Blood Warning!

Carmen lay on the floor of her cell, fresh blood pooling under her arm through the bandages as she shivered violently. Cold sweat slid down her back, which was numb and also heavily wrapped.

They had whipped her.

The day before she had found herself in a freezer until she passed out from the cold, like she had in Stockholm, Sweden, and the two days before that had been filled with rope burns and then needles. She could still fell the chill and the rawness of rope over the bite of needles piercing her skin.

Carmen almost wished she hadn't retrieved her memories.

She tried again to sit up and move to her cot, only to fail once more as her arm gave out, muscles and bones shrieking in misery. She thumped back to the cold ground with a moan of pain, her body quivering with exhaustion.

The thief didn't know what VILE wanted anymore. Why didn't they just kill her, already?

How much more of this could she take?

The door of her cell suddenly opened, and Carmen glanced up through her agonized tears. A dark, blurry shape dropped a platter of food to the floor before disappearing, and the door stayed agape, seemingly forgotten.

Carmen blinked at it in confusion, sucked in a raspy breath, and passed out.

Once again, she didn't know how long she'd been out, and, once again, she didn't care. The first thing she did notice, however, was that the heavy metal door still had not closed.

Carmen stared out into the hallway, relieved to feel that someone must have given her sedatives in order to stitch up her back. It was re-bandaged, along with her arm, which miraculously felt much better than it had when she was last conscious. She carefully edged herself into a sitting position, finally able to breath lighter. The food on the floor was long gone, much to her dismay, and her hollow stomach clenched painfully as she wobbled to her feet.

"Hello?" She whispered, her dry throat turning her voice low and crackly. Glancing around, Carmen took a hesitant step towards the open door and poked her head through the metal frame.

No alarm. She sighed with relief.

She started to make her way down the dimly lit hall, keeping her wounded back as straight as possible. The only sound was her own bare feet on the floor, and the silence made her suspicious. No had come to stop her.

Where was VILE?

Carmen eventually reached the main room with the big glass doors. She stared at them with bewilderment. They looked so much like the ones at VILE academy. Narrowing her eyes, Carmen pushed against the clear panels hesitantly. Again, no alarm sounded.

She frowned. "There's no way it's possibly this easy," she muttered, stepping out into the night. What had happened the last time she'd come out here, as McKenzie Wolfe? Something had caused her to... move? Travel?

Teleport?

Carmen turned around, surveying her surroundings. The building was a small compound -definitely smaller than she had been expecting- and it was partially hidden by tall jungle trees. As she watched it, her arm started to shake. She gritted her teeth, glaring at the bandages.

It was happening again.

The familiar nausea spiked in her gut, driving her to the ground, which re-awakened the pain in her back. Inky blackness spilled across her vision as a similar cold was dumped into her bones.

How was this possible?

How could a microchip in her arm physically transport her to a different location in the blink of an eye? The technology shouldn't even exist.

Then again, she probably shouldn't even be alive, either.

Carmen held her breath as waves of terror rolled over her. She just wanted it to be over. Finally, with a sickening crack, the thief appeared in her now sealed cell before crumpling over the floor once again.

She faded away for what felt like the millionth time, very sure of just one thing.

This wasn't going to end well for her, and she hated herself for it.

Carmen sunk into darkness.