The Assassin

Chapter 5

Chapter 5 

For the second time that day, Amelia was on her knees chained to the wall. She hung forward with her head bent feeling miserable and happy all at once. She'd been beaten to the brink of death and disallowed healing, but her brother was alive. Emily was alive. Thorne was alive. That was all that mattered. She would gladly face any pain as long as they lived. 

Her father and his guards had been waiting for her when she arrived at the command center. The command center was in actuality a large warehouse on the outskirts of the city that acted doubly as a manufacturing corporation. If one were to look at the building or walk inside, they would see the manufacture of ships and aircrafts. Lazarus had once said the corporation was necessary both as a cover and to provide funds for the group. 

Upon entering, she had seen her father in the middle of the lobby surrounded by tens of guards with imposing looks. Amelia hadn't been sure how much Lazarus knew about her betrayal so she kept quiet. She let the guards escort her to the "training room" without resistance, even though she knew what the consequences would be. 

The whole time it took to get there, she was mentally preparing herself for the beating she would have to endure. She'd been telling herself she would be fine no matter what they did to her. She was strong and they wouldn't be able to break her. Not after she finally found her brother. She could handle it. 

Still, she wasn't prepared for what she saw in the training room. She let out a cry as she saw the room. 

The room was quiet as it always was. Weapons lined the walls around the room, but some were missing, taking residence on stools completely covered in blood. The usual white walls were stained with splotches of a rusty red. The chains attached to the walls, usually empty, had two girls her age hanging onto life. One looked up and focused on her. 

"Amelia? Oh, god Amy. You have to run! Leave and -" Jenny gasped as a knife plunged into her stomach. 

"Jenny? Jenny!" Amelia struggled and strained against the guard holding her, trying to run to Jenny. She coughed up blood and fell limp against the chains. 

Jenny didn't respond. She didn't move. She didn't breathe. 

"Jenny, please. Talk to me, wake up, do something. Just please be okay." Amelia sobbed with each word she pleaded to her. She couldn't be dead. Jenny had been one of the ones taken from their homes during the raid and kept as a slave. They had been best of friends before the raid and even after they were captured. Her safety had been one of the reasons she obeyed Lazarus. 

As long as she obeyed, her father promised her friends would be okay. But that didn't matter anymore. She had disobeyed and this was a consequence. 

She wasn't prepared for it. No one was supposed to be hurt but her. They shouldn't have to be hurt.  

"Amelia, you should have known better than to rebel against me. Take a look." Her father motion to Jenny and Kristy, the other girl chained up. "Do you feel anything? Remorse, sadness, anger? It was in fact your actions that cause their conditions, so why shouldn't you feel this way? You knew what would happen and still you defied me. " 

"How dare you? Rebel, defy, and disobey, even without doing any of these things you would have killed them and me eventually! I have always done what I've been told and still I am punished and treated like shit. I am not your fucking dog!" 

Amelia had a grim satisfaction as a muscle twitched in his jaw. She wouldn't take it anymore, not after this. She was done being quiet, she was done being his obedient little follower, and she was done cowering under every threat he made!