but the other guard regained balance and swung his leg, kicking her on the shins. Pain exploded in her leg and numbed it. She lost balance her head struck the floor, beside the gun. The pain made her freeze on the ground, and the guard stamped on her back, making her moan in pain. She could hear the gun being lifted from the floor and she winced as she felt the metal press against her head.

'Nice try,' the guard growled.

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Inside.

It was dark and quiet, quite the opposite of the raging hell she had imagined. However, that was still not comforting her as it sent chills down her spine whenever a scream echoed through. She could not bear to imagine what sort of torture they were under. Worse still, the man, or creature lying in the opposite wing was twitching violently and sent out shrieks every now and then, as if having an electric shock. Lythe leant back and shut her eyes. She hoped that no one would be sharing this cell with her. Alone was bad enough.

All of a sudden, she heard the thundering of feet. The wing was unlocked and the metal slammed against the wall. Her eyes flew open and for a second, she was in shock. Wasn't this too soon? Another prisoner in the same cell? She gaped at the two guards in front of her. One of them had been replaced. They were dragging a small limp creature covered in blood, Lythe saw with horror. It was obvious that the creature had been putting up a fight before it was captured.

It was thrown in, like a rag doll. It slid on the ground and hit the wall beside her, then rolled over. The cell door slammed shut, and it was still rattling even after the guards had left.

Lythe backed away and sat as far as she could. She had the temptation to kill that bloody creature, before it wakes up and kill her. Fortunately, she stopped herself from committing another crime, because she knew that the next cell parter could be worse  than the last. Even dying might be better than surviving in here, she thought.

The creature, whatever it was, was sprawled on the ground. Lythe could not hear its breaths, but she had a feeling that it was not dead. Layers of fresh crimson covered the dried blood below. It was covered with bruises, which made it look like a failed plasticine model of a human.

Definitely a lutanic killer. She wondered when it would wake up.

*******************************************************

At night, all was quiet. No one was moving or making the slightest sound.

The creature was picking itself up. Letting out sounds that made her feel uneasy. It was bloodthirsty. She needed to run. She needed to hide. She needed to scream, but her throat made no sound. She backed away, but there was no place to run. Long, metal bars stood in her way and as much as she hit them, they stood solid.

It saw her.

It was coming for her, crawling towards her, with its mouth wide. Wider than any human...

The cold fangs pressed into her neck.