A Prison Without Chains
1034 Words
Click. Click. Click.
The sound of an old clock ticked in the distance. That was the first thing I heard when I opened my eyes.
My vision was blurry. My head felt heavy, like someone had stuffed cotton inside my brain. I tried to sit up, but my body was weak. The air around me smelled faintly of chemicals—acid, maybe ethanol. Familiar, yet… not from my lab.
Where am I?
The last thing I remember… I was in the university lab, running tests on my new serum. It was supposed to help people recover from trauma—by gently rewiring damaged brain pathways.
Then... two men in black entered. No words. Just a spray of something in my face. A bitter, strange gas.
Then—darkness.
My fingers twitched. They weren’t tied, but I still couldn’t move freely. Was this… paralysis? Or just fear?
Before I could think further, the door opened with a soft creak.
A man walked in—tall, dressed in a perfect black suit. Clean. Sharp. Powerful. His hair was dark, slicked back, his jawline sharp as a knife. But it was his eyes that scared me most—cold, intelligent, like they already knew everything about me.
“You’re awake,” he said. His voice was calm. Too calm.
“Who are you? Where am I?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.
He took a few steps closer, then stopped at the foot of the bed I was lying on. He didn’t answer right away.
“My name is Raffael Elano,” he finally said. “But you don’t need to remember that. All you need to know is—starting today, you belong to me.”
What?
My heart skipped a beat. “Excuse me? I’m not your property!”
“You’re right,” he said, with a small smile. “You’re more than that. You’re valuable. A weapon.”
“A... what?” I stared at him, stunned.
He moved to sit across from me in a leather chair, crossing his legs like we were having a business meeting.
“You’re Naira Evelyn. Top chemistry graduate. Working on experimental neuro-serums that can affect memory and fear. We’ve been watching you.”
“You… stalked me?” I whispered.
“We recruited you,” he said smoothly. “You just didn’t know it.”
“This is kidnapping!” I yelled.
He chuckled. “Maybe. Or maybe it’s destiny.”
I tried to stand. My knees shook, but I managed to sit up fully.
“If you wanted my help,” I said through gritted teeth, “you could’ve just asked.”
“We’re not a university, Miss Evelyn. We’re a family. And in this family, we don’t ask. We take what we need.”
His words were terrifying. But what chilled me even more was the way he said them—like it was the most normal thing in the world.
“You’re sick,” I spat. “If you think I’ll help you, you’re wrong.”
He stood slowly, looking down at me like a king looking at a peasant.
“You will help,” he said softly. “Because you want answers. And I’m the only one who has them.”
“Answers to what?”
He leaned in close. “To what really happened to your parents ten years ago.”
I froze.
He smirked, then walked out of the room without another word, leaving me drowning in confusion and rage.
---
Hours passed. Or maybe it was a whole day. Time didn’t make sense in that place. No windows. No clocks. Just the ticking sound in my head and the rapid beats of my heart.
Then the door opened again.
This time, it was a woman. She looked kind—late thirties maybe, with soft features and tired eyes. She held a tray of food and water.
“Eat,” she said gently. “You need your strength.”
I didn’t move.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Ella,” she replied. “I’m… part of the household here. I take care of things.”
I frowned. “So you work for him? For that psycho?”
Ella didn’t answer. She just placed the tray on a table near me and sat down in the same chair Raffael had used.
“You probably think we’re monsters,” she said softly. “And… maybe we are. But the world made us this way.”
“That’s not an excuse,” I muttered.
“No,” she agreed. “But sometimes, surviving means choosing the darker path.”
I looked away. “Why are you even talking to me like this? Trying to make me feel… safe?”
“I’m not here to make you feel safe, Naira. I’m here to tell you the truth.”
She leaned forward, eyes serious.
“They brought you here because you’re brilliant. Because they believe you can create something no one else can.”
“A mind-control drug,” I said bitterly.
“A compound that removes resistance. No pain. No trace. Just quiet obedience.”
I stared at her, heart pounding.
“I won’t do it.”
Ella sighed. “If you don’t… they won’t hurt you. Not at first. But they’ll keep pushing. Testing you. Breaking you.”
I clenched my fists. “Then I’ll break first.”
She stood slowly. “Let’s hope you’re stronger than you look.”
And just like that, she left.
---
That night, I didn’t sleep.
Memories flooded in—my parents’ death. The fire. The police saying it was an accident. But I knew the truth. I saw the mark on the back of the man who walked out of our burning house.
A tattoo. A black serpent.
The same tattoo I saw on the man who sprayed me in the lab.
The same symbol on the ring Raffael wore.
Klan Umbra.
They destroyed my family. And now they wanted to use me.
But I wasn’t the scared little girl from ten years ago anymore.
I was Naira Evelyn.
And if they wanted a weapon…
They were about to get one.
- Writer
