Soren

Water dribbles down heavy mildew stained stone as I blink into the glare of flickering fluorescent lights. Patton pants beside me, grunting in pain as my mind catches up to my body.

My wrists are bound with iron shackles and strung up over my head with a chain connected to the ceiling. My back is to the wall, however, and I’m… seated, my legs stretched out in front of me, my thigh brushing Patton’s.

I close my eyes against a searing pain along the left side of my head. I taste blood when I lick my lips and realize I must have been struck on the side of the...