Inverted: Bleach [Currently Being Edited]

Chapter Twenty-Three: Prisoner Of The Dark

My head throbbed when I woke, and I found myself in darkness. I looked around desperately, and I began to make out my surroundings. Stone floors and walls, and a steady drumming sound of water dripping from the high ceiling.

My wrists stung badly, as if they had been rubbed raw, and when I tried to move, I felt the cold sting of metal. Shackles were bound to my ankles and wrists, chaining me against the wall behind me. The more I began to shift, the more it stung, and blood began to trickle down my arms.

"Well, well," a low voice sounded from the other side of the room, making me jump in surprise. I scanned the dank room, which I thought was a dungeon, and I saw the faint outline of a man standing in the corner across from where I was chained. "Seems that you have awoken, Hikari. I guess I should begin my orders. Orders from the Thundering General."

My heart began to pound so hard and fast that I thought he should be able to hear it. The man walked towards me, and when he got close enough, I saw his face. He would've been handsome if he didn't have a ropy scar stretching from his right eye, across the bridge of his nose, and to his left eye. His hair was a deep shade of black and was tucked in a red bandana, and he wore jeans and a graphic t-shirt.

"Who are you?" I asked with a hoarse voice, my throat burning. His lips curled into a wicked grin.

"Well, little girl, I don't give out much information to strangers. But you sure will recognize my son when he gets here later," he pulled out a small canteen and waved it in front of my face, the contents swishing inside," Want some water, little girl?" I eagerly shook my head, and he unscrewed the top of the canteen and placed it above my mouth.

"Thank you," I whispered, but when he poured it down my throat, I screamed with pain. It was an alcoholic drink, and with my raw throat, it burnt like crazy. The man let out a gruff laugh and took a swig of the drink himself.

"It's pure vodka from the United States," he said between sips," They can make a darn good bottle of happy juice, I can tell ya that."

My vision blurred with pain and tears welled in my eyes from the sting of the liquid in my throat. The man poured some of the vodka on my wrists, and the pain worsened. The liquid coated the shackles, and every time it made contact with my skin, it would seep into the raw skin on my wrist.

"Now, I guess I should bring my son in here," the man snarled, tossing the canteen aside. "Get in here, boy!"

The creaking of a wooden door beside me made me cringe with apprehension. Footsteps echoed in the dungeon as another man entered the room, but this one was considerably smaller. In his hands, he carried a metal pan and a long iron poker, and the contents in the pan seemed to illuminate his features. If I was to guess, he had hot coals in the metal pan, so I could only hope for the best.

My hope seemed to drain from me like the blood from my face when I realized who it was. Brownish-black hair and sparkling green eyes, but his eyes seemed more dull than usual. It was Moku, my old classmate.

"Bring 'em here, boy," the man grumbled, beckoning Moku to come closer. Moku set the metal pan holding the coals on the ground beside my knees, and he crouched beside me with the iron poker still in his slim hands. He never met my eyes while he did so, but I have had enough.

"What are you doing, Moku," I snarled, my throat still burning from the vodka. Moku placed the iron poker in the tray of coals and ignored my question as though I had never opened my mouth. I can't believe that Moku and that man are related, but his actions caused me to believe that they were very similar. "I thought I knew you."

His eyes seemed to brim with sadness for a split second before they hardened once more. There was no sign of the affection that he used to have towards me. The only thing I saw in his eyes was hate.

"You ditched me for him," Moku said in an annoyed tone," You ran away. You stopped coming to school. But through all of that, never once did I cross your mind, did I? You broke my heart to be with him, so I will break his heart as revenge."

"Hurry up while the poker is still hot," Moku's father snarled, snatching the poker from the tray. Moku seemed to panic when his father slammed the poker to my stomach. Unexplainable pain filled my body as the hot metal burned into my skin, and I screamed so loud that the skin at the back of my throat spilt, causing me to cough up blood. "Your turn."

Moku grabbed the poker with steady hands and lowered it towards my body, and it got so close that I could feel the heat wafting from the metal.