Chapter 1
Another wrath of pain courses though Atem's body. As the three talons moved away, blood flowed out of the gashes they had made in Atem's skin. "It's simple Pharaoh, tell me where you hid the Millennium Items and I'll kill you quickly." The dark voice said.
"I already told you, their gone. The tablet broke and the items fell into the depths of the earth." Atem spluttered through the blood that covered his face. He didn't have the strength to fight back any more. That was gone from the first few blows that he took.
"Liar!" The demon roared. His fist went flying into Atem's stomach, sending him across the dark, stone hall. He coughed up a mouthful of blood, and tried to give in to the darkness of unconsciousness that he felt coming. But he wasn't fast enough. The talons slashed him across the chest, adding to the many wounds he'd received in the past week. "Don't so much as think of escaping by passing out!" The Demon shouted. Atem felt another scratch across his back, before the eight-foot tall monster, lifted him by the collar of his torn shirt. "You will tell me where you have put them eventually." The Demon said. "Tomorrow is another day." He opened a steel door at the far end of the hall and threw Atem inside. He hit the back wall and landed on the floor with a thud. The demon shut the door and there was the sound of a lock and heavy steps walking away. Atem coughed up some more blood hoping that he had lost enough blood to make him pass out and leave this pain. His vision was going blurred, but he felt a cool damp cloth clean away the blood on the left of his face, while a dry but comforting hand, gently cupped the other side. Atem knew who this was. It was the demons daughter, Philippa. She was a shy and quiet girl, with a soft heart.
Half demon, half human, Philippa was in a similar situation to Atem, the demon wanted her powers that she would soon develop, and the demon would torture her until he had drained as much of Philippa's powers from her. "Don't, you'll just get it even worse in the morning." Atem said, but Philippa didn't reply and continued regardless. Once his face was clean of blood, she moved to the wounds on his chest, she looked up to see that he had passed out. She lay him down, and continued to treat his wounds. Her father would give her a right beating in the morning when he found out she had help Atem. But she didn't care. Atem had friends to return to, she didn't have anyone anymore. She didn't care if her father tortured or killed her to take her powers, she didn't have much point in living anymore.
A few hours later Atem woke up. There was still a lot of pain, but no way near as much as there was earlier. He felt some of his wounds and found them bandaged. He was able to sit up with out causing his wounds to hurt too much. The small prison cell like room was dark with a little light from the moon, coming in though the barred slit window. Atem also noticed that he had Philippa's dark brown, woollen cardigan on. He looked just under the window, and saw her leaning against the wall asleep. She was shivering in the cold. She seemed to remind Atem of Mia. She had blonde hair pale skin and similar eyes too. He pulled himself up next to her, and put her cardigan over her, before pulling her head onto his right shoulder, which thankfully hadn't taken too much damage. Philippa didn't wake as Atem put his arm across her shoulders. He looked at her hands, which were covered in cuts and grazes. He looked at her demon claws. They weren't as long and dangerous as her father's talons. But they could still do a fair amount of damage if she wanted them to. They were a royal blue with silver crystals in them. Her white shirt, which had become so torn and filthy, offered little protection from the cold. Her skirt was as good as shredded, and she was covered in cuts and bruises. Nothing as serious as what Atem had, but he knew that she would soon have to face the same torture and pain that he had. The demon would drink her blood in order to absorb her powers, the more he drank, the more power he would get, and the more Philippa would suffer. Atem knew that The Demon would keep her alive so that he could get even more power from her. The thought sickened Atem. "Thank you." He whispered to her. Philippa didn't move or reply. Atem didn't intend to let them so much as touch her. They had done enough damage already. They had murdered her mother and her stepfather, destroyed her home, they would often beat and sexually assault her. He wasn't going to let them do anymore.
As morning broke the sound of the heavy foot stops returned. "Philippa, wake up." Atem said shaking her. Philippa opened her eyes and knew what was coming. She was about to move away from Atem when he gripped her shoulder keeping her close to him. "Wait." He told her. Philippa didn't know what he had in mind. Atem had a vague idea, the demon would leave the door to the rest of his fortress open when he first came in, another demon would close it behind him. If one of them could keep the door open, then they might be able to make a break for it. Atem would be a bit slow due to his injuries but he had to get himself and Philippa out of this. "He'll come for me first, you go straight for the door, and I'll catch you up." Atem said. The demon unlocked the steel door.
"You ready to tell me Pharaoh?" The demon asked sarcastically. Atem just glared at him. The demon huffed and moved towards him.
"Now!" Atem shouted. Philippa dived out and past the demon easily. She had always been a fast runner. She got to the door where sure enough another demon was there. Philippa wasn't an incredibly strong fighter, but her mother and step father knew that her father would one day come after her and she need to be able to fight him off. She managed take out the demon, but she looked back to see the demon about to bring his talons down on Atem's back. Something inside her snapped, and she let out a loud cry. The demons talons were shattered as they hit a blue force that shielded Atem. None of them knew what had just happened. There was a few moments silence before the demon spook. "Well it's about time they came." Philippa realised what just happened. That was the start of her powers developing. The Demon walked towards her. "Philippa, run!" Atem ordered. Philippa backed away and was about to run for it when two other demons grabbed her arms. She struggled against them, but it was no good. The two demons dragged her up to their leader and he lifted her by her neck. Something inside her snapped again, and she brought up her hand and scratched the demon across the face. Dark green blood started oozing from the dark skin on the Demon's face and he threw her to the floor. Atem made a move towards her, but he didn't get far. The demon seized him by his shirt and held and lifted him up to his face. "Looks like you're off the hook for today." The demon said coldly. Atem instantly knew what he was going to do.
"Don't you dare." Atem snarled.
"Or what?" The Demon replied sarcastically. He huffed and threw Atem back into the cell and locked the door. Atem pounded on the door. But it was no good. He couldn't see Philippa and the Demon, for which he was quite glad about. He didn't want to see her get tortured. But he could hear her screams, her cries and the odd thud. A tear rolled down Atem's cheek, she didn't deserve this, neither of them did. He had to get her out, he didn't care if he was able to get out anymore, he just had to make sure that Philippa got free.