Chapter 3
It was the first hours of the morning, the sky barely lightened to a gray rather than a black when I was brought back to my "living" quarters. The door slammed shut behind me as I tumbled forward, locking with a hollow click. I stood up and rubbed off the dried blood that caked my wrists where the manacles dug in.
Turning my head over my shoulder, I caught a glimpse of my reflection and cringed. The plain black dress they had put me in when I first arrived, hung off my now sallow frame in an unflattering baggy fashion. my skin was even paler than it ever been before, with veins protruding from dehydration. My face was sunken with dark circles surrounding my eyes like a raccoon. I couldn't see my hips because of the dress, but i knew they were nearly sharp enough to cut paper (figuratively speaking).
I attempted to comb my, somehow still blue, hair out with my fingers but only managed to get them caught in the large expanse of tangles that had amassed in my time here. eventually I gave up on that and turned to a blank wall, grabbing some paint, I started drawing on the wall, I didn't realize what, or rather who, i was drawing until i reached the eyes, unconsciously, my hand reached for a deep blue. My first time choosing color. I had been drawing they boy, Will, the one I'd shot. Well, I was only really drawing his face, but still.
I shrugged off the reason i was drawing him as simply guilt and continued with his eyes, quietly singing "Brand New Day" from Dr. Horrible's sing-along blog to myself. By the time I was done, it was just about time for my meal for the day. This time, it was bread, an overcooked steak, and a bitter wine. I slowly finished my meal and waited for Miranda to bring me to my own personal hell room.
I had been in the hell-room for a couple of hours when I heard commotion in the hall. But my mind had become delirious from the substance they had injected today so I barely registered it. When the doors burst open I slowly rolled my head towards it and blinked several times in confusion. the door had been opened not by the dark sisters or miranda as I might have assumed, but by Will, and a tall girl with brown hair and gray eyes who i assumed was probably the other girl trapped here.
Just as I was fading out of coherency and consciousness, I saw the girl turn in my direction with a look of horror on her face. Will was busy barricading the doors. I doubted he would recognize me, it was incredibly dark in the room. The girl rushed in my direction and called something over her shoulder. Will rushed over and I felt a sting as one of them pulled the needle from my arm.
I was slowly regaining my train of thought when I heard a call from down the hallway. it was the dark sisters, looking for the girl. Miss gray, as they seemed to call her, was removing the cuffs from my chafed wrists. when she finished, I collapsed forward, unable to stand on my own, into Will's arms. when I touched him, images and feelings rushed through me.
The image of a girl, around 13 or 14, with long black hair and bright blue eyes. She had a hard look on her face, but fear in her eyes. She was facing a creature, humanoid in shape save for the tail with a stinger on on the and and long snout, its flesh was covered by, not skin, but blue scales with a yellow hue at the stinger. In the girl's shaking hand, she gripped a long sword, emanating blue light from the blade. The scene fell away and I saw a bloated figure in a bed, skin a mixture of yellow and green, it was the girl. I could feel it. Her mother and father were crying by her bedside and a boy cowered at the door, he had been in the first image as well, hiding behind what must have once been his sister. Once again, moment disappeared, replaced with a symbol, in some language I had never seen before, yet readable. And I could feel the word forming in my head. "Ella." I whispered quietly.
A look of shock appeared on Will's face. He let go of me and stumbled backwards. My eyes rolled to the back of my head and I began to fall. Just as I hit the ground, the door burst open, revealing the dark sisters, their features twisted with rage, storming inside. Will turned quickly, regaining his composure, and faced them, preparing to fight. He pulled out a blade that glowed, just as the one in my vision did, with a fierce blue light. And then, my eyelids pulled shut, as if by a force beyond my power had clamped them there.