There it was.
A ray of light.
Looking around her, Samantha came to the noticeable conclusion that she was no longer in the cell, but rather, in a deep endless void with no direction or path. There was nothing around her but darkness - a vast, never-ending emptiness that stretched out as far as she could see.
But right in front of her was a strange bright light that appeared from nowhere, its dazzling sparkles reflecting in her glazed green orbs. The only thing she knew for sure was that she was here, at the brinks of death, and she was here alone.
Samantha breathed out when her heavy eyelids could see the bright light hovering right in front of her, and a tinge of hope found its way to her heart. This was it, the light that would save her from all this pain and torture she clearly didn't deserve, the light that would lead her straight to her resting place where all feelings of humanity would be devoid from her heart.
Happiness, pain, sadness, regret, anger, all will be gone once she steps into the light. Her only goal presently was to try and reach it.
Painfully clutching her left arm to her injured abdomen, Samantha closed her teary eyes and forced her limbs into helping her rise to her feet. The teardrops escaped from the tip of her lashes, rolling down to her pale cheek.
After successfully rising to her own two feet, she swallowed the pain and opened her eyes.
Gazing at the light in front of her, Samantha released a shaky breath and began to totter towards the light.
Her trembling legs were energy drained, but she was determined to persevere and escape this wicked world that refused to treat her right. To her unfailing notice, each step she took towards the light made it appear unreachable.
The more she walked towards it, the farther it moved away from her. It took a while for her to realize that she was being avoided by the light.
"Don't go!" Samantha desperately stretched her right hand forward, as though the light would reach for her hand and swoop her in its blanket of warmth. She kept calling out to the light like it could hear her.
"Don't go please! I don't want to live anymore." Fear gripped her thoughts when she imagined the consequences that would await her return the minute she wakes up from this deep sleep, but it was better not to wake up, she didn't want to wake up.
With her hand stretched forth, she tried to reach for the light and pull herself towards it. When her legs could no longer undergo this much stress, Samantha sank onto the surface of the ground, her hand was still stretched forward as she tried to grasp the light, but it had gone way too far from her reach, and in a flash, she was overshadowed by total darkness.
When she blinked, she couldn't see anything around her. For a moment, she wondered if those guardsmen had gouged her eyes out and left her blind, but that clearly wasn't the case as her eyes would most certainly hurt if they did, wouldn't it??
Raising her two hands to look at it, Samantha could barely see the outline of her hands in the darkness. It was so dark that she could barely see her own body.
She felt like the darkness was suffocating her, and she was being swallowed whole. Did she accidentally enter another dimension??
To point out something strange, she was supposed to be on her knees when her legs gave in, but why does it feel like she was lying down with her back on something? Whatever It was felt undeniably soft and comfortable too, one that made her whole aching body want to give in to the comfort of the supposed bed.
When she made an attempt to move her body, the soreness of her skin and the headache that took over made her want to scream. Closing her eyes tightly to fight the pain, she forced herself to sit up, her hands clutching her abdomen that carried most of the pain and pressure.
In the end, she didn't die.
As though it was well-timed, Samantha could hear something loud opening from the outside of the dark walls. Iron knobs twisted, followed by the clanking of chains as though someone was loosening the chain that was used to shut the door tight.
When the door opened, an unfamiliar guardsman stepped in, holding a stick with fire burning brightly at the tip, and he suddenly ordered.
"Come with me."
Samantha, who was currently sitting up on the small soft bed looked at the guard wearily with furrowed brows. She was yet to recover from the pain that evil caretaker had made her experience, and her body wasn't ready to go through another series of physical beating.
Keeping this in mind, Samantha gently rose to her feet. She placed a hand to her abdomen like it would hold back the dull pain while she got to her feet.
She stepped out of the insanely dark room with the guardsman following her from behind. While they walked through the narrowed path, Samantha could feel another sense of fear creep into her heart, wondering where the guard could possibly be taking her to.
There were no cells for prisoners in this part of the tower, and Samantha was left with many questions until the guardsman made her stop at one of the iron doors at her right.
The minute he opened the door, a woman's soft laugh reached her ears, filling the lit-room. When she stepped inside, this particular room looked more refined, with a wooden table in the center and tons of file paper placed on them.
At both sides of the table were brown wooden drawers, with oil lamps resting on the top, brightening the room. Fortunately, this room was lucky enough to have a window, and judging from the dark blue colors of the sky, it had to be Midnight.
The caretaker was sitting on the main chair, and the other two vacant chairs that had been kept for visitors were being used by the woman with the strange feminine laughter. She was customarily conversing with the caretaker, but the conversation ceased when she stepped in.
Their gazes were fixed on her, and the woman who had a slightly plump skin with a delicate round face rose to her feet. Light make-up adorned her face, and she was dressed in one of those luxurious outfits that Samantha had only heard of, but was laying eyes on for the first time.
"Oh! Poor thing!" She hurried to Samantha's side, examining her face before looking at the caretaker in disbelief. "Officer Regan, you hit her so badly!"
"She refuses to be tamed." The caretaker defended himself, but the woman shoved his excuses away, taking note of the slight injury on Samantha's face, but the girl flinched away from her touch.
Her lips were chapped and bleeding as a result from the coldness of the tower. She had a few thin cuts on her neck, cheeks, and close to the corner of her left eye. She was lucky enough that it didn't reach those pretty glimmering green orbs.
Her body looked dehydrated and malnourished. Her skin was dirty, making it evident that she hadn't received a bath since the day she was brought here.
"What's your name, dear?"
Samantha gazed at the strange woman without answering. For all she knew, someone who was most likely to come here would have no good intention in mind. This pitiful look on the woman's face was probably a mask.
"Can you not speak?! Or should I beat the voice out of you?" The caretaker threatened, his warning evident in his eyes when Samantha looked in his direction. Returning her gaze to the woman, she answered dryly.
"Samantha."
"Well my dear, I am Madame Cerise." The woman introduced herself in a curt tone, a half-smile gracing her red-colored lips. "You do not have to worry about a thing from now on, cause I will be the one purchasing you tonight."