by Seth Eden
“I... am not insane.” He grabbed both her wrists this time and wrestled her into the chair. “You are the one buying into his propaganda and I can’t have that. I can’t have you spouting lies about me to the rest of the city and turning everyone against me.”
“You egotistical... you really think everything is about you?!” She fought with him as one wrist was strapped bound with leather straps and then the next. When he bent down to confine her ankles, her foot connected right with his nose. A dull crunch sounded that almost startled her, but she had to remind herself that he deserved it. That any small hesitation that came out of love was just a memory of what their relationship used to be.
“If you’re quite finished.” He grabbed her ankle and almost twisted it to the point of breaking before buckling it in. She continued to fight him too with her last free limb, knowing there was no chance of getting out at this point but not wanting to make it easy for him in any regard.
“Now that you’ve chosen the hard way, I’ll ask again. What is the truth? Why has my brother turned you against me?”
Samantha worked her lip against her teeth. Her throat was dry and she could feel herself shivering in the chair despite the room being quite warm. She couldn’t look at him, couldn’t stand to even be in the same room as him. No amount of breathing exercises were going to help in this situation.
“Your brother has done nothing but tell me his side of the story.”
“Defiant to the end, I see.”
The end? Did he really mean to-...
Ethan reached over and fiddled with something on a nearby panel The chair started with a jolt, eliciting a small scream from her before it reclined beneath her. She was facing the ceiling now and that meant less leverage to get away.
“Will you renounce what he’s told you? Will you accept the truth the way I’ve suggested it?”
“You haven’t told me anything!”
A vibration came from deep within the chair now as the whole thing started to rise from the floor. That brought her up to eye-level with Ethan so that she could see just how far gone he was.
“You’ve left me no choice, really. You can accept this or I can wipe it from your memories completely. Either way, you’ll be fixed.”
Samantha suddenly went rigid in the chair. She couldn’t tell if the chair or her own fear was causing it, but she couldn’t feel the tips of her fingers or her toes. Rings of warmth grew where she’d been bound, but not painfully so. Then her body went slack again. It felt like her body had been cut into a million jigsaw pieces and were being reassembled together again.
“Do you want to try again?” Ethan asked more quietly this time, his look expectant.
Try what again? He’d led her here, through the forest, from their home... no, not their home, that was gone. Why was it... Zen. The man with the scars. He’d taken her away from here to a place and...
Realization soured her expression and she spat in Ethan’s face. He merely blinked and wiped it away with the back of his hand. He sighed, annoyed, and fiddled with the panel once more.
This time, the warmth traveled up her limbs to her very core, as if hot soup was being poured into her. It would have been a pleasant sensation for the fact that the heat was starting to make her muscles and joints ache. She could even feel the heat in her teeth and she worried that at some point, they would start to melt.
“Zen told me what you did to his family. What you did to your fam-!”
She could feel it behind her eyeballs now, a burning heat that threatened to burn her very skull alive. She bared her teeth against it, believing, in some part, that the old Ethan she knew was still somewhere in there.
“You’re... not going to gain anything from this, Ethan. You’ll break me, you’ll get me to say what you want, and then what? I won’t be the same person you love anymore. What good would I be to you if I don’t love you back?”
“Don’t say that!”
The heat grew even more intense, to the point that she had to look down at her own body to make sure she wasn’t glowing from the inside out.
“You’ll love me because I tell you to. I will keep you and take care of you and everything will be perfect again, just as it should be! All you have to do is stop making this hard for me!”
Samantha finally went slack against after what felt like hours. Sweat dotted her skin and she was even more parched than before.
“You want me to love you? How about getting me a glass of water? Please?” She managed between the gasps for air, hoping beyond hope that the smallest trace of humanity still left within him would claw at his common sense and fulfill her request.
He looked a little puzzled about it too, debating whether this was some kind of trick. Once he looked satisfied that he could handle whatever wool she was trying to pull over his eyes, he departed the room.
That gave her enough time to attempt an escape. She wiggled her joints in their constraints, seeing if she could get enough of her wrists free to pull the leather straps away, to no avail. She couldn’t get her mouth close enough either to undo them with her teeth, and the metal they were connected to was sturdy enough to resist being wiggled out of their joints.
She searched the immediate area next to see if there was some tool on hand to help. But the room was barren, save for the single panel Ethan worked at to control her torture.
Finding nothing, she resumed her position before the door slid open. Ethan returned with a glass of water in hand, his expression revealing nothing of his thoughts. She wasn’t holding out hope for him changing his mind.
“Here.” He held the glass to her lips, and she drank heartily until the contents were all gone. The cool water soothed the heat that still lingered within her and removed the ache from her throat.
“Good girl.” He ran a hand over her forehead, smoothing back the hair that clung to her damp skin. Samantha returned a look of disdain that reminded him why they were here in the first place.
“Where did we leave off?” He placed the empty glass on the edge of the panel and went back to work.
Hours passed. The same questions were repeated over and over again, worded in different ways to try and trick her into the truth.
Each time, the level of torture would vary, from the mild to the excruciating, always keeping her guessing so that she wouldn’t know what to expect. She couldn’t brace herself against it, only look for those moments when he didn’t turn it up too high. Those were the times she refocused her thoughts and her resolve, bolstering them against the name painful moment of heat bubbling through her veins.
Her vision began to spin on the next intense jolt. It had been some time since she’d had some water, and she was sure she was starting to hallucinate. The ceiling spun away and opened into blackness, and she could see stars overhead, whirling in a mixture of whites and grey until they were nothing but a fuzzy mass in her vision. It wasn’t one of the worst ways to lose herself, honestly, and she allowed the sensation to take her away from her current situation.
Surely, there must be a higher setting than what he was using. Was he only holding back because he still loved her? A twisted kind of love that said he was doing all of this for her own good. Either way, she still wasn’t going to give him the answers he wanted.
And Ethan... well, he looked as exhausted as she felt, though no less in control of his faculties. He would pace during the silent moments, possibly wondering why none of this was working.
Samantha must have passed out at some point, wracked with exhaustion, because she woke up all of a sudden to an empty room. No Ethan. No pain. She would have thought her mind made up the whole thing save for the fact that she was still in the chair. She waited with bated breath to see if he would come back, expecting that he would return with something worse, something that would definitely make her talk.
And when that silence dragged on too, she knew she was irreparably alone. No footsteps ringing against the metal floors, no doors sliding open. Just the very light hum of the
machinery around her.
So she laid back into the chair and she cried. She cried so hard that she could feel the fabric of the headrest growing wet beneath her. This was what her life had become. Stolen away from one man to the next and mixed up in something that really had nothing to do with her.
And Zen... he would be trapped in that prison for centuries, maybe even longer. He would die in there, feeling like the entire universe had turned against him for something he didn’t choose, for a fluke of nature he hadn’t even caused. All because he didn’t want to kill his own family.
She cried even harder at that point. So hard that she didn’t notice the door open and close again, or the glimmer that walked across the room towards her.
11
The mirage continued to float closer and closer to her, their breath held so that she wouldn’t know they were there. But they knew they couldn’t remain invisible forever, that they were going to have to show themselves to her so that they could get her out of there.
A hand on her shoulder almost shook a scream out of her.
“Shh.”
Before she could open her mouth, an invisible finger pressed itself to her lips. Her eyes darted this way and that, trying to make sense of the glimmer before her. When had this person gotten inside? And how had Ethan not noticed?
“... Zen...?” Samantha’s heart leaped into her throat at the premise that she was being rescued. Much less by Zen. That meant that they had a better chance of getting out of here.
“It’s me...” Into view melted Jen, her hair tied back in a tight ponytail and wearing the simplest of clothes.
“What are you even doing here...?” Samantha cast a glance towards the door, which was still closed, expecting that anyone would bust in at any moment and discover them together.
“Rescuing you. Doing the right thing.” Jen offered a kind smile as she wiped the moisture from Samantha’s face.
“How did you even know I was here?” She tried her best to wipe the rest of her tears away with her shoulder.
“I came by to see how you were doing, back at where you were staying, and Ethan refused to let me in. He had... a strange look in his eye I didn’t like. So I went searching. Found Torfan and his men nearby and I knew something was up.” Her cool fingers slipped into the leather cuff around Samantha’s wrist and undid the buckle. It was a relief to feel it slip away and she started digging at the other one to free herself while Jen worked on the straps around her ankles.
“Why you and not... why hasn’t anyone else...” Her fear was quickly replaced with annoyance that no one else had come to look for her, that it had taken hours of being in that chair for someone to realize something was wrong. The pain she’d endured...
“I don’t know what’s going on here, but I know you can’t stay with Ethan.”
“You’re damn right I can’t! He’s lost his mind!” Samantha flailed her arms wildly once they were free. It was ridiculous to even suggest that there was a chance of them patching things up.
“Even if he wasn’t... I watched you during that trial two days ago. I know what I saw.” Jen pulled her out of the chair and onto her feet. Samantha found it a little hard to remain standing and leaned on Jen for support. The heat was gone but her legs felt weak, much to her annoyance.
“I don’t care what’s going on between this Zen and Ethan, it’s none of my business. But what I do know is that you care for Zen, more than you realize. And I don’t believe this brainwashing business.”
“Then why did you go along with it?! Why did you and Dominic just sit there and watch me get taken?! You didn’t even stand up for me! You didn’t say a damn thing!”
She screamed in Jen’s face as more tears came pouring down. She couldn’t understand what she’d done to endure this kind of treatment from anyone, much less from her own friend who she’d believed was on her side.
Jen took it all in stride as Samantha shook her by her shoulders, but only for so long. She didn’t know when Ethan was coming back.
“I’d love to stand here and take all the blame, let you get out all of that, but we have to get out of here. We’re not that far from the city but Torfan’s men are likely to find us if we’re not careful.”
Despite her sniffling, Samantha managed to pull herself together long enough to start making her way to the door. Any second, she expected it to slide open and for Ethan to be standing there, catching them in their attempt to escape. She held her breath when it opened before them... to reveal an empty hallway.
She clung to Jen’s side as they hurried back through the hallways, trying to make sense of which way was the right one. They ended up on the bridge at one point and had to turn back. Then the smell of cool, clean air greeted them and they knew they were heading in the right direction. The door had been left open so that the evening air could make its way in.
It was disarming to Samantha to see that it was already close to nighttime, that the sun had set long ago. Time had passed differently while she was inside, precious hours she knew she was never going to get back.
“Hurry.” Jen had her arm around her once more and Samantha could feel the ripple of her invisibility folding around her. It made her skin feel tingly and she had to look down at herself to ensure that she was really see-through. The blades of grass were distorted beneath her feet, even more so when she walked. If only she’d had the time to marvel more at it.
They all but sprinted back to the city, skirting the edges and going the long way around in case Ethan decided to come back that way. They entered the city close to the marketplace and hurried the rest of the way towards the town hall.
“I can get you as far as the prison and then you’re on your own from there.” Jen uncloaked in one of the shadows of the building and rounded it to the front double doors.
“The prison? What the heck am I supposed to do there?”
“Get Zen out, if you can. If Ethan discovers you gone, he’s going to head there first.”
“And I’m supposed to fight him off?! Do I look like a-”
“Dom and I intend to keep him at bay for as long as possible before the situation devolves into a fight. There’s a sewer passage down there that the two of you can escape from.” Jen spoke in hushed whispers now; she could be tried for treason if anyone else caught wind of their conversation.
“You want both of us to crawl out of the sewers. He’s injured! If he’s even still alive!” The more Jen talked about this plan, the more ridiculous it seemed. “Isn’t there some other way to get him out? Can’t the two of you just bust in there or something and help him escape?”
Jen dragged her into a small vestibule and pinned her against the wall, her voice low and harsh.
“And jeopardize our positions? We’re doing this to keep you two safe without throwing the entire city into turmoil. You’re not the only ones suffering here.”
Samantha returned her glare and pushed back.
“Because everything is all about you, isn’t it? You and your precious position, all the power you hold. You just don’t want to give that up. You always have to make everything about you, don’t you?”
Jen shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose.
“I don’t have the time to argue with you. Whatever silly notion you want to go along with, fine. I don’t care what you think of me at this point, or that I rescued you. But everything has consequences and I’m not about to start ignoring them.” Jen turned and spied down the hallway. After deciding the coast was clear, she made a turn away from the giant meeting hall towards less respectable surroundings.
Samantha begrudgingly followed. There were no stained glass windows this way, no tapestries or intricate mosaics on the floor. It was plain grey with tiny slotted windows near the raised ceiling. Their footsteps echoed off the barren walls until they came to a single door at the end of the hallway. It, too, was nondescript, bearing no signs as to where it led.
Jen fished a key from her pocket and undid the lock.
“He shouldn’t be hard to find, he’s the only one down here.”
“And the guards?”
“Asleep. Or drunk. Dom saw to that with an impromptu inspection of the guard.” Jen fiddled with the keys for a while before shoving a large and heavy piece of metal into Samantha’s hands. “That’s for his cell. Go as quickly as you can.”
Jen didn’t have to tell her twice. Samantha slipped in without looking back and without another word. She jumped when she heard the door close behind her, heard the lock being done up once more. Before her, the grey stone steps led down and curved to the left, hugging the wall. The passageway looked quite narrow but the steps were long enough that she wouldn’t trip very easily.
Down, down, down she went, the air growing colder and damper. She wasn’t sure how far down she’d gone or how much she still had left to go. Surely, someone must have caught wind by now that something was up.
Then the landing came into sight and she hurried down the last few steps. Her toes were chilled by this point and she was rubbing her bare arms for warmth.
The prison itself was quite large. The first cell she passed was big enough to hold a shifter in their dragon form, which only made sense. That made her question what these bars were made out of to keep them from breaking out. Or was it just their higher sense of morality that they chose to remain in prison.
At least half of the hard part was over. Now she just needed to find Zen and get him out somehow.
She didn’t even know how she was going to open his cell.
12
When Zen finally came to, his vision was completely blurry. Everything around him was a swirling mass of grey shapes, dimly lit by sconces here and there. He could smell the oil of the fires as they burned and he could smell the damp air around him. No one had been down here in centuries, and likely, no one would ever again.
He tested the limits of his body by rolling onto his side and found there was a massive ache along his ribcage. He was sure that a couple of them were close to breaking and that his liver had been damaged somewhat. The pain of it stole his breath away and forced him to return to his back. It was probably the only part of him that didn’t hurt as much as the rest of him.
