Vitiel
. The sheer, unadulterated rage boiling in my veins did something strange to my brai
anket off my body. The blast of air conditioning hit my sweat-dr
plastic base of the IV needle buried in the back
dn't even flinch. Five years ago, I survived three days of interrogation in a rival family's basement. A need
uckled. My legs had no muscle mass left. I crashed heavily onto
dragged my dead weight back up. Leaning heavily against trds. They were standing outside, their backs to my room, smoking cigar
econd one of the guards blew out a thick cloud of smoke, creating a visual blind spot, I
ungs burning with every breath. Every step felt like walking bar
I slid my back against the wall, perfectly timing the rota
. Inside, I heard the Director's greasy, sycophantic voice
ressed the deadbolt on the handle. The loud *c
aw me-a skeletal woman in a hospital gown, covered in my own blo
mouth to screa
my physical weakness. I launched myself
med the sharp metal nib directly into the soft flesh over his carotid artery. It was a standa
ly as he felt the metal pierce his skin. He slowly rai
d, hollow rasp, completely devoid of human war
ring down his fat face. "The medical confi
thin ribbon of warm blood leaked out from under the pen and
s chair around, punched a six-digit code into the wall safe, and pull
using my teeth to tear the heavy paper seal
icial certificate issued by the Ne
Death*. The black ink boldly declare
s exactly three days
ing toward the bottom right corner. The box f
with my fingers a thousand times. Arrog
g the blade until my heart shredded into pieces. Five years of loyalty, of washing his blood out of
to the adjacent box. T
y on the dotted lines. The handwriting was neat,
at the Director, who was cowering and shaking in his c
rdered by my
/1/114454/coverbig.jpg?v=20f6766cdb2e30b31d48671b3b2d7f3a&imageMogr2/format/webp)