Falling With Grace

I turned my ear towards the door.

Who was he speaking to?

A faint female voice carried through the confines of my prison as I waited on bated breath for the next round of innocuous torture.

“Who’s in here now?” The door swung open, and Rosa stepped through. “I remember this being bigger.” She cocked her head to the side.

“Rosa?”

I shielded my eyes from the beam of light as she stepped inside my cell.

“Did you get locked in here?” Rosa walked back out and slapped the guard at the door before he handed her a shining object. “Sometimes, I wonder how I’ve raised such a son.”

My brows rose as the glint of a metallic object in her hand locked my feet into place. “What are you doing?”

She shuffled towards me and motioned to my leg with a swipe upward.

“You’re releasing me?” My stomach swirled as I peered into the bright world beyond the doors. “But…”

What would Elias say?

“Let’s go,mi hija.I have beans soaking.”

Red, hot prickles danced along my throat as I raised my shackled ankle to her waiting hands. She inserted the key and turned it.

The shackles broke open and dropped to the floor with a harsh clang, causing me to curl in on myself.

Everyone will hear that.

They’re going to know.

Asilence stretched between us as I rubbed my sore ankle, the skin red and inflamed, the bruises bright and angry, forming a perfect circle.

“Let’s go.We have some tending to do.”

“Tending?”

What about the beans?

Rosa walked ahead of me, her silhouette vanishing through the doorway like a beacon of hope.

I can’t go out there.

What would he do if he saw me outside?

She poked her head back in and waved me on, her smile driving the nerves to my bare toes.

I gave her a weak smile and followed, my heart racing into overdrive as I stood.

A pain in my chest had me faltering, dread filling my senses.

What if this was a test? Just like Andrés…

Rosa continued walking without glancing back at me as I stood next to the track, the walls followed, making my cell a small cage fit for an animal.

The guard, who never left his post, narrowed his gaze at me with a slight shake of his head.

I rolled my lips, my stomach swirling with sickness as I glanced around.