She watched the guard as she hammered for precious gems, hammering hard to avoid the sting of the whip, every lash added as scar, a cruel sting her skin still had not hardened to. She did everything she could to hide from the guards, aware they were not foolish enough to go deep into the mines, that was where she hid, mining away as she plotted and planned, waiting for the opportunity to break out and escape. Nobody looked for her, she looked too alike everyone else there, too alike the other men and women down in the mine or outside it and the guards never looked for one person specifically to do their dirty work, they asked the nearest person to do it, usually the sick or an older person, hoping it would get rid of them and make room for another prisoner.
She wiped the heavy sweat from her forehead, the place smelt heavily of sweat, fresh and old body odour lingered in the air and polluted it, but she did the honourable thing and held her tongue as she mined, with every swing, she thought of another name, another guard she would butcher, she would get rid of nearly all of them, if she had to. What they did to her family, the people she loved and cared for, could not be forgiven nor simply swept under the carpet. She promised herself that she would have vengeance and such things were not given, they had to be taken.
The older man lingered around her, his body unusually smelt of lavender, not body odour. She hung around him, it was a pleasant smell in comparison, although she wondered why he would want to hang around her, she stunk like something foul. She hated smelling but she could only shower during her break and she spent most of that time eating, digesting as fast as she could, eating more and drinking more, as much as she could take without vomiting on the floor. She piled in food without putting on weight, instead she lost so much weight, she was as thin as a rake. He did nothing, he did not even pick up a pickaxe, let alone swing it, he just looked at her with that famous smile of his, haunting and hunting, cruel and twisted yet there was still something human about it. He put his finger to his lip as he slipped her a silver coin and a flask of water. He did not say a word, he was so quiet she wondered if he was even breathing but she took was silent, she had even stopped swinging the pickaxe. He took it from her hand and continued her work as she drank and looked at the coin.
She could not work out what it was for, but she was grateful for the water, she was not even a week into her sentence, already tired beyond belief, up when the sun rose, finishing long after the sun had set. She hated working yet there was little choice, she could not serve out her sentence any other way, even if she wished to do so. She kept drinking, rehydrating herself, she could have done with the rest, she needed it. She took over once she felt well again, he barely had any sweat, no sweat smell or sweaty forehead, he did not even smell. He stood back and watched as she hammered the material, she felt better and more hydrated, more alive in a way but there were no complaints.
"Feeling better?".
"Perhaps but what did you give me?", she questioned in disbelief.
"Water, what else was I meant to give you?".
"Not a clue, something to get me out of here?", she replied jokingly, offering a bright smile. He offered nothing back but pressed his finger to his lip, hiding in the darkness, wondering deeper into the cave. She swung harder at the stone, hoping for a sign of precious stones, if she could just get one, just one she would have more food that night, she was too busy to question the man nameless to her, she just wanted to find a precious gem, to find anything that was there no matter how small it was.
She kept swinging her pickaxe at the rock as a guard got brave and walked towards her, he began his lecture and she just shrugged and took it, planning to add him to the list and hide in the darkness before the brave guards came. She did not need to, the man walked behind him, grabbing him on the shoulder, the man choked, turning red as he clawed at the man's hand, the man kept a strong grip on the guard until he slouched, falling forward, the man just dropped him, leaving him there.
"Did you kill him?", she asked.
"No, should I have?".
"I do not care."
"What is your name?", he asked again.
"No one."
YOU ARE READING
No One
Vampire***Cover by trista-*** No One describes a girl of seventeen who has lost everything and everyone. To survive, she becomes something else, begins to walk down the path of revenge, hoping that vengeance will bring her the joy she seeks. Revenge i...
