Ravaged

Chapter 36

 They appear in a cell surrounded with glowing silver bars. They hum with a foreign energy, something Sky can't quite get a hold on. Not electricity then. Xander manages to rip himself free from Akai's hold, his eyes shining a very bright gold. He summons a combination of fire and water, getting ready to direct the ball forming in his hands at Akai. The Fae male merely lifts a hand, stopping Xan's attack, and sends the boy flying against the bars.

There is a zing as all the energy from the bars rushes into Xander and he falls limp. Sky runs to him, to make sure he's okay. "Xander!" She yells, but Akai grabs her arm, pulling her back, just before she reaches her son.

She pushes against Akai, kicking at him, all the while calling for Xander, trying to wake him or just get some reaction. She really hopes he's just out and not dead. Sky will not survive if he's dead.

Please gods no. Please.

All her efforts are futile. Akai doesn't let go. His grin chills her as he pulls her closer to him, letting her body crash against his. Too many memories rise in her mind. All those times Akai visited her in the institute. He liked to have more fun with her than the guards and torturers who actually worked there.

He always made sure that her body was perfectly healed -- ignoring the scars -- before he set out to put his own wounds all over her. He liked to inflict pain where there wasn't any already.

She shudders at the memory. Her heart is racing too fast. Her breathing is too labored. Her throat too constricted. Her stomach rolls, and she feels like she's going to lose all the food Xander made her eat at any second.

Panic. She's in full panic mode.

As long as he doesn't hurt Xander, this will be fine. She will be fine. Akai hurting her is nothing new. She's gotten used to it by now. She can do this. She's okay. She just needs to breathe. She needs to think.

She needs to get Xander out of here. She can't have her worst fears be realized.

Not him. Anyone but him. Don't hurt him. Please.

She doesn't know who she's asking or even if there's anyone listening. From her little excursion with Feng she's realized that the Gods don't care. They don't care about anyone but themselves.

They aren't going to care about Sky and her son.

Perhaps this will be when Sky finally dies. If they hurt Xander, she doesn't see any other outcome. She won't survive that. She won't.

"Don't worry about him," Akai says, gesturing lazily at Xander. "He'll have his fun in a minute." He pushes Sky to the opposite bars, a look of dark malice on his face. Sky keeps herself from shrinking away from him in fear.

She doesn't want to know what he means about Xander having 'his fun' in a minute. No. No. No. Akai can't touch him.

A pair of cold shackles appear around her wrists, tying them together behind her back, a link of chains connecting them to the bars. A low energy drums through her, causing her muscles to tighten, but she's able to ignore it. She's felt worse pain.

But it doesn't change anything. She's trapped. She's chained. The shackles are back. She's that helpless girl in the institute again.

It doesn't matter that she was able to fight her way free. It doesn't matter that she managed to kill everyone who harmed her -- except Jared. Because she is that little girl again.

Except this time, she doesn't beg her father to stop hurting her. She doesn't ask him what he's doing or why he's doing this. She's not crying this time.