brutal

Chapter 38

VERENA

After escaping The Professor, my insomnia kept me awake, forbidding my body from getting the rest I needed and the peace I wanted.

And when sleep did manage to sneak up on me and consume me, I dreamt of a five by five cell with the coldest cement floor stained with dried blood, piss, and vomit.

I didn't dream much anymore after therapy. At this point of my life, I didn't even remember how exactly the cell I stayed in for years looked like anymore, but I still remembered the fear my younger self carried with her back then.

For the longest time, I thought I would've been able to escape that. Now that I'm grown, I thought fear was no longer an emotion I could ever feel or meet again.

The Professor's dead, I've escaped, and I had a family.

But, then again, people like me could never escape the metal fences they trapped me in fourteen years ago.

"Good. It's about time you woke up."

I opened my eyes to the blonde in purple from the restroom earlier, spinning a dark karambit in her hand with ease and a subtle grin. I stood, or rather, floated above her with my arms cuffed to chains from the ceiling.

My wrists bled from the metal that suspended me above ground. I tried to lift myself up, but fatigue flooded my body and mind.

The blond shook her head in disapproval. "Don't waste your energy on something as futile as escaping. You're not leaving. Ever."

I gritted my teeth. "Who are you?"

She smiled, then slowly approached me. The woman, who once kept her head down and shied away, angled her dagger to the side of my stomach. With a chuckle, she looked up at me and slowly pushed.

I bit down on a scream when her blade cut through my flesh. She pushed it all the way until the handle touched the plane of my skin and the sound of my blood dripping became the only noise in the dark room.

"She said you'd pretend that you didn't know who we were, but I didn't know that you would actually take the coward's way out. I thought you had more dignity than that..." The woman bit her lip. "Verena."

"Ugh." A body next to me whined and stirred. Stunned, I turned my head and saw Gillian in the same bonds as me with her hair all over her face. "If I knew you were this talkative, I would have shut your mouth earlier."

The blonde scoffed and crossed her arms. "And who exactly are you?"

Gillian tried to flip her loose hair off her face and blew. When they remained where they were, she slumped and rolled her eyes. "Lady, in this business, we actually get to know who we kidnap before we torture them."

She shrugged. "In this business, we kill first and ask questions later. I don't know why you insist on wining and dining first."

"Not asking you to fuck me or anything. Jesus." Gillian looked at me with a pissed off look on her face. "Captors these days, am I right?"

"Enough," said the woman with gritted teeth. She clicked her tongue before sauntering over to where Gillian hung above her. She tugged on a chain next to her, pulling on it greatly before she let it go. Gillian's body fell to the ground within seconds.