Page 4 of Elas

Elas

Present Time

Confusioncloudsmymindas I’m startled from a deep sleep, blinking at the pitch-black wall as the thumping resumes. “Fuck,” I groan as I sit up, glancing at my clock. Who in the hell is banging on my door at four thirty in the morning?

My feet are like lead as I shuffle towards the persistent noise, muttering obscenities under my breath as I peer through the peephole. Blinking against the dim, yellowish glow of the hallway lights, I swing the door open.

“You couldn’t have gotten dressed before answering?” Ronan scoffs, and my eyes widen indignantly as he shoves past me.

“Do you have any idea what time it is?” Sleep still clings to me, and my voice comes out raspy.

“Yes, I know what time it is, and—good gods, go find some fucking pants.” He drops into one of my chairs with a scowl, then shrieks when I plop onto his lap.

“You… are… fucking… naked!”He smacks my shoulders with every word as I throw my head back and laugh. “Your bare ass is on my leg!” He shoves me hard enough that I slip off his lap. Chuckling, I walk into my bedroom and begrudgingly pull on a pair of sweatpants, then head into the kitchen to grab a water bottle. Ronan’s scowl hasn’t lessened when I return and sit in the chair across from him.

“Listen, you’re aware of my sleeping habits, and you’re the one that showed up in the middle of the night. If you wanted to peep the goods—“

“Can you be serious for two fucking seconds?” he snaps, then squints at me. A sigh pushes from his nose as he deflates. “Did you have another nightmare?”

“It’s nothing,” I say, too quickly to be convincing, and he pulls his lips into a grimace. “Just a dream.”

Ronan nods towards my forearm, and the fresh red gouges that mar my skin. Clawing for freedom, even in my sleep. “Those scratches on your arm beg to differ. What was it about this time?”

“The day we met,” I admit in a mutter, and he leans forward, scrubbing his hands over his face.

“I’ve told you this a million times, but you should’ve just done as he asked.”

“You were a kid, Ronan. I wasn’t going to beat the snot out of a kid, even if you were a punk-ass little shit.” That pulls a grin out of him as he shakes his head. “Don’t deny it. Seventeen years old, and you could make a grownNu’vak feel like he was scum on the bottom of your boot. All you had to do was stare down your nose.”

“Did me a lot of favors, didn’t it? Half the people we trained with still refuse to speak to me.”

“All this time, and I never realized ignoring you was an option.” A surprised laugh bursts out of him and he tosses a throw pillow at me. His budding smile fades, though, as he stares at me with that quiet contemplation.

“Fuck, okay,” I mutter. Ronan is the only person in the world that can argue with me while never saying a word. “Yes, I had a nightmare, okay? It’s fine.”

“It isn’t fine.” He sits back and crosses his arms while his feet kick in agitation. “How long was it that time, huh? How many days were you locked in that isolation chamber for refusing to hurt me?”

Bravis knew exactly what cut me deepest. It was a punishment I was no stranger to—one that never got easier. No matter how often I was forced inside that claustrophobic cage, my reaction was always the same.

Violent terror.

Desperate pleading.

It wasn’t even a room, just a box without enough space to lie down… barely enough to sit comfortably. The only means of relieving yourself was a filthy pipe in the wall, and meals were usually forgotten.

But it was the darkness that hated me most of all.

It surrounded me, taunting and invading my body as it slowly stole the breath from my lungs. Wisping over me like a fog that branded me with its caustic tendrils. Over and over, I reached to find some invisible saviour,but no one ever came. My only companions in that endless darkness were the walls that inched closer by the minute.

Most soldiers were screaming to be released after three hours.

I was left to rot for three days.

That time,a little voice in my head argues.What about the times before?

“You know how long he left me there,” I say quietly, and any remaining joviality is sucked out of the room with my words.

“You should’ve taken the opportunity to kick my ass while you still could.” Thankful for the cut in the tension, I offer Ronan a small smile.

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