Owen was sat alone in a darkly lit cell. He was slouching against the wall, his back resting against the cool stone surface. His eyes were closed as he concentrated on his breathing.

He'd been here for two hours, locked inside a cell. He was still covered in blood, both from his and others. His nose was crooked and bent. His body was littered with bruises and cuts, and his right eye was so swollen that he could barely open it.

The sounds of footsteps approached him. Someone unlocked his cell door and swung it open. Two guards walked in, and immediately grabbed him by the arm.

He was dragged up onto his feet, and forced out of the cell.

"Damn, can’t you take me to your doctor first?" Owen asked, his voice hoarse. The guards ignored him, and he was dragged down the hallway. Owen’s blurry eyesight didn’t help him much in recognizing where he was being taken to. After several turns, they eventually arrived at their destination.

A door opened and he was dragged inside. It was a dimly lit room, with a chair bound to the wall. He was tossed onto it, and his hands and legs were tied down. A large black screen was embedded into the wall in front of him. To his right, a one way window was placed on the wall.

Owen sighed, and sat back in the chair. He looked up at the ceiling, wondering what would happen next.

Not long after, another figure entered the room. It was a middle-aged woman with long brown hair. She wore a white cap on her head, and a white and grey suit that matched the colour of the guards. She stepped up to Owen, and grimaced as she looked at his face.

"Good Lord, what a mess," she muttered. "And all for what? Because you couldn't keep your hands to yourself?"

Owen stared at her through narrowed eyes. "It's not like I started this. If anything, I was just protecting myself."

The woman scoffed at his words. "Is that so? Do you think we'll believe that?" She shook her head. "You sent nine people to the infirmary today. There is no way you can justify that."

The woman turned away from him, and walked over to the window. "I'm officer Vicki. I'm in charge of handing out punishments to troublemakers like yourself."

"Punishments?" Owen repeated. "I don’t think I did anything wrong."

Vicki turned around and faced him. "We don’t tolerate floor one inmates stepping out of line here. Those from higher floors are considered to be more valuable assets. So if they get hurt because of you, then you need to take responsibility."

Owen leaned forward in his chair, straining against his restraints. "I’m being serious here. Did you expect me to just sit there and take it as those guys jumped me?"

"Yes. That is exactly what I expected you to do," Vicki answered. "Because you’re simply not worth anything."

Owen stared at her, dumbfounded by her words.

She continued to speak. "For your punishment, you'll be locked up in this room for three days. No food or water will be given to you. This should give you enough time to contemplate your actions."

Vicki walked over to the door, and knocked on it twice. A guard opened it from the other side, and she left without saying another word.

Owen was left alone in the dark room, the only source of light coming from the single flickering bulb above him. He sighed, and leaned back in his chair.

"How stupid..." he muttered to himself.

He thought he would be waiting in silence for the next three days, but the screen in front of him suddenly came to life, brightening the room. Owen squinted, and raised his head to look at it.

But a moment later, he wished that he hadn't. With wide eyes, he stared at the screen with disbelief.

It was a video of his father, tied up in a chair just like he was. He was shirtless, and his entire upper body was covered in bruises. A cloth was wrapped around his head, covering his mouth. He looked beaten, bloody, and exhausted.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

The camera zoomed out, revealing two men standing behind him. They wore grey uniforms, and masks covered their faces. Their hands were gloved, and each held a steel baton.

Owen's blood ran cold as he knew exactly where this was going.

One of the men swung down his baton onto his father’s thigh. His father winced and yelled out in pain, his muffled voice heard through the cloth covering his mouth. The man raised his baton again and brought it down on his chest. Then his stomach. His arms. His face. Over and over again, he was beaten senseless.

Owen watched on, horrified as his father was tortured in front of him. It went on for minutes before the men finally stopped.

Then the screen changed, displaying a new image. It was a close up shot of his sister, Olivia, who had bruises and injuries much like his father had. Again, two masked men stood either side of her.

They raised their batons, and struck her down mercilessly. Rage coursed through Owen's body as he desperately struggled against his restraints.

He snapped his head towards the one way mirror. Were they watching him? He glared at it, as if he could see the people on the other side. "Is this real?!"

The beatings went on. And on. And on. Until the scene changed again. This time, a close up shot of his younger brother, Jack, appeared.

Terror filled Owen's heart at the appearance of his brother. He looked down at the floor, clenching his fists as he bit down on his bottom lip. The sounds of what came next were unbearable. His brother's wails and cries were burned into his ears like a cursed memory.

His breath quickened as he fought to stop himself from hyperventilating. It couldn't be real. There was no way that this was real. But even so, the sound of metal against flesh was unmistakable.

He lost track of how many times his family were shown on that screen. First it was his father. Then his sister, then his brother. It played on loop, constantly replaying the same scenes over and over again.

Hours went by. And Owen sat there, staring blankly at the screen with vacant eyes.

***

Vicki watched him from the other side of the one way window. She sipped on her cup of coffee as she studied his face.

The man that stood beside her spoke. "He looks calm."

She nodded her head. "He showed a lot of emotion at the beginning, but now he seems completely unresponsive."

"Do you think he broke?"

"Hard to say. But we'll know for sure in another day or two."

They continued to watch him, taking note of his every reaction.

It was the second day since they had locked him in there, and so far he had shown no sign of breaking. He had barely reacted to anything. Owen had tried to fall asleep couple of times, but was unable to due to being jolted awake by electrical shocks.

His condition had only worsened after a day without food or water. He was becoming increasingly weaker by the hour. The screen that played videos of his family still continued to play, though at this point it was just white noise to him.

The man beside Vicki raised his cup to his mouth, but frowned when he realized that it was empty. He turned to leave, but stopped as something caught his attention. He noticed that Owen's head was turned towards them.

He was staring at them through the one way window. He tapped Vicki on the shoulder, pointing towards the window.

Vicki looked back at him curiously, then turned her gaze towards the window. Her eyes widened slightly at the sight before her. Owen was staring at her with an eerily calm expression on his face.

The man asked, "Can he see us?"

"No…" she replied, but not really sure herself.

Owen’s mouth opened slowly. He spoke in a low voice.

"Are you there?"

Vicki leaned closer to the window, straining her ears to hear him clearly. But then he began to speak louder, and his words were unmistakable.

"I want to thank you guys. Really."

Vicki frowned, confused by his words. She glanced to the side, looking at the man standing next to her.

The man spoke, "What is he talking about?"

Vicki shook her head slowly. "I don't know."

She looked back at Owen, who was still staring directly at her through the window. His eyes were wide open. Bloodshot and full of madness.

"Thank you," he said again. "Because of you guys, I finally understand now. I understand exactly what I must do. Arden needs to be destroyed."

Vicki and the guard stared at him in silence, taken aback by his words. She motioned with her hand towards the guard. "Go cut off the video."

"Are you sure?" The guard asked, hesitating.

"Yes. The video didn’t have the intended effect on him. Instead, it just made him more vengeful. There's no point in continuing this any longer."

The man nodded, and quickly left the room. A moment later, the video feed of his family stopped playing, and the screen turned black.

Owen remained silent. He closed his eyes, and leaned his head back against the wall.

Vicki sighed, and looked away from the window. "What a mess."

The guard returned to her side. "What now?"

"Now we wait."

***

Owen sat in silence for the remainder of day three. His mind was in a haze, and his thoughts were incoherent. His body was numb and his vision blurred. He was dehydrated, hungry, and exhausted. But his mind was still clear enough to understand one thing. He would get his revenge.

It was late at night when he heard the sound of footsteps approach him. Owen looked up with dazed eyes as the door to the room opened.

A guard, accompanied by a woman, stepped inside. Owen recognized her immediately. It was Sonya, and she had a troubled expression on her face as she looked at him.

"I can’t believe they kept you like this," she muttered. She turned her head towards the guard. "Can you please hurry and take his restraints off?"

The guard walked over to Owen, and removed the binds that held him down. They fell to the ground with a clatter.

Sonya slowly helped him up from his seat, supporting him with her arms. A whisper escaped Owen's mouth. "... They touched my family... I won’t forgive them…"

"I know, I know," Sonya said gently. She supported his weight as she led him out of the room.

Vicki was waiting outside in the hallway. Sonya glared at her coldly. "You didn’t have to go this far. This is too much."

Vicki crossed her arms. "I was just doing what I thought was necessary. I fulfilled my duty, and nothing else. But Sonya, why does it sound like you're taking his side here?"

Sonya gritted her teeth, "Don’t you think this is inhumane?"

"There's nothing inhumane about it. If it’s for the benefit of Arden, then there are no limits to what we should do." Vicki said calmly.

"You…!"

Sonya stopped herself. She bit down on her lower lip, holding back her words. She knew that arguing with her now would get them nowhere.

Instead, she focused on getting Owen to the infirmary as quickly as possible. The two of them moved down the hall, passing by Vicki without another word.

Vicki watched as they left through a door. A guard approached her from behind, and spoke to her. "What now?"

Vicki glanced over at him. "I want you to arrange a meeting with Mayers. I’ll need to inform him of the situation."

"Why? Is something wrong?"

"Did you not hear him earlier? He said that he wanted to destroy Arden. That's not something we can overlook."

The guard frowned. "Do you actually think he can do that though?"

"No," Vicki shook her head. "But he will definitely become a problem for the corporation in the future. He took out nine inmates from floor three by himself, and he managed to that without essence. Imagine how strong he would become if he became an advanced or even an intermediate essence user. He’d be unstoppable."

The guard shivered at the thought.

"That sounds bad."

Vicki nodded. "So you understand now? We need to do something about him. The sooner, the better."

The guard agreed. "Yes, I understand. I'll arrange the meeting immediately."

"Please do."