-one week later-

My head snapped to the side as the man punched me in the face again, his ring making deep gashes in my face. All I could do was make pained sounds as the torture continued around the clock. First, it'd be getting hooked to a device that sends a shock of electricity through my temples, which I had grown to not notice-- then they increased the voltage to skull splitting levels. The ropes they bound my wrists with rubbed my wrists raw, made them bleed. When those ropes were blood-soaked, they'd change them to new ropes, but the pain would be even worse. A couple of times they had whipped me with the kind of whips used to injure slaves in the 1900s. Leaving my skin broken and bloody. I tried to scream so many times, but nothing came out. I tried to beg for mercy, but it wouldn't work. The pain with the taunting, was slowly driving me insane, I could feel it... I was pulled out of my thoughts when the man punched me again, pausing to wipe my blood off of his fists. Then, he stopped. He smirked at me like a the snake he was and whispered in my ear, "We'll try again today.. Talk-- or no food..." I began trembling. I hadn't eaten for days because of this new technique they had for trying to break me into talking. I let out a strangled sob and opened my mouth, trying to will the words out, but I just couldn't and I hung my head, tears dripping to the floor and mixing with the blood. I gasped for breath as the man laughed horribly and walked out of the room. All that was present in my mind, was the pain my body was in. The state my mind was in. I knew that if I ever walked out of this alive, I wouldn't walk out sane.

I sat alone in that huge room for at least two hours before I heard the door open and boot steps towards me. Someone crouched in front of me, but I didn't fully see because I was still looking at the ground. Suddenly, a smell wafted to me and my head snapped up, seeing Mizu with a tray of food, crouching in front of me. His eyes were pained, his voice was calm, "Do you want this?" I couldn't move to respond and he set the tray down on the ground, grabbing a cloth from his leather jacket pocket and reaching up to my face slowly. I jerked back from him and growled slightly, sneering at him. He smirked slightly and reached towards my face again, "Calm down, I'm not going to hurt you..." he said slowly as he began to wipe gently at the dried blood on my face. I didn't even know HOW to react and I just let him do so. I saw his bandaged hand and my cheeks lit up with a blush, I forgot that I bit him. I looked him in the eyes and saw that they were this intense grey, like steel. His hair was dark and it hung slightly in his eyes but he didn't even notice. He finished with my face and pursed his lips, looking back at the food, "I can't untie you, but I don't like that they aren't letting you eat..." I looked at him desperately, trying to send him a mental message, 'Please, give me the food.' He looked back up at me and picked up the spoon, glancing at the food to scoop up a spoonful of mashed potatoes and bringing it up to my mouth. I bit my lip nervously then ate it off of the spoon. I felt a tear slip down my face as I tasted it. This was the first thing I'd eaten in almost four days. This went on until I was finished with the tray and Mizu smiled a tiny bit, but it fell almost as soon as it was there. My eyes said 'Thank you' and he nodded. He sighed and whispered, "Just so you know... I'm sorry about what my father did... I know that doesn't even come close to making it up to you, but..." He pursed his lips and looked down, "I don't like that they're doing this to you... No one needs to go through this. Billy and everyone else have never done this before and it is very unsettling to know that they can live with a clear conscience..." He looked back up at me and I couldn't respond, but I opened my mouth and came as close to speaking as I'd come in almost 9 years. "Th-Than...k..." The word was raspy and not even really audible but Mizu smiled slightly again for a second. Then, he stood from his crouch and said softly, "I'll be back soon... They don't know I'm here. You'll be okay..." I looked away as I heard him walk to the door and open it, walking out and closing the door back. Soon enough I heard Mizu's strong voice barking orders at different men.

I clenched my jaw, hard. Why had he helped me? He should want me dead? Why doesn't he want me dead...? This didn't make any sense, but Mizu was the only one that showed anything close to mercy to me.

I couldn't read exactly what was going through that boy's head, but I really did feel like I might be able to get out of here if I stayed on good terms with Mizu. I thought for a moment, 'How did he even manage to sneak me food...?' I buried the thought and decided to just be thankful for Mizu for the moment...