And though she heard the soft whispering in her ears, the whistling of wind and the sound of screams, she still felt alone.
So alone.
Her body rests against cold, hard floors and salty tears mix in lines with grime and blood. Every breath like fire, the slashes in her back mangled with scabs that stretch and catch with every movement. Woe is so easy and so warm. It overcomes her and protects her from harm. And when the night is deep and the darkness dances in shadows and whispers, she awakens screaming, cries out as her heart pounds with agony. Oh, how she longs for him, she prays for him to come. If only to rescue her soul, to lift her up where she can see the sky. To feel the rain against her face, to be free.
Creak. Metal screeches, she huddles further into the floor, if only to escape this endless agony.
"Please, please, please, I'll do anything. Anything you ask, just make it stop!"
Its cruelty and calloused hands, a voice meant to comfort that crumples her soul.
"Tell me where to find him."
She would tell them, anything except that. Anything in her heart, her secrets deep.
Anything but that.
She counts hours and day, though blurred they become one expendable memory in the front of her mind. She squeezes her eyes shut, unafraid to sob in the stillness of her prison. The wounds are fresh, they sting as brackish cold water is thrown to awaken her. Her screams wake her more than anything.
"It's only be three days. There are many more to come."
She shakes her head, curls into a ball and sways in time to the music in her mind, just to comfort, just to salvage what's left. Just to block out all the pain.
"Please, no more feeling. It's too much, it's too much. Where are you? Where are you!"
She can't eat. Her stomach aches at the mention of food, it's smell turns her stomach to ice and she crumples to the floor again, the cold floor against her face comforting in her hell. She hears screams again but she cannot distinguish whether they are her own or someone else's.
"Please, please, please, I'll do anything. Anything you ask, just make it stop!"
It's a touch that makes her shiver, its hot breath that makes her wretch. In her ear he is whispering, the one thing he wants to know.
"Tell me where to find him."
She would tell them, anything except that. Anything in her heart, her secrets deep.
Anything but that.
Creak. Metal screeches, she huddles further into the floor, tears in her eyes as the endless pain engulfs her. It's too much.
"Please, please, please, it's to much, it's too much. Where are you? Where are you!"
Her screams wake the silence around her, the echoing of the cell crowded and warm though her floor is cold and her heart is hollow.
"I'm here, I'm here."
She looks up, lips cracked, eyes dull grey and the sparkle dead. No more smiling, no more laughter. But as she gazes upon that face, the one she has waited for. The one she would endure all this, all over again and again, all for eternity. She lets saline tears fall from her eyes, her lip quivers and she collapses into warmth and purpose.
"It's over. It's over. You're home."
You're home.