The ground is moving, sliding, pulling at my clothes. I struggle to open my eyes, only succeeding to force them into slits. The concrete drags against my calves, leaving dozens of tiny, painful pricks. My narrowed eyes roam around, spying a towering man’s meaty hands engulfing mine above me, and Ever creeping behind him, seemingly melting into the shadows that blanket our cell. I don’t spot Alexa. Ever sees me scrutinizing her and puts one slender finger to her lips. The man, noticing I’m awake, catches me looking behind him and spins around, dropping me to the ground. Oof! Ouch.
Ever throws herself at him and they both wrestle each other to the floor, barely missing falling on me. I scramble backwards into a corner as the man kicks Ever off, a crack resonating as her body meets the wall, leaving a human-sized dent. Ever immediately picks herself off the ground and shakes pieces of concrete off, before leaping at the man once again. My logical mind is whirring. What? How? She should’ve at least broken a bone! The man thrusts a punch at her head, only to miss as she ducks and springs onto his shoulders, twisting her knees around his neck and pulling him down to meet the hard floor. Pressing a bare foot to the man’s face, Ever launches herself off a second before he hits the ground, landing in a cat-like crouch. She straightens, swinging her foot to connect with his shocked, unshaven face, a loud crack resonating from the blow. “Leave.” Kick. “Us.” Kick. “Alone.” Kick. She keeps kicking, over and over and over. The man finally grabs her foot an inch from his face and yanks it out from under her. Crack. The concrete impacts with her spine. Ever kicks at his elbow as he starts to pick himself up, throwing him back to the ground. I stare wide-eyed and mouth gaping, shocked into silence, at the man as he unsheathes a knife from his waist while righting himself, the blade glinting maliciously. Ever quickly stands as they begin to circle around each other. The man suddenly charges at her and thrusts the blade at her head, faster than my eyes can follow. She barely ducks his jab (gaining a deep gash on her cheek), side-steps to avoid a second one and lands a sucker punch to his already bloody nose. Letting out a guttural cry, the man roundhouse kicks her stomach with a steel-toed leather boot, causing her to stumble into my corner, disoriented. Dagger raised, the man advances towards us, violently yanking Ever into a one-armed hold and plunging the sharp weapon into her side, eliciting pained screams from her as he twists the blade and jerks it back out. “Good riddance, Argenta.” He hisses, throwing her bleeding body to the ground. Argenta?
Ever curls in on herself, hands pressing on the gaping hole in her side and faintly whimpers. Oh my God. I feel the blood draining from my face as I start to crawl towards her. The man turns his attention to me. Oh, great. Eyes glinting with a murderous craze, he sheathes his knife and grabs me before I can scramble away, draping me over his shoulder roughly. “Oi! Put me do-” He strikes the base of my skull as he turns towards the door, causing bright white to flash in front of me. I feel warm blood running down my neck. I train my eyes on Ever’s silhouette as darkness clouds my vision, and instead of scarlet blood, liquid silver rapidly pools around her body, the metallic surface reflecting the fading rays of moonlight.
