Chapter 1 Chapter one

“Hello! I know Someone’s out there!” I called out, but nobody came. Nobody ever came except for the monster that kept me in here.

I didn’t know what day it was, what time it was, all I knew was this…darkness. The Darkness had driven me to the point of near hysteria. My stomach caved in from the hunger, and with nothing to cover my body except for an old dirty shawl I’d found the cold was unforgiving in this cramped place.

My mind went back to the last moments of my supposed freedom. I’d just closed from the office, my thoughts still going over some of my unfinished cases, and the new paperwork I had to document, when all of a sudden everything went dark.

Everything that happened after that was just a blur, and when I regained consciousness the next time, I found myself stripped of everything I had on me that night.

“Please,” My voice trembled as I managed to choke out my next words. “I don’t belong in here.”

I pulled the filthy shawl tightly around my body and pressed myself against the wall, trying to find some form of warmth.

“Hello!” I called out again, hating how desperate I must have sounded. “I’m a lawyer from Convenant city. This is illegal. You can’t-”

“Good god! Will you shut the hell up already, you cunt,” An irritated voice cut me off and I went still. It sounded like it came from the other side of the wall on my right--maybe another prisoner like me.

“Who are you?” I cautiously crawled towards the wall and placed my ear against it. “Are you a prisoner in here too?” I asked.

“No shit, Sherlock.” The same irritated tone snapped back. their voice dripping with disdain. They sounded like a woman, probably in her mid-thirties or early forties. Her voice was gravelly, like stones sliding off the side of a mountain.

“Do you know how I can leave this place?” I asked, but my question was met with bitter laughter that grated on my nerves. “I’m a lawyer in Covenant City, I shouldn’t be here, please.”

“A lawyer, huh?” her voice rasped. “Good luck with that, Sweetheart.”

My lips pressed into a thin line.

“Look,” I said, trying to keep my own voice steady. “I know I sound naive, but I’ve spent years trying to shut places like these down.”

“Then you must have been one shitty lawyer.” the woman scoffed.

“Excuse you--”

“In case you haven’t noticed, this isn’t a courtroom.” Her tone was dismissive.

“If you can help me find a way out of here, I can help you, I can get the dragon council to put an end to this and--”

“The Dragon Council doesn’t give a shit about what happens outside the Sanctuaries.” she hissed angrily and I swallowed my words.

“I don’t care what you think, but I’m not a fraud. I’ve documented forty-seven disappearances and was two weeks away from filing a formal complaint when--” I stopped myself from breathing hard before I continued. “When I ended up here.”

There was silence from the other side of the wall.

“Forty-seven?” the woman finally asked. And I nodded, even though she couldn’t see me.

“Yes.”

“And you were going to report it? To whom?"

“The…the dragon Council. You might not believe in them, but they are just…”

The woman’s laughter cut through my sentence before I finished speaking. “Maybe you aren’t a shitty lawyer. Maybe you’re just a stupid one.” Her voice lost the previous edge it had, but her words still poked me the wrong way.

“What’s the difference?” I asked, my brows closely drawn together.

“Shitty lawyers don’t care. Stupid ones care too much.”

“Look, I just want to find a way out of here.” I protested, hoping she could at least be reasoned with.

“Good luck with that.” her voice dropped to barely a whisper now. “The only way out of here is if somebody buys you.”

Buys me?! I didn’t want to believe that was the only option I had.

“And how long have you been here exactly?”

I was met with silence.

“How long?” I pressed once more. The unforgiving cold nipped at my tender flesh that had never known a day of intense hardship as I waited for her response. Did I even want to know?

“3 years.” Her words hung between us like a death sentence and I gasped, crawling away from the wall as though it had burned me.

“But to keep one locked up…that’s inhumane.” My stomach churned as I looked back at the cramped prison cell. Cold, dark, and smelling of piss and vomit. To think a living human being was kept in this space for three years?

“Well, these things ain’t exactly human, are they?” The resentment behind each word was clear, as if if she were given even an iota of chance, she would set this place on fire without a second thought. How could I even begin to comfort her? The short answer? I couldn’t.

“So, don’t waste your breath looking for a way out of this. Escape is pointless.” her voice went flat.

“But. I can’t be sold.” I didn’t want to be sold.

“Trust me, sweetheart, there are far worse fates than being sold to a master.” I could almost feel the hopelessness in her words, but before I could ask the hundreds of questions I had, she said. “Anyway, I’ve said too much already.”

“Wait, please--”

Suddenly, the heavy sound of the door down the hall creaking open echoed in the cells like a warning.

“Shit,” the woman next door hissed. “He’s coming. Shut up. Don’t let him know you’ve been talking to me.” The urgency in her voice gave room to fear and I braced myself as the footsteps drew near. They o

nly stopped when they were right outside my cell door.

“Oh good, you’re up.”