Chapter4

(this chapter has torture, just fair warning)

He hits the damp muddy ground, staring up at the sky. Between the blood loss, the hole in his stomach and the amount of adrenaline he's still using, Adam's consciousness begins to slip.

She presses down on his stomach with her foot, he whines and pushes against her foot as hard as he can. With the little strength Adam has he imagines it's like trying to push a parked car.

"You aren't dying already are you? So boring. And I was hoping to actually be amused, well I was for a little bit, hearing Lydia scream was p-pretty satisfying."

She leans down and touches his stomach. I

He feels the hole close, the pain from it ceases. She brings her face close to Adam's, her black hair tickling cheek and neck. She's beautiful, a lot like her sister.

But her brown eyes are the last thing he sees before he loses all strength. The screaming is what makes him jump up to his feet, his head spins so fast that Adam falls into the bars and slides down to his butt.

Two deep voices laugh as a metal door shuts behind them. He grunts and rubs his head where it hit the bars.

A young boy lies in another cell, his back to Adan, breathing heavily. He curls up in a ball.

"No more....no more....no more." he mutters,

To his right in the circular room is another cell, an orange haired young woman. Half her head shaved, she stares the at the ground as she grips the bars and takes painful looking breathes.

Adam follows the pattern of her knuckles turning white every time she breathes in and whines almost silently as she breathes out.

"Where are we?" he asks softly to her,

She looks up at him and carefully turns her back to the wall. She takes a deep breath and bites her lip as she slams her back into the wall and yells out.

She leans forward, her body shaking violently. Her whine is as shaky as her body.

"Did you just relocate a bone in her spine?" he mutters to himself,

She nods, "Y-y-yeah, s-so what? Welcome to hell's du-dungeon."

Adam looks at the boy and back. "He doesn't have the guts to do it, it's pretty painful realigning your spine."

"Where is here?"

She glares at him, "J-just shut up, you'll suffer less."

She grabs the bars again and breathes in deeply, scrunching her face and grinding her teeth.

Several minutes pass and she finally relaxes, "Don't...worry...they won't...break your spine, right away. They'll break you first, like the rest of us."

Adam sits and waits, racking his brain on what to do, the guards come in and grab the orange girl and drag her out. Even though she goes so willingly.

They quickly return without her and throw open his cell, Adam jumps at one and rams his fist into his jaw, the other grabs and slams Adam into the bars.

"You little prick!"

They knee him in the stomach, the groin and drag him out of the room.

They drag Adam down several checkered halls and finally into a room and after fighting as much as he can they strap Adam into a chair.

"Let's see how you laugh after this." one of the guards spits,

One grabs a whip off the wall. He knows he's not getting out of it, but he still shakes and pulls and fights, they shove a rag into his mouth, and smirk.

Adam screams through the rags as his body flexes. For hours they whip him with three minute breaks every forty minutes.

They finally unlatch him and drag him out of the room back to his cell. They throw him in and beat with batons until he coughs up blood.

"Getting tired already?" one asks and kicks him hard in the stomach,

They laugh to each other as they walk out of the room. Adam takes a deep wheezing breath.

"That bad...huh? On...a first day...y-you must've...pissed them...off pretty good." she says breathless herself,

Adam forces his head to move and he looks at her, she looks at him, laying against the wall in an awkward looking position.

"Next time.....dont, fight them."

"I'd rather die than be tortured forever."

She snorts quietly, "They won't...kill you. If you. Fight back, they'll. Torture you. Everyday. Forever."

"As...opposed to what?"

"Two, Days a week."

There's a long silence.

The heck happened to not wanting to see Adam again any time soon? But then it plays back in his mind how he also mentioned he wouldn't save him again.

Adam should've run but he didn't, until the end, he don't regret it either, he regrets running after. But Adam doesn't regret staying. It's because of him that she's gone, if that woman, Sylvia was really bent on him watching Lydia die he would've kept her alive.

He was a stupid idiot and she died because of him. "The heck...are you, going on about?" she asks at last catching her breath,

"What?"

"So what if you killed someone?"

"I said that out loud?"

"I've killed a lot of people, bad and good, by accident. Get over it, or it'll drive you insane faster than this place."

"What's your name?"

"...If I wanted to give it to you I would have."

"If we are really stuck in this cycle forever, what's wrong with making it a little easier to deal with?"

"I don't want friends."

"What about the boy?"

"The one across from me? They took him to see Oscar Smith."

"Who's that?"

"The last person you want to see, now let me sleep."

"I get it if you don't want to give me yours, but I'm Adam."

"I don't want to know your name, go to sleep."

"Just saying, it might be less lonely, night."

"...why are you so positive all of a sudden?"

"I didn't know they wouldn't kill me, and since we're both here right?"

"You're a dulusional boy, they'll destroy the good in you and it will never be seen again."

"When people say they can't see anything good in you just hug them and say, 'life is difficult for the blind'."

"Eh-hah...smart ass. I'm serious, you're going to get it even worse if you give them things to be pissed at."

She hangs her head and closes her eyes.

"....Just exclusive then?"

She smiles, "Good night Adam....my name's Violet by the way."

"It's a nice name."

"Good night Adam." she says more sternly,

He hangs his head and close his eyes. They open his cell the next morning and throw him back into chair, but this time they also waterboard him, beat him and dislocate Adam's shoulder.

Hes thrown back into his cell. "Told you."

He grunts loudly after Adam relocates his arm and again after he falls against the bars.

"No one....likes a...know it all."

She snorts, "What'd they do today?"

"Waterboarding, whip...and ended with my shoulder."

"Don't talk back anymore k? Though I'm sure you got that."

"You know...I think they...branded it on. My back."

She scoffs and takes a deep breath, "Does it feel like. You can't breath yet? 24/7?"

"Every breath. I'm wondering if I'm. Getting enough air."

"Wait till they break your spine. The suffocation really sets in."

An hour turns into the rest of the day, minus his second 'treatment' that day. Days turn into weeks, they consistently watch to build one another up when they are about to break.

Until the woman finally walks in and up to his cell. "You still haven't given up have you? You and that girl."

Adam looks over at the blonde haired girl, she smirks and shakes her head.

"What does it matter? You get more out of our pain."

"Hope is dangerous, if you hope or love too much you'll think anything is possible."

"What are you going to do, torture us?"

"No. Okay, don't have too much fun Adam." she says and winks,

"What are you going to do to her?!" he shouts and grabs her arm,

She yanks her arm forward and sends Adam face first into the bars. She spits at him and kneels down.

"I'm going to rip everything she loves away."

The door slams behind strange girl, Adam's heart begins to pound....okay think think think.

Was that real? How did she even know? The more he thinks about it the less focused he is, like it's slipping away. A few minutes pass and screams leak their way through the door, Adam knows it's hers.

He turns and punches the wall, blood oozes from his knuckles. He takes a slow deep breath and sits back down against the wall.

"Clever girl." he mutters,

He closes his eyes and thinks carefully. He turns again and rams his fist into the rock wall.

With both now bleeding he lies on his side and listens to Violet's screams. At last surely long after night has fallen he hears the footsteps and boots growing louder.

They open the door and drag her in, she moans and grunts as they throw her into her cell.

Adam rolls over and looks at her breathing heavily still. "She had it easy, your up tomorrow."

They walk out and slam the door too hard. He takes a steadying breath and waits just incase they are outside.

"Violet?"

She curls up in a ball and whines. "I'm getting us out of here."

She whines louder as she pushes herself up to look at him. "D-don't you fr-frickin dare." She says in a hoarse voice,

"I have enough energy, I'll explain later but I know I have enough to get us out."

"Don't....do it..."

"Violet I just got a huge threat from....from someone, that one of us is disappearing."

She stares at me, fear has completely consumed her. She trembles even more, "W-what....do we do?"

"Can you stand?"

She shakes her head, "Then I'll help you, just stay behind me okay?"

He gets to his feet and grabs the lock on the door and concentrates. Please please please please.

Click.

He slowly pushes the door open and limps over to Violet's and unlock her cell. "How do.....you expect....us to escape wi.....with you like that?"

"I've got enough." he saysagain,

He pulls open the door soundlessly and bends down to heal his leg. Adam reaches over, grab her arms and heals her as best as he can.

His head begins swimming and he fallsback onto his butt. "Adam. Dang it I told you." she whispers loudly,

"I'm a little light headed, but I'm still good." he mutters,

She helps him up and takes a shaky breath. "Well....last chance, back in the cells or go through with this idiotic plan?"

"We are both getting out."

"We need to find weapons."

"Yeah."

"Adam....if we fail, we need to kill each other. This is it for me, either we both get out or we die."

"We're both getting our freedom today Violet, I promise, one way or another."

She smiles and nods, they crack open the door and look out. Adam doesn't see anyone so he walks out first and checks around. He waves to her when he knows it's clear.

They creep down the carpeted hall and around the corner. "Where is everyone?" Violet whispers,

Adam holds his finger up to silence her, she has a point though, they already should've come across at least three armed guards.

They start up a staircase and turn down several halls before finally entering a room.

Empty.

"The correlation." she whispers,

Adam frowns at her, "The princess's correlation. The Eclipse queen's daughter, it's tonight....Adam why are we in here?"

Adam creeps over to the nightstand and begins searching the strange boxes. "Adam?"

He holds a finger to his mouth and keeps searching until he finds it, Adam waves her over. He hands her one and whispers in her ear. She shakes her head and tells him not to think.

"Okay, same time."

They crush the balls and watch each other, not breaking eye contact as the grey smoke surrounds them. He tries his best to only think of her, so where she goes he will follow.