Years later...

I slipped in and out of consciousness. My mind was foggy and my body numb. I slowed my breathing and relaxed as much as I could. Slowly, my body got feeling again as my mind cleared. I was lying on my side, my arms and legs bound. There was a cloth tied in my mouth and a bag thrown over my head. Judging by the weird heat at both sides of my legs and somewhere near my back, I would say there were three people with me. I was sleeping on a cold metal surface and I could just tell we were in a car or van.

The feeling was like déjà vu. It's been so long since I had been in a car. At that moment, it was sort of a bittersweet feeling but that disappeared when I wondered where I was being taken. They never took people out of the "safe house" unless they were going to be killed. I tried not to move or draw attention to myself. They thought I was asleep. That was good. For a blissful moment, I thought I could escape.

For a moment, I had hope that was bad. Very very bad. I had never felt hopeful since that day. I had forgotten what it was like and will soon never remember. Hope was dangerous. Hope gets me beaten. It gets me killed. It makes that little flame I have in me ignite only to be controlled. I can't go through another breakdown. Not now. Not again. So, I did as I was taught, I gave up. But not for long.

* * *

The car slowly came to a stop. "Wake up!" someone shouted and kicked my back. I groaned and folded myself into a ball. A hand harshly grabbed my arm, followed by another and I was pulled into a standing position. My head hang as I was dragged up what felt like stairs if the corners digging into my knees said anything.

Harsh lights flashed through the other side of the bag on my head. I was pulled and we stopped. There was a ding and my stomach dropped with a familiar feeling. We were going up in an elevator. My heart skipped a beat. I didn't know what to feel. My heart was beating but my emotions failed me. I was trained to be this emotionless thing. And I'm so sad to report I was taught well.

We got off the elevator and I was dragged down a hall. For a moment, I heard the faint sound of deep thumping music and voices but I couldn't assess what they were before the sound of a door opening reached my ears. I was dragged into the new room and thrown to the ground.

"My gift has finally arrived," I knew that voice. That voice was the origin of my fall, the only demon bigger than myself that resides in the darkest parts of my mind.

I was pulled to sit on my knees as the bag was pulled off my head. I hissed as the harsh light in the room blinded me. I blinked, trying to get my eyes to adjust to the light. I hadn't been exposed to something this bright in so long. Once I managed to see, black dots not obscuring my vision, I looked up. His hair was more grey, he was skinnier and had more wrinkles on his face but he was still the same.