Captivated Control: A Seth Hyde x MC Romance

11: Pause

(I'm sorry this is so late! Last week was rough personally; I had to deal with some family things :(

But I am back and ready! In light of my lateness, I am releasing two chapters today! Please enjoy!)

(Kelly P.O.V)

I was lost...

I had no where to go, no idea what to do, and couldn't fathom who I could trust...

My current lodgings was a prison cell connected to Amon's personal chambers. Here is where I spent most of my time, shackled to a brick wall by heavy iron cuffs. I ate here, (tried) to sleep here, and was teased and ridiculed here by Amon and his trusted disciples.

It was hell.

Every night I fell asleep on a dirty, tattered blanket on the stone floor, with the harsh sound of my shackles to awaken me whenever I shifted in my attempt at slumber. I was fed two small meals a day, consisting of bread and porridge, and maybe the occasional orange juice. The lights in my cell were dim and dark, and I only had a single small window near the ceiling of my cell, so seeing out of it was impossible. The only thing I could tell was if it was daytime, or nighttime.

But none of this compared to the testing drills he made me take part in each day.

The only time I would be allowed out of my cell was for Amon's personal Magic stunts. Every day was a new angle on trying to break down my barrier magic, forcing me to block blow after blow after blow, until I could no longer stand. Some days I would fall asleep with an untreated fever, other days I would be so weak from using up all my Magic, I would drop to my knees in fatigue.

Once or twice Amon knocked me clear backwards and into the wall with his attacks. The pain from brunting the entirety of the force made me learn quickly to signal him when it was too much. I learned that he seemed to enjoy testing my limits, but wanted to keep me alive as long as possible so he could continue to run his cruel 'tests'.

He enjoyed being cruel, treating me like an object rather than a person. Presumably because I had upset him when I spat at him. I still wouldn't regret it.

It had been three days that I had been locked up here, and his continuous brain washing was setting in. Amon constantly snuck in small tidbits of information to me... Such as how Seth had committed acts of treason against the Black Army right under their noses, or how his connections with the Red Army could snuff out Ray and this entire land with just a fraction of the Magic Crystals they owned.

Each passing minute that I was locked away, I lost hope that I would ever get my normal life back. There hadn't been a single peep of infiltration within the Tower, and with the Red and Black Army's already deep in their war, only the Black Army generals had the power to complete an attack.

But every day I watched. Watched as disciples lugged wheelbarrows of crystals into the tower from the mines, and continued to refine and amass hundreds of pounds of power a day. I watched as shady underground transactions were completed each night with what seemed to be Cradle's criminal underworld, while by day, Amon attended public meetings and acted the part of the figurehead for the clean, governing public sector of the Magic Tower. It was a well concocted scheme, and Amon was the wheel that made the entire operation run.

To the public, he was a saint. But to the market underworld, he was a criminal mafioso. And with each passing day, he had more and more control in the palm of his hand.

I was truly beginning to lose hope...

"G-gahhhhh..."

I gasped heavily after brunting another heavy magic attack. The barrier I willed was small and covered less ground than last time, signalling to me that I was beginning to hit my limit for Magic usage.
I felt my knees weaken and I teetered forward slightly, but willed myself to remain standing. I was glancing around behind Amon who stood a few feet across from me. Every day I searched for an opening; some kind of way out.