Shattered ✓ (BxB)

Seven: Gabriel

Blood dances on my tongue as I slip back into consciousness. And the question on my mind is, where am I?

The blood seeps from my mouth to my lips--from there, the vermilion liquid escapes my lips and then, onto my chin--from my chin it falls on my tattered hoodie.

One of the only things I can feel is the unbearable pain of the wound. I run my hand over it -- it hurts to the touch. I pull my hand away; it's drenched in blood. My wound is still bleeding.

I don't know why, but I feel sick. I look around the room. Right beside me is a toilet with a small amount of water.

I peer in. My face is ungodly pale.

My purple eyes scan around to see my surroundings. Where could I be?, my mind asks.

My legs feel like they're cramping. "Maybe I need to take a walk," I mumble in pain.

With all of my remaining energy, I push up from the ground and rise to my feet. I feel a little unbalanced, so I place my hand on the wall.

"I can do this," I say, quietly.

I pull my hand away from the wall and step forward--one foot in front of the other. I'm getting cocky now, so I dance around a little, but then I'm greeted with a fall.

"Oof," I gasp as I hit the ground and all of the air is knocked out of me. I pull myself up into a sitting position. "I could walk," I stutter.

"Well some of us can't. You should feel lucky," a voice calls.

I turn so quickly that I feel dizzy. In the cell right by me is Kyle Kozlov.

"You're Kyle Kozlov!" I exclaim, followed by me coughing up blood--I'm practically choking on it.

Kyle glances at me. "You know who I am?"

I nod. "Yeah. You're a legend to the whole LGBTQ+ community! You were the first to stand up to Daskanalasć's government!"

Kyle's amber eyes grow wide. "I am?"

I nod to him once again. "You've inspired several LGBTQ members to stand up against Daskanalasć's government."

The raven haired boy in the cell next to Kyle says, "He isn't lying. You inspired me and Johanna." The boy then looks at me, "I'm Craig Romanov, by the way."

"Gabriel Vladimirov," I say my own name. "Who's this Johanna you speak of?"

"Johanna Schmarten?" Craig asks me.

I nod. "Yeah." Obviously!, my mind says.

"Johanna Schmarten was a pan transgirl. She was a friend of ours," Craig continues.

"Oh," I begin. "So, where is she now? I don't see her in any of the cells," I comment.

Kyle and Craig exchange looks of pure sadness.

"Do you want me to tell him?" Kyle asks Craig. "After all, you were romantically involved with Johanna." Then the blond adds, "Even though we're stuck in cells."

Craig sighs. "I guess so."

Kyle turns back to me. "She died of dysentery."

I gasp. My stomach is in knots. "Dysentery? That's horrible." I look to Craig. "Does that mean you're mspec too?"

Craig nods. "Pan as well." He then says, "What can I say? I doesn't matter your gender I just love you."

Kyle looks straight at me. "The only reason Johanna died in here was because we aren't treated fairly. They lied. There is no treatment. They just torture you."

I exhale. "I figured as much."

Kyle's silent before he says, "Not only that, but they wanna know what makes people gay. They cut you open, poke around your insides, just with hopes they'll find something to end this thing they deem an illness. Everytime the task force captures someone, the scientists get excited. They see the newbies as fresh meat for the taking. They seem to think that our quote on quote illness is some tumor they can just find and take out, but in reality, it's just who we are; Daskanlasc will never understand that. Hell, the whole world may never understand that."

Kyle inhales rarely quickly--that's followed by a somewhat slower exhale. He points to the dashed marks on his arms. "They give you these. They mark you up, left and right. Then, that's when they do the cutting." He shows off a wound on his shoulder that looks like it hasn't properly healed.

"Did they not even stitch you up after their inhumane experiment?" I question.

Kyle shakes his head. "Nope. I was awake the whole time too."

"They didn't even give you anesthesia?"

Craig snorts. "They don't even give us clean water, what makes you think they provide anesthesia during surgery?"

I blink a couple of times. "Then, how do we get out?"

Kyle's voice turns more somber than it was before. "That's the thing. You can't escape. You're here until you die."