Darklit

Chapter 1

Iron cuffs grasp my wrists and ankles, refusing to let go. I now have a bracelet of black and blue on both wrists. The cuffs are grasping me are so tight that there is only room for my bone. I feel as though the blood is completely cut off, but I somehow am able to move my fingers. I’m stretched by iron chains, so tight that I can’t move anything, which is excruciating. I've thought for a long time, and decided that all my limbs were dislocated. The only thing I would have been able to move was my head, but some mysterious force holds my head and eyes in one position: straight ahead.

The fact that I can’t move my head is almost pointless, due to the fact that mirrors surround me. The ceiling, floor, and walls are completely made of crystal clear mirrors. There isn't a light in sight, that is, except for the little emerald ones, coming from the eyes of magical creatures. They are black and seem to be made of pure darkness, if there is such thing.

There seems to be an emptiness to the creatures. Whenever I look at them, any hope I ever had of getting out of here vanishes at first glance. I blink, and the hope would come back for a moment. I open my eyes, gone again. I call them Darklits. Dark because of the pureness of their evil and the very small amount of light coming from their emerald eyes. -lit because the light is so eerie that it looks like it was from a distant, long ago time.

There was only one Crystalight, as I call it. It’s pure white with bright, golden eyes that light up the room in a yellow light with a tint of green, caused by the Darklits. I look at it and see a vision of my past, and my hope would be restored. I didn’t see it very often, and I also wondered why my captors hadn't removed it.

The front part of the room lifts to reveal nothingness with dark robed man with a cold demeanor. He slowly walks into the room, stepping loudly in a cocky way. As the room slowly lights up in a florescent way, due to his hand, I can hear innocent people yelling in pain. He has the same effect on me as the Darklits. My heart drops every time he, or they come near.

It’s “time” again. Time is the worst few minutes of every day, where the only thing I can think about is that fact that I will be here forever, magic encasing me in darkness and my dreams of being a world class physicist impossible.

He smiles a most evil smile. It isn't that he's here that makes me sick. It's the fact that he appears to be genuinely happy to torture me.

"So... What do we do today, my friend?" He asks slowly, in a most dark way, but still filled with glee. All I want is to cuss him out, but I can't talk from thirst. All I really can do is think and use my senses. 13 days I've been in here. No sleep, no food, no water, and less than no movement. My life is almost literally nothing now. I should be dead.

I decide to mouth the words that might, on the off chance, set me free, "Anything, fellow demon. Anything you wish," My intelligence may be the only thing I can hope with, though I can easily imagine they only want my agony. If that's what they want, they have it, probably forever.

What are you doing with your life? It's just a trance. I cannot keep letting it bring me down. I must keep finding things to think about. I can't let my speedy brain tell me this forever, even if I have to visit my darker moments. It's a stupid trance. It is also the most brilliant spell ever cast. My mind races. My heart beats slower and slower. I bet when my heart stops I will still be alive. There's a difference. There's a difference between living and not dying. Why can't I just live? No. Must keep it away. I can't believe this is my daily struggle, just a blip in time for so many thoughts. Ouch. He grazes the side of my face with his claws, leaving a sting.

"Well then, my dear. Let's play... a little game."

My heart feels motionless. A little game? Does this mean what I think it means? That would be the grossest thing ever. I hear chains rattling. They sound heavy. Very heavy. A hole appears in the front of the room, and spits out chain; the biggest chains I've ever seen. I'm gonna be sick. My stomach churns, partly in hope for food, partly in fear.

Motors. Why do I hear motors? I try to look up but my efforts are pointless. I just want to cry. All the sudden, SNAP! I can't breathe. A heavy cuff around my neck cuts off my air. No! This can't be happening! Come on! Why can't it just be what I thought it was going to be? I'd rather give up that. Hello, I'm kind of new here. I'm Katherine, or Kat. I've been here 13 days without food, sleep, water, and recently air. Yeah, that's how I'll introduce myself until tomorrow. I think too much.

I feel a metal weight slowly come down onto my head. The evil man claps, clinking his claws together, and I can look around again. It still goes lower. Lower. Ouch. Okay, it can stop. Finally. There's not enough room for my neck and head together, but at least my body wasn't sawed in half or something.

Wait. I should be passed out by now. My lungs. Oh, my lungs. A loud demand interrupts my disturbed thoughts, "Talk!" I look at the man, his eyebrows raised. I can't talk, but he demands again, but louder, "Talk!"

"I can't!" Ow. That felt like a stab to my throat. Oh. I talked. I'm a hypocrite.

He taps my nose with his claw, "So are you ready for our little game?" I try to nod as best as I can in the new chains and weights. He raises his hand, palm facing up. The man, concentrating heavily swings it under until spikes are just almost touching me. They are pitch black, but are burning a very hot blue at the ends of each one. This just can not be good.

The evil scoundrel whispers, "Okay, are you listening?" His eyebrows raise as the word listening exits his mouth. I nod as best as I can. "Then you should know that if I hear a sound out of you, even a tiny whimper, those spikes go straight through you and stay." He backs away and vanishes.

My stomach lurches. What could happen? All the sudden, I feel it. A pinch in my arm. I try to look over, but I can't see anything, just a dent in my skin. It gets harder until blood starts dripping out of it. Deeper, until it reaches my bone. Deeper, all the way through.

At this point, I'm very dizzy. A deep scratch travels across my back, the blood drains out of my arms and legs, but my head is thankfully unharmed so far. He walks in front of me, I assume, because his robes brushed my leg. He reappears a foot or two away. One step closer, another step, until he is inches away.

"Are you ready?" the man asks as he grazes his claws across my arm. It wouldn't have mattered. He very spontaneously makes five deep scratches, one for each of his claws, across my belly. That's when the worst of the worst happens. I try my hardest not to make a single noise, but the pain is all too much.

"Ow." I whimper in the smallest of high pitched voices.

"It will be different." my captor explains, then snaps and vanishes. At the same time, the spikes rush in penetrating my skin and bone, not to mention everything else. It burns every inch of my body except my head. It burns blue, but I still don't disintegrate.

The blood evaporates, turned into gas. Everything leads to one thing: I should have fainted. He did say it would be different. These spikes are the new worst thing that have happened in this hellhole. It used to be the itchiness. Oh, I still itch, but even though it persists, these spikes are still worse.

When I first got here, for the first three days, I would be tortured with one thing, which happened to be the worst until now. The feathers. It's way too cliche! Who actually does that as real torture? Someone with real sense, that's who. Insane, but most certainly not senseless. Even I have dreamed of putting my enemies through that. Whoever tortured me would just use those stupid feathers on me until I wet my pants or something! It was extremely humiliating, but the worst part is that the itches just get worse, and worse, and worse, and worse. All I wanted to do until now was just scratch all over until every itch was perfectly gone.

Yesss! That's the chosen one! "Who's there?" I ask the voice. Light, my friend. I am all light in existence. You are the other. "The other what?" I ask Light. I feel an electric shock all through my body, golden lines surge around my body. You'll sssee. I see the golden light of the crystalight. I look carefully, knowing there's much to observe. I guess I was pretty on target.

Chapter 2