A Two Sided Coin

To lie or not to lie

"I don't understand" Luci said innocently refusing to admit that she knew exactly what Warren was referring to.

"Don't make me do this the hard way"

Staying silent, she shook her head gently, her eyes lowering to the floor.

"LOOK AT ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU" his voice boomed so loudly that even the guards, that stood like statues behind him, flinched.

However, Luci remained unfazed, with no readable emotion on her face. She looked him dead in the eyes, not bothering to blink.

"Fine" Warren exclaimed through gritted teeth as he stood, pulling a knife out of his pocket and holding it under Luci's chin.

Luci tilted her head up, trying to get as far away from the knife as she could. Her breath shook, revealing the fear inside her that her face tried so hard to paint over. 

"What was the witnesses name?" he asked not even questioning if there was a witness to begin with. He already knew.

He must of been told that police were now searching for a girl with dark hair and dark eyes.

Luci.

"I don't know" Luci begged, not bothering to try to deny that she left a witness. It wouldn't get her anywhere.

"Luciana, please don't make this harder for yourself" the high and innocent voice of Warren's right hand woman perked up.

"I ... I don't know" Luci stuttered as the knife dug harder into her neck. She winced a bit as she felt a drop of blood drip slowly drip down her neck. She knew that if she told them about Marcus, they would find him and show him no mercy.

She had already taken so much from the boy, she refused to be the cause of his death.

Warren sniffed and started to playfully cut into Luci's neck. It made her grit her teeth in pain but she refused to let any tears fall down. She couldn't show any weakness.

It quickly became evident to her that he was carving a symbol. He proceeded intensely slow to make sure Luci felt every bit of the pain. He was trying to make her crack and give in. Luci could feel that he was carving the RAISE symbol into her neck. Branding her. Reminding her that she was their property.

"I'm going to ask you again, What was his name"

They knew more than Luci thought.

"I really don't know, he never told me his name"

He continued with the symbol, digging in deeper this time. It was sure to leave a scar.

"Please, it was a mistake, I'm sorry" Luci begged to Warren, her words running faster than her thoughts. A lot more blood had started to drip, staining her white tank top red.

"Sorry?" Warren questioned, shocked at Luci's words "A mistake?" his words were growing harsher, like the countdown on a bomb.

He forced a laugh and stopped drawing, reaching out his hand behind him as a guard handed him a box.

It opened with a click as he took out one of the tiny, circular pieces of metal. It had a glowing orange rim around it and a button that connected to a controller.

Luci knew what it was straight away, they were devices used to shock and inject venom through retractable spikes that lay on the underside of the metal.

The device looked harmless but was definitely the most painful method of control they used. They would attach them all over Luci's body but particularly on her head. That way, the venom combined with the shocks would enter her system faster.

They've only ever used it on her once, when she was 9. The devise was use to boost the efficiency of psychological conditioning.

And it worked like a charm.

They didn't bring it out often, as the venom used is one of a kind. Designed to burn the victim from the inside out.

The antidote was the most interesting part though. Once injected the reaction stops almost instantly, although it doesn't heal whats already been done. Only time can do that.

The device scared Luci beyond ways Warren ever could.

As he handed the device back to the guard, Warren commanded "do it".

The guard took one step closer to Luci.

"STOP, WAIT"

The room froze waiting for Warren to respond. But instead, he just glared at Luci not saying a word.

"I'll tell you his name" Luci surrendered, defeated.

"Go on child" he encouraged.

Luci paused, considering all her options. She really didn't know which one to pick.

The wait caused Warren to become impatient. 

He moved the knife down from her neck to his lap. Watching her intently as he stabbed the knife straight down into Luci's leg, ripping through skin and muscle.

Luci threw her head back in pain and screamed. She was angry before but this only fuel her fire.

"DANIEL, HIS NAME IS DANIEL" she screamed, her leg throbbing from the pain.

Lying. Definitely the wrong choice.

Warren's eyes squinted, hiding under his furrowed and bushy eyebrows.

 A smile from Warren's lips caught everyone by surprise.

Luci had never seen Warren smile, she thought he physically couldn't do it. This induced a level of fear within her that she had never felt before. 

Lying to the one person who seemed to have the most power in the world. She was surely dead now.

Warren looked up to the ceiling and paused for a second. The white tiles reflected in his eyes. With a sign, he slowly moved his head to face the floor and bit his lip in rage.

"We know about Marcus, Luciana" he was calm, too calm.

Luci couldn't hide the shock now plastered on her face, her eyes darted around the room.  She questioned if anyone else was as shocked as she was about this new information.

This whole time they had known who the boy was.

So they knew she lied.

Luci looked blankly at Marcus, not showing the burning anger that was fuelling her every word, "If you already knew, why did you need me to tell you?"

"Oh my sweet child, to see if you would lie of course." his sweet tone switched faster than she could comprehend to a serious and dark one. "You only proved us right Luci. You are uncontrollable, unpredictable. We need to change that" He gave a nod to the guard who was still holding the box.

"NO" Luci pulled on her chains, trying desperately to fight back. 

"NO!"

A woman coughed

Luci was back in the school. She had been recalling past memories triggered by the flash of the camera. She must have looked completely out of it.

A beep from the printer signified to the white haired lady that it had completed it's job. She now had in her hand a smooth piece of card. An ID card. Which, coincidentally, now had a very dead- faced looking photo of Luci on it.

She slipped it into a lanyard and gave it to her.

"Welcome to Swanage school, enjoy your first day Luci" she said with a big smile then went to sit back behind her desk.

"Thank you" Luci replied, grateful for the woman's kindness as well as her ability to look past the strange and slightly odd first impression she had just made.

Hesitantly, she snaked her way through the halls. Seeking out room B18 where she would have her first lesson.

Great start