Panchaali's POV:

My skull throbbed in agony as I tried to blink my eyes open, a groan slipped through my mouth as the pulsing in my head intensified, my head felt woozy, making it difficult for me to process everything. Where was I? I thought trying to blink my eyes open, everything around appeared blurred as the sharp smells of feces and the coppery spell of blood was heavy in the atmosphere making me feel like vomiting.

The blurring images cleared, terror slammed in my chest when I was greeted by the thick long bars of a cell in front of me, the dark dusty cell that I was locked in had me trembling in fear and confusion, how did I reach here?! The question bounced of my mind as I forced my body to move, metal clanked making me look down at the thick metal shackles wrapped around my wrists and ankles, their heavy weight holding my frail and weak body. I sat up, blood rushed to my head making blurriness swept across my eyes, my hand travelled to my head cupping it as I sat up, resting my back against the corner.

Shock trailed to my body making me vibrate with terror as my gaze settled on the dead body laying there on the dirty floor of the cell right in the corner, her blood marred the dirty floor, her eyes that I imagined were once filled with love and life now gazed back at me dead. I didn't know this woman, but agony crumpled my heart as the thought of her family reverberated through my mind, her mother must still be waiting for her, wasn't she? Looking at the door wondering when her daughter will come? Every time some must knock on the door she must think that it was her daughter only to be disappointed to know it wasn't her, my heart crumbled thinking that now her wait was eternal, her daughter would never return for she had embarked for a journey from which no one ever returned. Agony slithered to my heart, the mother who nurtured her with her own blood, created this beautiful child, grew her into a beautiful woman with her love, care and suffering. All the sacrifices that she must have made for her daughter, all the dreams and wishes that she must hold for her, everything was destroyed with her daughter. Forever gone. I cried for the mother, the woman was in front of me was in her late twenties, probably a mother herself and a wife to someone. All the promises and dreams that she once must have mad to the man he married were now all gone, with her. Her children, I really hope she didn't have any, if they did, my heart reached out to them, no child deserved to loose a mother. Sobs racked through my body as I lost the count of tears that trailed down my eyes, the sizzling pain in my chest intensifying with each passing moment making it difficult for me to breath,my throat tightened with agony and made it impossible to even gulp. How could someone do this? Don't they realise how precious human life is? Don't they realise that by killing a person they are not just ending one life but several others? It is not just one corpse but several others, the only difference those corpses can breath and they die everyday with the realisation that they weren't able to save their loved one. Just thinking about losing my aryas builds an intense pain in my chest, making me tremble with it, I could never imagine myself administering this pain to someone else, how could someone do this? 

I huddled closer to the corner, pulling my knees to my chest as my hands wrapped around them, trying to control the intense shivers of terror that rushed through me, the metallic clank of the shackles, their heavy weight and the cold dead touch them weighed heavily not just on my physical body but my soul.

My gaze involuntarily traveled to her eyes they met mine square, the light of life was extinguished as they stared back at me just blank, lifeless, dead, those were the only words that I  could describe her with, her once beautiful face now ashen. Her neck had been gaping back at me, thick scarlet blood dripped on her peach lehnga and blouse that she wore, soaking the soft material through every fibre. It looked like the gaping neck had vomited the scarlet liquid on her fabric, staining it forever like the reality of her death stained this cell,she was killed here, right in this cell where I was present, the cold realisation settled like a stone of dread in my stomach making me shiver in dread, I chocked on a cry. How did I reach here? There was no one here to answer that question.

My gaze kept going to her, I didn't want to look at her but I couldn't stop myself, her beautiful face was ashen, a look of shock and terror forever imprinted on her face. Her lips were parted like shouting a soundless scream for help, the dead eyes looking back at me as though sharing the story of horrors that she experienced here, which she suffered alone. A tale of pain that would be looked in this cellar with her. My gaze settled on her throat, through the gaping neck I  could see the jagged tear that the sharp object used to slit her throat like an animal had caused, her voice box and esophagus mercilessly destroyed. The tissues were torn and hung out. Her hands were clutched in fists, the signs of her struggle clear...

My stomach crunched as my throat burned with acid as the intense feeling to puke washed over me like a sharp tidal wave. My breath hitched, as my ears rang. The sound of footsteps that echoed through the walls had my eyes flying open, dread sunk it's claws deeper in my soul, my heart jolted as the door to the cell was kicked open, no I can't let them think of me as weak, no! I won't let this happen to myself. I pushed my wobbly legs to stand, fisting my hands tightly enough to cutoff the flow of blood. My gaze clashed with complete white ones, terror slithered through my heart, his eyes had no pupils, the bald seven foot man built like a mountain stood in front of me, a huge scar ran across his face from his left eyebrow to the right side of his jawline, thick eyebrows with a hook nose and thin lips with a double chin, to say he looked scary would be the understatement of the year. Whimpers had me looking to his left side where he held another woman by her hair as she did nothing to fight his grip. He pushed her on the floor violently making her head hit the hard dark stones that made up the floor. "Who are you? And why are you holding me imprisoned here?!" I shouted, making him look up at me, . "So the bitch can speak." He said in a dry tone, not a bit fazed by my outburst, like I was someone he didn't fear him.

"How did you get me here?!" I shouted, trying to stop my voice from wavering in fear that I felt. "How do you buy items daft woman?" He snapped annoyed, "I am no item you oaf!" I shouted back, fury dominating my heart. "WELL YOU ARE SINCE I PAID A HANDSOME AMOUNT FOR YOU! I BROUGHT YOU FROM THE TRIALS! THEY WEREN'T READY AT FIRST BUT AFTER I KILLED TWO OF THEM THEY SOLD YOU OFF! NOW SHUT YOUR F*UCKING MOUTH BEFORE I AM FORCED TO KILL YOU!AND TRUST ME WOMAN I WILL!" He thundered the words making my heart tremble crazily, as my gaze trembled to the corpse. He marched towards the dead woman and I watched in horror as he pulled out an axe from the back of his waistband and raised it about her head and brought it down with his full force, the sloshing sound of the blood and skin had my stomach crunching, my legs gave out from under me making me fall on the ground and huddle in the corner, trembling profoundly. I watched as he cut the corpse in fine pieces, what sort of monster was he? I wanted to scream and shout, to ask this monster to stop this but my tongue felt heavy in my mouth, the mundane task of talking proved to be way more difficult, the overwhelming terror pooled in my chest as my mind sizzled before I lost my breathing and my eyes rolled back as dark spots danced in my vision pulling me in the dark abysses that felt like a welcome relief, the last thing I saw before losing myself to darkness was his smiling face as he licked his bloody fingers while putting her finely cut body parts in a vessel. . .

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