Riveted Dreams

White-blonde hair stayed plastered to my forehead as sweat dripped down my face. Blue-black eyes strayed to the far wall of the room, where an array of tools lied on shelves. They would be using, most likely, the knives and whips on my broken body today. I wondered absently what I would be maimed for today. Perhaps something as trivial as a small murmur of disagreement. Or there would be just questions; questions without answers that would leave me with blood running down my face, back and any other over-exposed skin. This, honestly, didn’t leave much with the clothing the bastards forced onto me each day.

My wrists grew tired as I pulled against the shackles on the walls. Why did I even bother? I wasn’t going to be able to escape, no matter how strong I was. There was really no point. At this point, my wrists were so horrid that you could barely tell there was flesh there; I’d been pulling at these metal bands for what felt like years, when in reality, it had only been a month.

Why was I here, in this horrible place? I constantly asked myself. Nothing seemed to make sense. These people wanted answers, but answers to what? What could they possibly want from me when I honest to God didn’t know a thing? I constantly told them this, but they never listened. It wasn’t what they wanted to hear. And so, out came a weapon of choice. They threatened me, probably hoped to scare me into submission. However, it wouldn’t work since I did not know anything!

My nose caught the scent of urine suddenly. My eyes strayed from the wall to the source of the smell; an elderly human man lied in the corner of the room. He was obviously dying by the way he was acting; he couldn’t hold his bladder anymore, didn’t seem to know how. I felt bad for him. He must be miserable but these bastards were the ones who put him through this misery in the first place. They did this to him. And if I ever got out of here, they would pay.

“You don’t have to stare at me with such sympathy, as if you know what I’m going through,” the old man croaked, glancing toward me with sad eyes. He missed his home, it was obvious. At least there he’d have someone who took care of him. Here he was just beat.

“I may not know what you’re going through, old man,” I replied, “but when you die, I will avenge your death. You and I both know that you won’t be alive much longer. It is a shame, really. You seem like a good man.” My eyes softened then moved away, trailing along the dirt and mold covered walls. The floor wasn’t any better. Only it was worse, filled with urine and feces that was spread across the floor from many prisoners. Dried blood was caked onto it as well as the walls.

It was honestly surprising that no one ever found us here. We were the only two people down here right now. Normally there’d be about four, but the other two died yesterday. Their deaths would be avenged as well. No one deserved the fate that we end up going through. Except maybe the people causing it.

I sniffed the air, immediately regretting it as the smell made me cringe. You wouldn’t believe how horrible the place was. They could at least clean it once in a while and keep their prisoners well fed. But no. They didn’t care, and why should they? We were only their punching bags for when something went wrong.

“I will watch over you and make sure that you get out of here, young lady,” the old man suddenly said, breaking the silence that filled the air.

I didn’t respond. How could I? He didn’t have the power to get me out of here, even in death. There was no way. I, a demon, do not even have the power to get myself out of here.

“And when you get out of here, I believe that you will avenge every single one of those deaths.”

That had me looking over at him. “Sir, if you believe that you can get me out of here, then I believe in you. However, I’m not sure that you can. I am a demon, a creature much stronger than that of a human and even I cannot break myself out.”

“Do not worry, Nikkina. Even in death, I will be strong. I will be young, I will be healthy. I will be a warrior that will break those shackles around your wrists. Have no doubt, got it?”

I chuckled. It was surprising. In a situation like this, you’d expect me to be crying, but instead, I was laughing at this man. How bizarre. “Sure, sure.” That was the end of that. We elapsed back into silence. A silence that was so nerve-wracking that it made me want to puke. Not that it would make a difference; I was disgusting as is. I hadn’t had a shower in what felt like years, and it wasn’t like the assholes cared what I smelled like.

As if on cue, the iron door at the top of the disgusting, rotting wooden stairs was pulled open. My body stiffened as one of the meanest men here appeared in the doorway. His name was Maddox and he gave no mercy to those he was punishing.

Once upon a time, he’d practically broken my neck, but luckily, the others were there to protect me. Well, I wouldn’t exactly say protect; more like stopping him from killing their precious little answerer. There were bones sticking out of my crushed throat, but seeing as I was a demon, I was able to heal. Any puny human would have died the moment their throat was crushed, but I wasn’t. I laid there, feeling absolute anguish.

White dog ears pinned back against my head, my lips pulling back to bare razor sharp fangs. The white of them gleamed in the dim lighting.

“Nikkina, pull back your lips. You do not want to make me angry. They have given me permission to hurt you any way possible as long as you don’t die. But first, you must give us the answers we seek.”

“I said I don’t know anything, you bastard!” I snarled through gritted teeth. As his eyes moved toward the old man, I opened my mouth to say, “Don’t you dare lay a hand on him, Maddox. I’m the one you want, not him.”

The man grinned maliciously, showing teeth stained yellow from years of carelessness. The front tooth had a large chip in it, half of the tooth gone. I remembered causing it. He had come at me with a lot of force the first day, and I’d retaliated, punching him in the mouth so hard that I’d knocked half of his tooth off. He was pissed; he called guards over to hold me down as he beat the living shit out of me. When he’d moved to my head, I used my fangs to cause him pain in his wrist. I had ripped out a large chunk of skin, along with part of the vein. But, somehow, that had repaired itself. I didn’t smell demon in him at all, yet he seemed to regenerate like he was one. No matter. I’d kill him one day anyhow.

He took long strides down the steps, the wood creaking as he did so. I was secretly praying that they’d finally give out and he’d die, but my wish never came true. I growled in annoyance.

“Tamper down, Nikkina. There’s nothing you can accomplish today. You are to be beat while held down with those shackles. I can’t believe we had never thought of it sooner.”

I stared defiantly at him, never allowing his words to faze me. I refused to let fear enter any part of me. I was a demon; I feared nothing, dammit! Except my heart wasn’t in it. It pounded against my chest furiously, the loud thumping reaching my ears, blocking the words that he now spoke to me.

The shit eating grin on his face told of promises. Especially when he moved leisurely toward the shelves. His gaze lazily roamed over them, spiking my nerves.

Which weapon would he choose today? I wondered.

Before he could grab a single tool, though, screams were heard upstairs. Loud, obnoxious screams that sounded murderous. A few people yelled, “Help me!”

Tilting my head to the side, I wondered what was going on up there. Maybe we would finally be able to escape? Glancing over at the old man, I felt my heart sink in depression as I noticed his closed eyes and non-rising chest. He was dead. Honestly, it was about time he died and got over his suffering, but I had still hoped he would have lived a little longer. At least long enough to where I could have fed him and gave him something good to eat before he went to the place people go.

Hmm, I thought as I listened to the screaming go on. Maybe his dying wish is coming true after all. It would be wonderful if it really did happen. But could it? Would it? Maybe.

A smile stretched across my face as the iron door burst open, emitting the screams inside. At the top of the stairwell stood a man. Well, a demon, if you wanted the specifics. He was tall, perhaps six foot and lean. His skin was light and from what I saw of his ears, they were pointed. White bangs covered his forehead, where a blue crescent moon lied, and the rest of his hair came to his knees. It was shocking how long the man’s hair was. I never knew a man with such long, gorgeous hair. Two magenta stripes were on each cheek.

A sword was held in his hand and the look on his face was pure, underlying fury. Gold eyes met mine and a silent understanding crossed between us. His eyes then moved, roaming, searching the room, disgust crossing his beautiful features before locking onto Maddox, who was slowly backing into a corner.

Finally. The stone cold monster fears something. No, not something. Someone. I smirked at the thought and accidentally pulled at the shackles, a hiss of pain being released. My poor wrists were so sore. I couldn’t wait to get out of here and wash up.

The man’s eyes once again looked at me, but then glanced back at Maddox. The sword he held was drenched in blood, some of it dripping from the tip and onto the floor. A smirk graced his lips, but only for a second. It was so subtle that I thought I’d imagined it, but that wasn’t the case.

One second he was at the door, the next Maddox’s head was rolling onto the floor, the body soon following. My eyes were wide as I saw the interaction. What just happened? My eyes couldn’t follow the exchange. Obviously he’d cut his head off, but…

And then, just as fast as before, he’d sliced the shackles from my wrists. My body slumped forward, a groan coming from my lips. I wasn’t used to moving all that much. I rarely got exercise so my body was extremely sore. It was such a waste.

Strong, muscular arms wrapped around my poor body and held me up before my face hit the gross ass floor. This man was a cold blooded killer and yet he’d saved me. Somewhere deep inside of him was obviously a heart.

“Are you okay?” he asked, curiosity cloaking any fury he’d shown before. I shook my head. “I’m assuming from the way you’re acting, you also cannot walk.” I shook my head again. “Great,” I thought I heard him mutter, but I could be wrong.

Without warning, my body was scooped up into his arms, the sword already sheathed at his side. How did he do that, move so fast? It was insane. Why did I care? My body seemed to have a mind of its own and instead of allowing me to stay awake, I fell into a black hole of sleep.