Thorns On A Vine ~DISCONTINUED~

Week 3

Week three ended yesterday and today marks the fourth week. Are they even looking for me?

"Hurry up!" 'He' yells and I throw another punch at the guy in front of me, knocking him out.

My body feels weak, I feel weak but I push myself everyday, just waiting for the moment that I can run free and find Dahlia.

"Good job as always, eight." 'He' says as he pays my small shoulder.

Over twenty of us have died over these past three weeks. There's now only twelve of us and we are all called by numbers.

They're trying to make us forget our own names but I will always remember who I am.

And 'he' is number zero, we all call him zero. I don't know why and I don't care to try and find out why we call him zero, I just follow along and call him zero.

"Come to my room again, eight." He whispers to me and I feel a chill run down my spine.

I nod my head as he walks past me, I turn around and I begin to walk back to my cell.

He hasn't touched my inappropriately, he just whips my back until I pass out or until he gets tired. He says that I'm his favorite, everyone tells me that I'm his favorite and it scares me.

I walk to the corner of my cell where there's a loaf of bread and I sit down on the cold floor as I slowly eat my stale bread.

[Dahlia, I have some time before I need to go back.] I say through our connection.

Over the past month, she's kept me updated on everything that's going on over there and she talks to me every time she can.

[What happened today?] She asks me.

[Same old, same old. Zero praised me after I beat a kid up and then he told me that he wants to see me again. But, when I got to my cell, I found a piece of bread so I'm pretty happy right now.] I say truthfully.

[Thats good.] She tries to say in a happy voice for me [One of the kings men sent news saying that they might've found a way to find you through our connection. Are you happy?] She asks me.

This isn't the first time that they've got word saying that they might've found a way to find me. Sometimes I question myself, if they are really looking for me or not.

In the book, the king didn't like me or Dahlia, it never said why but he held a grudge against us.

[Yeah...that's really good news. I think that my chance might come soon. Zero has been paying more attention to me and everyone has been treating me better.] I say with a small smile as I pick at my bread.

[How are you? Like, truly, how do you feel, T?] She asks me.

[I'm no longer in a constant state of terror, if that's what you mean.] I say with a dry laugh.

[You know that's not what I mean, T. Have you been sleeping? What about the nightmares? What's going on with you?] She asks again.

I sigh as I lean back on the wall behind me. I let my head fall back as I stay silent for a few moments.

[I don't get much sleep, truthfully, D. I either wake up because of the nightmares, or someone comes and wakes me up. Or I just wake up and do something. I don't even remember what a bed feels like right now. I know this is gonna sound sad, but, I've forgotten what a lot of things taste and feel like...] I say with a sigh.

I guess that I had taken everything for granted before, only now do I realize what I actually had before all this.

Even I pity myself right now...I'm inside a seven years olds body, with the mindset of a thirty year olds and a seven year olds mentality.

She stays quiet so I continue to talk.

[I don't remember what our face looks like, I don't remember what a bath feels like because we only get to clean ourselves when it rains and that rarely happens as is. It feels like I've gone to basic training or something...] I say with another laugh [This all feels like some sort of cruel joke.] I finish with a bitter smile on my face.

She doesn't talk but I know that she is still there, she just doesn't know what to say and it's understandable.

But the way she's just listening is enough for me. It's all I can ask for right now because I already know that she's already doing everything that she can do.

[These shackles are killing me. They've rubbed my wrists and ankles raw and red, there's dry blood on them and my knuckles hurt.] I tell her.

[I promise...I will see you soon. Even if I have to runaway and find you myself, T. I have no idea what you're going through but just being far away from you, knowing what you're going through, it's killing me. We've never been separated like this...] She says sadly.

That's right...not even in our past life we were never separated like how we are now.

"Eight! Zeros waiting for you!" I here twenty yell.

He's one of the guys who was here before any of the twelve of us. He was here when we finally met zero for the first time.

[I gotta go, D, zeros waiting for me but I'll talk with you later. Yeah?] I say as I stand up from the cold and hard ground.

[Yeah...definitely.] She tells me as we both close off our connection.

I walk out of my cell and take a left, walking down the long hallway until I come to a stop in front of one wide door. Decorated in white and black, making it stand out in this shabby hallway.

I clench my fists at my sides as my head hangs low before I lift one of my fists and knock on the door, three times.

"Come in, eight!" I hear zero say on the other side of the door.

With a sigh, I twist the door knob and push open the door. The heavy smell of smoke fills my nose as I breath in.

I walk in and close the door, not even lifting my head once.

"Eight, why do you always act like that? You look like a broken doll!" Zero says as he laughs at his own words.

My fingers fidget with my brown rags that they call clothes as I keep quiet. Staying silent with you head hung low will keep things simple.

I feel his finger lift up my chin but I avert my eyes away from him.

"Such a pretty doll..." He mumbles to himself but I hear him.

Disgusting...

"But I didn't cal you here to play around or anything. I just wanted to let you know that these little shackles will be coming off in the morning because I want to see what your made of when we go back to your empire." He says and I can practically hear the smirk on his face.

My eyes snap up at his words with surprise.

What is he talking about?

"Your empire will fall tomorrow. And so I need you to be ready for this job. I think that you are ready enough so now I need you to prove yourself to everyone." He says with a smirk dancing on his lips.

I breathe out as I unclench my fists and let my gaze fall back to the floor as he lets go of my chin.

"Good doll. Now go back to your cell and wait for them to take these shackles off." He says as he turns his back on me.

I turn back to the door and walk out, closing the door behind me. I walk back to my cell, trying to hide the cold smirk on my face.

The empire won't fall tomorrow...not when Dahlia is waiting for me to return home. Not when everyone is waiting for my return.

Instead...this camp will fall the second these shackles leave my body.