felt they performed their jobs with respect. These two terrified me, especially Zion.
The pair hustled me forward, the door to the outside world slamming with a screech. My body jerked with fear, tears burning the back of my eyes, bile hovering in my throat.
Don’t show weakness.
From now on, if one sliver of emotion escaped, I would be torn apart. Even faced with a life of misery and hell, your first instinct was to survive. Try to make it against all odds. But no one had ever been reported to endure this place.
My new guards led me downstairs, deep into the earth’s crust through two more heavily guarded gates, finally reaching an unlit passage. My gaze latched on to an orangey glow shining at the end of the wide tunnel, displaying a massive chamber beyond. I was assaulted by smells and noises—shouting, banging, crying, screaming, chanting, along with smells of body odor, piss, shit, dirt, and things I had no name for.
I scrambled backward, tugging against the hold Zion and Jade had on me, trying to retreat from the onslaught of fear. Zion’s fingers dug into my skin, dragging me out of the tunnel and onto a metal landing overlooking the space.
Fright skimmed oxygen through my lungs, dimming my sight. My jaw locked down, a guttural scream wailing inside while everything on the outside froze.
Even after all my nightmares of what I imagined the Halalhaz to be like—and I had a very active imagination—nothing came close to what it really was.
“Yeah, girlie. Most piss their pants here. No shame. Happens to the best of them.” Zion leaned into me with a cruel wink. “Welcome to your new abode, human.”
Chapter 10
Bile seared my insides, coating my throat and tongue, while my legs crumpled. The stench overpowered me, along with the terror ripping through me. I couldn’t catch my breath, my heart thrashing against my ribs as if it needed to escape the tightness of my chest, no matter the cost.
“Whoa, girl.” Zion pushed me against the railing, keeping me upright. “Go ahead and throw up. All do at some point.” He nodded toward the smooth ground far below my feet. Some level of my brain understood his words, took in the sights and sounds, but I couldn’t really grasp any of it. It was like floating behind a glass wall between me and the world.
“You act like you won’t enjoy it here.” Zion motioned out to vast space, which felt small and confined. “I think you are just being picky. I mean, what more could you ask for?”
“Zion, don’t be a dick.” Jade rolled her eyes at him.
I couldn’t respond, fighting the tears as I looked around the dimly lit prison. Fire-bulbs adorned the walls every three or four yards, giving off enough light to see by, but heavy shadows lingered and clustered together where the lights didn’t reach. The darkness added to the sense of confinement—the sense of death waiting in the wings.
Would I ever see the sun again?
The underground prison was far bigger than I thought. Shaped in rectangular boxes, the cells lining the walls all faced each other. The metal catwalk I stood on was about midway, the ground far below, and the ceiling far above. Comparable to a stacked city I’d seen in pictures of the Far East, cages were packed vertically and horizontally, reaching floor to ceiling along all four walls. There were about twenty levels with catwalks. Some were just one large cell between floors, and other levels had three to four cages stacked on top of each other before the next walkway. The one way to get in or out of those would be to climb over the others. A few cages hung from the ceiling, only accessible if a guard brought them down. Everything was metal, vibrating with noise. There was no space, no air.
I felt claustrophobic. Trapped.
“Looky, looky! We caught a new fish. Az istenit, a pretty one too.”
“I get dibs first.”
“No, I’m gonna tear into that sweet pussy first.”
Vulgar words and sentiments were hurled at me from the inmates inside their tiny barred homes, drawing more and more of them to the front of their cells. Movement and figures consumed my vision, forcing me to glance down at my feet, trying to ignore the more violent and disgusting threats.
Vomit pooled in my stomach again. It was all too much.
Guards and prisoners bustled through the place, their boots clicking on the catwalks, the sound mingling with an endless stream of talking, yelling, and