A Red Rose and A Silver Sin

5. Freya

The last few days had been a blur, to say the least.

My mind was still so foggy from the constant darkness of the blindfold and the cell they'd thrown me in, I couldn't be sure how much time had passed. Dallas had gotten me here, he had screwed up the little that was left of my life. Even worse, he got Harlowe and Sophia here too. I wasn't even sure how the latter had gotten here considering how she was nowhere near the conflict.

Now the entire rest of our three lives, some more important than others, would be ruined because of him. He had seemed like such a nice person, but now he'd completely turned the tables. He was one of these monsters who had kidnaped me, who had injured my arm and left me bleeding on one side.

By the time the doors to the cell opened, all three of us were awake in the darkness. An unspoken glare between Harlowe and me had me on my feet at once. Before I could say a word, they grabbed me by the arm and shot a metal chip deep in my wrist. It stung and I winced at the feeling.

They pushed me forward into a new room, dim lights swinging above my head as I was shuffled along. On our trip from the cell into the actual building, two guards hovered at my side the whole time. Their faces were covered in black-tinted masks and their bodies were coated in thick armor. I could hear guns going off in the distance, people grunting from the recoils. On my other side, I could see people throwing each other on the ground of wrestling mats through a crack in the door. Everything was so unreal, beyond what normal minds could ever imagine.

After a long minute of walking through the quarters, the guards stopped in a small corridor. It looked almost normal, a simple hall leading to a simple door. Almost normal, but something was off about it.

A single light blared over the path as a guard shoved me towards the door, mumbling "Go."

I turned back to glare at him before reaching towards the handle. All of the men held guns, weapons of mass destruction meant to kill. And if they were like the people who I'd seen moments ago, they sure as hell knew how to use them.

I didn't hear Harlowe or Sophia stumbling behind me which only made my blood boil. If they weren't okay, what would I do with myself? What could I do? There was nothing, nowhere to run. Sucking in a deep breath, I resolved that my only option as of now was to play along, to try and survive and keep my friends alive. Escape would have to come later, if later came at all.

It was possibly the scariest thought of them all, the knowledge that in a single second your life could end. Being surrounded by hundreds of means to kill you and being able to control none of them, to stop none of them. I could only pray Dallas's words held out, and I was safe in the long run. Praying, when had that ever done me any good?

As I turned the handle, I felt a warm burst of air echo from the chamber. The small door leading in did nothing to do the room justice. It was a huge, gaping bedroom filled with all the luxuries a person could ask for.

My first thought was Dallas. Could this be his old room, the place he had spent so much of his life locked in? Despite my current resentment towards him for putting me here to begin with, I couldn't help but long for his presence. He would be better than a complete stranger.

I glanced around the room, looking for any sign of life. But there was nobody here. Tip-toeing into the connecting bathroom, I gazed at myself in the mirror. The lights in the rooms were much better now, and I could clearly see the dirt coating my face, the line of grim covering my whole body. Flicking the faucet on, I scooped a handful of cold water onto my face. It woke me up fast,my whole face tingling as I pulled back.

Running my hands back through my ratty curls, I tried to compuse what was left of my sanity. Looking like a rat was hard when you'd spent the last while underground. At least, I assumed it was underground judging by the lack of windows around.