Page 24 of Us Dark Few

Heavy pressure constricted the air around her. She couldn’t breathe. Her muscles were paralyzed as the guard forced her closer. She wasn’t moving. Why wasn’t she moving?

The wet slime of his tongue darted along her earlobe.She closed her eyes, nails scraping against her palms, as her mind began to shut down. His heavy breath slid across her neck, and the hard bulge in his pants pressed against her stomach.

“Get down on your knees and take it,” he commanded.

Khalani’s eyes flashed open. Without thinking, she leaned into his weight and forcefully shoved her knee between his legs. The guard let out a heavy groan and released her arm. His back bowed, and he clasped his stomach.

“You little bitch,” he swore, still bent over.

Khalani didn’t waste any time escaping. She left the cart and sprinted full speed up the stairs. Her legs pumped faster and faster, like a ferocious fire raged behind her.

Every prisoner was still finishing their afternoon shift, so no one saw her running for her life. She didn’t stop running until she got to her cell block. She put her hands on her knees and coughed in exhaustion as sweat ran over her entire body.

She rubbed her hands over her hair, realizing her limbs were shaking. Her eyes slid down both sides of the hall, frantically looking for signs of the guard, but he was nowhere to be found.

Her heart refused to slow its vicious pace. As the entire predicament replayed in her mind, Khalani finally realized the severity of her actions.

“What did I do? What did I do?” she asked herself.

She just assaulted a guard.

Khalani buried her face in her hands and sank back against the wall. Her mind conjured unthinkable scenarios. Suffering she’d no doubt face from her actions. It did not matter that he assaulted her first. She was a lowly prisoner. The guards could inflict any punishment desired without consequence.

She was already dead.

The bell—signaling the end of the afternoon shift—rang, startling Khalani. She held a hand to her heart and tried to focus on inhaling but struggled to catch a single breath. She was having a panic attack.

The blood still streaming from her arm caught her eye, momentarily distracting her. She gently wiped the blood on her uniform, and a sizable cut revealed itself in a cruel line down her forearm. How many markings would she receive in Braderhelm?

How long would she have to live?

One thing Khalani knew, she couldn’t hide outside her cell. She had no choice but to go to the pit and hoped that if the guard was there, the number of people around would deter him from killing her on the spot.

She rubbed her fingers together, eyes meticulously sliding to every space of open air in the caves as she walked to the pit. Her muscles were coiled tight like a wire, expecting the guard to emerge from the shadows at any moment and wrap his hands around her throat.

As she descended into the pit, the soft, distant echo of cheers emanated from the fighting ring. It all reverberated as a dull ringing in her ears.

Her vision was cloudy. The sound of prisoners talking jumbled into a tumultuous mixture of white noise. Thoughts collided within her brain at a thousand miles an hour. It was hard to concentrate. Think. Feel. Her panic manifested and grew to greater heights as she surveyed the pit.

Where was he?

“Khalani.”

Was he waiting to strike when she least expected it?

“Khalani.”

Would she meet her demise quickly, or would death come slowly and be filled with pain? If her death was guaranteed, maybe the only way she could gain control was by doing it herself…

“Khalani!”

She flinched as Serene’s voice finally filtered through her raging mind.

“What’s wrong?” Serene frowned. “Did you not hear me?”

“Sorry.” She rubbed a hand through her hair and tried to catch a shallow breath. “Sorry. I got lost in thought.”

“What happened to your arm?”

---