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They came for me. They drugged me. They stole me away.
Now I’m imprisoned in their home with no idea what they intend to do to me…
That’s a lie. You knowexactlywhat they want from you.
I do. I do know.
“You’re ours now, Zero,”Konrad had said.
Ours.
Theirs.
I’m theirs.
Konrad had shown me a glimpse of what being theirs meant. He’d touched me intimately. He did it without any thought or care, without remorse or guilt, without empathy. He stole a first of mine and tainted it. How many more firsts will he steal? Willtheysteal? Am I to become their plaything? Is this what my future holds? I’m to be used and abused for revenge?
Yes.
Yes, that’s exactly what they’ll do to you.
My fingers curl around the cold metal wrapped around my ankles as I try in vain to free myself. It’s a futile act, but I persist nevertheless. I’d known that The Masks were dangerous, dark, twisted men. My visions had revealed that to me, but I’d accepted that without fully understanding what it meant. I’d convinced myself that Fate knew what she was doing. That she had a plan for me, for them, for us. That she’d brought us together for a reason. A small part of me had romanticised what Fate had in store, had trusted that I’d paid the highest price already. I’d already lost my mum to Fate’s whims, and had been scarred by her capriciousness.
I believed I’d paid my due, and with that belief I’d allowed a sliver of optimism to take seed and silently grew it into hope. Whilst doing that, I’d done the one thing I vowed never to do; I had numbed myself to Fate’s cruelty, to the wickedness she could dole out when the mood took her. I had forgotten just what Fate is capable of. She had shown me as a child the extent of her savagery, and I’ve lived with the consequences of it my whole life. Fate is a wily bitch. She wears her crown of stars with pride, sprinkling love and happiness on those she feels are deserving. But like me, like The Masks, Fate has two faces, and for some reason she’s only ever shown me the barbaric one.
Pain. Anguish. Heartache. Cruelty.Death.
I’ve lived through all of it and have suffered the consequences.
Maybe Fate has chosen this path for me because, unlike everyone else, I can see my destiny and the destiny of others. Maybe it’s because I see hertrueface. Maybe I’m being punished for my gift that is ultimately my curse.
Maybe… Maybe… Maybe…
My shoulders drop, and I stop yanking at the shackles around my ankles. It’s futile. Even if I were strong enough to break these chains, to escape the prison cell, to find my way out of this place, away from The Masks, I know that I won’t be able to run forever.
There’s no running from Fate. No hiding.
Our fate, The Masks and mine, has been written, not in the stars— because only happy futures reside there—but sealed in death, blood and murder. She has made her decree and now I have to suffer the consequences of it. Only what Fate forgets and what The Masks have no understanding of is this: I’ve been here before. I’ve suffered before, but more importantly, I’ve survived.
* * *
“Wake up.I’ve brought you food and water,” a gentle, feminine voice says.
My eyes snap open, then slam shut almost immediately as a beam of light blazes in my face, stinging my eyes. My fingers press against my closed eyelids and I let out a groan as black spots dance behind my eyelids.
“I’m so sorry!” the voice quickly replies, swinging the light away. “I forget how dark it is down here.”
Blinking rapidly, I push upright. The uneven stone of the wall digs into my back as I move. Wincing, I suck in a pained breath.
“Are you hurt?” the young girl before me asks. She can’t be more than fifteen or sixteen years old.
Of course I’m hurt. I’m shackled to a damn wall!
That rage-filled thought slices through my mind, but I don’t voice it. Only one word comes out in its place. “Water,” I croak. The need to quench my thirst overrides everything else.
The girl nods, resting the torch on the floor by her feet. I don’t ask her who she is. I don’t even look at her for that long. Instead, my eyes focus on what she holds in her hands. I’m so, so thirsty.
“Yes, of course, here.” She places a plastic bottle in my outstretched hand. “I removed the cuffs from around your wrists whilst you slept. Drinking and eating whilst wearing them would be too difficult.”
