No good deed goes unpunished.

The man sitting at the desk beyond the bars of my cell was snoozing as he leaned his chair back, supporting himself against the wall. He hadn’t been asleep for long. The first few hours after they had brought me over, he had placed his scarred face right up against the bars. It was a grotesque-looking scar that traveled from his left temple, across his eye, and ended at the bow of his lips. He had stared through the metal bars at me as if I were a rare animal on loan at the zoo.

I had pleaded with him and cursed him out, too, but none of my words or threats landed, since they had gagged me after tying my hands together. Not that I didn’t enjoy a good tie-up from a handsome man, but right now wasn’t the time or place for it. I must have yammered too much, and the red-haired man took out his own handkerchief and wrapped it around my mouth. So now all I could do was glare, as drool dripped from my mouth.

Just more infractions to add to my list. Oh, how I would make them pay tenfold for all this humiliation.

There were only two cells in the small cabin that acted as the jail, I presumed. There was straw littered across the floor that stuck to your clothing like pet hair.  Inside each cell, there were two wooden benches nailed to the wall, and one small barred window that was too high to look out of.

There was an oil lantern hanging between the two cells, and another one on the wall above the sleep guard. They were more decorative than practical, as they didn’t provide much light.

The smell, though, was where they went too authentic.

It smelled of piss. And not fresh piss either. It was the scent of piss that had been aged. How did they make that smell? I was a scientist, and even I wasn’t sure how such a stench was bottled. They were really getting their money’s worth.

Fucking losers.I thought miserably, as I sat at one of the benches, hands still bound behind me and gagged. My hand had started bleeding again from the struggle to free my wrists; I felt it drip and pool in my palm.

The tears slid down my face, hot and angry. They fell without my permission.

No. Stop it. They will not break me.

The front door creaked loudly as it opened, and two men entered.