The brights lights from above assault my eyes before the strong smell of disinfectant stings my nostrils. I wince at their harsh glare and my body feels numb like it has been asleep for years. 

I loll to the side, my movements slow and lethargic. It takes almost all my effort to move only a bit. I shift to the side as a soft groan escapes my lips, my muscles are still asleep. 

It takes a while to focus my vision but when I finally do, I see Polaris sitting by my bed, his dark purple eyes fixed on me. 

My tongue is tinged with bitterness as I stare at him with a venomous hatred. He ruined everything. The last bit of hope I carried with me died last night and I feel like killing him for it. 

"You," I say and I almost wince at how weak I sound. My voice barely comes out as a whisper. 

Polaris just sits there, watching me and I frown as I force myself to sit up. It is only then that I realise that my wrists are attached to tubes with some pale yellow liquid flowing into my veins.

I yank it out and my blood trickles across the white sheets in droplets. 

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Polaris finally speaks and I glare at him. 

"You betrayed us all." I don't even want to look at him anymore. The sight of his face makes me burn with rage. 

"I had my reasons. You would have done the same if you were in my position," He explains himself but I am past hearing his reasoning.

"You don't know what I would have done. All this bounty money, your cousin's safety and your planet's tax relief are temporary. You don't know Lazarus. He will eventually destroy what you have been trying to save all this while. The taxes and demand for manpower have already increased on Spica, what makes you think he won't do the same to you eventually?"

Polaris doesn't answer. Instead he rocks back and forth on his chair, his boots clicking on the hard stone floor. 

"This war is between Lucian and Lazarus. We have no business getting involved," He finally says and I don't know whether to pity him for being so naive or hit him for being so selfishly stupid. The war has affected the entire universe, his planet will be no exception. 

And neither will Earth. 

The thought of Earth taken over by Lazarus and his slave model feels like a knife in my gut. I've failed my planet, my people, Lucian. 

I close my eyes, the pain of it all suddenly becomes too much to bear. 

"Pleasant day, Bone Breaker," Lazarus walks into my medical room with the brightest smile on his face. 

My eyes narrow to slits, wishing that he would disappear if I closed my eyes. There is nothing pleasant about seeing his face but his voice is a persistent ache in my ears, I will myself to shut him out but I can't. I hate that he calls me that name over and over again. 

Maybe he is the one who came up with it in the first place.

"You look terrible," He states as he stops at the foot of my bed and looks down at my bandaged toe, making me notice it for the first time since I woke up. A grim reminder of this useless mission of mine. 

He gestures to a nurse and the male Plutonian rushes over and undoes my dressing. A sharp sting of pain reverberates up my leg when he pulls the tape off roughly but I suck in a breath, not wanting to show my pain to Lazarus. 

My eyes widen when I take in the disfigured skin over my toe. There is no toenail, only mangled flesh. I stare at the wall and bite my lip, trying not to burst into tears.

"Now you have a new scar to compliment the one on your back," Lazarus jokes flippantly but I ignore him, my gaze fixed on a peculiar design painted on the wall. 

Long zig zagged branches spread out from a thick black line in the centre making it look like a withered tree. I've never resonated with a painting so much in my life. 

"Get her ready for dinner," Lazarus instructs. 

Something in me snaps to attention at his words and I turn to him abruptly. "Dinner?" 

Wasn't I supposed to be executed?

Lazarus leans forward, his gaze a maddening mix of danger and delight. He strokes my leg, his hand smooth like poisonous silk as it glides along my skin from my ankle to my calf. It makes the bile rise up my throat but I keep still as he stares at me, his eyes daring me to disobey. 

For some reason I am exhausted and I don't have the energy to anger him and get punished. I just want him to kill me and get it over with. 

"I will be broadcasting your execution tomorrow night. It's only fair that I feed you a proper meal before I kill you," He notices Polaris's presence for the first time and thankfully stops at my knee. His fingers graze my skin almost tenderly before he finally lets go and I exhale in relief. 

"It's fine. I'd rather starve," I reply, my voice low. 

Lazarus leans his head back and laughs, his voice airy and annoying. "I don't remember giving you a choice." He turns to the nurse by my bed. "Get her ready and send her to my chambers tonight." 

My body freezes when I hear this and I stare at the nurse in horror. He looks at me for a few seconds and I wonder if that was a flash of pity I saw in his clear blue eyes. Nevertheless, the moment is fleeting and he soon instructs for me to be moved by muttering into his communicator. 

Polaris leaves with Lazarus as my gaze burns holes of hatred into their backs. The male nurse injects my toe so quickly, I barely have time to react. Whatever he put into me makes me lethargic all over again. 

I have no energy to resist the consequent bath and preparations as they doll me up for my dinner with Lazarus. My eyes are filled with tears of hopelessness, it is the only thing I can do as they dress me in a skimpy dark red dress with a plunging neckline. 

It exposes almost my entire back and it's flimsy material does little to protect my ever increasing nervousness. I would never wear something like this voluntarily. My body hits the plush seating inside one of Lazarus's gliders as I am pushed in and my head lolls to the side as I take in the view of the North City. 

I'm back here again and the nightmare is starting all over again only this time it is worse. I wouldn't have cared much about my fate if that microfibre was still in my toe but now that it has been yanked out and destroyed it feels like I have so much too lose. 

I don't want to be at Lazarus's mercy tonight. The thought of it makes me sick with dread. 

"I can't move," My words come out sluggish as I plead to the Plutonian who got me ready. 

She leans forward and forces my eye open as she studies my pupils. "Don't worry it will wear off by the time you're supposed to eat." 

"No," I groan. It feels like I am paralyzed from head to toe but I can feel every emotion, every thought, every fear. A ball of anxiety burrows it's way into my chest and my breathing falters. 

I can't let him touch me. 

Lazarus's sprawling mansion comes into view after awhile and I catch his butler already waiting for me outside. The tall carnivorous plants still loom over his doorway and I wish they would swallow me up instead. It is certainly the better alternative than being in his room.

"She's not so stable yet," The Plutonian who got me ready drags me out of the glider and my heels dig into the floor as I slowly gain control of my feet. My strength is obviously no match to hers and I reach the front door within seconds despite the ache in my feet.

"He's waiting in his room," Lazarus's butler says and he looks annoyed when I'm all but thrown into his arms. He drags me along Lazarus's sprawling foyer and I close my eyes, not wanting to see his horrendous statues again. 

I push away from the Plutonian holding me as soon as I start to have more control over my legs but my steps are sloppy. He has to help along the endless walkways and corridors. My eyes briefly flit over the paintings and drawings plastered across the walls like a warning. 

Large hideous figures stretch out over the shadowed surfaces, their fingers twisted like claws as they grab hold of their smaller, much weaker looking victims. My throat tightens when I see a winged creature with its claws tightened around a tiny aliens neck. 

How can anyone enjoy looking at these things everyday? I briefly think of Luna and how she must have felt having to pass through these eerie corridors on a regular basis. 

Could she not see the writing on the wall from the beginning? 

My heart thumps in my chest and my fingers start to regain control. I am able to tighten my fists together as we turn a corner and the Plutonian with me finally stops walking.

He doesn't even tell me that we have reached. He simply knocks on the door curtly and waits for a response. 

I stare down the darkened corridor wondering if I would be able to bolt right now and escape. My hope is fleeting as the door opens and Lazarus's butler pulls me inside roughly. 

Lazarus's room is even larger than Lucian's was. There is a massive set of weaponry set into the wall right at the end of the room and a wall of screens and monitors that have been switched off.

I try not to look at his bed but the thing is so large, it glares at me from the side of the room with it's deep blue sheets. The tapestry over the bed frame gleams bluish gold under the dim yellow lights, is the most exquisite and expensive looking thing in the room.

I can't help but notice that Lucian's room was much more plain in comparison, suggestive of a workaholic while Lazarus's room screams profligacy from the jewelled ceiling above to the gold threaded light fittings that line his walls.

I am certain he has entertained many in this room before.

"Bone Breaker, you clean up well," Lazarus says and I finally look at him. 

I see him sitting by an extravagant gold foiled table with jewels embedded into each leg. Even the chairs look expensive.

Lazarus leans back and I realise he is wearing a loose black shirt with the top few buttons undone exposing bits of his chest. I have never seen him look so casual and his pale skin contrasts greatly with the dark colour. He looks so relaxed, like he is in his element while my discomfort grows with each passing second.

His hair gleams gold under this lighting and for a moment I wonder if it is some genetic anomaly. His good looks are undeniable, it must be why he has murdered so many lovers and gotten away with having more and having Luna but unlike Lucian, Lazarus's beauty is only skin deep and I see through it all. 

My gaze is hard and stony as I glare at him. I am forced into the chair next to him and he places a hand on my thigh, his strokes bold and repulsive. Our attendant leaves and the soft click of the door reinforces that I am now alone with him in this large prison. I move away but he grabs my chin, forcing me to look into his odd coloured eyes.

"I have a lot planned for us tonight."  

Ahhh don't kill me. I had to end it this way hehe. See you guys on Monday :) :)