The cold had seeped into her bones.

Alisa sat in the corner of the freezing room they'd left her in, her limbs bound tightly to her body with coarse ropes. Her clothes had been torn to shreds, barely enough to cover her modesty. The left side of her face was swelling up, throbbing with pain, and the gauze had been torn off her missing eye. Icy air stung the empty socket, making her bite down on her already bloody tongue to keep from screaming.

She could still feel liquid, both dried and not, staining the inside of her thighs. It was a horrible sensation, the men's bodily fluids and her own blood sticking to her most intimate parts. She felt absolutely filthy.

Alisa couldn't feel her arms anymore, numb from her injuries and the ties cutting into her wounded flesh.

Wouldn't it be easy to just...die.

She closed her eye, her head lolling forward onto her mostly-bare chest. Her dark hair fell over her face, her braid having come completely undone, her long locks sweeping down her shoulders and back. A vicious kick in the side from one of the two men flanking her quickly brought her back to reality, teetering on the fine line between consciousness and death.

I don't want to fight anymore.

She'd been beaten, raped, tortured. She'd endured Vanguard's attacks and discovered that her twin brother was a mere artificial. She'd had her brain reprogrammed and her memories tampered with. She'd watched her dog die in front of her. She was on the verge of completely giving up, her spirit crushed to smithereens.

Surely my end is near?

"Chin up, brat," one of the guards spat, smacking the butt of his rifle into her forehead. Alisa felt the skin split, rivulets of sangria liquid running down her face. She could barely feel the pain anymore; her entire being was too numb with agony for that. She lifted her head, slowly and carefully, her sluggish mind making a feeble attempt to formulate a way to slip out of her binds.

All she could think of, however, was that she simply didn't want to live anymore.

What happened to Red? And Cheng Xin?

She'd never find out. Alisa's remaining eyelid fluttered. It was so tempting to give in to death's call. She had nothing left to fight for. She was useless, unable to help anybody in her current state. Her normally quick brain was hazy. She couldn't feel her limbs anymore. Her lower half burned like fire with the destruction the men in black had inflicted on her.

Dear God...

She clenched her fingers into limp fists.

I know I've never been a religious person...

Her head fell onto her bosom again, remaining there despite the kick delivered to her stomach. Her boots were gone, torn off her feet and taken away.

But if you're up there...if you exist...

Her toes were ice-cold.

Please save me...or let me die.

Her face felt like it had been torn off her head, tears running down her cheeks and mingling with the blood streaking her features.

I know I've been a terrible person. Maybe I deserve this. I've never even tried to be good...I've always been selfish and violent and angry...and that's not good.

A choked sob escaped her throat as a rifle's muzzle was jammed into her stomach. She couldn't hear what its owner was saying.

I...I do deserve this. All of this. I've hurt, fuck, even murdered without remorse. I curse too much. I push away everyone who gets close to me. I've never even gone to church before, and yet, here I am, praying for salvation.

There was a barked warning in her ear. She still couldn't hear it.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry, God. I'm sorry, Cheng Xin, Becca, hell, even Lennox. Red. Nina. Ma ma, too. I don't want to suffer anymore. I just...I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

Alisa shut her eye tightly, her whole body shaking with cold as she felt blows rain down upon her. She curled up into a ball, trying to protect herself. The ropes dug into her skin.

If I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

Amen.

The sound of gunfire echoed through the room.

"Alisa? You're still here, right? Come on, come back to me, darling."

"Uhhhh," Alisa groaned. Specks of gold danced in and out of her vision. They finally coalesced into a single being---a boy with his entire face torn off.

Alisa stifled a scream.

"I know I'm not very pretty now, but there's no need to stare at me like I just killed your dog." When Alisa flinched, the boy sighed, "Sorry. Didn't realise that was a sensitive topic."

Lennox. His scalp had been partially ripped from his head, his blonde locks gone. Deep claw marks splattered his neck, angry and red upon his golden skin. His face was unrecognisable, a mass of muscle and blood and bone where skin should have been. Two gorgeous hazel eyes peeked out from the hellish mess, making his face---or rather, lack of one---look even worse.

"How are you even alive," Alisa yelped, doing her best not to dart away from him---not that she would have been able to, of course, being tied up and all. "Have I died or something? Is this heaven? Or hell?"

He chuckled, torn red lips splitting open to reveal somehow intact teeth. "No, you're very much alive. Somehow, I am too." He winced. "Though, I must admit that giant wolves and their metal claws hurt like a bitch, especially when they're ripping your face off. You look good, though. Except for the eye, and the face, and..." His gaze shifted down, unabashedly staring at her near-naked body for a little too long.

Alisa groaned. "You're hard, aren't you?"

"Very," Lennox said cheerfully, no trace of embarrassment in his voice. "Now let's get you out of these ropes."

As he fiddled with the intricate knots woven around her, Alisa noticed the bloody bodies of the two men and the gun lying next to Lennox. "How did you get that?" she asked. "Also, forget the damn knots. Just cut me loose. We don't have time."

"I don't have anything sharp enough!"

"Check their pockets!"

Lennox rummaged around in the folds of the men's dark suits while Alisa barked at him to hurry. He emerged victorious, holding a tiny penknife. Once he'd sawed through the ropes, Alisa pushed them off her, jumping up and grabbing the rifles lying next to the guards. "You didn't answer my question. How did you get yours?" she asked.

"Oh, long story. Basically, I found your brother." Lennox jammed his gun into the waistband of his pants and took the rifle Alisa shoved at him. Alisa froze, remembering that Cheng Xin wasn't exactly her brother. Then she quickly recovered, arranging the rifle so its weight hung comfortably in her hands.

"What did you do?" she questioned as they hurried out of the room, praying that no one would catch them. She focused her attention straight ahead, trying not to look at Lennox's deformed face.

"Are you sure you can walk?" he fired back.

Her lower half was on fire, but to answer his question, Alisa quickened her pace to a sprint. Lennox huffed, running to catch up with her.

"I somehow managed to get past the wolves---well, not without getting my face ripped off, but...never mind. I wandered around for a while before bumping into your brother, who was dashing around like a headless chicken with no clue where to go. We found a side exit and got out of the maze. Somehow, we managed to screw shit up without dying until we found a room full of explosives. Tricked the guards into blowing themselves up. Not going to tell you how. Grabbed a bunch of the remaining loot."

"And?"

"Blew two guards up. Stole their weapons. Threatened to castrate a third one unless he gave us a map of the place. Killed him anyway."

"Now you're talking my language."

"Then can I get a date?" Lennox teased, three fingers moving into a very obscene motion representing the joining of two people below the waist.

Alisa responded with an equally obscene gesture that only required one long finger. "Go fuck yourself."

He pouted. "Rude. I---"

He didn't have a chance to finish his sentence before Alisa was screeching to a halt, the soles of her bare feet searing to the touch. She felt bile rise up her throat as her head throbbed with a fierce intensity that threatened to make her black out. She turned to the side and puked along the corridor, acid stinging her tongue and black spots dancing in front of her eye.

"Are you sure you're okay---"

"I'm fine. Ran too fast. Let's keep going. Where to next?" Her sentences came out breathless, heavily punctuated with full stops and painful gasps. Her sides felt like needles were being stabbed into them.

"Well, I memorised the layout of this place---"

"Just tell me which direction to goddamn run in, Lennox," Alisa snapped.

"I was supposed to meet your brother at the exit, after he'd found Red---"

"Just spit it out, asshole!"

"To the right, sorry."

A shout echoed through the hall. Alisa cursed. Without looking back or even slowing his stride, Lennox grabbed something from his waistband and lobbed it over his shoulder, his arm muscles straining with effort. The resounding boom was music to Alisa's ears.

"You saved a few explosives?"

"I told you we'd grabbed some of the loot." His smile was almost blinding. Then he promptly crumpled in a heap. Alisa halted, dropping down to his side. A red stain spread across his ragged back, blood leaking from the claw marks that had sliced his flesh to ribbons. What caught her attention, however, was the miniscule hole in the middle.

"They---"

Lennox raised his mangled head, his smile wan. "Okay, so maybe one of them managed to get in a hit before I blew them up."

It was true that Alisa would have preferred someone else by her side---nearly anyone else, in fact. But Lennox was the only ally she had at that moment, and he was dying. She was surprised he hadn't collapsed sooner, in fact. His injuries looked enough to take down several healthy bears.

"You have to get up," she insisted.

Lennox withdrew his gun and a few metal spheres small enough to fit in the palm of her hand. He grabbed her hand, pulling her fingers open and slipping the spheres, along with a folded slip of paper, into it, then pushed them back down over the items. "You'll need these to find the exit to the facility. The spheres are powerful explosives. Don't drop them by mistake." He pushed his rifle towards her, but Alisa shook her head. She wouldn't be able to carry it.

"Don't die on me, you bitch," she snarled.

Lennox looked at her with a hint of his normal grin tugging at the corners of his mouth, pearly incisors gleaming in a mass of red. "Get out of here, beautiful." Then his head fell back. His eyes remained open, since he had no eyelids left to cover them.

"Fuck you, you goddamn bastard," Alisa whispered. "I told you not to fucking die on me." A tear traced its way down her cheek. She was truly alone.

Shoving the explosives and gun into what was left of her pants, Alisa flipped open the map and started to run.

Rifle in hand, Alisa slunk along the walls of the hell she was trapped in, pressing as close to them as she could. She ducked down each time she heard footsteps or saw shadows. At some point, alarm bells started clanging while red lights flashed over the entire room. She forced herself to breathe. Panicking would only lead to her getting caught.

She felt the comforting weight of the explosives against her thigh, trapped there by the tight mesh of her pants. She prayed they wouldn't fall out. She wouldn't use them unless she really needed to; blowing things up would draw too much attention to her hiding spots.

All the time, Alisa held the tiny map in a tight grip, searching for the next turn.

Freedom was so close.

Her heart felt like it was pumping out of her chest, beating so fast it swelled until her lungs had barely enough space to expand and contract properly. Her breath came in short, ragged, wheezing pants, but still she ran. She wasn't running for nothing. She was running for her life. She could deal with stitches in her sides and bile in her throat later on.

Alisa managed to weave through the maze that was the facility with only two explosions and seven shootings. She pushed her hair back from her forehead, ebony locks sticking to her neck with sweat and grime. Blood ran into her eye and stung her lips, but she doggedly pushed forward.

And then she was there, less than fifty feet from a giant steel door, staring into the face of her twin-not-twin and the boy she loved.

Red was more or less naked, his bare, bandaged body curled up in Cheng Xin's arms. Cheng Xin was covered from head to toe in ash, soot, and blood. His joyful expression upon seeing her quickly turned to shock. "Li? Your...your eye..."

"That's not important now! Run!" Alisa yelled. Cheng Xin nodded, dashing to the door and tugging at the knob.

"It won't budge!" he shouted frantically. "We're locked in!"

"Use your rifle! Red can stand for a moment on his own, I'm sure!" In response, Cheng Xin slowly set down the boy in his arms, slinging his rifle off his shoulder and aiming it at the lock. Red promptly fell, struggling to stand up again on wobbly legs.

"There they are!"

Alisa's head whipped around at the unfamiliar voice. Nine men in identically crisp black suits stood there, rifles in hand. "Don't hurt the artificial," she heard one whisper. "President's orders."

The one next to him smacked his partner on the head. "The President's dead, you ninny! Kill them all!"

"Alisa! Come on!" Cheng Xin yelped as the lock finally splintered and broke, her ears ringing with the screech of metal upon metal. "Let's go!" He was picking up Red, helping him off the floor, sweeping him up in his arms like he was a prince from a cliché Disney movie and Red was the damsel in distress---except for the fact that the princes usually didn't have rifles and the damsels usually weren't naked with several broken ribs.

She saw the men cock their rifles, and she knew they wouldn't make it out of the door alive.

Unless she did something.

Alisa dove in front of the door, slamming Red and Cheng Xin through the opening as the men opened fire. She ignored their squeaks and yelps of surprise as they practically fell outside, nine sets of bullets shredding her chest to bits. "ALISA!" Cheng Xin screamed. Red's matching howl of her name came a mere second after.

"Close the door!" Alisa yelled, her voice raspy with agony. "I love you both! Take care of each other! Run! Now!" As if realising that her sacrifice would be in vain if they didn't move, the boys, tears falling down their cheeks, dashed away--leaving her behind. The door slammed shut, just in time for another volley of bullets to crush themselves in the metal.

There was no hope left for her. Alisa knew that. Her torso was numb with the dull, throbbing pain spreading over it. Her tender flesh had been torn to fragile paper strips. She could feel the energy leaking out of her body as the blood ran from her veins and congealed on the ground. The metal embedded into her chest stung. She considered clinging on, just for a moment, but the pull of death was too strong for her to endure.

I hope they make it out safely.

She heard cursing, her pain easing as her life force bled out from her wounds.

I hope they'll be happy together.

She closed her eye, limbs drooping slack. It was nearly over.

I hope...

Alisa finally gave in to the darkness that she'd once hated so much---the darkness that now embraced her broken body like an old friend.