ALLURE OF THE NIGHT (C)

Chapters 121-130

The passage in front of the cell rooms was deserted. Eve could hear the light chatter that belonged to the guards. Some of the prisoners, like her, didn't dare to speak and looked soulless, while a few leaned in front of the cell, holding the rusted iron bars. There was a look of thirst and violence in their eyes, and they snickered looking at her.

One of the prisoners whistled at Eve, "What is your name?"

But Eve didn't respond. She heard another man comment, "Judah was lucky to be placed next to your cell, but he didn't know how to treat a woman."

Eve felt like she was surrounded by scavengers in the dungeon. The right cell beside her was occupied by an older man whose skin appeared to stick to his bones. The memory of what she had seen before the time of dawn was hard to erase, not because she hadn't seen something like that before in her town. She knew if she couldn't get out of here, she would end up, or worse.

"I heard that you were falsely accused. Allow me to help you, and I will give you solace in my arms," said the man who first spoke to her. His cell was on the opposite side and the left.

"Me too," another prisoner said before adding, "I would be more than happy to help you remove your clothes and bathe you. Isn't that right?" A couple of chuckles erupted in the corridor, and dread increased in Eve's mind. "Stop behaving like you belong to a high family, we all know that no one from a high family comes here."

"What's going on here?!" A loud voice questioned the prisoners.

The guard named Deacon walked through the passage, glaring at the criminals inside the cell rooms. When the prisoners made noise, he hit the baton against the rusted bars to quieten them.

"Hey!" One of the prisoners called the guard and said, "Judah's cell is empty, how about you put me in there?"

Deacon raised the baton with a sneer on his face, "Shut up and sit down, you bastard! No one is moving from where they are. I hear another word, and you know which part of the dungeon you will end up in."

Noticing Deacon in front of her cell, Eve's body stiffened. The guard's eyes moved to look at the untouched food inside her cell.

"Leaving the food untouched? Are you expecting something better?" Deacon taunted her, but Eve didn't retort and only stared at him. "You might as well start eating it unless you prefer to die out of starvation. We can't let you die unless you start talking."

Over the last few hours in prison, Eve realised that this guard wasn't any guard but the person in charge of this place. The food looked stale as if it had been prepared four or five days ago.

"I have been told to keep the interrogation with you on hold before I deal with you for killing a man from the inner circle," the guard named Deacon let Eve know with his eyes ready to rip her apart. "I am waiting for the orders. Once I get it, you better pray that you have enough strength," the guard wickedly laughed.

Eve felt trapped here. She couldn't defend and couldn't fight for the crime she didn't commit because the people here didn't care. Speaking and not following the orders warranted being punished.

After a minute, another guard walked in and whispered something in Deacon's ears, who stared at Eve. He then commented,

"Looks like your time is here, you whore," before turning to the other guard and ordering him, "Open the gate and bring me the whip."

The other guard, who had come to inform Deacon, quickly turned to him and said, "As this is a high profile case, we cannot harm her."

"Don't worry, I won't kill her. Just enough to force her to open her mouth," Deacon replied, and the other guard hesitantly opened the gate.