Crucible of Cain

CHAPTER ONECAIN PROLOGUE Cain pushed up again slowly. His only contact with the stone floor was his scarred knuckles and the pads of his toes. His muscles burned at his slow pace. He tightened his stomach muscles, and they flexed and rippled in response. Once his elbows were straight, he started to lower again, letting out a slow breath. He hadn’t kept count of how many pushups he had done, it didn’t matter. He would keep working his muscles until he couldn’t move them anymore. It was the only thing for him to do in this black box. “Cain, door!” Cain c****d his head to the side at the guard’s bark and leaped to his feet. It wasn’t meal time, it wasn’t time for the needles. So, what did they want? It must be more discipline. Because he didn’t think his punishment would be over yet. He had broken Master’s order, he had disobeyed. He closed his eyes as he remembered the sound of breaking bones. The loud cracking echoing off the walls like a gun blast, the screams, the blood. He had lost his temper, he wasn’t supposed to kill that one. But with the rage, the drugs, the training…. He fought, he f****d, he killed, that was who he was. He knew he should have been put down because he disobeyed Master. That was the cost of disobedience, be put down, put to death. But, he was a Champion, so Master had given him a second chance. Be punished, but live. He felt the pain in his body from the last round of punishment, of discipline. But, he blocked it out. He needed to go to the door, he needed to obey. The black box was so small it only took one of his large strides to reach the door. He turned, dropped to his knees and put his hands behind his back. He heard the big steel bolts slide back and the door creaked as it was pulled open. “Don’t you move, Cain.” He smirked. It was all he could do, he never smiled. Any sign of true happiness here was punished. On the rare occasions he was happy, he kept that smile on the inside. So, he just smirked. He could hear the fear in the guard’s voice. Smell the stink of that fear, that shake, that smell, it was something they couldn’t hide. Their bodies knew they were in the presence of death, and that weakness betrayed them. Cold steel shackles locked around his wrists and ankles. “Stand up, Cain.” Cain rolled back onto his feet and stood up, his lighting fast movement made the guards gasp. He bit back his smirk this time, they should be scared. He would obey for now, but they all knew that sometimes when a guard made Master unhappy, that guard got tossed to the fighters to play with. “Step Out!” Cain stepped out of the black box, turned to the right and stopped. One guard took a place in front of him, the other behind him, snapping the third chain onto the shackles on his wrists. “You know the drill, Cain.” The one in front started walking down the long hallway and Cain followed. The floor was hard packed stone. Worn smooth over the years by the hundreds, if not thousands, of feet that had stepped upon it. The walls and ceiling were also stone. This was a cave, he had heard the guards call it that… a cave. Every so often there was a steel door, painted black, and bolted shut. It was deathly quiet here; The only sound was his bare feet and the guard’s boots slapping on the stone floor. The shackles around his ankles had a joining chain long enough so that he could take half a stride. But, even with that, the smaller guards had to take quick steps to keep up with him. They reached the elevator, another thing the guards had named for him. He couldn’t speak, but he listened, he tried to learn. He knew that Master would not be happy that he was learning things that Master had not taught him. But, he had not been ordered to not learn such things either. So, maybe it was OK. The elevator ride was quick, and the doors opened in a different place. That was how it always happened. You got on the elevator, the doors closed, and then the world felt funny under your feet. Then, the doors opened, and you were in a different place. He tensed as he saw where he was. This place was the discipline place, the place of pain. When he hesitated to step forward the guard behind him gave his back a shove. It was a stupid thing to do, the shove had no effect, Cain barely felt it. But, it triggered every violent, homicidal, cell in his body. He spun around to the guard and charged. The guard barely got out a startled yelp before his head was crushed between Cain’s massive chest and the elevator wall. There was a loud crunch and Cain felt a wetness splatter onto his chest and run down his torso. “Cain! Stop!” That voice cuts through him. His Master’s voice. Cain stopped instantly and stepped back. The guard's lifeless body slumping to the floor. His Master snapped out a command. “Come here, Cain!” He turned, stepped off the elevator and saw his Master. Arms crossed, a look of disapproval on his face. Cain quickly dropped his eyes and went to Master. Then, he fell to his knees at his feet. Master walked a slow, silent, circle around him. Cain followed Master’s shiny shoes, tap, tap, tap. When Master stood in front of him again, he spoke to Cain, his tone cold as ice. “Do you like disobeying me?” Cain’s eyes went wide, and his heart jumped. He shook his head frantically. No! He didn’t like to disobey Master! Master sighed. “And yet, you have. You will be disciplined until I am sure you will obey. This is two infractions in less than a week. I am very disappointed in you, Cain.” Cain’s heart sank, and his shoulders slumped, he had disappointed Master. He would take the discipline. He deserved it, he deserved the pain. “Good, I see you understand. Stand up.” Cain rose slowly to his feet. He would never toy with Master as he did with the guards. Master pointed to a steel door to the left. Cain walked towards the room. He knew what was in there. Pain. Limitless, unbearable, pain. Cain opened his eyes and rolled onto his back. Master said yesterday was the last day of discipline. So, today he would go back to his home. The guards said that he had been here two weeks. Time didn’t really mean anything to Cain. But, he took note. He stared at the ceiling. But all he saw was black. It was so dark that that was all he ever saw in the box. He lifted his arms above his head and stretched, then flinched as pain shot through him. His skin was raw from the whips. The places they had burned him throbbed with painful heat. And his muscles ached from where they hung him from the ceiling. Images flashed across his mind’s eye, the screams, his screams, echoing around that room. The blood, the searing pain… He rubbed the heels of his hands into his eyes and taking in a deep breath he blocked out the pain. This is what he had done all his life. Block out the pain. He couldn’t afford to be weak. This time, when the elevator doors opened the different place was a slightly better place. This was where they took him to get the needles. But, it was also where he was taken after a fight. The man in the white coat, the… Doctor, he stitched up his skin and put his bones back into place. But it had been a long time since he had been here. He was older, he was a Champion, he was death. He didn’t get hurt much anymore, he was the one doing the hurting. After the Doctor cleaned and stitched his wounds, the guards took him back to his home. Cain sighed with relief as he entered the Champions living area, this was his home. He walked past the other Champions homes straight to his door and waited. That strange buzzing sound happened, and his door swung open. He stepped inside and dropped to his knees. The guards removed his shackles and the door closed behind him. Once he heard the door click shut, he rose to his feet, walked to his bed and lay down on his side facing the wall. Letting out another relieved sigh, he let his eyes drift close.