Memory

Chapter Twenty-Nine- Trystan

My body throbs as it feels the scraping of skin against stone. It also feels the aftermath of the electrocution minutes ago. I begin to think that I was thrown into some place for confinement.

The more I orient myself, the more of my surroundings I register. The walls are stone, and so is the floor. Two metal bunk beds are lined up against the wall, the blankets mere thin sheets of coarse paper. I am close to a stone wall right now, my body twisted into a bedraggled curled position.

Tentatively, I lift a hand that I had tucked underneath my torso. Using it for support, I heave myself painfully away from the cold floor. I drag myself to the wall, my limbs protesting in agony, leaning my weight against the stone. I gasp as the pain begins to overwhelm my body, causing it to tremble. I do not cry; my eyes are too dry to produce tears. Or maybe its just that I haven’t felt any real emotion at the moment.  

The room is hazy; my vision still needs some more time gain some focus. So I close my eyes, waiting for the pain for subside.

Once it does, I open my eyes. My eyesight grows hazy again, but I don’t care now. I try to make out whatever I see the way I see it, but my observations are cut short as someone opens the door to my far right. I watch as the figure walks up to me, letting the door close behind them.

“Impedance...what a joke.” The person’s voice is gruff and deep, so he has to be male. I stay still as he bends down to my eye level. I blink rapidly to clear some of the haze, and I give a startled jolt as I recognize the weathered face of the General.

One of his large hand grip my chin, his fingers pressing firmly into my skin. I do not have the energy to resist, so I am stuck with looking straight into his steely dark brown eyes. “We’re going to put an end to you,” he growls, peering closely at my eyes. “We’ve found a way to rid of all the resistors in the state. Soon, we’ll expand our power to the states surrounding us.”

His words frighten me, chilling me to the bone. But I stay silent, averting my gaze from his.

“You may think by staying quiet, you’d win,” he continues, roughly releasing my face. He stands, but stays in front of me. He remains quiet for a moment, then, with a mysteriously dangerous voice, he mutters, “I ought to wipe your memory.”

Shock sends jolts of horror and fear through me, snapping my head up to look at him. Although I yearn to say something, it’ll make me feel as if I’m surrendering. So I plead with him using widened eyes, slackened jaw and raised eyebrows.

His gaze grows malicious. “No. We need you in working conditions. You’re going to be a ransom, and a Treated girl is not worth much.”

I am caught so off guard that I allow words slip through my lips. “What’s the need for a bloody ransom?”

His eyes widening are the only emotion registering on his broad face besides the dark dangerous look. “You’re foreign.” He permits laughter to leave his mouth. “Then you are even worth more. I shall make sure to raise the payment by hundreds. No, a hundred of those pathetic soldiers of Impedance. We’ll make Treated warriors out of them.”

“They’ll never surrender!” I yell, struggling to keep my voice steady. Then, I hear the smack before I feel it. The pain suddenly sears through my skin, lighting a fire beneath my right cheek, resonating through the tendons and sinews of the bone. I feel something loosen on the inside of my mouth, and I flick my tongue around. One of my back teeth comes loose and grazes against my tongue, and I spit it out of my mouth, sending sprays of saliva and blood onto the floor. I keep my head turning away from the General as he begins to talk again. To keep my gaze down, I look at the bloody molar lying lonely on the ground without its companions.