EpisodeThree
1360 Words
ELENA'S POV
Nothing in the world could have prepared me for the harsh reality that hit me, hard in the face.
I wasn't sure which was better — being their w***e or what I was subjected to.
“Please stop..” I cried with the last strength in me. I was half naked, strapped to a pole at the center of the settlement.
I had lost count of the buckets of water that had been emptied on me. Maybe sufficient to create an ocean.
I was pantsed, my breath ragged and faint. For how long was this going to go on.
“We shall discuss better in the morning,” Dane said to me, face stern.
“Are you leaving me here all night?”
“Yes!!”
I gasped, my jaws dropping.
“How can you be so cruel? Beating me, wetting me isn't enough? You're leaving me to die in the cold.”
“To become a great assassin, you have to become stronger. You have to be able to endure a lot of things. This is only one of those things.”
He sauntered off before I could utter any word. I watched the doors shut, then eventually, the lights went off.
All was quiet.. still.
I shivered, the cold eating deeper into me. Tears trickled down my face in large torrents, only to be dried up in seconds.
My mind drifted to my mother. None of this would have happened if she were to be alive. And my brother? I wondered how he fared.
I remained quiet until I eventually fell asleep.
“Hey sleepy head!!” Two resounding slaps landed on my face. I jerked awake, panting.
The pain from the slap struck home, leaving my cheeks burning.
“You've slept for over eight hours. Where do you think you are?”
I glared hard at him, anger burning fiercely in me. “Untie her!!”
A man walked up to me quickly loosening the ropes. I fell to the floor with a loud thud, my eyes sullen and weak.
“Get her something to eat, then we'd begin the first training.”
I was glad. Finally, I would have something to eat. My stomach rumbled in excitement as I sat still.
A large bowl of food was placed before me. The aroma was killing, arousing every part of me. Without wasting a second, I delved in, eating hungrily.
“You would choke if you continue at this rate.” I paused, noticing how hard he stared at me. The others did as well. My face flushed in embarrassment.
“You would make a very good assassin. The look in your eyes, only a few have it when they first join us.”
I scoffed, irritated. “I never told you I want to be a part of all these in the first place. Let me go, and I'd never speak of it to anyone.”
He laughed, shrill and devilish. “You're done eating already, I guess. You have ten minutes until your training starts.”
I sighed, frustrated already. What sort of life is this? I never wanted any of this. Tears trickled down my face in large torrents as I sat still.
For every second that went by, I counted until it was exactly ten minutes.
“Time is up!!”
He sprung to his feet, approaching me with Lightening speed. “Stand!!”
I did as instructed, my hands shaking with fear. His countenance had changed. He didn't look like the man who spoke to me ten minutes ago.
What sort of person exactly was he?
“This first test is the test of truth. Now, I am going to ask you for your name — what's your name?”
“Elena!”
“Good!! Now, until we are done with this test, you're not permitted to tell me your name, no matter what is done to you. The moment you mention it, then you've failed the test.”
I shivered. Cold chills ran down my spine. This didn't sound nice.
“What's your name?” He roared.
“I don't know.”
He laughed; shrill and dangerous. I exhaled, and next, the whip in his hand landed on my back. I screeched in pain, my eyes widening twice its size.
It hurt so much and I could feel it burning up my skin. I glared hard at him, hate burning deep inside of me.
“What’s your name?”
“I'm not telling..” I snapped, enraged. My breathing had grown staggered, uneasy too.
Fiam— the whip came heavy. Its fangs stretched right through the whole of my body.
“Noooo!!” My voice rang in the air. Such loud shrill even the dead would have heard.
He laughed and so did the rest of them. No!! This was no test. This was only a means of amusement to them all.
How do you they have such joy seeing me suffer. My hands tightened into fists as I watched them all.
The urge to wipe out everyone of them with my bare hands was strong within me. I bit hard at my lower lips. “You can do this, Elena!”
“What's your name?” He glared hard, fiercer than before.
“I'm not telling you. You may go to hell for all I care.”
The beating worsened— three in a row. More intense, more deadly.
My entire body was on fire. I panted, more tears streaming down my face. My vision was starting to blur.
“I would never tell you my name. Never!!” I gathered spittle in my mouth and spat right in his face.
He wriggled in disgust.
“How dare you?” His men yelled, dashing to their feet. They were going to beat me. I didn't back down though.
He raised his hand in the air. “Let her be!!”
He rolled up his shirt, his grip around the whip tightening. I needed no one to tell me what was going to happen next.
Flash upon flash. It came upon me like whirlwind, void of pity, mercy. My cries grew louder, fiercer.
“Elena! My name is Elena..”
I could see the disappointment in my eyes but I couldn't help it. How long do I have to take it in?
“You were right at the verge of passing the test.” He paused as if he was carefully picking his words. “We'll continue at noon.”
My eyes widened in shock. “Continue?”
“Yes!! You failed the test, so we'll be taking it again.” I broke down, falling on my face.
This had to be the height of it— so I thought.
One after the other, they went until I was left all alone.
The sun soon was out, shining ferociously across the earth. The way it shone on me, one would have thought I had previously offended it.
My body itched badly and I could feel my soul leave my body.
Somehow, and in a way I couldn't understand, I managed to fall asleep. The scorching sun couldn't stop me, and even the pain from the beatings.
I suddenly felt something pour on me. It was cold, leaving me shivering. I jerked open, gasping.
“Wake up sleepy head. The test continues.”
They stood before me, fewer than they were early. I shuddered in fear as I recalled the fate I had been subjected to, earlier.
“Do I need to take this test again?”
“Yes!! That's the rules for every intending assassins.”
“Exclude me from such rules,” I said sternly. They ogled at me, wondering what had suddenly come over me.
Next, they were laughing at the top of their voices. They sounded so loud one would have thought they were having a feast.
I stared in disdain, and when they weren't watching, I pulled
out the gun strapped to their leader's waist.
“What do you have to say now?” I asked, pointing the gun to his forehead.
They froze, all flabbergasted.
- Writer
