Hollow Souls

•8•

Lilah

It was freezing in the dungeon, my thin, torn shirt offering little warmth. My hair hung loose around my shoulders, the ends tangled and frizzy. No one cared for me here. No one told me it would be ok when I cried. The silence, the darkness, it ate at me. Dissolving me bit by bit. I'd hear the screams occasionally. Deiamia torturing those who lived in the palace to keep herself busy. Busy while we awaited my next task. Their tortured screams echoed throughout my head long after it ended. Innocent. These people were innocent. The hinges of the cell door groaned as it was pushed open, three guards standing in the open doorway.

"Get up." One of the guards voices was harsh as he spoke.

When I didn't move, the other two walked in the cell and grabbed my arms, harshly pulling me to my feet. I bit down my wince from the sudden movement. "Please. Please don't." My voice was barely a rasp as I spoke. I knew exactly what they were doing. Every day. Every day since my first task. They hurt me. Pinned me down and hit me, slapped me, cut me, like I was nothing. Like I was just an animal waiting for slaughter that they could have fun with. I threw my weight back, trying to get them to let go. "Please. Please I'm begging you." Tears streaked down my face. I still had healing bruises and cuts from them.

"Ah thank you for getting her for me." A familiar voice rang through the air and I could've cried in relief.

One of the guards turned in surprise. "We have direct orders from Deiamia-" Liar. Their only orders were to watch the prisoners.

"I was just coming to get her." Spencer's voice dropped into a threatening growl. "So if you please."

The guards holding onto me let go quickly before shoving me at him. His hand was around my arm in a moment. At my wince his grip loosened and he lightly placed his other hand on my lower back. "Now go." Spencer jerked his head and the guards ran off. The male in front of me looked around before gently wrapping his arms around me, his face softening. "I'm sorry I couldn't get to you sooner." Though we weren't all that close, he was the only person I knew and the only one that I could see. I hadn't seen my family in about two weeks.

"It's ok." I mumbled.

"Come on. There's something I need to do." He led me up a few floors to a small room, nodding to two women. "Deiamia has told me to choose one of the prisoners to take to her party." He sighed. "I knew this was a chance to get you out, even for a short while." He rubbed the back of his neck slightly, nodding to a woman who entered the room. "She'll help get you ready." Ready? Ready for what? I tugged my sleeves down my arms, covering my bruises. "Ah." He gently took my hands and the bruises faded, the cuts healing. "There." Right. Dawn, healing.

I nodded in thanks as he left the room. The woman didn't speak as she pointed to a small bathroom, where I went to bathe. Gods I was thin. Too thin. And my skin, my skin was ghostly white as opposed to the tan color I had while living in Summer. Only three weeks and I'd changed so much. Too much. I brushed a hand over my too-easy to count ribs and sighed. How could I survive these tasks when I could barely walk around? I washed the dried mud and blood off of my skin as well as washing my hair before wrapping myself in a towel and stepping out to the room. The woman, who had brown eyes and strawberry blonde hair, dressed me in a red gown, a slit that went up to my mid thigh on both sides of the skirt and the top left most of my skin exposed. The sleeves were long and fitted to my arms.

(The dress but hers has two slits rather than one)

The woman pulled my hair back into a loose, thick braid and pulled it so it was sitting over my shoulder. My lips were painted red to match the dress, and my eyelids dusted with gold. Feeling like I looked beautiful while so much pain was being caused just felt wrong. The lock on the door clicked and the door was pushed open. There stood Spencer, leaning in the doorway. His shirt had been replaced by a black jacket. So unlike the usual light, bright colors that represented his court. I crossed my arms over my chest subconsciously as he glanced up at me. His eyes looked bored, vacant. A smirk danced at his lips and he looked so unlike the prince I had met that first day here. He looked like.. a shadow of himself. A version of himself drenched in darkness. I never knew a person could change so much. Much less in only a few weeks. Honestly, it made me nervous.

Spencer

A mask. I had to wear a mask. I hated it, hated the things I did, the things I said, to make her trust me. In only a few weeks I seemed to become a fallen prince. Deiamia's pet. A shadow of who I'd once been. It was too risky to try and see my parents. There were too many eyes and ears everywhere. I was one action, one word away from falling apart entirely, and I knew that. I had to watch as she tortured my people. Had to hear their pleas to her. To me. They begged for her to stop. Begged for me to make it stop but, but I couldn't. I didn't have the ability to slip into their minds to make the pain stop so all I could do was watch. I was never alone, not really. Always being watched. Always someone waiting to see if I slipped up. I avoided Deiamia the best I could but, but she made me do things that I didn't even want to remember. I wanted to shove the memories from my mind as though those events never happened. Every time I didn't obey her she threatened the people I cared about so, I had to listen. This stupid party she was throwing was my one chance to get away. When I saw those guards grabbing Lilah, when I heard her beg for them to let go of her, it infuriated me. So I let myself sound threatening. And they listened. After leaving Lilah to get ready for this party, I just waited. When I saw her, gods when I saw her. I let a smirk play at my lips. An act. I kept reminding myself that it was an act. That after all of this, everything would go almost back to normal. I hope.

A/N:A bit all over the place buttttttt