Chapter 1

                                                          -16 years later-

Dry blows and slight moans were what could be heard in that humid and grim place. A golden-haired man was concentrating on destroying the boy's body in front of him, anger and hatred blinded him, and he would not stop at any moment. The boy had to die, but before that prize, he had to pay for what he had done, he had taken away the source of his happiness, and it was something Elliot Craig could not bear.

-You deserve this, you scum- his large hands grabbed a fistful of the young man's brown hair and lifted him off his feet without sensitivity, drawing another slight whimper from him- You deserve this pain, repeat it!

He brought his head down again, roughly delivering a blow to his stomach and ribs. For Elliot Craig, that vermin should never have been born, should never have agreed to let him be next to his beloved Colette.

"I-I deserve... this pain."

Mumbled the trembling boy who was making a superhuman effort not to cry. He felt pangs in every cell of his body and the blood dripping from his mouth made him nauseous; he was sure that at any moment, the darkness would take over his consciousness completely, giving him a rest at last. But he also knew that if he were to faint, that man would wake him up to continue his torture until he got tired of it or felt it right to destroy his body once and for all.

The blows stopped immediately. Only a few seconds of terrifying silence were enough for the sound of a metal rod dragging the ground to make every hair follicle of the brown-haired man bristle, feeling churning in his stomach. He hated being beaten with metal rods, especially if they were hot since the blow and pain caused in the injured area were agonizing, and the colored bruises took longer to heal.

"YOU TOOK AWAY WHAT I LOVED THE MOST"

After the first contact of the metal in his chest, the screams of agony and supplication began. The unfortunate boy did not deserve such hostile treatment, he did not even deserve to live in that place, but he had not decided where to be born or to be the son of the person that the head of that prison hated the most. His only crime was to have been born in such a horrible place where the whole world forgets people; since his mother had died, the mistreatment by the boss increased to the point of him wanting to commit suicide to be safe next to his loving mother. Probably the day of his death had arrived, amid agony and unconsciousness, he saw a glowing white light and his mother in it, smiling at him.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The warm water dripping from the young man's forehead brings him back to harsh reality. It takes him a few minutes to focus his vision clearly, and he meets honey eyes. He looks around slowly, seeing that he is back in his cell, lying on the old, gnawed wooden board he had for a bed. When he felt the warm gauze rubbing against the wounds on his face, he moved a little abruptly, causing the pain to spread throughout his body; he let out a moan and lay down again, trying to breathe normally, which caused him to moan again. His ribs were shattered, and the deeper he breathed, the more they became encrusted in his skin.

The girl who healed his wounds hurried to disinfect his whole body, trying to be as careful as possible to avoid more pain to his friend. The colors that adorned his body did not please her, but unfortunately, both she and that boy were used to seeing and suffering those situations.

"Thank you," he whispers hoarsely, and she smiles.

The young man does his best not to let out moans of pain while the girl finishes suturing, closing his eyes until the young woman speaks for the first time.

"Drink this. You must be thirsty," she hands him a bucket of water, and he drinks some with desperation; how long had it been without drinking some liquid?

"Thank you, Ann," he whispers again, putting the bucket of water aside. The honey-eyed girl finishes bandaging him and begins to caress his hair slowly. The boy hides a grimace of pain; Annette's delicate fingers gave a small and relaxing massage to his scalp, which had been inhumanly pulled multiple times.

Both teenagers were silent for a few seconds, listening to the screams, sobs, and curses from the place.

"Hello," a male voice echoed in the cell. Both youngs turn to the person entering.

"Hello," he greets in a husky voice. Annette stops stroking his hair to get up and hug him. The little light that existed was gone, and darkness reigned again.

"How are you?" asks the young man with blond hair and light blue eyes, sitting down on the floor, followed by Annette.

"Well," he breathes deeply, hurting his chest. He closes his eyes, squeezing them shut to reduce the pain.

"I spoke with Emer a few hours ago," the blond speaks again in a low voice, and they both pay attention to the information he had.

Emer was the only ally that the trio of unfortunate boys had; he had been friends with Colette and Bibi, and when they had left the world of the living, Emer was the only adult who cared about them.

"We are ready to get out of this disgusting place."

The news hit them all at once; they didn't expect that kind of information. The dream of someday getting out of prison was one that all three teenagers shared, life was hard behind the thick bars, and it was even harder if you were there unfairly. The three boys could only imagine five percent of what the world was like and the freedom of living in it.

"It's impossible to get out of here, Jack," Annette's dry voice brought everyone back to reality.

"It's not," he affirmed "this time, it's going to work," and he assured with a slight smile.

"Yes, that's what they always say," Annette mumbled.

The desire to escape was not only in those boys. It was in all the women who were deprived of their freedom, which is why multiple plans to escape had emerged; none of them were successful. About five years ago, Anette's mother, Bibi, decided to escape with her daughter and her best friend's son after two years of her death. She did not plan to stay in that prison a second longer. Unfortunately, that mission also failed, claiming her life and leaving the little ones all alone.

Anette decided not to listen to her friend's plan, and she already had enough problems with all the guards to burden herself with the stupid ideas of freedom of the blond-haired young man. Once Anette was out of the cell, both boys were silent for a few seconds. They knew that escape was not possible or at least the chestnut understood that, and even though a small part of him wanted to get out, he feared for what the outside world would offer him—memories of his mother and him trying to escape overwhelmed his mind.

"It's our last chance," Jack speaks, letting out a tired sigh, lying down on the ground beside him.

"What if it doesn't work?" he asks in a murmur, without looking at his friend's bright blue eyes. 

"Then we'll die without knowing the world."

The green-eyed boy bites his lip lightly, without too much strength, to avoid hurting himself too much. He recognized that he shared the same dream as his friend because it was the same dream his mother had. She was willing to do anything for both of them to live happily ever after, but... he deserved to be in that place and be treated like dirt because he had put Colette in danger. He had killed her. Mr. Craig was in charge of making him pay for it every day of his miserable life.  He understood that he was guilty, and that's why Elliot Craig hated him to death; however... every day for the last six years, he begged forgiveness to his mother's soul, promising to be better and not to make trouble so that his debt would be settled.

"It's what Colette always wished for," the boy next to him spoke again, trying to make him reconsider the opportunity they had, "think about it."

Was he escape his mother's way of granting him forgiveness? Even if Mr. Craig didn't feel like showing him mercy?