To Be A Rebel

Chapter 6: Here

Rux is not a nice man.

Singer already knew that. She knew that the day he threw her out into the night, with only a gun for protection. She knew it when he shot Jorden without the bat of an eye. She knew it when he made her slice open her own hand for the initiation process.

But she didn't know he would do what he's doing to her right now, or rather, what he's having someone else do to her.

Blood drips from her lips, her saliva thick and stained red. Her breathing is hard, sweat dripping off her nose. She doesn't know if bruises are forming on her face, but it hurts and she doesn't want to get back up.

But she has to, because Rux commanded it. Panting, lungs burning and head pounding, she shakily comes up from her position on her knees, the chains around her wrists rattling as they swing and clack together. She stands, only to be knocked down again by someone else Rux called in here.

"Tell me what you know," The boy snarls. He looks no older than Singer, but his eyes are ice cold, staring through her as if she were nothing but glass. He hits her again, and Singer spits out a mouthful of blood.

"I told you. I don't know anything," She says raggedly.

"Stop lying to me!" He kicks her hard in the stomach, and she falls flat on the floor with a grunt as his foot pulls away.

"Careful, careful," Rux says, his voice calm but firm. "You know the purpose of today-hurt but leave no marks. You already messed up by giving her that bloody lip. Don't do it again."

"Why are you doing this?" Singer croaks out, blood running down her chin, covering her teeth.

"You don't get to ask the questions," The boy yells. He bends down and grabs Singer's hair, yanking her up and then slamming his fist into her face. Her head snaps back by the force of the blow, and Singer bites back a whimper of pain.

She clenches her bloody teeth, her chest heaving as she looks up at the boy to send him a stone cold glare.

"I wasn't... asking you," She pants, feeling unable to draw in enough breath.

Rux quirks a brow at her, and Singer knows he can't actually be surprised. She knows he can't be. There's no way no one has asked this before.

She was told to stay in that room and not break, not say a single thing about the file she had read over and memorized as best she could over the course of two days. She doesn't even know if that file is real. She doubts it. Why would they let a twelve-year-old read over a file that talks about a nuclear engine?

"It's a test," Rux simply replies.

"A test of what? See how many hits blondie here can give me until he knocks me out?" She spits.

"It's a test for both of you. It's a test for him to see how good he is at getting others to cooperate, and a test for you to see if you're strong enough and loyal enough to keep quiet despite the torture."

She bares her teeth at him, blood spilling from her lips, her nose, dripping onto the cold, hard floor. "I am not loyal to you. I've been here not even a month."

The blond boy hits her as she says that. Her head snaps to the side, a sharp ache skirting up her left cheek bone. She grits her teeth, a sharp whine desperately trying to escape her throat. She chokes it down before snapping her gaze back up to the blond. She spits at him, bloody saliva landing on his shirt, but not quite getting high enough to reach his face. The look of disgust he gives her still feels satisfying.