Updated: April 3, 2019
L
Broken ribs and bruised flesh were normal during the last month of my stay in the crypts below the Council compound. After the stint with Mia, the other man with the darker voice and larger hands took over as a personal guard. Jeffries didn't visit often but when he did I was often left grasping at oxygen while the skin on my torso swelled in fear from whatever he dealt. His anger translated into violence. The past two weeks were a blur, a period of time I spent near the brink of a coma. Margette reassured me that she'd be there when I woke but I couldn't bring myself to drift. Leaving my body to the mercy of the large man terrified me more than my trial. Peter dealt horrible things during my stay with him, but Jeffries' acted on another level Peter never dreamed of.
You know what you must do, Margette disturbed my thoughts. Her scratched and broken voice sounded through my head like a wind chime whipped around by harsh winds until the cords tangled in on themselves; a puzzle impossible to solve. Margette took most of Jeffries' attacks. His ignorance to the change in my eyes as she took control kept our secret alive and hidden. Your trial is in less than twelve hours. If you back out of this now you won't make it out of here alive.
Her words latched to my brain, echoing. They pounded on the inside of my skull. Every time I drifted from the forefront of consciousness Margette took over and refused to take my pleas for her to stay in my head as an answer.
I-, I began but Margette cut me off with a loud snarl that originated from deep within her throat.
You cannot back out of this. I will take over if you do.
Why can't you? I pleaded.
They would know. Jeffries is too idiotic to see the change in your eyes when I take over but the other Councilmembers will notice. As of right now, you're wolf-less. If I show my face the trial will change – there won't be a trial, she paused and looked for better words than she and I both knew she provided. You'll be sent straight to the block.
I knew the answer before she said it. I'd be sent to the block anyway but Margette still held out hope that a flip decision was possible if I followed her orders. If that went south plan 'B' would launch into action but I think Margette and I both knew without her help I was doomed to fail.
Margette went quiet after that. She dug herself back into the hollows of my head and remained there, careful to keep still. I let my eyes flutter open but the same black shield remained firm in front of my eyes. At this point gaining back my vision would only clue me into the real damage Jeffries' had done. Staying in the dark meant ignorance.
The door slammed open, the knob clanged on the stone wall next to the doorway. I shot up. In one swift movement, I brought my knees to my chest. My back hit the wall behind me. Cold, slimy rock itched at the scarred flesh on my back but I refused to move; frozen in place while my intruder started their invasion. I disregarded the sensation on my back and lifted my blind gaze to the person in the doorway. Their lungs worked hard to pump out enough oxygen to fuel their entire body. Nose flared with heavy breaths, the person came forward, inching their way into the cell as if not to startle me. I shuffled as far away as I could but I was already pinned. There wasn't a place I could flee to.
"Someone wishes to see you," their voice was a frightening middle ground between Mia and the Jeffries'. Hoarse like a pot scraped with the nails of animals until the protective layer was all but shreds. But softer than the other guards – than Jeffries' at least.
His grabbed my arm and yanked me upwards unlike the others who visited me. My feet tumbled against the floor, unable to keep a firm foot on the ground but the new guard kept my shoulders in his grasp until I found balance. My head swirled, brain pounding into a star-inducing headache. Since the Jeffries' last visit, my feet refused me to stand, and instead resolved to keep me planted in my spot near the back corner of my cell to lessen the chance of another injury.
"W-who?" I croaked, nearly unable to speak. Jeffries never spoke directly to me, only at me. As much as I wanted hope to exist, I gave up. Any chance of a friendly visitor went out the door months ago. Besides members of the Council, nobody paid a visit. Too high profile, they said. They refused to risk a second escape.
"You'll see when you get there," he said. They put a hand at the small of my back and pushed me forward out of the cell. Jeffries gave up on shackles a while ago. It was useless considering I was in with the rest of the high-profile criminals. I had no chance of escape even with help from the inside. Mia was the only member of the council with a shred of humanity left and even then, I knew she grasped at straws. There were instances that the full dehumanization training didn't quite work out how the council planned, but those were rare. And even if, another full-scale session occurred and scraped any lingering emotion left from their souls. I hoped Mia wasn't among them, that she convinced them she was bare. History with the Council proved my hopes to be weightless. Chances of seeing her again were slim – and if I did there'd be nothing more than a cool shadow behind her iris', a shell of emotionless meat barely held up by her own skeleton.
Not long after we left my cell block, the barren hallways stopped echoing our footsteps, copying each movement we made with a subtle whisper. The guard's hand lingered at the small of my back and he slowed his pace to match mine, a courtesy I appreciated despite my inability to bring the words to my lips. The overwhelming terror clouding my brain kept any conscious, coherent thought from slipping into the forefront of my brain. Whoever wanted to speak with me – the only people I knew within the council were either removed from my case or in emotional training – couldn't be a friendly entity.
We paused. The guard at my side stopped, two fingers snagged the back of my dress and pulled me back toward him so I didn't move any further down the hallway without him.
"Is he ready?" The guard asked someone I didn't detect.
"Yes," a hiss invaded my eardrums and the guard's hand left my back, only for my shoulder to take its place. I was pushed to the left. A door swung open and I started toward it.
"There's a ledge," the guard warned. I nodded and stepped higher to get over it, and entered the room without an embarrassingly painful fall thanks to the guard. His presence left as soon as I entered the room and the door slammed back shut. The metal grazed the backs of my calves, forcing me forward as the flesh on my legs yelled at the splintering cold sensation. After the feeling fell from my skin I took a single step forward only to be frozen in place by whatever came from the other side of the room. A shiver and a yawn, and then finally, words.
"Good evening, L," a rugged voice sprang from the dark shadows in the room. Despite the black cloud over my vision, I knew that voice anywhere. It haunted my dreams, my wakefulness, my brain during the deepest of thoughts and the corners of that dark visor in front of me. That voice belonged to one person and, at one time, I never thought I'd have to face him again.
I guess I was wrong.
______________
Hey,
L is back! This has been a little time coming. Putting her POV on pause was a plot thing and I don't want to introduce another POV (Margette's).
QOC: What do you think the person wants to talk about? Do you know who the person is?
Comment, like, and follow!
Much love
-Kate
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Sapphire Bones
Manusia Serigala( Book 2) Recaptured by the council, L is faced with a trial set to execute her without question. On the outside her allies remain thin but loyal as they march for her survival and pin for her to be proven innocent. Corvo's dedication is tested and...
