Ivanni. Night of March 1st. Underground of the City of Anturios / Dungeons of "Mely's."
Ivanni opened her eyes, but she could only see a few silhouettes. Through the crack of a metal door, a beam of cold white artificial light revealed that she was somewhere enclosed.
When she swallowed the thick saliva in her mouth, pain shot through her. It was a searing burn in some part of her tongue—or what was left of it. Then she remembered the shapes. The edge of the knife. The screams. The woman in the silk robe. The incident at dawn on April 30st.
The strange winged woman had entered her apartment at midnight. Her parents, hypnotized like zombies, were helping her, serving her. And those strange men who came with them. Ivanni had fought back, but the woman's strength was overwhelming… they had severed a large part of her tongue.Her reasoning told her she should be bleeding, but when she carefully touched the inside of her mouth, she already felt scars, as well as new skin over what used to be the root of her tongue. It was like the stump left behind a few centimeters above the ground after cutting down a tree. Her eyes showed her disbelief in that darkness. It was nearly impossible. Skin doesn't heal that fast.The woman had asked for a knife and, as Ivanni screamed, struck her with a black, foul-smelling claw. She passed out. Waking up afterward in that room felt like coming to after surgery with anesthesia. If not for a crack letting some light in under the door, she would've thought they'd blinded her too.
"How long have I been asleep?" she thought. "A day. Two at most."
She brought both hands to her face—the situation was overwhelming. Soon, her breathing changed, and she couldn't hold back the sobs. The echoes of her frustration bounced off the walls. The absence of her tongue made for a particularly horrifying cry, even to her own ears.
"Please, calm down…" came a voice in the darkness. "I can't see you, but I can hear you. Can you hear me?"
Ivanni startled, realizing she wasn't alone. She could barely make out shapes in the dark, but the voice was young. Probably around ten years old, she guessed, comparing it to her not-so-distant fourteen.Ivanni tried to calm herself, but the frustration of not being able to respond was tearing her apart. They say you can't miss what you've never had, but until one awakening ago, Ivanni had a complete tongue. She could speak. She could communicate. That ability was gone now, and she didn't even allow herself to imagine all the problems that would bring. Instead, she tried to understand what was happening in that room.
"My name's Gustavo. My friends call me, Gus. Though from what I hear…" —Gus's voice faltered, searching for less hurtful words, while clearly saddened by his own story— "you've got problems with your mouth. I wouldn't be surprised, since I can't see. They… hurt my eyes. I don't remember it. They caught me after soccer practice and knocked me out. When I woke up, I couldn't see anymore. I guess it's the same for you, but with your mouth. And here" —Gus's voice sounded like he was feeling around blindly— "there's… another girl. As you can guess, she's deaf. I don't know if they hurt her too or if she was born like that. Honestly, I don't know her. She doesn't talk much either. I suppose she's just as isolated as we are. And this darkness makes it hard for her to see whatever I try to tell her with my hands."
Gus didn't know it, but Ivanni was rubbing her eyes, trying to wipe away the sting of her tears as she nodded slightly to the boy's words.
Then, the door opened, and the hallway light flooded the room, illuminating all three of them.Ivanni: a fourteen-year-old girl with long black hair and a side-swept fringe. She wore jeans and a lavender T-shirt with black sleeves.Tavo: a twelve-year-old boy with Caribbean features and short curly hair, dressed in sportswear.And Rhada: a sixteen-year-old girl wearing black jeans and a green plaid shirt over a black T-shirt.
The three kids stared at the space between the door and the frame, tense with anticipation.Then, a massive man entered, wearing a bulldog mascot costume—the kind used for baseball or basketball team mascots. In his right hand, he dragged a black bundle that looked like a corpse, and in his left, a huge metallic bat covered in dried blood.