The Caliphate

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Consciousness drifts back in fits and starts. It takes me a while to realize they've strapped me into a chair, my arms and legs bound while an IV drips a clear substance into my veins which makes my arm tingle. This is a different room than the one they brought me into before. Darker. More primitive. It smells of mildew, excrement and soured blood.

Dull, yellow light stabs into my brain like an ice pick. I wonder if it's the light which inspired me to rebel? For some reason, I laugh. I can't help it. Maybe it's just nerves?

A hand yanks my head up. The light is an ordinary spotlight, so close the lightbulb almost makes my face blister from the heat.

"That's quite the show you put on," a voice says. "I never expected that. The dutiful daughter has a spine."

I squint into the