The street was deafeningly silent, soaked in the yellow haze of flickering lamps. A large, reinforced police van stood in the middle of the cracked road like a waiting predator. Inside, Seraina huddled in a corner, her wrists bound, her mind swarming with chaos.
The heavy door groaned open. Cold wind sliced in, but that wasn't what made her heart stop.
Her parents stepped in.
Seraina's eyes widened. She wanted to crawl deeper into the shadows of the van. Her heartbeat echoed in her ears like a war drum. These weren't just parents. These were phantoms of her worst memories.
Her mother entered first, in a stained beige coat, her eyes wild and unfocused. Her father followed, chewing the edge of a toothpick, eyes brimming with resentment.
"There she is," her mother muttered, voice low and trembling with venom. "That thing."
Seraina swallowed. "Mama…...?"
"You're not my child," the woman snapped, slamming her fist against the wall. "I never carried a devil like you."
Seraina flinched.
Her father laughed dryly. "I told you she was a bastard. I knew it. Look at her.....how could that be my blood?"
"Don't you dare blame me!" her mother screeched. "You think I would bear something this…... corrupted?"
"I always knew she came from filth," he growled, stepping closer to Seraina. "Maybe the garbage you called your brother got to you."
Their yelling escalated. The air grew hot, suffocating.
"You whore!"
"You impotent rat!"
Seraina crouched lower, her breath hitching, tears falling freely. The voices clashed over her head like swords, slicing her thoughts into ribbons. Her own mind began to fracture under their accusations.
From the corners of the van, the female officers were laughing. Loud. Cruel.
"She's not even worth this drama," one of them snorted.
"Must've been a family tradition," another jeered. "Rotten blood."
And just like that, the parents turned and walked out.....still arguing about whose mistake she was.
A pair of gloved hands grabbed her. The laughter didn't stop. Seraina didn't struggle. Her soul had long gone silent. There was only one name that came to her lips, again and again like a broken chant:
"Curse you, Annelise….... curse you."
They dragged her like an old doll through the corridor of the holding center. Fluorescent lights buzzed. The floor was wet with someone's vomit. A door creaked open.
They hurled her in.
Dark. Concrete. Cold.
Seraina landed with a thud. Her hands shook violently. She crawled to the corner and sat there, biting her fingernails down to flesh. Blood and dirt stained her lips. Her breath stuttered.
Then something touched her shoulder.
She screamed, body twisting in panic. The dim bulb hanging from the ceiling swayed, casting light across the figure behind her.
"Lina?" Seraina blinked.
Lina stood there, naked, body covered in bruises and grime. Her lips trembled. "Why are you here?"
Seraina gave a jagged smile. "I'm hallucinating now. I'm seeing Lina. Curse you, Annelise. You've finally killed me."
Lina's heart cracked at the sight. She stepped forward and knelt before her broken friend.
"Seraina.....… it's me. It's really me."
She gently reached forward and took Seraina into her arms. The girl stiffened at first, then collapsed into the warmth. Lina hugged her tighter, rocking her slowly like a child.
"I'm here....… you're not alone. I promise, you're not alone," Lina whispered.
Seraina's sobs came in gasps. "I-I can't… they said I'm not their child...… I don't exist…..."
"You exist," Lina whispered. "You exist to me."
The warmth between them wasn't just comfort. It was life. The tiniest flicker of life trying to fight the darkness.
They cried together, clinging like wreckage after a storm.
High above, behind a steel-reinforced glass pane, Matteo watched them from his control room.
A wide screen displayed the suffering below. Cameras captured every twitch, every cry.
He smirked.
Beside him, Annelise, Noemie, and Eliane were tied with chains bolted to the floor. Their clothes were tattered, their bodies marked with torment. Their eyes, however, were wide open...forced to witness every moment.
"You see that?" Matteo said, voice soft but sharp. "This is what your compassion breeds. Weakness. Submission."
Annelise shook her head slowly, tears running silently down her face.
"Stop…...." she whispered. "Please stop."
"Oh, you want me to stop?" Matteo laughed. "But I'm not the monster here, am I? You are. All of you. You're the ones who created this world."
He leaned over and grabbed Eliane's hair, yanking it backward. She winced, a sharp cry leaving her throat.
"You're the one who taught me that nothing matters but power," he whispered into her ear. "Look what I've become. Aren't you proud, teacher?"
Eliane spat at him. Matteo smiled and wiped it away with the back of his hand.
Then the door opened.
Ladina stepped in, holding a silver tray with tea.
"Your tea, sir," she said with a faint bow.
She placed it before him carefully, eyes flickering to the screen.
As Matteo reached for the cup, Ladina's hand grazed his.
A second of silence.
Matteo ignored her. Didn't even look.
Instead, he turned to Eliane again, yanked her head back violently.
Ladina stared at them. Her hand clenched around the tray.
Fingers went white.
Her jaw tightened.
No words left her lips.....but inside her, something twisted.
Something fierce.
Back in the cell, Lina held Seraina until the girl's breathing calmed. There were no heroes here, no rescue in sight. But for a moment, there was warmth.
And sometimes, warmth is the only mercy the room offers.