Alice Blossom's Diary

Redemption

I woke up in a comfy makeshift bed with a wet handkerchief on my forehead. The lantern sitting nearby provided some warmth, and I sighed with relief. I was in a cave. I tried to move my hands, but I couldn't—they were cuffed to a metal bar! I panicked and struggled to get out of the cuffs, but it was useless. A dark figure approached me from the shadows of the cave. I tried to get away, even considering breaking my fingers to escape the cuffs, but then I saw a prisoner... with a hot cup of tea. My fear didn't fade; I was still looking at the prisoner with dread. Her name was "Clara," as I later found out. She looked at me with guilt in her eyes and sat beside me. I wasn't sure what she wanted to do with me; I was speechless and scared.

"You don't look well, do you?" Clara said. I couldn't gather my words; I was afraid. She placed the tea on the ground and offered me a slice of bread. I refused to eat anything from her hands—hell no! Clara sighed and, looking back at where she came from, said, "Oh no, they are back." I wondered who she meant until I saw a couple of prisoners approaching. One was a muscular man with a gun in his hand. His name was Alexander, as I later learned. He looked at me with a deathly stare and approached us.

"Who the fuck did you bring here now?" he asked Clara, looking at me again. His eyes widened, and his eyebrows furrowed in anger.

"It's a—" Clara began but was interrupted by Alexander.

"A FUCKING MERCENARY!?" He rushed towards me, and I saw his boot flying towards my face. I closed my eyes and felt a strong hit on my face. Oh, my precious face. I groaned in pain as he pressed his shotgun against my head. I was terrified; tears streamed down my face as I begged him not to shoot me. But Clara stopped him.

"Alexander, stop! She was unconscious on the ground with critical injuries! She's not a threat!" Clara pleaded, trying to save me.

"Don't you realize they're committing genocide against us on this island!? And you saved one of them!? JUST TO BRING HER INTO OUR HIDEOUT!?" He pushed Clara aside and placed his foot on my chest, ready to blow my head off. But he looked at Clara again, sighed, and lowered his shotgun. My face was full of fear; I stared at the shotgun with wide eyes and an open mouth. Sweat dripped down my face. I realized I did the same to that prisoner in a cave. How different am I from him? Don't I deserve the same death? Alexander removed his foot from my chest but smacked my wound with his boot.

"Alexander!" Clara shouted as the group began discussing me. Their words passed by me as I groaned in pain. I started humming a song under my breath in stress.

"Hush now, heart, hum happy..." I mumbled almost instinctively. The group noticed and their frustration flared.

"Shut the fuck up!" In stress, I closed my eyes and started singing more loudly.

"Gentle gleams of golden grasses, Glow where dreams come true!" I didn't know why I did that, but I was really stressed. I received another boot to my wound, causing me to cough and mumble more quietly.

"Your pacifistic behavior won't do any good here, Clara! Stop saving people, especially those who want us dead!" said Charles. "We already have an ex-scientist on our team!"

"We could use her anyway," said Alexander as he approached and sat beside me.

"..." I couldn't say anything as he gave me another smack with his leg. I coughed up blood, critically injured from the beating.

"I guess we have to use violence to get you to talk!" said Alexander, but Clara stopped him. She asked them to leave me alone, and they left the cave. I lay there, cuffed to a metal bar, and closed my eyes again out of weakness.

Possibly some hours later, I woke up again. Clara was sitting beside me once more. I looked at her with lifeless eyes and wanted to speak, but I couldn't manage to say anything. She took a spoon and started feeding me some beans from a can.