Shackles of Guilt

The first hour was an eternity. The sharp spikes inside the shackles dug deeper into their skin with every faint movement, sending waves of searing pain through their bodies. Their muscles ached, their breathing shallow and ragged. Sweat and blood dripped to the floor beneath them, pooling around their trembling forms.

Dash struggled to stay upright, his legs burning from the strain of the squatting position. His neck throbbed as the chain attached to his suppression collar kept his head pulled forward in an unnatural angle. Every time he dared to glance at Violet, his chest tightened painfully.

She looked far worse than he did. Her skin was pale, glistening with sweat, her good eye half-lidded and glazed over. The fresh wounds on her stump bled sluggishly, staining the metal shackle that encased it. Her breaths were faint, uneven gasps, and every time she moved even slightly, her body trembled as though it would collapse entirely.

Dash bit his lip, the guilt weighing on him like a lead weight. He hated seeing her like this— suffering, and barely holding on. He opened his mouth to say something, to apologize for failing her, but before he could speak,

"I'm… sorry," she whispered, her head drooping slightly as her strength gave out.

Dash blinked in surprise, his mouth falling open. "No, Vi—no," he said quickly, his voice raw. "You shouldn't have to apologize.

Her head shifted weakly, as though she was trying to shake it, but she didn't have the strength. "Yes, I do…" she rasped. "I should apologize for all the things I said to you… for all the horrible things I told you. I said them because I wanted to make you angry, so you would press the button. Just because I didn't have the guts to hurt your eye, and that wasn't fair."

"No Vi, I am sorry," he rasped, his voice hoarse and thick with emotion. His eyes welled with fresh tears. "I didn't listen to you. I should have listened when you warned me about how cruel they were, about how they could break us. And I... I didn't press the button. I thought... I thought we could handle it, that I was saving you. After all those experiments... I thought I knew what was coming. I should've known better. You've been through this before. I was so sure of myself, but you were right. You've always known."

Violet's breath caught in her throat, and for a moment, her body stilled as she processed his words.

Violet closed her eyes, tears and blood slipping down her cheek. "No, Dash. You don't get to do that." Her voice, though weak, carried a quiet firmness. "I had the option to press the button too. I could've spared us both from this. But I didn't."

Dash blinked, startled by her words. "Vi…"

"I'm sorry for calling you weak and a coward," Violet whispered. "You're not. You never were. You're the strongest person I know. I've always admired that about you. I've even envied it a little"

Dash stared at her, his heart aching. He wanted to reach out, to hold her, to tell her she didn't have to apologize. But all he could do was force a small, pained smile.

"Hey," he said, his voice softer now, trying to lighten the mood even as his body screamed in agony. "After all the years I spent teasing you, I probably deserve some of it, right?"

A faint laugh escaped Violet's lips, though it was more of a broken exhale. "That's not the same, Dash. I—"

"So…" Dash interrupted gently. "We are even now"

Violet shook her head weakly, but there was a faint glimmer of amusement in her tired eyes.

"But Vi," Dash said, his tone softening, "You are wrong in one thing, you are the strong one."

Violet blinked at him, her head barely able to lift. "I don't feel strong," she murmured. "I'm barely hanging on. I'm almost at my breaking point, Dash."

"Maybe. But you haven't broken, Vi. Not yet. Even after everything, you're still here. That's strength." He replied.

"I don't think that was because of strength, but because most of the time my mind is just… numb." She said, looking at the floor.

"After the crap we've been through, I understand the feeling. Sometimes my mind also goes to who knows where. We're not superhuman." He paused, just noticing what he just said and then added with a faint, half-hearted grin, "Okay, technically we are, but you know what I mean."

A weak smile flickered across Violet's face, but it disappeared almost instantly.

He swallowed hard, the sight of her trembling form cutting through him like a blade. "You're the one holding everything together. You're the reason I haven't crumbled completely."

She blinked at him, her tears falling silently as he continued. "Do you know how many times you've kept me going? You've given so much for me, Vi. More than I've ever deserved."

Violet shook her head again, her lips trembling as she tried to form a response, but Dash didn't stop.

"When we were starving, you gave me your bread, even though you were just as hungry, that stupid little improvised birthday cake you somehow managed to put together...something to remind me of who we were before all this." He trailed off.

His gaze dropped to her bleeding stump. His throat tightened, and his words faltered. "And even…"

Violet noticed where his gaze had landed. She could see the guilt etched into his face, the way his jaw tensed and his good eye shimmered with unshed tears. She knew what he couldn't say.

"Dash," she said softly, her voice trembling. "Don't do that. Don't blame yourself for this."

Dash forced himself to look at her, even though it hurt more than anything. "You gave up so much for me, Vi," he said, his voice cracking with emotion. "You've protected me over and over, even when it cost you everything. Don't you see? You're the strong one. You always have been."

She shifted slightly, wincing at the pain in her body. "No Dash, you are the reason I didn't crumble. Do you hear me? I'd rather lose my arm than lose you. You're my anchor, Dash. The only reason I still have some speck of sanity left is because of you."

Dash's breathing hitched, and he looked at her, his tears finally falling. "Vi…"

"The reason I'm still here," Violet continued, her voice breaking with emotion, "the reason I haven't completely lost it, the reason I haven't just let them… end it—it's you. You keep me grounded. You keep me sane." She took a shaky breath, tears slipping down her bruised face. "If something ever happened to you, Dash, I'd be nothing. I'd be gone."

Dash shuddered, his body trembling as the implication settled over him. The thought of Violet giving up, to the point of letting them kill her, made his chest tighten painfully. "Don't say that," he whispered, his voice breaking.

Violet, hearing his distress, mustered what little strength she had left. "Hey," she whispered, her voice soft and comforting. "You're still here, Dash. Alive. And that's saving me. Every second you're still here, you're saving me."

Dash swallowed hard, tears streaming down his face. He wanted to argue, to tell her that she deserved more than to live just for him, but the truth was, her words filled him with a fragile hope.

"I'm not going anywhere, Vi," he said, his voice shaking. "I promise."

Hearing this, Violet smiled—weak and fleeting, but genuine. "Good," she whispered. "Because I need you."

And in the suffocating silence of their prison, their shared pain and determination bound them together, stronger than any chain or shackle ever could.