Everest

v | silent as the dead

BY the time Niko was through with her, she almost limped back to her room. A sharp pain shot through her feet with every step she took and she could feel multiple bruises throbbing across her skin from wherever Niko had managed to land a blow.

Grumbling under her breath about torture and prisoner cruelty, she glared at the guard blocking the door to the blasted building they'd dumped her in and waved him aside, even as Jason escorted her inside and shot her a look that said behave.

"If I don't get something to eat other then soup and bread then believe me when I say I will disembowel every blasted man in this building to get to what I want," she paused to glance at Jason as he opened the door to her room, "that includes you."

He winced, eyes briefly flicking down before meeting her smug expression and she knew he was well aware that she was hardly joking.

"Fine. I'll get you some meat you animal."

"Grr."

"Just get inside." Jason rubbed his forehead with a sigh but she didn't miss the ghost of a smile that flickered across his face momentarily.

"I knew you'd warm up to me, Periwinkle."

"If you ever call me that again I will gut you without remorse."

She grinned playfully, "But then you'd dirty your pretty nails and that would be such a pity."

He didn't reply, flashing a particular finger at her as though to show off those very nails and slamming her door shut. She loosed a chuckle.

"Bob and I will be waiting!" she yelled through the door, but there was only the sound of retreating footsteps and then silence.

She turned to Bob and sighed, "Just you and I again, bud."

He said nothing, soup eyes almost dried so that only two, beady spots stared at her in silence.

"Oh don't give me that look. You look rather fetching with the hole in your forehead. It makes you look dangerous."

Still Bob remained silent, body lilting slighty to the side and expression bored.

Safira threw her hands up and let out an exasperated sigh.

Less than a day and she was already going crazy. If that food didn't arrive soon, Bob was going to have to get acquainted to a whole lotta new injuries.

Later that night, she slipped the phone she'd snagged from the guard at the front door out of her waistband and retreated into the bathroom, making sure the door was locked.

Checking the room for bugs and cameras, she finally seated herself at the edge of the bathtub when certain no one was eavesdropping and turned the taps until the loud, gurgling of water pouring out filled the room.

A sureness to her movements, Safira switched on the phone and sighed in relief as no password lit up the screen.

Wasting no time, she opened the messaging app and typed in a quick text, sending it to a suspiciously short number.

The reply came a moment later, in the form of a single word - emotionless and direct.

She loosed a breath, staring at that one word for a while longer than necessary.