Lily woke up groggy. As she looked around, she realized she was in a place filled with young people and children. Thick brick walls and prison bars blocked any possible escape. Everyone appeared to be in a pitiful state, wearing rags, their malnourished and filthy bodies crumpled on the floor.
Lily noticed the ground was sticky, and when she raised her hand, she saw a dark liquid. The metallic smell left no room for doubt — it was blood.
"Ah!" She recoiled, rubbing her hand on her tattered clothes. This caught the attention of the children, whose lifeless stares pierced through her. No one bothered to explain what was happening, as none of them knew either.
After wiping her palms as best as she could,
Lily stood up and approached the iron bars. Just as she was about to call out, a hand covered her mouth.
"Don't even think about making noise," a boy's voice whispered in her ear.
Before she could pull his hand away to respond, the sound of heavy, orderly footsteps echoed down the corridor, growing closer and faster. Without hesitation, the boy shoved her to the ground, remaining the only one standing.
The guards arrived and saw the scene. They sneered with disdain. "Well, looks like we've got our next one."
The boy began to tremble violently, slowly turning his gaze toward Lily.
That lifeless look was the last thing she saw before the cell door opened and he was dragged out.
Terrified, Lily retreated to the back of the cell, huddling near the other children. Shortly after, piercing screams echoed through the dungeon's old walls, horrifying everyone who heard them. The screams lasted for minutes — perhaps even dozens of minutes — before fading into a hoarse, powerless wail.
Throughout the ordeal, Lily remained frozen, paralyzed with fear. The stares of the children around her felt like knives cutting into her mind and heart.
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." She buried her head between her knees, wrapping her arms tightly around them, overwhelmed by regret.
Because of her, that boy had died. That fact hammered cruelly in her mind.
"He died because he tried to save you," a voice murmured in her ear.
"But don't worry."
He won't be the last.
When Lily lifted her head, she saw a tall man staring at her. He wore a completely black suit, his hair dark as midnight, with brownish skin. However, the glimmer in his light-colored eyes seemed to pierce into the depths of her soul.
It was Celestine.
"But... I don't want this. I don't want this to happen," she whispered softly, so quietly that the others didn't hear.
But Celestine did. "This isn't under your control. But it's okay."
He knelt, resting one knee on the ground, and gently stroked her hair.
"Because I'll always be with you."
And then he vanished.
Lily sat stunned for a moment, unsure of what had just happened. Why had he appeared in the real world? Why did no one else seem to notice him?
Was she hallucinating?
...
A day passed without food or water. Lily looked around. Everyone seemed accustomed to the deprivation, leaning against the walls like silent skeletons, their gazes downcast, hope extinguished.
At this point, Lily was on the brink of losing her mind. The violence she had endured, the death of her parents, and being abducted after her savior abandoned her had shattered her spirit.
"Ah..." A low moan escaped her lips.
It was all too much for her. Hunger and thirst only worsened her deteriorating mental state.
She had already asked where they were and what was happening, but the only response she got was a blank expression, as if they didn't even consider her a living being anymore.
It was as if they hoped she would be next, that her death might cleanse their sins. Reading between the lines was torture for Lily's mind, which plunged deeper into the abyss of fear as she remembered the boy being taken away.
Footsteps snapped her out of her despair. When she looked up, she saw a girl wearing an iron collar around her neck, carrying a tray full of tightly packed bowls of food, just enough for most of the children. She crouched down carefully and slid the tray under the cell door.
"Please, don't make any noise. They don't know I'm here." She gestured for silence and stood up.
"Don't lose hope, kids. I believe help will come one day," she said with a gentle smile.
Yet her eyes were like stones, frozen in perpetual pain, just like the blood on her dress, dried and crusted over.
The hypocritical hope was oddly effective.
For some reason, hearing this from someone who could "move freely" in the place made the children and teenagers believe there might be a chance to escape that cage — maybe even to flee entirely!
Just as the girl was about to leave, she stumbled over something, the noise echoing off the narrow walls.
A guard spotted her and shouted harshly, "What are you doing here?! Get back to your cell!"
Another grabbed her arms and restrained her. Her stained dress swayed as the man tightened his grip.
"I... I... I'm sorry!" the girl began to cry, overwhelmed by the slightest threat.
"Looks like she brought food to the prisoners. Should we let them have it?" the yelling guard asked his colleague.
"Let them. They'll need some strength to survive the procedure," the other replied.
Hearing that the atrocities she had endured were about to be inflicted on someone else, the girl began to struggle.
In response, a blow to her neck knocked her unconscious.
"It's time to take another one."
The two guards scanned the children and teens. Among them, one stood out — the only one with a spark of life still in her eyes, relatively clean, with a pleasant appearance.
One of the guards began to salivate. Pointing eagerly, he said, "That one."
He unlocked the cell door and approached Lily. Reflexively, she kicked him between the legs, his face flushing with pain. Once he recovered, he grabbed her by the hair and dragged her to the door, throwing her to the ground.
"You wretched brat! I'll kill you!" he shouted, completely unhinged.
The calmer guard sighed, hoisting the unconscious girl over his shoulder. "Leave her alone. She'll get what she deserves soon enough."
"You're right," the malicious guard spat on the ground. "She'll see."
Lily, meanwhile, held back tears in despair. Her scraped elbow burned intensely, even this small injury pushing her closer to insanity.
The malicious guard lifted Lily and pulled a sack from his back, placing it over her head.
"Please, no! I'll behave, I promise!" she shrieked.
And so, Lily was forcibly taken to the experimentation room.
So this is it? I won't even get to honor my family's death?
In the end, she would die like an animal being slaughtered or live as someone else's degenerate experiment…
The guards stopped at one point. Strange noises coming from somewhere greeted Lily. Even the guards seemed apprehensive, knocking cautiously on the metal door.
"Another offering, sir."
Lily heard the sound of a door opening, followed by short steps made by leather shoes. The guard holding her breath hitched.
"Bring her in," an indifferent, elderly voice commanded the two men.
She was taken inside the room, and the sounds became clearer. They were wails and cries, interspersed with the faint, unmistakable sound of flesh being cut.
Tears began to flow silently down Lily's face. She couldn't even make a sound, paralyzed by fear.
They forced her onto a cold metal table, her body writhing from the chills. They fastened shackles to her wrists and ankles.
Finally, they removed the sack from her head. Three people stood around her, with more in the background, their faces grim, each holding different medical instruments. Lily glanced to the sides, spotting bodies—some already opened, others awaiting the same fate.
In one of the opened bodies, a black orb was being inserted into the chest cavity.
Seeing her likely future in that half-dead corpse, Lily's breathing quickened, and she screamed, "Please, someone save me! Please!"
"This one's a screamer. Richard, if you would." The familiar elderly voice found her face. He was the oldest and best-dressed of the men. Pointing a scalpel at one of the other doctors, he gave a subtle nod. Richard stepped forward.
He began to chant something strange, akin to an aria. Though Lily was agitated, she began to feel drowsy, her eyelids growing heavy until they finally shut.
She found herself in a dark space with two chairs. Lily sat in one, while a man sat in the other, cloaked in shadow.
"How far would you go to live?" he asked.
She realized she couldn't move or rise from the chair. The blinding light above her made it impossible to discern his features.
With no other choice, she answered, "... I would do anything to survive."
"I understand. Then so it shall be."
"Good luck, Lily."