Chapter 1

When I first awoke in the darkness that was my prison cell, I was brave, fearless and I still had enough fight in me to question the rules. But after my third beating by Scar Lip, I learned to hold my tongue while in his presence. After my first taste of torture on the machine, I learned obedience. Down in this hell, silence was more than golden; it was the difference between life and death. And where we were, there was a whole lot of death.

The sound of a distant door slamming snapped my mind back to the present. Footsteps slowed and our cell door opened with an ominous creak. The light from the hall fell across my bruised face making my eyes flinch in pain. A small whimper and the rustle of straw drew my attention to the other forgotten occupant of my cell, a small girl named Cammie. She pathetically tried to scoot away and put as much distance between her and the man about to enter our cell.

My mouth formed the word, NO, as an ugly bulldog of a man ducked under the too short door frame. I knew without looking it was Scar Lip. He had a crooked nose, dark unwashed hair and cruel black eyes that hid beneath a furrowed brow. He smiled in delight at Cammie's attempt to evade him, which made the scar that transected his top lip stand out in paleness.

The smell that accompanied him was a mixture of sweat and rot, which permeated from the layers of dried and crusted blood that coated his blacksmith’s apron. He had come to take one of us to Raven.

Drips of sweat beaded across my forehead as the footsteps drew closer. It was too soon, I wasn’t strong enough for another session on the machine. I groaned when I saw the smear of blood coating the back of my hand, leftover from last night’s experiment. I knew that if he chose me again, I wouldn’t survive. I tried to raise my head from the cold stone floor as he came closer to stand over my prone form. But a sudden wave of fear made me vomit what little was left in my stomach.

Scar Lip paused over my dry heaving body and backed away in disgust. When the convulsions stopped, I heard him move toward Cammie, and the sounds of scuffling as she crawled farther into the darkness of the cell hoping its shadows would hide her from his gaze. It was no use; all she did was back herself into a corner.

Cammie whimpered, “Please!...don’t,” and was smacked in the face by Scar Lip.

“No talking! You know the rules,” he sneered.

Her lipped quivered and a small amount of blood appeared at the side of her mouth. She tried to wipe at it with the back of her hand, but only smeared it across her chin. She bit her bottom lip between her teeth to keep any more sound from coming forth.

“That’s better,” he growled. “The Raven has a new experiment to try and needs another volunteer.” Scar Lip grabbed Cammie by the arms and dragged her out into the hall; her feet twisting and fighting behind her, trying to slow his efforts. She hadn’t lost her fight, but if she survived the week in this pit, she would.

I raised my hand toward them as if by that one action alone I could protect her and stop what was about to happen. The large cell door shut with a thud, and I waited to hear if the lock turned. It did. I counted the steps as Scar lip dragged Cammie up the stairs through another door; mentally tracing the intricate path they would take until they came to a huge iron door that once opened, would let out a smell of iron, sulfur and death. I knew from experience that a table waited behind that door with cold iron shackles and as well as… I shivered at the mental picture that formed of the nameless machine they used to experiment on us.

When the sound of the door at the top of the stairs closed, the pain in my chest exploded because I was holding my breath. I cried in relief that I wasn’t going to be tortured and experimented on again, that I survived one more day. I dropped my head to the floor and let the grief pour out of my body in loud aching sobs, as I realized in shame that I was happy he chose Cammie.

~~~

I woke to the familiar sound of a tin plate being shoved through the food slot in the bottom of the door, and bolted upright in fear and anticipation. Hungrily, I snatched the small lifesaving plate of food and dragged it far from the door to where Cammie slept. But where Cammie usually laid curled up in slumber, there only remained a tattered blanket and straw.

I hung my head in shame. She wasn’t strong enough to survive the experiments. Few were, I was one of the lucky ones. If you considered being tortured and beaten on a regular basis and survive being lucky.

With an air of renewed determination, I peeked through the slot in the door and saw boots covered by the blood red robes of one of the Septori. He slowly made his way down the cells delivering the morning offerings of food to the other prisoners. I hunched by the slot waiting for him to pass my way. When he came within reach, I snaked my hand out and grabbed the hem of his robe. He stumbled to a halt.

Gathering my voice I croaked out “Cammie? What did you do with Cammie?” He sneered at me and tried to dislodge my hand from his robe. My courage only increased and so did my voice. “What did you do with her? If you hurt her, I’ll-”

“You’ll what?” he interrupted. “You haven’t succeeded so far in protecting any of the others, so why now?” He kicked my hand away from his ankle and stepped on my wrist, pinning it to the floor before I could yank it under the flap. He leaned down, putting pressure on my injured wrist as I gritted my teeth and sucked in my breath against the pain.

He peered at me under the flap and I could see the bottom half of his face and the crooked teeth that lined his sneering mouth. This one was known as Crow. Knowing his name somehow made him seem less terrifying.

“Don’t worry about your friend,” Crow spoke slowly, cruelly. “She has outlived her usefulness to the Raven. He was extremely disappointed in her results, she lacked, what did he say? Oh yes, the determination to live; unlike you. The Raven was displeased that you weren’t able to help him last night.”

Cocking his head to the side like a bird he went on. “He was quite angry and unnecessarily took it out on the girl. So in fact, what happened to her is your fault.” His eyes lit up with joy in sharing the news. He used his dirty fingernail to dig at one of my barely healed wounds until blood began to pool. I could see the red-raised skin of the brand that marked him for a member of the Septori; two slash marks within a circle.

“Such a pity that she doesn’t have your strength. But few do.” He slowly raised his hand covered in my blood to his mouth. “What a waste.” He moved away, releasing the pressure on my pinned wrist. Quickly, I pulled it back into the darkness of my cell and away from the taint of having been touched by one of the hated and vile Septori. I was horrified and disgusted at what he had done.

“You lie!” I yelled uselessly at the locked cell door.

“Do I?” Crow’s voiced crept through. “You will learn soon enough. You may even see firsthand what’s left of her when the Raven sends for you tonight. And make no delusions; he will send for you tonight.” His evil laughed echoed behind him as he walked away and out the door.

Normally those words would turn me into a terrified bundle of nerves. But I was too shocked by what had just happened and the news of Cammie’s death. I knew better than to get emotionally attached to the other prisoners. I had learned my lesson after my first cellmate. I closed myself off after that as numerous girls came and went. None of them were as strong as me. But this one was different. She was different. A loud droning noise filled my ears and I placed my hands over them to make it stop. Then I realized, I was making the noise and it was only getting louder with my pain.