Chapter1
1363 Words
Arden's POV
Thwack!
Thwack!!
Thwack!!!
Ah, how long has it been? A couple of minutes? Hours perhaps? I lost count over time.
This never-ending cycle of non-stop beating, the putrid stench of piss , and the sickening cracks my bones made anytime I got hit.
I'm sick of it!
Just why... Why do I have to live like this? Where did I go wrong?
I never killed anyone, I never committed the crime, so why... Why won't anyone believe me? I'm innocent, I swear.
"I—I didn't do it, please... Enough, I'm begging you."
"Huh? What was that, trash? Did you say something?" A low, gravelly voice echoed, sending shivers up my spine.
"Please... Please don't hit me, no more please.. I'll think I'll die if I get hit once more." I cried, my voice hoarse from the countless hours of screaming.
For a couple of seconds, I couldn't hear anything, and the fist that had viciously pummeled my body halted.
I raised my head, slowly but surely, ignoring my instincts, which, for some unknown reasons, were running frantically, telling me it wasn't over yet.
I took in my surroundings first, although my vision was a bit blurry I could s,t ill make out most features of the environment.
Tall dark trees with unkept bushes stretching several kilometers with a ma, massive stronghold in the distance, and a barricade with barbed wires preventing inmates from escaping this dreadful juvenile detention center.
The distant clouds were grim and dark a,t the possibility of a rain storm.
My gaze fell on a rather tall teenager with a tattooed face and body, ridiculed, with scars.
He met mine with a malicious sneer; even without him speaking, I could tell he was furious, furious enough to kill me.
But the worst thing was, I didn't know what I did wrong.
For as long as I could remember I'd done everything... everything! to avoid the attention of others, I never . Complained, I never retaliated, even when I was hit, I did my best to stay clear of the other prisoners, so just why... Why is he looking at me like that? Why does he look like he's about to kill me?
"Do you know what you did wrong?" He asked.
My breath hitched!
"N-No"
His face contorted, morphing from malicious disgust to unrefined fury.
He inhaled deeply and then exhaled slowly before locking eyes with me.
"Hah.. this little fucker, don't tell me you were practically clueless throughout the time you were dating Lady Camille."
"Lady... Camille? I never... Kuah!!!"
An agonized scream escaped my throat as I felt a cold metal logged deeply into my hands.
A searing pain followed, making the pain from the torturous beating pale in comparison.
My mind blanked for a second, and I wished it'd remained like that. Sadly, I regained my consciousness as instantaneously as I'd lost it.
"Ah... Mmmph.. i-i.. I'm begging you, please... Please, I really... don't know... Ackk!"
"Shut u, filth." He yelled.
A kick followed, then another, even as I fell to the ground and my body grew numb, he didn't stop.
I felt his foot on my head, stomping furiously without rest, yet I couldn't retaliate, even as I lost my sight, I couldn't do anything.
However one parti, one particular question lingered in my mind.
Who the hell was Camille?
Why am I suffering for what I didn't even do?
After a session or two of unforgiving stomps, he finally stopped.
"Huff... Hah, how dare you, after spending those nights with our boss's daughter, now you're denying it? Then explain your actions. How dare you yell and bang your fists against the glass when she visits you?" He roared, thrusting a knife into my thigh.
I screamed, and cried, and begged, but he didn't stop. Even the others joined him, stabbing and kicking at me to the point where my body grew cold.
I was certain I wasn't going to survive this.
After this much blood loss, there was no way I could make it, but...
"I don't... Want to die. I don't want to die, p-please I have a family... At home. I want to see.. them, my mother... And sister, I... Have to see them..."
"Huh? This fucker's still alive?" A voice asked.
I was sure it belonged to the tattooed teenager.
His voice seemed to echo within my ears this time a little bit closer than it had been, so it was safe to assume that he'd crouched low, low enough for me to hear him.
"Family, you say? What family? The mom who was killed by a pack of dogs? Or the sister who was toyed with until she kicked the bucket? What family? I ask again."
I couldn't believe him, or rather, I tried not to.
There was no reason for them to get killed. I never offended anyone, and there wasn't anyone who wanted them dead.
I couldn't tell if my face was reflecting my emotions or if there was anything left of it to reflect; I was dying, slowly, but it was happening.
I could feel my heartbeatsheartbeataint but then his voice sounded again, this time shocking me to the core.
"Blame that disgusting black blood within you, freak."
His first line...
I'd heard it before.
On the day I was blamed for murder when I didn't commit the crime, those exact words were the words 'she' had spoken to me.
It all made sense now, the banging on the protective glass, the crime, Lady CamiLady.. Everything.
My ex Julianna, who used to be my everything, the one who I'd loved so much and the cause for the murder accusations... It all made sense now.
Of course it did, I've been set up, she planned this... She ruined me, my life, my freedom, and now? Now my family has gotten caught up in this.
Why?
"Why?" I asked out loud, choking on a mouthful of blood.
He remained silent.
A second passed and a couple more, yet he said nothing.
Just when I thought he wasn't going to respond, he laughed, like a madman, like I was nothing but a damned joke.
"Hahaha... Isn't this funny? You don't even know why you're being punished like this? It's because of that blood, that black blood that those accused spawn, the direct bloodline of that Italian Mafia family possesses. Those inhuman things. You're being punished because you have something that's linked to that terrifying family, get it?"
Once again his words rendered me speechless, but his next words threw me into panic, leaving me no time to think.
"Bring the snake," he said.
If I could open my eyes at that moment I'm sure my pupils would've dilated.
Broken as my body was, I tried desperately to move, to escape, but it was of no use.
It didn't take long before I felt something slither on my body, with the faint hiss that only a snake could possess.
My body shook, making my terror evident.
I tried not to move, I tried to play dead, but my body didn't obey me.
Surprisingly it didn't bite, at least not yet.
It continued moving, slow but deliberate, like a predator toying with a helpless prey until..
It sank its fangs into my skin.
It wasn't a place I'd expected; it was worse.
The snake had bitten me on the neck, not even a place I'd expected, but rather, my windpipe, like it was trying to strangle me.
A desperate cry burst out from my throat, one filled with agony and loathing.
I cried and yelled, but no one came to my aid.
The poison from the snake soon ended my life, cutting my consciousness as I felt myself sinking into a never-ending darkness away from my senses.
However...
As I drifted further away, into the sea of nothingness, I saw a moving streak.
It was blurry at first, but after a few seconds, I could make out the words it wrote.
Perhaps it was something I wanted to see, or perhaps my mind was playing tricks on me, but tho,se words filled me with hope.
'Do- you- wish- to- live?’
- Writer
