Fragments *KANEJ*

Menagerie

TW: this part contains mentions of subjects that could be triggering to some viewers such as sexual assault and abuse

Inej is in the back of a black carriage, her hands and feet tied up and 3 men around her, staring at her like she's some object that they could own.

She hates that farmilar look. She closes her eyes and deeply breathes as memories from the Menajerie resurface from the depths of a deep sea.

A tall, mysterious man led her to a dark bedroom. She couldn't see his face in the blackness, only his bright green eyes as he threw her on the ground, pinning her to the floor. He cackled cruely as she struggled underneath him.

"You can't escape. This is your job." He whispered in her ear as he started to slip her clothes off of her.

Inej forces herself out of the memory, her heart beating fast and struggling to take a single breath. She inhales deeply and thinks of the first happy memory that comes to her mind. Kaz. Kaz and her, dancing in the corner of the bar, for once not caring about their past or future, just glued to the present, and each others sparkling eyes. She just lets that memory play in her head over and over like a record.

Eventually, the vehicle comes to a halt and she's pulled from the dream. The men grab her and blindfold her, dragging Inej's body out of the carriage and inside somewhere else. She hears a door open and close, and then she can feel herself being carried down stairs and into a very quiet room.

Resisting against the men's strong grips, she tries to wriggle free as they untie her feet and chain one to something. They take her blindfold off and untie her mouth, letting her watch as they snicker.

Her mouth now free, she angrily screams and spits at them. "The Crows will come for me you sick bastards. There's no way you'll live long enough to laugh if I died! My friends would be after you, and kill you within a second." She then says cruely.

The men just look at each other, and one chuckles. "Little girl... you don't even know who our boss is? Do you?" And with that omnious question, they get up and leave.

Inej frantically searches the room for a way to escape. There are no visible exits besides the locked metal door with a very small, barred window. They took all of her knives and other weapons, and she has her left leg chained to the wall and her hands tied.

With a grunt, she bites at the ropes binding her hands, attempting to untie them using her teeth. Unfortunately, they are extremely thick and strong, and it would take hours to do that. She doesn't know if she has that kind of time.

After what feels like forever plotting an escape and attempting small things to set herself free, she gives up and breaks. Tears stream down her face as she's tugged into another flashback.

It hurt. It hurt so bad as he violated her. She had only been at the menagerie for a few weeks, but being one of the most beautiful girls there, despite only being fourteen, she had easily been rented for a job quickly. Tears ran down her face, and something changed inside of her that day. She wouldn't let this be her life, this pain, this horrible feeling. She doesn't want this with some man that only wants to use her for her body. She opened her eyes and scanned the dark room.

She forced herself away from the pain of the past, and layed on the cold, stone floor. She thought of Kaz, and Jesper, and Nina, and Matthias, and Wylan- her crows. Her family. They will come for her. It might take a little bit of time, but they will free her. She silently prays to her Saints that she will protected and that her friends will save her. She thinks of her parents, and how hurt they will be if she died, and how much she misses them. She will not die, Inej Ghafa survives, no matter what is thrown her way. A new kind of fire burned through her soul, started by her rage and fueled by the love of her friends and family.