Aryll-link: Ok soz this took so long, I had to catch up on some assignments in the first few days back at school. R&R PLZ!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the SVU characters.
"Make yourself at home." The masked man said as his bodyguards sat Olivia and Elliot down in chairs, their hands tied behind their backs.
"My name is Hythe and I own this place." Hythe said. "So, yours are Olivia and Elliot right?"
Elliot and Olivia did was nodded while scowling at him.
"Well I don't know about you Olivia but Elliot there is definitely a place for you to stay. But where to put you? Oh well, I'll figure something out." Hythe grinned. "Now I see that you have already met my good little girl Phoenix?"
At her name the door to the office swung open and the two bodyguards threw Phoenix inside the office.
"Can't your idiotic goons just let me walk in for once?" Phoenix grumbled as she got up off the floor.
"Nice to see you too my dear." Hythe said sweetly.
"Oh cut the crap what do you want me here for?"
"Olivia here will be staying with us for awhile, I am going to put her on the Sack. Your job is to take her around the place, you will look after her for the week until she settles in." Hythe smirked.
"Fine." Phoenix walked up to Olivia and untied the rope and led her out of the office.
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"Ok there is like about a thousand or more kids that live in this place." Phoenix said. "We are all sorted into age groups starting from 9 – 18. Each age group as one particular leader, and that leader commands that age group they are designated to. Anyone at any time can challenge the leader and try to take over."
"What is the Sack?" Olivia asked as she followed Phoenix down the hall.
"It is usually the first job given to the new kids." Phoenix replied. "It tests their mental strength and puts into practice everything that they are taught the year before."
"What do you do?"
"Can't tell." Phoenix grinned. "But you will be ok. You have seen a lot of dead bodies before right?"
"Yes."
"Then you'll do fine." Phoenix opened another door. "Ok this is the sleeping quarters for my age group, the 15yr olds. Just follow behind me and you'll be ok."
"What about dinner?"
"Sorry I must have forgotten." Phoenix apologised. "Since your doing the Sack first, you'll be apart from the rest of us. On the last night you will dine with the 15's. When you start training with us, you might be able to see him at lunch."
"Oh ok."
Phoenix grinned and walked inside.
"Guess whose back boys." Phoenix laughed as she walked down the aisle between two rows of cells, each one holding 5 boys.
"Phoenix great to have ya back!"
"Who have you been manipulating lately?"
"Hey Phoenix!"
After all the chatter and yelling died down, Phoenix spoke. "Alright you good for nothing wannabes we have a new girl on the block, her name is Olivia and she is staying with us for awhile. If I hear or see any of you lot harassing her while she is under my care in this first week, you'll have me to answer to."
"And what if I just do it anyway?" A brown haired boy came out of the shadows ahead and confronted Phoenix.
"Your gonna wish that you were in the Chamber." Phoenix threatened.
"Who says that I have to take orders from a girl here?"
"State your rank." Phoenix growled.
"The name is Raz and I am the leader here." Raz smirked.
"Oh really?" Phoenix snapped. "Well I guess that I might have to change that then."
"What can you do bitch? I'm gonna get rid of you for good." And with that, Raz walked away.
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"Ok it is simple, you take this knife and stab the sack." Hythe said, handing Olivia the knife.
"And that is it?" Olivia questioned, staring at the sack that was obviously filled with something.
"Well for everyone yes, but for you I'll make it a little more difficult since you're a detective." Hythe sneered.
Phoenix walked up to the sack and kicked it; a faint "ouch" was heard from inside the sack. She then undid the sack and pulled a little boy about the age of 9 out of it.
"You want me to kill an innocent little boy?" Olivia exclaimed.
"Well he isn't innocent for one." Hythe corrected. "He is quite weak and not suitable for what I train boys here for, so we use the weak boys as the first kill for the new recruits."
"What if I don't want to kill him?" Olivia asked as Phoenix chained the boy to the wall.
"Well torture both you and the boy until you decide to kill him and trust me, several other children have done that before you, and didn't like it." Hythe stood there solemnly. "You have one hour to decide."
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Olivia could hear footsteps coming closer she didn't care anymore. The pained filled eyes of the boy were still staring at her face whenever she closed her eyes.
"Olivia?"
It was Phoenix.
"Olivia hey don't worry about it, I went through the same thing." Olivia looked at Phoenix as she sat down next to her. "Hythe did the same thing to me, the kids face kept haunting me for months. It wasn't until I finished my first day of training, which by the way was hell, did I realise something."
"What was that?" Olivia asked.
"That kid was damm lucky to have died when he did, cause he missed out on feeling the worst pain that a person can ever experience in their life." Phoenix smiled slightly at the thought. "C'mon lets go get some rest."
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"Ok Olivia this is Darkness" Phoenix pointed to a black haired boy with piercing green eyes. "He got that nickname cause he is obsessed with staying up late into the night. This is Moppit, Bonehead and you already know Rednut."
"How come you are here?" Bonehead asked. "We rarely have anyone over the age of 18 here."
"I..." Olivia started, but Phoenix cut her off.
"She's here because of me and no doubt that Hythe is using her as a human experiment like what he did with me." Phoenix growled.
An awkward silence followed, broken by the sound of a stick rattling against the bars of the cells.
"Lights out kiddies." A guard snapped.
"Nice to see you to Edward." Phoenix smirked.
"So your back huh? So that is why it is so noisy?" Edward laughed as he walked on.
"Yea it seems like it. But it is gonna get a lot more noisier." Phoenix mumbled.
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Olivia didn't know how she got through the week. Nightmares of the young boys she was forced to kill kept her awake most of the night.
Phoenix wasn't looking too good either. Most of the time when she and the rest of Olivia's cellmates came back from training she had a few extra bruises or cuts. One night she even came back with a sprained wrist and a huge gash down her arm.
"How did you ever get through this?" Olivia sighed, playing around with her dinner.
Rednut shrugged. "Just didn't think about it."
"All of us here have been brought up like this. We live our lives around death. You have been brought into our world suddenly, after in your years of childhood you learned that killing is wrong. You have been forced to adapt to this new place and its customs with different morals of right and wrong than us. In your world you learn new skills in order to live. In our world, we either kill or be killed." Darkness spoke solemnly.
Everyone just gawked at him.
"My god." Rednut exclaimed. "That is the most that you have ever said in your entire life!"
"Try not to think of it so much in a bad way Olivia." Phoenix said as Darkness threw his finger bread at Rednut.
"Yea don't worry about it anymore, the week is over, you don't have to do it again." Moppit mumbled between a mouthful of food.
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That night it was Bonehead that waked Olivia.
"C'mon it is nearly time."
"Nearly time for what?" Olivia said groggily.
"Raz and Phoenix are fighting for leadership." Bonehead was strangely excited. "The whole of the 15 yr olds must be down there! And since you are like hanging out with us, you might as well come too."
He led her to a training arena that reminded Olivia of the Colosseum in Rome, except it was a bit more modern and a cage was surrounding the inside of the battle area.
"Alright shut up you lot!" Hythe barked. Only when the crowd quietened did he speak again. "Ok today's fight will be between the current leader Raz and the challenger Phoenix!"
The crowed roared as both Raz and Phoenix walked into the caged arena and the door was closed and bolted.
"Ok you know the rules, last one standing wins. Guns cannot be brought or thrown in to help the competitors at any stage. If contenders are still battling after an hour the crowd will then be authorized to help the competitor of their choice by passing either knifes or furniture into the arena. So with that said let the battle begin!" A horn sounded and Phoenix and Raz lunged at each other.
"Raz has an unfair advantage over Phoenix! We don't know if her hand has healed properly!" Olivia cried as Phoenix was thrown into the caged wall.
"It was her choice to do this." Darkness reminded her.
Olivia couldn't help but worry as she listened to the crowd's insults and support as the two as they battled it out in the cage.
An hour passed and Phoenix was still alive, barely. Raz was pretty beaten up too, but Phoenix was obviously getting tired.
A bell sounded, Phoenix and Raz stopped and the crowd went nuts. Everywere Olivia looked she could see people running down towards the cage, handing chairs and knifes to the two competitors, giving them encouragement as they gave them either a chair or a knife. When the bell rang again everyone stopped and went back to their seats.
Phoenix screamed as Raz stabbed a knife in her leg, and she fell to the floor, trying to crawl away.
"Are you ready to die now?" Raz laughed, playing with another knife in his hands.
Phoenix gasped as she fought to stay conscious and to speak. "Do you know why they call me Phoenix?"
"Well since that your gonna die I might as well know, I'll put it on your tombstone if you wish." Raz smirked, leaning over Phoenix.
"It is because a Phoenix dies and then is reborn."
"And that means what?" Raz said, puzzled.
"I may look dead but I am not!" she screamed and pulled the knife out of her leg, thrusting it upwards into Raz's chest.
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Olivia could see that if Phoenix was like any of the other girls that she knew, they would of died long ago. And yet here was Phoenix in what everyone called the Recovery Cell, lucky to be alive, bandaging her many wounds.
Her cell was small, containing a single bed, sink and chair.
"How are you feeling?" Olivia asked as the guard let her in.
"Oh I have about a few broken bones, bruised ribs, might die any minute from blood loss, I may have internal bleeding, but hey that's life!" Phoenix said sarcastically. Seeing the look on Olivia's face, she laughed. "I'm fine Olivia."
Olivia watched as the feisty young teen struggled to dress a stab wound in her left arm. When she had finished Olivia could see that it wasn't a very good job, so she pulled the chair closer to the bed, untied the gauze and began to do it for her. Phoenix surprisingly didn't object to Olivia's help, she just sat there patiently until Olivia finished.
"Good job." Phoenix said as she flexed her arm, testing the bandage.
"No problem."
"Olivia?"
"Yes Phoenix?" Olivia noticed that Phoenix's voice had suddenly changed back to the frightful young girl when she first met her.
"I shot him," Phoenix said, her voice quivering. "I killed Sharkfin."
Aryll-link: I must have a thing for ending it in cliffhangers...meh. R&R plz!
