Coughing, I woke up with an even worse headache than the last time.

Rolling, I felt the hard stone beneath me… and lack of moss.

What had he hit me with…? My head was throbbing, and I felt…

Blinking, I realized I felt something warm wrapped around my head.

Lying on the ground, I found I wasn’t actually on the stone floor. I was on the floor, but there was a prickly blanket of some kind beneath me. It was so coarse it may as well have been as uncomfortable as the stones. In fact, I would have preferred to just sleep on the stones.

“What…” I mumbled as I slowly sat up.

My arms were free. No chains bound them, or weighed them down… and on my head was a…

There was a bandage. Wrapped around my head. It was thick, and even made my left ear bend down a little underneath it.

Okay. This needed to stop. Passing out, then waking up in weird places with weird injuries and bandages was really crossing the line and…

A clatter startled me. I tried to leap to my feet, as to fight for my life, but the coarse blanket slipped under my feet. With horrible footing, and my exhausted and weak body, I lost my balance. Falling forward, I went face first into what felt undoubtedly like iron bars.

Groaning in pain, I slid along the bars to the ground… ending up on my knees and arms.

“Are you really a powerful monster?” a doubt laced tone asked.

“Sometimes I wish I was,” I said with a nasally voice. My nose was burning… and sure enough, I found it to be bleeding.

Wiping my nose and mouth, I slowly sat back up. I was no longer on the blanket, but it was somehow for the better. The stones were smooth, and cool. They felt good beneath me, since my body was burning up.

I was still sick… and I knew all the excessive events hadn’t helped none. Plus who knows how long I had been floating in that cold river.

Looking around, I ignored the feeling of blood dripping down my face. My nose was bleeding rather badly, but it didn’t hurt anymore at least.

There were thick bars in front of me. They went from the floor all the way to the ceiling, and had bars across them too as to support them. The room was a little bigger than the one I had been locked in before, with the coffin. This time though I wasn’t alone… if you didn’t include that corpse in that coffin at least.

The young girl from before. The one who had been standing behind Franz. She was sitting on a small stool on the other side of the bars. She was staring at me with an odd look and…

“I thought you were deaf?” I asked.

“To them I am,” she said.

Oh…?

Sniffing, I flinched. That hurt. I rubbed my face again, and decided to at least attempt to clean up the blood. I grabbed the horribly itchy blanket I had been on and used it to wipe my face off.

Although the blanket cleaned me of blood, it definitely hadn’t felt any better to do so. Now my whole face itched.

“What was your name?” I asked the girl.

“Nory.”

Nory. Right. That weird man had said that.

“What happened…?” I asked as I slowly stood up. At least I wasn’t chained up anymore.

“Shanks hit you over the head with a hammer. Be lucky that’s all he did, I’m rather surprised Franz stopped him,” Nory said.

“Stopped him from what? Killing me?” I asked. I’m lucky the hammer hadn’t done it already.

“Kill? No. He wanted to rape you,” Nory said.

I froze, and turned to look at the girl.

She was calm. Unbothered by what she had just said.

“What…?” I asked. Had I heard her correctly?

Nory shrugged. “It’s what he does. He’ll likely still do it. Franz can control his brother, but not for long,” she said.

Just wonderful. Time to leave.

Stepping towards the bars… I searched for whatever was like a door. I found it readily enough, there was a latch on the outside but it was locked. There was an actual key mechanism, and was connected to a very large bar which went straight into the stone wall.

Grabbing it, I went to tugging and pulling… to see and feel for any signs of a weakness. Something to abuse and exploit. There had to be at least one or two bars I could break or bend as to escape…

“Franz said you’d try to escape,” Nory said, still seated.

“Yeah?” I said back, not really caring about her anymore.

“I’d be careful. Shanks will likely have started preparing. He’s dealt with your kind before,” Nory said.

“Then I better just… sit here and wait for him to come in and kill me, right? Or rape me,” I said, and spat as I moved to another bar. The locking mechanism was rather firm… but maybe one of the bars it was connected to instead…

“Mhm…” Nory sounded disinterested as she watched me.

“I’ll kill that man. I can’t believe this,” I grumbled.

“Franz may still release you. He knows better than to get involved with you demons,” Nory said.

“I hope he does.”

“As do I.”

I paused a moment to glance over at the girl. She was still seated on the chair and…

Wait…

“Why are you naked…?” I asked worriedly.

Why hadn’t I noticed until now? It wasn’t like this room was pitch black like the other one had been. There were several bricks missing near the top of the ceiling, letting light in. Like little windows.

“Well, when he couldn’t rape you he needed somewhere else to vent his frustration, right?” Nory said simply.

My stomach churned, and I looked away from the girl.

How wonderful. Just great. Why was everything continuously getting worse for me? It was never ending, wasn’t it?

How come I went years and years without a single issue, then when something did happen… it was like this? Tumultuous and horrible.

Gritting my teeth, I nearly shouted in frustration as I slapped one of the iron bars. Stepping away from the gate, I tried to calm down. I was letting the situation get to me. Which wasn’t too shocking, but I needed to calm down… before it got worse and worse…

“Yes. Very frustrating.”

Turning back to Nory, I started to pace in my cell. It wasn’t that big, and other than the blanket on the ground… and myself, there was nothing in here.

“Why are you sitting there?” I asked.

“Once he was done he left me in here,” she said.

I kept the bile in my throat as I looked away from the girl.

And that was honestly all she was. She looked younger than I did. What the hell was wrong with humans?

Though… my brothers had been just as cruel, hadn’t they?

Looking around, at anything other than Nory, I found her clothes. Or at least… her robes. They were near the wall… obviously where they had been tossed at.

“At least get dressed, Nory,” I said.

She tilted her head at me, and then smiled. “Some monster you are,” she said… and then, thankfully, stood up.

Relieved, I watched as she got dressed. I tried not to see the bruises and scars on her body. They disgusted me, since I knew some of them were likely because of me.

If what she said was true, then in a way they were.

Once she had her robe back on, I realized that was indeed all she had for clothes. So she was naked beneath it. Just great.

“Are… are all churchmen like this?” I asked worriedly.

“Like Franz and Shanks? No. Not at all. As far as I’m aware,” Nory said as she went back to the stool. “Though to be honest… I was raised to be a knight’s squire. I’ve only recently been at the mercy of Franz and his brother, so my knowledge of the church is rather limited,” she added.

She sat back down as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do.

A knight? Really? I wonder what a squire is.

“You seem awfully calm about it,” I said.

She shrugged.

Was she that… desensitized to it all, or was she just broken? Or was it one of those things humans just… adapted and considered normal? Like with Suzie and her children’s forced marriages.

“Can you get me out?” I asked her.

Nory frowned. “I’d rather not be beaten,” she said.

“You already get beaten,” I corrected her.

She blinked, and then smiled. “Right. You’re right. But being raped and beaten nowadays isn’t that bad. They can be far harsher. If I help you escape, Shanks will do far worse to me. So, I’m sorry, but no,” she said.

Well… least she was honest. And it wasn’t like I could blame her. She was probably right.

Stepping over to one of the stone walls, I reached up to grab the hole that the sunlight was peering through. Holding onto the hole with my fingertips, I pulled myself up as to look out of it.

Squinting outside, I found a… oddly empty world just outside. It looked like we were at least a floor or two up, since I could see what looked like a roof right below us… and the trees in the distance looked a little oddly shaped and sized. Was that tree missing all its leaves?

Slowly lowering myself, I tried to tug on the brick as to see if I could make a hole.

My nails scraped the stone, and I felt the stone brick budge and rattle… but it didn’t pop out or break.

I messed with it for a moment, and then tried some of the bricks around it. None of them wanted to budge.

Undeterred, I went to another wall. To the only other hole in the cell itself. This one was directly opposite of the other, and only revealed another brick wall. It looked like another building, or section of the same building, was right next door.

This brick was far looser. In fact…

Grunting, I finally got the thing free. With a small sound it popped out of its place, and scraped away as I pulled it out of the wall.

The room became a little brighter as I smiled up at the larger formed hole. It was only two bricks large, not big enough to fit through, but it was a start.

Stolen story; please report.

“Huh,” Nory was a little surprised it seemed as I dropped the brick and went to break off another.

“What’s outside right here?” I asked her.

“The outside,” she said.

I paused a moment, and glanced over at her. She had a very serious look on her face.

“I meant… what’s out there? Any fences? Moats?” I asked.

“Oh. No. If you can get down from here, you can just… leave I guess. There are no walls or fences here.”

Perfect.

The next brick didn’t come away as easily, but it felt good to see the hole get bigger. This time I went to messing with one of the bricks on the sides, as to widen the hole.

As I attempted my escape… I became very aware of Nory’s silence.

When I got the fifth brick free, which came away in pieces, I turned to look at the girl. She blinked at me, but said nothing.

Gulping, I shifted. “What will happen if I escape and they find you just sitting there?” I asked.

“Hopefully nothing. It’s not like I could stop you anyway. I don’t have the key to get in either,” she said.

I see.

Then she shrugged. “Probably a beating. But it’s fine. Go ahead.”

I inwardly groaned as I looked up at the hole I was making. It was nearly almost big enough that I’d be able to fit through it. Just a couple more bricks.

I felt bad for her, but… I couldn’t stay. No longer. I could have died several times already, I couldn’t risk it again. Especially not with these weirdos and…

The bandage on my head slipped, thanks to all my movement. I went to tighten it… but realized there was no point. I took the bandage off, and stared at the lack of blood upon it. There was a small stain near where my right ears were, but nothing fresh.

Tossing the bandage aside, I wondered who had put it on me.

“How long had I been out?” I asked.

“A day. Franz tended to some of your wounds. Paul and his sister didn’t know what they were doing, so he also properly dealt with your arrow wound,” Nory said.

“Why would he do that?” I asked as I touched my shoulder. There was a nasty scab in the front, and an even worse one in the back. Yet it was slimy, some kind of salve was on it.

“Franz is terrified of whatever scared him last time. It haunts him. Ever since I’ve known him he even wakes up screaming sometimes. It’s why he’ll probably let you go, even if you just wait. That’s how scared he is of your kind,” she explained.

“He didn’t seem that scared,” I said.

“You don’t look scary,” she said with a shrug.

Well… some didn’t agree with that. Suzie for instance had looked at me like I was the very monster Franz seemed terrified of.

I wonder who, or what, had terrified that man so?

“If you can escape, I suggest doing it soon. Any moment now the other churchmen will arrive. They’re not as… weird as Franz and his brother, but they’re just as dangerous. More so even, in a way,” Nory warned me.

Right. Franz had said that. Letter sent to another church.

Stepping back up to the hole, I had an easier time clawing at it. I had pulled enough bricks away that I could now comfortably reach the ones I wanted to remove. It was a good thing the original hole, and missing brick, hadn’t been too much higher.

Seems like a weird oversight to put these in the cell… but maybe a normal human didn’t have the strength to do this?

Honestly I wasn’t having too much difficulty with it. Even if I was breaking my nails as I…

The door opened. And not the one to my cell.

Turning quickly, I went still as I watched Franz step into the room.

He paused a moment, noticing what I was doing… then he smiled and then shut the door behind him.

“Well? Keep going,” he said.

Don’t need to tell me twice. I returned my focus on my efforts, doubling them even.

“I’m glad to see you’re finally up. Your kind usually has great tenacity. I was worried for a moment there, even if your bleeding stopped quickly,” Franz spoke calmly, unbothered by all the noises I was making as I created my escape.

“Yes. Thank you,” I said blandly.

“Mhm… And you. You’re deaf, but not blind. I’m glad you didn’t alert my brother, but you really should have gotten me,” Franz said to Nory.

My hand went still, thanks to the man’s tone.

Turning my head, I flinched as I watched his hand connect with Nory’s head. She fell off the stool; it clattered away as she landed harshly on the ground.

Franz sighed, and went to rubbing the back of his hand. “Seriously. So useless. And I thought those siblings were bad,” Franz mumbled.

My mouth had long since gone dry, and now I wished I had instead found a way to open the cell.

Then I would have been able to wring his neck.

Though…

Glancing down at my hand, and the large piece of stone in it from a broken brick… I calmly lowered my hand, putting it to my side.

“Why punish her if you’re letting me escape anyway?” I asked.

“It’s principle. They don’t learn otherwise,” Franz said.

“If she can’t hear you… how does she even know what she’s being punished for?” I asked. They thought she was deaf, after all.

Franz shrugged as he bent down. At first I thought he was going to continue his violent teaching, but instead he simply grabbed the stool. He righted it up, and went to sitting on it. Nory groaned as she squirmed and rolled over… and began to slowly crawl away, like a bug trying to not be noticed.

“You’re a strange one,” Franz said to me.

Says you?

Nory finally stopped groaning, and she slowly sat up. I didn’t like how… blank of an expression was on her face. Even though the right side of her face was swelling already, rather considerably, she didn’t even seem bothered by it as she stood up. Franz ignored her as she stepped over to him, and took her place about a food behind him on his left… like some kind of servant.

Nory stared lifelessly at me, or rather at the bars between us.

“Do you pity her?” Franz asked me.

“I do,” I said honestly.

“Yet you’d get a child and woman killed?” he asked with a frown.

“What are you talking about?” I asked. He really was insane…

His frown deepened as he sat up straighter. “A woman, who you startled in the village of Limbar to our east. You shocked her so deeply she went into an early pregnancy. She and the child died during birth,” he said.

I dropped the stone in my hand.

“Ah. You didn’t know. Interesting. So it had actually been just an accident? Had you been hiding your traits? Exposed on accident? Very interesting. I’ve always thought there were far more of you than anyone believed, and you were all just living amongst us. I’m… honestly not happy to find out I was right,” Franz rattled on as he nodded and sighed, as if upset.

Him. Upset.

He had no idea what being upset was.

Suzie was dead. As was her baby.

Because of me…?

Oh…

Closing my eyes, I didn’t even try to stop the sob that broke free.

“Wow. Tears. Sorrow. I’d be shocked, had I not seen it before,” Franz said.

“You’re a heartless bastard,” I cursed at him.

“I am. But I did not say that in the sense I was ridiculing you, or your situation. Rather I was making a factual statement. I have seen your kind weep like this before, for a similar reason,” Franz said.

“Huh…?” I sniffed as I opened my eyes as to glare at the man.

He nodded. “The monster who attacked that night. He had wept too. After finding what my brother’s mentor had done to his comrade. I’ve always found it interesting… He was a genuine monster. A real one. Yet he wept with emotion, in the same way as you're doing now. Like the weakest and most innocent child would. Yet here I am, incapable of doing the same. It makes me feel like the real monster,” Franz said.

“Congratulations. You’ve figured it out,” I growled at him.

He smiled. “Isn’t it interesting?”

“Not at all. It’s disgusting.”

Franz nodded. “Isn’t it?” he said and I noticed Nory glance at him… as if she too couldn’t comprehend his blatant hypocrisy either.

Sniffing, I collected myself and ignored the taste of blood in my throat. It was likely from my nose, since I had cried and sniffed so hard.

Returning to the hole, I used both hands to pull off a good chunk of brick. Only half fell into the cell. The other half fell outward, outside. I heard them clank onto what sounded like other stones underneath the hole.

A part of me wanted to… somehow punish this man, and his brother. But I wasn’t foolish enough to risk it.

I was hurt. Exhausted. Sick. And somehow, impossibly, it seemed they knew about my kind. Maybe even more than I knew about my own people.

They were dangerous. Too dangerous to keep risking being around.

As much as it sickened me to run away, and possibly let these two torment and hurt more people… especially even more of my own kind…

Hesitating, I paused as I pulled another stone away. “How many of my kind has your brother hurt?” I asked.

“That I know of? Four. Though one survived. The one that monster came to get,” Franz answered. And I believed it to be an honest answer.

He was the type of insane that didn’t need to lie in this situation.

“The other three?” I asked.

“Actually no. There have been five. You’re the fourth, I guess. Technically. So five. And the other three… well… one’s dead for sure. Another escaped, I think, but not sure. The other died during childbirth. Funny that,” Franz said.

Funny.

Something in me snapped. And not a muscle this time.

Stepping towards him, I swung my arm with all my might. Franz startled, as did Nory.

Neither had time to react beyond their startle. I flung the stone I had just broken off with all my might. Threw it right at Franz’s face.

The stone regrettably hit one of the bars between us… but it hadn’t mattered. It shattered upon impact, and Nory yelped as Franz raised his hands. The singular stone of brick turned into hundreds of little ones, and the vast majority hit Franz’s outstretched hands.

A small puff of dust filled the air, and dozens of little pebbles bounced off the wall behind him and around the floor. Nory was stepping away, covering her head. She had been far enough out of the way that nothing had seemed to hit her... but Franz...

I huffed as I stared at what I had done.

“Ah… ah!” Franz stood, staring down at his hands.

Or what was left of them.

His left hand was dangling off to the side. Barely attached to his wrist. His right hand was still attached, but was mangled. A finger was missing, and the others were bent and askew. His hands had received the brunt of the damage, but that didn’t mean his face had come out unscathed. He had little drops of blood starting to form all over his face… and it looked like several of his front teeth were now missing.

“Ahh!” Franz turned, screaming in pain and shock. He ran right into the door, which was still closed, and immediately went to fumbling with the latch. His broken hands couldn’t work it.

Franz screamed wordlessly, and Nory finally took action. She stepped forward, pushed past the man, and unlatched the door. He fell forward as the door opened outward, and he fell to the ground out into the hallway. He rolled, and found his feet… running away down the hall.

His left hand had been left behind. Lying on the ground near the door.

“Are you okay Nory?” I asked worriedly.

She turned to me, and for the first time since seeing her… she now had actual emotion on her face. And not one of pain.

After a brief moment she seemed to get her fear under control, and she looked down at herself. She shuffled her baggy robes, and then looked back up at me.

She seemed fine. She had been to the side enough, and had ducked away. Franz had been sitting too close to the bars. He had pulled the stool just too close and…

And…

Staring at the bloody hand in the hallway, I felt sick again.

Did I really just do that?

“His… His brother. Escape. Quick. Shanks will come,” Nory spoke quickly, worriedly.

“You too,” I said to her.

She blinked at me, and then looked at the hole I had made. It was now big enough I could get through.

Then she pointed at the fence of iron between us.

Ah right.

“Just run out. Just run away, Nory. Go downstairs, go out the front door, and just run. Get away from here,” I said to her.

The young girl gulped at me… and we both heard a cry of pain from down the hall. Franz’s voice.

“But…”

“But nothing? Just go. You said it yourself, his brother will come. He’ll be furious. I’m not waiting for it. I’m leaving. So you leave too. Don’t die for this. I’ve had enough people die for me, don’t make it worse,” I said to her.

Stepping over to the hole, I reached up to grab onto it. Yet before I hauled myself up and over it… I spared one last glance over at Nory.

She looked… very unsure of herself.

“Just go Nory!” I shouted at her.

“Wait! I will!” Nory then perked up, shouting back at me. Then she turned and darted out of the room. She turned and ran the same direction Franz had done. Luckily she hadn't tripped on his hand in the process.

Good. At least maybe something good will have come from this, then… and…

“You demon…!” A man’s voice roared from downstairs, and I decided it was time to go.

No matter who might suffer because of it. No matter how dangerous it was. I needed to escape. Now.

Climbing up out of the hole and out into the outside world… I heaved myself over the bricks, and fell down to a wooden roof.

They had caked the roof in some kind of dried mud. It cracked under my weight, but I ignored the damage I caused and hurried down the roof as to jump to the ground. I made it easily, even barefooted, and landed on smooth grass.

A quick glance around showed I was likely behind the church. There was a large building to my right, and more to my left, but across from a small field of grass was a forest. One with many trees, even though most of them were missing their leaves. This forest was thicker than the one I had just been in. I wonder how far the river had carried me... based off the density of trees, and their condition, it might have been quite a distance.

Heading towards them, I quickly broke out into a run.

Freedom. Escape. Life.

I actually teared up at the sight, and felt relieved already. Even though I wasn’t safe just yet… and…

“Renn!”

Slowing, I turned… and found Nory. Chasing after me. She had rounded the side of the church and was heading my way.

For the tiniest of moments… I panicked.

She meant wait literally. As in wait for me.

She wanted to come with me…

Another Ginny. Another Lujic.

People I had loved so dearly… yet had not been able to endure their loss.

Part of the reason I was in this position right now, hurt and on the run, was because I kept moving around. As to not stay in one place too long, so I wouldn’t fall in love with anyone. So that I’d not have to lose anyone again.

I was strong enough to bend bars. Break brick. Throw a rock so hard and fast it tore apart flesh and bone.

Yet I wasn’t strong enough to survive heartbreak. The witch had hurt so bad I had been depressed for over a decade. The siblings had been so painful; I had actually ran away from Lujic on his deathbed. I hadn’t even been strong enough to say goodbye to him.

And this girl would be even worse for me. Not just because of her years of abuse, but the abuse she had endured because of me…

But she was so obviously needing me. Just as I needed her and…

Without a moment's more thought, I held out my hand for her.

Without hesitation, I waited for Nory as she ran to me. Sobbing the whole way.

She took my hand, and together we ran into the forest. Leaving that church and all of its demons inside behind.