Despair. Fear. Hopelessness.
She was drowning in it
She laid there on the cold stone floor in a fetal position. She didnt know what else to do. She did not know what else existed anymore.
Surrounded by the empty darkness, she laid there and suffered. Alone. Only a single burning candle held back the hungering shadows.
She could not remember how long she had been here. Time seemed to have no meaning in this place. It could have been days, weeks, months. She could not remember. She was scared to remember.
Bloodshot dark blue eyes stared out into nothingness, filled with unshed tears. She had not slept for so long. She was scared to sleep. She did not want to get hurt again.
Her purple outfit's colours seemed to have withered and died. The once long beautiful black hair had grown messy, the purple tip at the end fading like the rest of her. The bald shaved left side was pressed against the stone.
She had nothing left. He had taken everything.
She had screamed. She had cried. But He did not allow her to die.
She had cursed her past self a thousand times for being so foolish, so arrogant. It had only caused her more pain.
He had not taken any of her tech. He didnt need to.
She could not hack the door, she could not hack anything. Nothing in this place was electronic. Turning invisible had helped just as much. It was as if he could sense her. Could sense her fear.
She shivered. The painful memories invaded her mind once again. The pain was unreal. She had never screamed so much in her entire life. She might not remember what the outside world was like, but the memories of this place had been burned into her mind.
She did not want to get hurt ever again. Not again.
"If you're good, Sombra, you will not be hurt" He had said.
She had only sneered at him the first time he had said it. And she cursed herself even more for it.
The pain had been increased tenfold. She felt she had been torn apart. Slowly. Very slowly. Only to be put back together to repeat the process.
And that was only one of the things she had suffered.
"Be good, no hurt. Be good, no hurt. Be good, no hurt" she muttered in fear. Her voice being hoarse after having screamed so much and for so long.
She had laid in this exact position before. Alone in the dark, with only the candle and the shadows silently roaring and screaming at her, fearing what would happen to her next.
"Be good, no hurt. Be good, no h-"
A small creaking sound echoed through the void. The sound made her shiver once again. She had heard it more times that she wanted to remember. She knew it was time.
She weakly tried to get up. She had no strength left. Days with no sleep, barely any food or water had left her only a shadow of herself. And yet on the outside, she did not look to have changed a bit.
Steading herself, she slowly moved her shaking legs into the darkness. She knew where the door was. How would she ever forget?
She, once again, limped through the dark world. Everything was consumed by it. She had no other light than her candle, this place had no other light. What was light?
The hallway met her. The only sound being her footsteps echoing from her broken form. She looked straight ahead, her gaze not wavering the slightest. She knew what would happen if she looked any other way. The shadows would lash out and hurt her. She did not want to be hurt again.
"Be good, no hurt"
She approached the middle of the room. Nothing else was in it beside her, but she remembered this room. For a moment, she thought she could hear her past self screaming in pain and agony. She could never forget. Even if she wanted to.
In a blink of an eye, she was somewhere else. She looked around the room with a painful expression. She was going to get hurt. He always knew how to hurt her.
But this room was diffrent than the others. It was small, wooden floor, a bed, a nightstand, a wardrode. For anyone alse, this looked like a completely ordinary room. But for her, she did not know what normal was anymore. She was just waiting for him to hurt her.
And it was then, her eyes fell on something else in the room.
She was not alone.
Before a computer screen, sat a little girl. She was wearing a white t-shirt and striped pants. Her dark brown hair was tired together in a long braid, with a small part of it hanging before the right side of her face. She could not be older than 10.
The little girls hands was typing furiously on the keyboard, more and more text and numbers appearing on the screen.
The realization hit her. And it hurt her.
This was herself. Back when she still lived at the orphanage. Back when she first started hacking.
She was doubting him for a moment, but the thought left just as fast as it had come. He would not spare her. He never did.
"What do you see?" his voice echoed in the small room, with only her being able to hear it.
Hearing his voice shot fear through her as it had done many times before. She did not want to run, that would only hurt her. She did not want to hide, that would only hurt her.
"I...I see...My self...As a child" her voice was on the verge of crying.
"Do you know what you must do?"
The tears could not be held back anymore. They flowed down her cheeks, her purple eye shadow already being ruined by past tears.
"...Y-yes..."
Her strength somehow returning, she slowly took a step forward.
The little girl now noticed she was not alone. Her head shot towards the visitor. Her face twisted in surprise and confusion. "W-who are you? How did you get in here" the little girl stuttered.
She didnt say anything as she took another step. Small tear drops made contact with the floor, having finished their journey down the crying girls cheeks.
The little girl stood up from her chair and took a step backwards, trying in vane to put more distance between her and the other girl. "W-what do you want?" she said, louder this time, fear dominating her voice. Clearly scared by this older girls appearance.
Her only answer were whimpers, followed by more tears from the other girl. Visibly sobbing now, she took another step forward.
The younger girl ran towards the door, wanting to get away from whoever this intruder was. Wanted to run, wanted to hide. She twisted the handle again and again, but the door did not budge an inch.
"What? I- i didnt lock the door" she screamed. "P-please Help! Someone Please!"
She turned around, her back pressing agenst the solid wood. "Please! I'm sorry! I-i'll stop hacking forever, i promise! I'll do anything, Please dont hurt me" she cried as her own tears now began to flow.
She was now within and arms reach of the child. She paused for a moment as the sight in front of her was clear. This was exactly like she was now. She had lived behind a mask of confidence and arrogance, without even realizing it was a mask.
And now when it had been shattered, she was crying her eyes out, just like the little girl she was.
Sombra's left arm shot forward, grasping the little girls neck in an iron grip. She lifted her above the floor, slowly choking the child. Her right arm moved back as if winding up to throw a punch.
And suddenly it shot forward.
The little girl screamed as the arm was thrust into her chest and out the other side.
Sombra was sobbing even harder now. She was killing a still innocent child. And it hurt. The little girl was feeling only a fraction of Sombra's agony.
Her grip loosened, letting the child fall down and hit the floor hard. She was still breathing, but she knew that would not last as her blood made a small puddle around her.
"...M-Mama.." the little one whispered. Her life fading from her eyes and her chest ceasing to rise.
Sombra fell to her knees, letting her arm fall with them to the side, and cried even harder.
She cried because she had hurt another, she cried because it felt good, she cried because it hurt. Everything hurt.
She opened her tearing eyes again, not realizing she had closed them.
The little girl was gone, the room was gone. She was back in the dark place. This was how nearly all of them ended, like they were just a dream.
But it had not been a dream, nothing that happened here ever was. To prove this, her right arm was stained red. She could feel it, the little girls warm, fresh blood.
Footsteps made their appearance. He was here, she knew it was him. It could only be him.
A hand touched her downheld chin, slowly guiding her head upwards. Through the seemingly endless tear, her eyes met his.
She feared him, but did not want to hide it. He had hurt her more than should be possible. He was the master here.
"Who are you" he asked, his voice dark and echoy, as if coming from everywhere at once.
He had asked that question before. And she knew the answer.
"...S...So...Sombra" she half said, half cried.
"What are you?"
That question. She had been asked that question many times before. She had answered wrong so many times, and she had suffered for it. But now she knew, without a doubt, the right answer.
"...J-just...a...a...Little...G-girl..."
He smiled, knowing that he had succeeded with her.
Like he had done with so many others.