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This was The Facility. A prison made for the supernatural by those who despise our kind. They weren’t prejudiced in their selection. Witches, warlocks, shifters, seers, demons, elves, fae, all types of supes…we were all regarded with disgust and hatred.
Over these past six years in The Facility…I’ve been beaten until bloody and broken. I’ve fought against creatures and beasts for their ‘tests’ and amusement. I’ve been starved until it almost drove me mad with hunger. I’ve been physically and mentally tortured in ways I never imagined were possible, but for what, I still don’t know.
For the majority of my life, I was abandoned or neglected by those I loved, not worthy or powerful enough to receive their affection. I became broken. An isolated shell of a girl who was beaten and bullied throughout her school years, a different kind of hell in my youth. I was betrayed by the people I held the dearest; all their sweet whispers were just bitter lies. And then I was brought here. To wither and slowly rot. But I survived.
My greatest regret in this life, and I have many, is not living freely. Not believing I was worthy enough to defend myself. That I took every hit, every hard word, and every cold look as if it was what I deserved. That I believed every sweet whisper and fake smile and questioned nothing, and that I held onto hope in relationships when there was none there to begin with.
To all those who made my life miserable…I wouldn’t be so forgiving. I would fight to be free not just from this prison but from the rules and thoughts of others. I would be me unapologetically.
Over six years imprisoned in a place that could give hell a run for its money, and even before that, I was bruised and beaten down in the mini hell called Wensridge Academy. It was a private supernatural academy for the elite filled mainly with malicious, entitled spawns from prestigious and power-mad supernaturals—ones who tried to break my spirit long before The Facility.
So, instead of heaven, it looks like I was sent to hell. I guess thoughts do carry weight because there's no way that paradise is the place where I spent five years being tormented and isolated.
back at me. Why did this feel so real? Why did everything feel as if it wasn’t a dream, as if it wasn't some illusion made up to make me suffer? Why did every moment I stand here breathing and moving feel as if this is actually real?
“Enjoy it while you can because this time…I’ll be the one to give you all a taste of real misery.”
No matter what happens from now on, I will be free. Freer than I ever was before. I would choose my own path no matter what that meant or where it would lead me. I’ll fight for the second chance I’ve been given.
My breath catches in my chest as a realisation dawns on me. I could never have this taken from me again. This freedom. There would be no dark and damp cells in my future and no cage of any kind imprisoning me ever again. Never.
How did I ever fear this man? His ego was evidently bigger than his five-foot-eight-inch frame. I’d met more terrifying guards almost twice his height with glares so dark and chilling they would make you tremble with just one look.
Did he think I would listen and apologise, complying quietly like the girl of yesterday? Well, unfortunately for him, she's no longer here and he's stuck with me. They all are. “You told me to stand, and last time I checked…” I glance down at the ground and back to his slightly widened eyes, “I'm standing.”
Just as he opens his mouth, the classroom door flings open, and in walks a very tall guy. His uniform is messy and loose, with an oversized leather jacket instead of the academy blazer. He wears multiple piercings in his ears and an expression that screams ‘Don’t fuck with me’. It seems that everyone got the message because they scattered from the seats at the back of the room, with the rest of the class not even daring to look his way.
Surprised looks and whispers ring out as I take the nearest available seat beside Mr. Tall, Dark, and Broody himself. It was the only available space, and he was asleep anyway, so who cared? Apparently him.
His head slightly tilts to the right, his loose brown hair falling to the side with the small movement and showing off the dark ink crawling up his neck. His piercing blue eyes trail down my body and back up a crease now furrowing his dark brows.
“Don’t you know who you’re fucking with?” His words are cold, reflecting the dark threat in his eyes, one promising pain. A deranged look that you would only see in a wild animal, having been backed into a corner one too many times. One that's been pushed to its limits and now reflects only the darkness and brutality it's seen and been shown time and time again.
“It's been a while since I’ve had anything fun to play with.” A wicked smile spreads across his lips, “And just when I was getting bored, too.”
My anger gets pushed to the back of me as I realise where I am and that the girl through those doors didn’t know I knew she was a fake, evil bitch who deserved every drop of misery she had served me on a platter and then the whole buffet to follow.
The deadliest predator is the one you don't even see coming. It’ll make it all the sweeter when I come for her, for all of them.
The blonde I now remember was Jeremy Colton, and the mousy-haired boy beside him was Jake Andrews. Both of them are wolf shifters and were constant tormentors throughout my academy years. Jeremy joins Jake in his joke, laughing as the third and most familiar boy just stares at me. Kane was my childhood friend. He was also a shifter and a jock, part of the school's football team with the other two asses.
Kane turns away and heads toward the class, making his way to Seria and the other three boys I used to call childhood friends.
My mind is as sharp as a twenty-seven-year-old with years of experience fighting and surviving assholes, but this seventeen-year-old body is weak even by human standards. I needed time to become stronger.
“Try…” I grit out, “And you’ll regret the thought ever having crossed your mind.” His eyes slightly widen before quickly curving upwards, a heavy and mocking laugh falling from his lips with his two lackeys joining in.
Jake steps closer. “You’re nothing. Don't forget that. We tolerate you, that's all. But if you step out of line, well…” His grin falls, his eyes hardening, “I wouldn’t want to waste my time having to deal with you, but I will if I have to.” Such dark threats from such small boys. I’d seen and fought bigger beasts that would have them wet their pants and leave them balled up in a fetal position.
Students here needed to know I wouldn’t take anything lying down anymore. There were consequences for touching me. And sooner or later, I would have them all pay in full.
What did the shapes mean, and why did they appear on my hips?
If there's anything I’ve learnt about Seria, it's that you can't trust anything she shows you. There's a vindictive malice behind those eyes. Forget a wolf; she's a snake in sheep's clothing. One who would slowly poison you bit by bit so she could watch you writhe and suffer slowly before her, all while smiling and feigning innocence.
loved her?! She had everything I ever wanted: our father's love, our bloodlines, powerful magic abilities, the admiration of everyone who met her, and the love and affection of the four boys whom I used to call friends.
I’m no longer blind. It just took six years in Hell and death to truly open my eyes, but I’ll never close them again.
Bit by bit, I’ll take my revenge and show them they should never have fucked with me.
If it weren’t for those stupid shackles, my weakened body, and The Facility keeping me in a constant survival state, I would have ripped through every guard and creature there. Nothing would have kept me caged.
I felt no fear in the dark, only a pure sense of freedom and enjoyment at taking in the beauty of a free world surrounding me and in doing what I couldn’t for six long years.
“Since you didn’t want me to waste anything, it’s better to share, right?” I flick my gaze to the boys around me and Ivy. “Or should I have put it with the rest of the trash?” A slight grin stretches my lips as Ivy wipes her face, her cheeks almost tomato red.
“If I’m so pathetic and deranged, then maybe you should be a little worried, Ivy.” I take a step closer, her face still dripping with red and white sauce. “Because if I really have no one, then I have nothing to lose.”
“Having nothing and no one can really do something to someone's mentality.” Meeting Ivy's gaze again, I give her a smirk, one that has her slightly flinching and taking a subconscious step back before I continue. “Even someone small or weak can light a match that would burn an entire house down to ashes.”
“Payback?” Another dark chuckle falls from my throat as I stare down at the mess and then back to Ivy. “Do you feel like you’ve paid for everything you’ve done to me over the years?” I shake my head. “No. How could something so miniscule be payback? It's not even the beginning.”
My four old childhood friends. The ones who left me for Seria. Xander, Kane, Anders, and Knox shift their stance to us, their gazes instantly hardening as they see the scene around us. Then, they walk straight over and place themselves around Seria in a protective stance.
“What's the point in talking to you? You’ve already made up your mind.” I turn away, ignoring the noise behind me as I make my way out of the cafeteria. How did I never see the bullshit right in front of my face? Why did I ever want the love of such cold idiots? And why did I ever let Ivy and those assholes have a hold over my life? Why did I never fight back?
One thing was definite now…there would be no holding back. Even if it hurts, even if I bleed, I’ll pay them all back for everything they’ve done to me.
If they loved me like they told me when we were younger, they would never have left me so easily for Seria.
Even with Seria’s schemes and sweet words, loyalty and love came hand in hand. If they believed her over me, whom they had known for years, then I couldn’t have meant much to them to begin with.
I had a taste of true love once. And even behind a cement walk with a gravelly voice, I knew it was real.
I used to hate it…until he taught me how freeing it could be. How something as small as humming and singing in that cold cell could pull me from the pain and to a different place away from it all…to somewhere that the two of us only existed. He's also the reason why I’ll never sing to another person again. I rub the centre of my chest, a familiar ache building again with the thought of him. He was my only warmth and comfort there, the balm to my lifeless soul, and the only shred of hope I had in that hell…Zrael. His rough, gravelly voice calls to me, my name on his lips the last word I hear
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“We could have done this the easy way.” He sighs while using his other hand to loosen his trouser belt. “...But I guess I wouldn’t have been gentle either way.” Slowly, he begins to undo his top trouser button as a slight moment of panic courses through my body. Memories and flashes of the first few weeks in The Facility and the constant threat of the guards hit me.
If I could fight and survive back then, I could do it here and now. I didn’t have strength then either, but I was still able to protect myself.
His words run through my mind, time slightly slowing with my thoughts, “You’ll be so broken and bruised…you’ll have to crawl back…”
And as for being ‘broken and bruised,’…there aren’t enough pores on my body or blood in my veins to measure the number of times I’ve been broken and bruised. I’ve experienced more pain in my twenty-seven years than every last one of these horrid pricks combined and then some. And now they want to add more? No. No more.
“I thought the others were disgusting trash.” Dean stills his movements, his eyes meeting mine as I continue. “But you three take being scum to a whole new level.”
“What do you think you're gonna do with that?” Cole's lip curls up as his eyes glow gold, taking another step closer as he continues. “We both know you won’t do anything. You're too weak, and we’re all shifters anyway.” He shrugs, a taunting smile stretching his lips. “We heal…but you won’t.” He tries to take another stride forward, but I move quickly, smashing the bottle on the wall nearest me and twisting the bottle around toward him. “Of course, shifters heal, but the real question is…how fast,” I take a step closer to Cole as his eyes flicker between my face and the broken and jagged
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