His chest tightened as he tried desperately to breathe for air. He tried to take, as best as he could, a deep breath to calm his agitated heart. Darkness. That was all he could see. Unfortunately, he was still there.

When he had woken up and felt those four walls surrounding him and locking him in that inhumanly small room, he could have sworn he was dead. Luckily, he hadn't reached the point of wanting that yet. Although they had given him reasons to long for the peace and oblivion that came with death, they couldn't take away the one thing he was holding on to. There was someone who was waiting for him.

A myriad of memories flashed through his mind like a whip. The images, written in fire, would not leave his thoughts. And he couldn't leave that place. There was no escape, not even from himself. His mind had become his own enemy.

Ethan rested his forehead on the cold wall of the cell. His headache had become unbearable as he couldn't stop hyperventilating. His chest rose and fell rapidly, and he hugged himself to calm the tremors that were shaking his entire body. No matter how much time he spent there, he could not get used to that silence, to the wandering shadows. He closed his eyes in an attempt to ward off all that. If only for a moment, he wanted to forget everything. Everything that caused him such agonizing pain. The handcuffs clanked when he buried his face in his hands.

The loud banging on his cell door rumbled in his ears, and his body flinched at the sound he had been hearing for the past few weeks. There was no way of knowing what awaited him on the other side of that door. He refused to open his eyes. In the face of the uncertainty, Ethan only hoped that it would be one of those few times when he was allowed to go to the bathroom. His whole body ached so badly that he no longer knew where the pain was coming from. He wasn't sure if he could handle another visit to that room.

The door opened and the cold air from the corridor chilled him to the bone. The blinding white light that streamed into the isolation cell prevented him from fully opening his eyes. A large shadow loomed over him.

"Up," said the guard in a gruff, impatient voice. His upper lip curled with a sneer as he watched Ethan struggle to stand up. "Scum," he said without holding back.

Some time ago he would have answered him back, but now he feared that he would not be strong enough to take another beating. He had to act wisely.

With his knees shaking, Ethan pressed his shoulder against the wall and tried to straighten himself with the little energy he had left. He had to at least try it if he didn't want to increase the number of bruises on his body. The guard's firm and heavy hand dragged him out of the cell and shoved him forward, forcing Ethan to walk in front of him while he pushed him with the baton.

As he walked through the corridors, his eyes could not focus on anything for more than an instant. It took him a while to adapt his eyes to the light. With every step he took, the stabbing pain in his legs spread and blurred his vision. He had to exert extraordinary force to maintain his balance when the guard pushed him when they turned a corner. The floor tiles had become cleaner and whiter after several minutes of walking, and when Ethan raised his head, he found himself walking down a long, white corridor. He was certain he had never been in that part of the prison before. There was no knowing whether he should be relieved or worried about this change of location. Even so, he didn't let the fear cloud his thinking. Any opportunity outside the cell could become an opportunity for freedom.

When his mind had already considered a million possibilities, the guard stopped him in his tracks by pushing him aggressively against the wall. In front of a tempered glass door, the guard entered a code on a screen next to it and when the door opened, he pulled Ethan in. Ethan staggered inside what appeared to be a medical ward. Like that, his expectations were greatly exceeded. A place where people are supposed to be taken care of was the last thing that crossed his mind. It made no sense. Unless taking care of him wasn't what they were planning to do.

He was too absorbed in scanning his surroundings to hear the door closing behind him.