The Colourless Days

*Prologue*

***I'm just gonna say that for you younger readers, you might want to skip this bit. It's a tad gruesome. Well it's a bit gruesome for me anyway (I don't know how I wrote this) but for you guys who like to rip heads off teddy bears - read on. :)***

I feel the pain within me burst out, ripping and shredding, tearing and biting. It's as if it has been released from a cage and that cage is me. It's like I am exploding and imploding at the same time. I feel my heart fold in on itself, my lungs rapidly contracting and crashing into my ribs. And I can't breathe. I'm gasping, withering on the ground. Alone. Hurting. My last breaths drizzle our of me with every whimper I let out. And it hurts. This burning sensation, my own body betraying me. The pain has me trapped in it's sharp claws. Trapped in this dying body. 'Release me' I whisper. But it only holds me tighter.

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I wake up with a jolt and immediately know where I am. When you're someone in my situation, you have to be aware. Aware of everything. Aware of all the objects in the room that can be considered a weapon. You have to be aware so you can fight back when they come back. But I'm just not sure if I can do this anymore. It's been a long time since I've seen the sunlight, since I've touched the grass. In fact, it's been a long time since I've felt alive. They force me to watch videos of them torturing people and when I close my eyes and will myself not to hear, they hold my eyelids open until my vision goes so blurry that they reluctantly let me blink. They strap me to a table and inject me with chemicals that leave me hallucinating terrible things. The injections make me want to climb from my body and stamp on all the pain until it goes away. That's kind of what happens. I claw at my body, leaving myself covered in scratches and scars. It gets worse. Then a man comes - Daren I think his name is - he pushes a knife in my hand and closes his strong fist around mine. He whispers one word that brings a shock-wave creeping up my spine. He utters,

"Kill." He forces the knife I am holding into a victim. And while I scream and struggle, he twists the my hand holding the blade upwards. Cutting and shredding into human flesh. Every time this happens, I manage to get a kick or a bite in somewhere and he eventually releases me from his hold. But I stay still. Times like these, I don't say anything. I don't do anything. I don't think anything other than the fact that I just killed someone. It's happened at least six times now - I try to block it out. That's my worse time of the week. When Daren enters my cell. When he touches my hair. When he drags me towards the new victim of the week. I loath those times. I loath him with every single drop of blood that he spills. I shiver and try to stop remembering. I don't want to be here. I can't do it anymore. I can't. I can't hold on. I blink away the tears and focus on the silence. The coldness of it stings my skin. I hate it. I hate this hovering space filled with so much loud silence that it deafens my ears. I shift slightly and the chains bite into my skin, I wince, close my eyes, open them, and the silence stops.

I'm not sure how long I've been hanging here by the chains that keep me tied to this fate. This world. The same brick walls stare as I slowly lose myself. As I close my eyes and keep them shut. As I stop clenching my hands and let my fists uncurl. And as the walls stare, I let my head drop forward in defeat.

Slow clapping jars my head upwards. He claps three times while strolling towards my hanging figure. One. Two. Three. When did he get here? I guess I wasn't that aware after all.

"Well, my little lightning bolt, it looks as if you're broken." he says like he's been waiting for this. I want to shout at him, to insult him, to hurt him but I can't summon up the energy. It's as if the life has been sucked out of me. I'm dead. He chuckles when I don't respond. "Yes, very broken indeed." I let my gaze fall back down to the floor. Somehow, I know that he is smiling. I hear his footsteps retreat but I don't dare lift my head. I know he's still in the room somewhere. Lurking. "Winston." he calls and my breath catches. What is he going to do with me now?

"Yes, Master Daren?" a voice replies from the other side of the door.

"Bring in prisoner 6." Daren commands. I squeeze my eyes shut. No. This cannot be happening. He wouldn't do this. No. No. No.

"Yes, Sir." he answers obediently and I hear his footsteps trail away. I brace myself mentally and glance up at Daren. He grins slyly. My heart rate increases immensely.

Winston enters the cell and I hear him rattle chains to pull whoever is on the receiving end into the room. I don't look at them.

"As requested, Sir." I still don't look on the prisoner.

"Good. Now leave." Winston immediately disappears and the tense silence in the cell grows as I refuse to acknowledge the prisoner. I know that the person keeps their head down too, nobody likes to look Daren in the eye. He is a monster.

"Little lightning bolt. Open your eyes, my little bolt. Look who I found for you." I don't want to look but I have to. I have to know if I know this person. I squeeze my eyes one last time and then open them and look to the fragile body crouching on their knees beside Daren. Dirty brown hair is swung over their shoulder in a plait but hairs sprout out from the braid. They are wearing ripped shorts and I a lose top splattered with mud and probably blood. Then the person looks up. They gasp and I close my eyes. I can't believe it. No. No. No. Daren did it, he found my friends. A tear runs down my cheek but, obviously, I can't wipe it away. Daren just smirks and trails his finger down my cheek - making the tear vanish. I gulp when his face nears,

"Ah, the first tear. I've been waiting for this day my little lightning bolt."

I bite my lip. I want to scream and rage and hurt him. I would gladly take a knife and bury it into his chest. I would do it. I'm angry. No. Angry doesn't even describe how I feel. I lift my head, my hands form fists and my eyes glare at Daren.

"HOW DARE YOU BRING HER INTO THIS!" I scream at him, wriggling my wrists - trying to create a space so I can slip free. He watches me for a moment and then starts laughing,

"My little lightning bolt has found her spark! She's not broken after all. It was simply foolish of me to think so." he says it as if he's delighted at the turn of events.

"LET HER GO, YOU BASTARD!" I choke out, struggling to get free. Daren prisoner raises her head,

"Storm?" she whispers as if she can't quite believe that this is happening. I wish it wasn't. I don't answer her, I can't.

"What do you want me to do, Daren, for you to let her go?" I see the grin on Daren's face - it's what he's been waiting for. He strokes the stubble on his chin and pretends to be pondering my question. He already knows exactly what he wants.

"I want you, my dear, to train. I will have a team of people put together who will instruct you. And when they are done with you, little lightning bolt, you will have mastered the ways to kill people."

"Why? Why the hell are you doing this to me?" I ask quietly. "What gives you the right to make my life a living hell?"

"Soon you will realize that I am doing you a favor. After all, who will inherit my fortune and business when I gone?" He grins like a maniac, "That's right, my little bolt, you are training to be my heir."