Clear Skies

Chapter 12: To Duel Alone

            I awoke strapped to a chair, my hands and feet bound. My eyes stung from tears. My body ached from constant beatings, and my spine was pained after being slung against the wall of my cell.

"Looks like you're finally up!" The bellow sourced from Armstrong, the warden. "Now, I don't want to have to hurt you. Ah, who am I kidding? I'd love to hurt you, but I'll let you go as long as you tell me one little thing. Where is Kalin Kessler? His mark isn't showing up on the tracker!"

"He died," I croaked. "He's... gone."

His laugh was grating. "Like I haven't heard that one before! Tell me where he is and how he escaped, and you're free to go! Let's not make this difficult, lil' girl."

My head hung low. Something deep within willed to fight back. Raw emptiness smothered the fire. "I felt it with my own hands. His heart stopped. He is dead."

"Yeah?" he scoffed. "Tell me this: if he died, where's the body?"

"It... disappeared."

"This story just gets better and better, doesn't it!" He unleashed his sadistic laugh then gave me the evil eye. "If you won't tell me, I'll have to force you. I love getting to use new tech!"

He reached forward and clicked a button. I heard the whirring of machinery as bright lights sparked around me. Agony exploded throughout my entire body as if lightning caught underneath my skin. I screamed and tore at my bonds fruitlessly. The lights blinded me, and the pain was too intense to focus on anything else. I screamed and cried in vain.

Finally, the machine stopped. The lights turned off, but they left my vision spotted. I lowered my head and closed my eyes. Armstrong's voice was fuzzy through my ringing ears.

"Are you ready to fess up?" His beady eyes scanned me, waiting for a reaction.

"I already told you," I whimpered, my voice almost lost. "I saw him die and disappear."

"Still not talking? You will suffer." He turned it on again for a much longer time than the last. The process finished. He asked the same question, but I could only give the same answer. Countless hours later, the machine shut off.

"That's enough for today! I'm tired, and I'm sure she'll be fine waiting until tomorrow to continue. Throw her back in her cell." Guards appeared, unbound me, and caught me before I could collapse. They tossed me onto the floor of my cell and slammed the door shut.

My breaths filled the silence. So silent. Too silent.

Maybe it was a little silly, but all I wanted at that very moment was to crawl into my partner's lap and feel his embrace.

Instead it was freezing cold and my tears puddled around my face. I heaved myself up as best I could. The closest thing to me was the windowsill. The shimmer of the stars seemed darker than usual. My shaking fingers dug into the skin of my upper arms.

I had to get out. I couldn't survive that again. If I stayed, I'd end up like...

I slammed the back of my hand against the window bars. How could Armstrong do that to another human being? How could he enjoy it? How could the guards laugh at us day after day seeing our pain?

This was the world my partner fought to change.

He'd never have that chance. He told me, though- How could I? I was trapped here, and... wait. Air hissed in through my teeth. My disk. My duel disk was back.