Chained and restrained, she could feel the cold iron chains around her hands and feet. At that moment, only her senses seemed to be working. A blindfold covered her eyes, and a mask had been placed over her face.
She was afraid.
Terrified.
There was no sound around her that she could make sense of.
She screamed,
"Is anyone there?! Please, let me go! For God's sake, please let me go!"
It would soon be five months since she had been living in this hell—a hell where she was treated worse than a human being.
She tried to move. Her body was covered in wounds and bruises, but she could barely move at all. Perhaps she had been tied to a chair. She didn't even know how many hours she had been sitting there.
She didn't know anything anymore.
"Maera... where are you? Please... where are you ... hic..."
her voice trembled.
Helplessness finally broke her, and she began to cry. She cried so hard that her sobs turned into hiccups, yet not a single tear fell from her eyes.
Empty.
Dry.
sued.
Then suddenly—
THUD.
A loud sound echoed through the room.
The rattling of chains followed.
Something—or someone—was being dragged across the floor.
a man's voice tore through the silence
"Go ahead!" he shouted, dragging someone..
then another followed.
"you broke her legs early, she looks like a parasite..wow"..
amused, joking, he was enjoying it.
And then came several female voices.
Someone approached her and pulled the mask from her face, roughly.
Her injured face was now fully exposed: disheveled hair, and a dirty strip of cloth tied across the area around her eyes.
Her breathing quickened with fear.
Then she began to hear them.
Screaming.
"Let me go! Please, let me go!"
"Get away from me! Take your hands off me!"
The heavy sound of chains followed their cries.
She wasn't alone here.
There were other women with her.
And the same torture had begun all over again.
Fear tore through her very soul.
Five months.
Day and night.
The same suffering, over and over again.
She was not allowed to live.
Nor was she allowed to die.
There was another tiny life inside her, one growing within her.
She was suffering too.
She couldn't even cry anymore, no matter how desperately she wanted to.
The sound of chains continued without pause, accompanied by crying and desperate pleas.
Her heartbeat quickened. Her breathing became faster and more frightened.
Then someone grabbed her by the hair and dragged her across the floor.
"What are you doing lying there?"
A man's voice, filled with disgust, reached her ears.
For a moment, she felt as though her ears were going deaf.
The cold tiled floor scraped against her back as she was dragged across it. Then her head struck the wall.
She screamed.
"Leave me! Let me go!"
Then she heard the heavy chains swinging through the air.
Her throat went dry.
And in the very next moment—
the iron struck her.
A broken scream tore from her throat.
"Let me go!!! You monsters...!!! Let me go!!!"
She struggled. She writhed. She tried to escape.
But this was only the beginning.
Her screams echoed through the room.
But they weren't the only screams echoing there.
"Help! Someone, please help! My baby! ...Oh God... please, let me go!"
She struggled desperately. crying for help, even though this was not happening for the first time, still she had a tiny brink of hope, someone might save her...
More than herself, she was terrified for the life growing inside her.
She didn't even know whether the little one was still alive.
Slowly, gradually, her body began to go numb.
After screaming until her voice could barely come out, her throat began to burn. Her breathing grew slower. Her body became numb and cold beneath the pain, and her senses gradually began to weaken.
The sound of the chains striking her body began to feel distant.
Very far away.
She trembled before finally collapsing.
The cold tile touched her face.
The last words she heard before everything became completely silent were:
"break her legs."
then..he added..
"Chain all of them here. And take the others' eyes out too, "
Her lips parted slightly.
She tried to speak.
"Mae__"
It was barely a whisper.
But before she could finish the word, her body finally gave in.
She passed out.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
she came out of the shower, her room was empty like always, sara picked a towel from her chair, and started drying her hairs, something about today felt emoty to her, like something that has been taken out of her overnight and she did not know what it was, something about today was different.
she draped the towel around her neck, checked her phone, it was 2:00 pm, and the after noon sun was casting beautiful sun rays through her curtains.
she put her phone screen down on her study table and walked out of the room, walking down she tried to find poeple, just anyone, but there was no one, the main hall was empty, without paying enough mind, she walked down to the secert underground basement, for her training.
. . .
the moment li cheng left on the operation, things here got messy for irlyn to handle alone, the paper work was something she hated the most, yet here she was, signing and reading papers like she is made for this.
"tch"
with a soft click she put the pen on the desk, streching her fingers, she was working for who knows how long, her finger from holding the pen got numb now, that's when a knock on the door of her study came, for solid 2 seconds, alexa actually cursed the person standing behind the door. Then with all the patiance in the world she said:
"come in"
the door opened slightly and a tall man dressed in black came inside, standing right infront of her across the table respectfully.
Irlyn looked at him, and sensed that something is not right. she ordered:
"speak"
the man nodded and started speaking:
"we have got the intel that someone has crossed the black dragon state boarder, their identity is not disclosed yet."
irlyn's finger drumming on the desk halted, she knew what this meant, her eyes darkend, jaw locked. She stared at the blank space of her mind where everything was connecting dots.
after a beat she ordered, her voice calm but firm as she spoke:
"enhance the security on max and hazel's collage route."
she paused for a moment. Then added:
"Inform the matriach about, get the team ready and inform everyone to gather at the backroom in 10 sharp."
she said, and stood up, the guard nodded. turned. and walked out of the study, the door closed with a soft click behind him, leaving Irlyn alone as the silence gathered around her again. She exhaled through her nose, and piched the bridge of her nose, but there was no time. in a swift motion she moved like robot working of automatic mode, and grabbed her overcoat from the stand walking out. Everything behind her__remain there__scattered.
________________________________________________________________...
Nao did not came the whole night, not in the day did sam saw him, only when all the waiters were getting ready did sam heared about Nao, his hand slid in the pocket of his trousers automatically, clucthing the that vip card Nao had gave him, as he stared right in the mirror, blankly, his mind was blank yet the same time it was a mess.
"hey, so you are the new waiter here?__c'mon introduce you to us"
one of the other waiters spoke, finally, breaking the quoit tension in the air. Sam snapped out of his ocean of thougts.
"me, uh..yeah, I am sam, and how did i ended up here?, better dont ask me"
he replied, a slight smirk on his face, sarcastic.
nobody in that room flinched on his tone, they all knew better than to ask, if anything, they smirked, one of them patted on sam's shoulder.
"it's fine bruh, we've got you."
then, he added.
"i am miyata."
he introduced himself.
"and i am Hori Isamu, nice to meet you." he outreached his hand towards sam, introducing himself, he was the one who broke this silence first.
as those two introsuced himself, other waiters in the room payed attention too, and they introduced themselves to sam.
in just 10 minutes, the room which sounded like a mourning room was now loud and chatter was everywhere. sam immiadtly blended into those guys, they were all the same age as sam.
"so sam, you know when you stepped into this kind of world, its almost hard to impossible to get out." one of the guy who's name was Yuki said. the way he said it doesnt actually sounds like a joke, well, he wasnt joking though, the room fell silent or a second, as everyone looked at sam, not actually waiting for an answer but not gonna speak until he answers.
sam exhaled slowly from his mouth.
"how can i tell them i am in worst situation than they could ever think"
he thought for a second then replied with a question
"Why are you guys saying this, what is it about this place?"
the moment he asked the question some of the guys's eyes widend.
"you dont know about OBSIDIAN TOWER!, yet you are still here!?"
he almost screamed,
sam froze for a just a fraction of a second before speaking again.
"is there really something i should know?"
he got a lot of idea of how this confidential place works, but the reaction of those guys told him that there is still more.
"This place is___"
before he could finish the door swung open, all the head tunred towards the direction of door, and then, they all straighten up, as the head waiter, a tall elegent guys, with long white hairs, which he tied neatly, walked inside, just to inform them:
"Be ready in next 2 minutes."
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
It was about time, Zero standing infront of mirror he was fixing his bow tie, he was a in black tuxedo, looking elegent, when a voice came from behind
"so our deal would be over after today."
"mm" he replyed, focused.
"when are we going back, then?", noah asked again, coming forward now, standing next to him, he picked the the embreled neckless, which was lying there shinnig under the light of the hotel room, trying to put it on, he clicked the hook once, but it slipped.
"we will leave the day after tomorrow." zero replyed, noting him struggling with the neckless. he glanced at his watch then back at him.
"we are getting late." it was not a command, just a fact.
"tch, just__one minute, i am trying, it's not like i have done it a hundred times." Noah snapped, his fingers clumsy against the metal.
Zero noted him for one more minute before stepping forward.
"here"
he said, final, clicking the hook and setting it on its place.
Noah's hands froze. For a fleeting second, they were caught together in the frame of the mirror, the contrast between them stark.
"Thank you, zeyad." Noah murmured, his voice losing it's sharp edge.
"mm, now let's go"
Stepping back, Zero adjusted his cufflinks with practiced ease before walking toward the door. Noah stood there for a second, rolling his shoulders and glaring at the empty space ahead of him, smoothing down his expression and forcing his posture into something presentable before he had to walk out and fake a smile for a room full of strangers.