Chapter 3

Opening my eyes, I began to look around in order to control this situation. A brunette with a dog was still standing near the car. Turning my head back, I screamed in surprise. Behind me stood a blond man with a pistol in his hands.

“Did you kill him?“ Trying to speak without any hesitation, I whispered, peering out from behind the broad shoulders of the blue-eyed.

A man was lying on the floor. His clothes were stained with his own blood in the area of ​​his heart.

“Get out of here! Alfie, you should have taken her to the house right away, damn it!“ He began to brandish his weapon, tightening his grip on the pistol.

His gaze was again expressing danger, and I swear if the gaze could kill, we would have been dead long ago. Alfie began to approach me, and I instinctively began to walk back. Until I bumped my back against Jay.

“I'll talk to you later. Now I have important things to do,“ the guy whispered in my ear, putting his hand on my thigh, so that I stay in place.

I quickly removed his hand and took a step forward. Alfie grabbed my elbow roughly and pulled me with him.

“If you try to run away, I will let the dog on you,” the brunette growled and let go of me, going further forward.

I went straight after him, still fearing the dog. Of course, I would have run away from here, but I would have been caught and probably punished, and maybe even killed. During this time, while we were going to no one knows where, many guards with fighting dogs and various murder weapons. Everyone looked askance at me, as if I were some kind of strange. However, it is so. I am a stranger among my own. We were getting closer and closer to the tall building. While we were driving here, I could see the city dying little by little. Fragrant flowers were encountered less and less, luxurious greenery turned into dry branches on the trees, the grass lost its bright color right before our eyes, and the sky became darker and darker. I heard a painful cry and I very much regretted that I had turned around. It was a real torture building. My heart was pounding furiously, and the air was absolutely not enough. I stopped, looking around. A small building in which horrors take place. The guy screamed in pain and my gaze returned to him again. The brown-haired man was on his knees, his hands tied to small pillars on either side at the same time as two men on both sides were on his back with huge sticks. It seems they were beats.

“Let's go!“ Alfie snapped and stopped, carefully studying where my gaze was directed.

“Stop hitting him! It hurts him. You break him!“ I screamed desperately, trying to somehow save this boy.

“If you don’t come right now, then it will be the same with you,” the dark-haired man hissed, the dog accepted the emotions of its master and growled again.

“What did he do to you? You cannot do this to people!”

“Don't stick your nose in other people's business, girl. The third time I will not repeat, follow me.”

I continued to stand still and watch this nightmare. Those men still continued to beat him. The blows were delivered with great force. They will break his spine. People are strange creatures.

People have learned to deliver a person's moral and physical pain. But they have not learned to heal the wounds that remain with you for the rest of your life. You can forget them over the years, but later the day will surely come when you will remember all this shit going on with you.

People know how to hurt a person. How to break him in seconds. How to drive him to madness. How to make you kill yourself. People have learned bad things better than good. They know how to open for a long time and heal wounds in the soul, but do not know how to save them again. They step on the same rake over and over again, despite their promises not to go the same way again. People are stupid, they have a lot to learn.

I followed Alfie, trying to get that poor guy off my head. It got darker and darker. It seemed like I was an angel thrown into hell. I peeked out from behind Alfie, looking forward. In front of us was a huge building at the entrance of which there were two guards. One man and one guy.

“Joe, take her to our brother’s room,” my escort nodded to one of the guards.

I feel like I'm in prison. They led me to the cell. There are armed guards with dogs on every corner. Later I will be taken to Jay for questioning. And then, and then what... Then there will be torture and circling death around me. The guy, who, as I understand it, was called Joe, took my elbow and led me into the building itself. As soon as we got inside, darkness covered us. How can these guys see anything in it? Personally, I am blind. Some conversations echoed, and then laughter was heard.

“Now we will go up the steps. Be careful.” Joe's voice was much friendlier, but I couldn't know for sure what he was like inside.

Often people wear masks for fear of showing their real selves. Good hides evil, and evil hides good. The first step upward was unsuccessful. I stumbled and almost fell, but the guy managed to catch me in time.

“Damn, thanks. Why is it so dark in here? How do you see in the darkness?”

“We are darkness,” the guy replied as we climbed the stairs. “In fact, there is no darkness. Darkness is just the absence of light. People are afraid of darkness and everything that, in our opinion, was created with its help. But in fact, they are not afraid of this at all. People are afraid to be in a cage with their thoughts or feelings. One on one. Slowly killing yourself from the inside. You know, this is the worst torture ever.”

“Where are we going?“ I whispered, most likely to myself, but Joe managed to hear me.

“Into the fraternity room. You will be waiting there for Jay.”

Conversations drifted closer and closer. We went into the room and now I realized that  we were far from alone. But it was still dark here.

“Okay, okay,” laughter seemed to fill this pitch darkness. “Okay, I did it. Now let Joe let the girl sit down.”

The guard took me further and letting me go, ordered: “Sit down.”

I stayed where I was. It seemed that I had broken their idyll and now the room was plunged into silence. The door slammed and I realized that Joe was gone. He left me alone in the dark, among its inhabitants. Hearing sharpened and every movement, every rustle, every breath fought back in my mind. Someone grabbed my waist and pulled me down.

“Hey!“ I panicked and got off other people's knees, finding a free space with my hands.

“What's your name, honey?“ Whispered a soft voice near my ear.

I wasn't going to answer. I will not give them any information about myself. I will be silent. My personal protest sign.

“The girl does not want to talk to us. So fuck off, Dean.”

Everyone here laughed except me. I was frightened by this darkness, these people, this place and this cursed city, which is full of secrets.

“Will you play Truth or Dare with us?“ Asked a voice somewhere to the left, but he was far from me.

“Agree.” Someone put a hand on my knee and it quickly crawled up.

“Take your hand,” I growled, not holding back this behavior.

“Otherwise what?“ Whispered the one who had asked my name before.

I quickly removed the stranger's hand and tried to sit away, but someone quickly sat down next to me. A shiver went through my body. Someone raised a hand and placed it on the back of the sofa behind me. I literally heard the air scatter around. Every movement pissed me off. I heard everything. From loud to the quietest, not subject to human hearing, sounds. I am powerless in this place. I don't even want to think about what they can do to me. Strong hands quickly grabbed onto my hips, I panicked and began to struggle. But apparently the guys just made fun of my actions. The guy who before that began to pester me, it seems his name was Dean, lifted me off the couch and sat me back on his lap.

“ Let go! Let me go, I said! “ I grabbed a decorative pillow and threw it at the guy. Having bought myself a little time, I jumped up and ran, trying to find the door, but the darkness did not allow me to do this. It harbors my only salvation. “Come here,” Dean said playfully and began to approach me.

Everyone was quiet, watching intently. For them it was fun, but for me it was a nightmare.