My eyes burned as I opened them. My head throbbed. Thinking hurt.
A faint light seeped through a crack in the wall. Metal bars. Everything blurred. The grayish room closed in on me. The reflection on the floor showed my filthy face. Sweat. Dirt. Blood.
Seconds trickled past.
My arms and legs were still. Nanocuffs dug into my wrists and ankles, keeping me from moving. Each heartbeat hurt. The buzzing silence was worse than the blows. I licked my swollen lips. Tasted the iron tang of blood.
"You awake, chica?" A deep, heavily accented voice. "Been two days. They beat you so bad I thought you were muerta." Denden spat on the floor. "Son malparidos. Bastards."
My head hung heavy.
"Say something."
"I-I…" My dry throat hurt. I tried to swallow. Couldn't.
He watched me, intrigued. "You look horrible. Pero… something caught my attention. You kept fighting the whole time." Nanometals shackled his arms and legs to the chair. Dried blood. Fresh blood. On his body. On his trousers. Deep cuts in his eyebrow and lip. His face swollen. Denden kept smiling.
"N-no…" Tears welled up. "Why…"
His expression darkened. "Seen a chica act like that before. Every time they beat her, tortured her, hurt her, she stared them down with determination. Una verdadera fortaleza." He held my gaze. "If you know Kiara, you must've known Maia."
Maia?
The name silenced my tangled thoughts.
Denden's smile widened. "Remember when she first came to Nobody's Land…" He launched into the story. His voice echoed through the room.
My head hurt more, but I wanted him to keep going. Having someone there made it all feel less unbearable. Especially someone who radiated so much warmth. And he was talking about her, answering the plea my soul sent out, even into the unseen. A tear heavy with pain rolled down.
"She always kept quiet. Wouldn't even answer the higher-ranking mercenaries." He leaned back, relaxed. "No sé why they sent her to the chamber the first time. Maia endured the torture in silence. Never screamed. Never even showed she was in pain." Denden frowned. "Until that happened…" He shifted his arms and stretched his neck. "Mucho mejor. Anyway… todos los mercenarios who tortured la chica turned up dead."
My stomach churned.
"Strangest part was how they died. Every death was ruled natural." He let out a manic laugh.
My eyelids grew heavy. My head spun, but I wanted to hear more about her. I opened my mouth. "Y-you—"
The door burst open.
Two soldiers entered in gray-green uniforms. They belonged to Alexandria's Kemetia command. One carried a revolver. The other, an iron baton.
Denden grinned. "Well, well… The gonorreas malparidos showed up." His laughter rang off the walls. "Let's have some fun, pendeja."
The female soldier drove the baton into his ribs.
Denden doubled over and spat blood. Lifted his head. His eyes gleamed. Excitement. Insanity. "Only way to top that is to kill me, you bastard. ¡COMA MIERDA!" Denden laughed louder. Heartily.
I closed my eyes.
The blows echoed. Metal against skin.
My churning stomach forced me to vomit all over myself. Cold sweat trickled down. My heart hammered wildly. When I tried to move, a searing pain tore through my abdomen. An electric shock shot up my spine. My body convulsed. I bent forward, gasping for air.
The guard struck my throat.
My head snapped back. My vision darkened. Blood gushed from my mouth. I coughed violently.
"WHO ARE YOU?!" The soldier yanked Denden's hair.
He spat in her face.
She answered with a punch. To the stomach. To the face.
But he was unbreakable.
The other soldier came toward me. Grabbed my hair. Yanked hard. Strands tore from my scalp.
"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?" His spit sprayed my skin.
I could barely think. Let alone speak. My head was heavy. Pain throbbed.
BANG! A gunshot rang out.
My body recoiled. Hot tears slid down. My eyelids fluttered. I kept my eyes shut. Afraid to see Denden dead. He was dead.
No…
"BASTARD! PIECE OF SEWER SHIT! USTED NO SABE COM QUIÉN SE ACABA DE METER!"
I lifted my head. Blood ran down his leg. Relief. He was alive. I took a deep, trembling breath.
"Answer me, you bastard! Who the fuck are you?!" The soldier clenched his teeth. Pressed the revolver's barrel against Denden's forehead. "Why did you have that shipment?"
The mercenary smirked. "Confused, montón de mierda? Only thing you're getting outta me is my brains." He cracked up.
I almost laughed with him.
The gun's butt struck his head.
The two left.
Silence suffocated us.
Denden turned his head. "Stay alert, chica. They'll be back."
I tipped my head back. My body weighed heavily. Pain drained me. Dried blood on my face. A metallic taste on my lips. Darkness swallowed me. Honestly, I was exhausted. Ready to give up. This was it. The end. I knew getting out of there was an impossibility. Warmth left my body. My breathing grew shallow.
But then… then Denden roared with laughter, as though death were a joke. "Stay awake, muchacha." His voice grew distant. "Stay with me. We're getting outta this."
I didn't answer.
"Been in much worse places. Focus on my voice." His voice smiled. "I was locked up in the worst prison of all. With la chica Maia."
My eyes opened a little.
"Gonna tell you about it, all right?" He chattered cheerfully.
Maia's image appeared in my mind. It would be so easy to join her. My eyes kept closing against my will. I fought the pull of sleep. A force tugged me back. A survival instinct insisted on sparking.
My vision flickered between reality and something else. A silhouette. White hair. Honey-colored eyes.
I see you, Maia… are you here? Will you talk to me?
The darkness receded. I tried to focus on Denden. Hearing about her would give me more strength.
He smiled, as though he had noticed.