Prisoner

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

I woke up cold.

I blinked my eyes open, immediately regretting the decision as a bright light flashed in my face, making me curse and I rolled over. I felt cold stones underneath me, heard chains dragging along the stones, something dripping somewhere. I opened my eyes again, this time focusing on the floor underneath me. The gray stones were slick and wet with water that seemed to be falling from the ceiling somewhere, but I wasn't able to have a staring contest with the fucking light again.

I blinked and let my eyes focus on my surroundings now as I slowly lifted my head to look around. I could make out bars and planks of wood that separated my cell from the ones on either side of me. I looked to the corner of the cell where some hay was scattered between my cell and the next one. My eyes drew to my wrists and sure enough, heavy metal clasps went around my wrists and connected to chains embedded in the wall at the back of my cell.

"What the fuck...?" I muttered, reaching up to rub my head. My head swam a little, like I was moving way too much, even though it was just shifting. I groaned and shook my head slowly to try and gain some control over my body more properly, but fuck, that seemed to only make me dizzier. I turned my head to the cell beside me when I heard something move. I squinted into the darkness of the cell beside me. It was so fucking dark in there, and it looked like there wasn't even a lightbulb in the light socket in there. It was just darkness and a bit of light from my cell, but it was enough for me to see someone.

"Who are you?" I mumbled. Fuck, my tongue felt thick.

"You know who I am." The voice was definitely familiar. I scowled and cocked my head.

"Bait...?" I muttered. There was no confirmation, but there didn't need to be. A second later, something seemed to almost materialize out of the darkness in that cell. Sure enough, it was ol' Bait in there.

Bait was probably one of the most pathetic creatures I'd ever seen in my life. He was small and skinny, emaciated really. His greasy unkempt long black hair was sticking to the sides of his face and there looked like there was something in the corner of his mouth, like he'd finished eating something, but that was hard to believe considering he looked like a fucking toothpick with hair. Something had happened with his genetic sequence and nobody really knew what or how or why, but his leg was seriously fucked up. Like, the bone itself grew in a twisted fashion so he walked with a heavy limp. His fangs were too big for his mouth and stuck out from under his top lip. When he spoke, his voice was warped by his fangs and something was definitely wrong with his throat because he sounded hoarse.

I could go on for hours about why Bait looked like shit, but I had a feeling that if we were both in a cell... Something was wrong.

"What the fuck am I doing here?" I muttered, reaching up to push the hair back out of my face as I sat up. Bait's mismatched blue and brown eyes flashed in the light and he ducked back a little, like the light hurt his eyes.

"Dunno. You must've made a good impression." Sarcasm. How the fuck did that little asshole know sarcasm?

"How did I get here?" I asked. Bait shrugged and I frowned, realizing he wasn't chained to shit in that cell. He was free to walk all around that whole thing, not that he could get far anyway with that leg of his.

"Unchain me," I grunted immediately and Bait looked at me flatly.

"Yes. I'll use the magic I don't have and the keys I don't have and the privilege I don't have to free you."

"I swear to the Mother, I'll break your jaw if you keep mouthing off," I growled. Bait didn't look particularly afraid. He just stared at me with this bland look on his face. Like he wasn't surprised or scared or anything. He just looked disinterested.