A scream ripped through the dim chamber, Selene's first in hours of excruciating torment.
The icy water shocked her system, a cruel opening to the agony that was coming.
The water clung to her skin and intensified the sting of the lash that followed as it ripped across her back.
The cane was thick and unyielding and even though it had no spikes like the ones Coral used on her, It felt like fire as it connected to her skin with each strike.
I've enduredworse. Selene said to herself.
She bit back a scream and her teeth gritted very hard as another lash landed mercilessly on her.
"Save yourself! You can request for a confession!"
She had been hearing that voice since the torture started and he kept on repeating the same words.
She knew who it was.
The shoulder-length brown-haired young man whose grey eyes she had thought twinkled with a childlikeness until he began ordering her torturers.
Another lash landed, this one across her shoulders and she grunted in response.
The world swam in a haze of pain as she felt her skin tearing, the raw, exposed flesh screaming in protest.
Selene whimpered and struggled weakly to hug herself. The canes kept on coming down on her wounded skin, deepening the cuts and widening the welts.
"Confess!" Zeeb's voice came again.
Selene bit down on her lower lip, stiffening the pain.
They wanted her to confess to what she was not guilty of.
Dark magic.
Her breath hitched in ragged gasps. She could taste blood in her mouth, a metallic tang that mingled with the coppery scent of her wounds.
Her body trembled uncontrollably, not just from the cold, but from the sheer, unrelenting pain and burning agony.
Through the haze of pain, she heard the rhythmic whoosh of the cane as it sliced through the air, followed by the sickening thud as it connected with her body.
"Please," she croaked, her voice raw and broken.
"Stop!" Zeeb commanded the soldiers and they stopped immediately before stepping back, leaving him to approach.
The Gamma came forward and crouched so that he could hear her. He assumed that she wanted to confess.
Selene lifted her head, ignoring the jolt of pain.
Her Sapphire eyes, now framed by bloodshot sclera, met his.
"I...did nothing," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "Please, don't kill me."
Then, she collapsed, her head falling forward in defeat.
She did not expect him to stop but at least she had tried to beg for her life.
She knew that the canes would come down on her again so she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to conjure a memory, a moment of peace, anything to distract her from the torment.
Sadly, She did not have many options so she focused on her favourite novels, rereading the best paragraphs in her head.
Using them to escape as she always did.
Then, the iron door slammed.
Zeeb was gone.
The next minutes were silent.
Had the torture truly ended? Or was this merely a Lull before the storm?
Selene's mind reeled, trapped between a fragile hope and the chilling certainty of what might come next.