Page 1 of Kiss of Fire

One

Raya punched the orderly as hard as she could and took off down the corridor. She heard shouts behind her and flung a glance over her shoulder. Griggs was coming fast, his face contorted with rage, one eye swollen shut. In his hand was a telescopic baton and she knew he liked to use it.

She was faster than him, but as she rounded the corner she collided with something. A trolley, left carelessly in the corridor. She went flying and suddenly Griggs was on her, grabbing her hair with one hand, raising the stick with the other.

“You fuckin’ bitch, you're gonna pay for that,” he snarled.

She headbutted him, smacking her forehead into his nose. As he lurched back, she kicked him in the groin. He folded up, dropping the baton, nose bloodied. She pushed him off, knowing it was only a matter of time before others came.

She'd been planning her escape for days. Ever since she realised she was being watched by... bysomething. But she couldn't run until she had a weapon. And they weren't easy to come by.

Finally one of the doctors had left his biro on a desk. She'd swiped it on her way out of therapy. Waited till the orderly had come in for his afternoon check and stabbed him in the eye.

In a way she was glad it was Griggs. He was the cruellest one. But even he was less terrifying than the thing she’d seen watching her.

She ran breathlessly towards the main entrance. The keys she’d swiped had got her through two locked doors already. Now there was just one more between her and the entrance lobby.

She gave a sob, aware for the first time that tears were streaming down her face. She reached the steel door but her hands were shaking so much she dropped the keys. As she stooped to pick them up the quiet was shattered by the scream of the alarm bell.

She grabbed the keys and shoved them one after another into the lock.

“C’mon, c’mon,” she muttered under her breath. The third one didn’t turn, nor did the fourth.

Through the little square of security glass she could see the main entrance. Wide glass doors leading to the outside. Blue sky just one key-turn away.

A hand grasped the back of her shirt, yanking her backwards so hard she couldn't breathe. She tried to kick out but Griggs was ready for her. He got her in a chokehold, twisting her arm so far up her back she could feel the bones creaking. He pushed his mouth to her ear. She could smell the blood on his nose where it had congealed.

“I swear to you, you will wish you'd escaped, bitch,” he spat. “I’m going to make you pay.”

She felt his erection pressing against her. Not because he was remotely attracted to her, though that would be gross enough. No, Griggs got off on the power trip.

She stopped struggling, knowing it was useless. It would only excite him more. Her stomach churned queasily. Two more orderlies came sprinting up, one wielding a syringe.

“Hold her steady,” he barked.

Raya’s vision blurred with tears. She’d been so close.

“You don’t understand, you have to let me go.” She felt the prick of the needle enter her arm. “They're after me. They're here.”

A black veil dropped as the sedative took effect. The last thing she saw as she lost consciousness was the small patch of blue sky through the security glass.

The orderlies took her by the arms and legs and carted her back to her room.

“Bloody schizos,” muttered Griggs.

Two

The doctor looked at Raya over his steel rimmed glasses.

“A most unfortunate episode this week, Suraya. You could have blinded Mr Griggs. Why were you trying to escape? I thought you realised how important your treatment was?”

Raya sat opposite him, fiddling with her hair. The weird copper strand that grew on one side was twisted around her index finger. She wound it tighter and tighter.

She'd been kept under close watch for forty-eight hours, as was usual after a security breach. Griggs had delivered her meals to her on a tray, spitting deliberately and noisily into her food before passing it through the hatch.

“Enjoy, bitch,” he'd smirked, walking away. His eye still looked bloodshot and his nose was swollen.Good, she thought viciously.

She rubbed the top of her ears. They were itching again. Remnants of her childhood eczema, which always flared up when she was stressed.

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