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Chained in Darkness

I knew I was in trouble. Behind enemy lines, chained naked to a wall, awaiting my death. I wasn’t supposed to be here. My plan was perfect. Everything about it was perfect, and it was supposed to go off without a hitch. Everyone had their assigned duties, and everyone knew what was at stake. This newest assault was supposed to shake up the supes, let ’em know we weren’t fucking around with them. We’re not all just spineless cattle waiting in line for the slaughter or a bunch of pansy-ass kissers willing to sell out our own kind for a measly breadcrumb from those ungodly monsters.  

Aww man, it was a beautiful fucking plan. We were going to attack at dawn when they would be most vulnerable. I had everything accounted for; everything except Jonah, that fucking traitorous, murdering son of a bitch. I’d known him for the past two years and trusted him! He was one of us. He ran missions with us, got down and dirty with us. Fuck, he even came up with our perfect plan that we were supposed to complete this morning… of course now that I think about it, maybe it wasn’t his plan at all.

Normally, my instincts are spot on, fucking legendary if I may say so myself, and I can spot a “mark” or a “stain” also known as “mole” a mile away. I’d know right away not to trust them.

I could see their weakness in their eyes, how they’d avert their gaze when put on the spot. I’d be able to tell the warriors from the cowards just by how they reacted when the shit hit the fan. 

However, Jonah bested me. I’ll give it to him since it’s the last thing I’ll do, apparently. That sly-ass motherfucker was good at hiding his true self. He fooled me like it was nobody’s business. Fucker cost the lives of six of my best soldiers, rebels, upstarts, nonconformists or whatever the fuck you wanted to call us. They didn’t deserve to die and especially not because of him. As for all the name-calling they labeled us, I wore all the titles proudly because they meant I’d die standing on my fucking feet and not cowering or groveling on the ground. 

We were bad-ass, too. There were many pockets of Resistance factions all around the city and country, hell even the world. Some lasted longer than others, like mine. We played our hand smart. We never stayed in one place too long and kept really low profiles. We were going strong for six months, evading shady humans willing to turn us over for a “better life” and the supes tracking us down, which was no easy feat.

Imagine trying to hide from something that can see in the dark with hella awesome vision. Or hear a sound from a mile away? And if they catch your scent… shit, if that happens, you better have a fucking plan. If you don’t, you’re dead. We knew we were high risk, but we knew what we were doing, too. Our mission was just! We’d cost a fair amount of damage to their organizations and even saved some humans that were no doubt going off to the slaughter. Today’s attack was supposed to be our biggest success. Now it was our greatest failure. Fucking Jonah! I wonder how long it took him to betray us? Was he always selling us out or did they seduce him with the promise of riches and position? I’ll never know, I suppose. 

I tried to rotate my shoulders a bit to ease the stiffness in my muscles and was only able to move a little thanks to the chains. I listened carefully to the muffled voices outside my dark room and could hear two guards conversing with each other on the other side of the door. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, which was pissing me off more than the darkness or the muscle pain in my arms, after having them bound over my head for the past five hours. This predicament fucking sucks. I didn’t need a witch to tell me my fortune; I’m considered an “enemy to the regime”. They’d do me in even if they didn’t have a mountain of evidence against me. The illegal television broadcasts, sure, I hid my face and disguised my voice, but they knew it was me, thanks to Jonah. Then there was the illegal radio broadcast, in which, sometimes I did not disguise my voice. There were the countless flyers rallying against them, vandalism and arsons of some major supe businesses. I wanted to hit those fuckers where it hurt, and I did, especially the vampires. 

Vampires, they were at the top of the food chain and weren’t anything nice. Forget the bullshit you’ve read in those paranormal romance books where the vampires with dark pasts are all noble and shit and just want to fall in love with their soul mates. Fuck that shit. If you believe they’re like that, you’re already dead. The vampires in my reality are cruel, vicious, manipulative, brutal and blood-thirsty, and that has nothing to do with their hunger, which, by the way, is damn near insatiable. They were the ones who wanted to come out of the shadows ten years ago. I was only fourteen at the time and had no idea supernatural creatures even existed. That was the shit you saw in movies, hell, they even sparkled in the fucking world of fiction. The vampires in my reality don’t fucking sparkle, twinkle, or glow in the dark… unless you count their eyes, and that’s only when they want them to. 

These vampires are a force to be fucking reckoned with, and if they weren’t enough, you have the werewolves, and the dragons. Fucking dragons for God’s sake! Yes, they do breathe fire, but they don’t turn all scaly, at least none I’ve ever seen does. They do feed off sex like some incubus or succubus, hence the brothels I would have happily bombed if not for the innocent and not so innocent humans inside. Werewolves get off on pain and fear, and that was their most charming quality. Let’s not forget they enjoy the taste of flesh. All three of these factions wanted control of the world, and they were intelligent, and brutal enough to take it. So they banded together to strike first. 

 The humans everywhere soon learned that the world wasn’t theirs anymore.  Businesses that were global tycoons had already been infiltrated and taken over by the supes. Whole governments were also dismantled from the inside out. It all happened so fast, left a lot of peoples’ heads spinning, including mine. Sure, there was resistance at first, lots of it. Humans tried to fight back, but the ones who were strong were sold out by those who were weak. It didn’t help that our resources were limited. Regular bullets won’t do shit to those things. A bullet to the head seems to hurt them like hell, and it’ll even slow them down a bit if they’re chasing you, but then you better have another way out. Fire, yeah, it’s effective for the werewolves and vampires, but it doesn’t do shit to the dragons. They walk through it like it’s air and on top of that, they seemed to be able to control it. Silver. That is what works the best. Silver and sunlight. However, getting enough silver to rage a war on monsters who were working together to neutralize your attacks was proving to be more difficult by the day. The humans lost and those who gave up were allowed to serve in all manners. 

After the smoke cleared from the skirmishes, the supes reorganized everything. Humans that lived in those fancy mansions and condos were unceremoniously moved out to the Outskirts, save a few. The Outskirts was still in the city, but it was the worst parts of the city. It wasn’t off-limits to the monsters either. They go there and pluck humans out whenever they fucking feel like it. Now, the humans who betrayed their race were beneficial to the supes because of their cunning and deceptive skills. They helped overthrow mankind by selling us out to the highest bidder willing to give them a cushy spot when all the smoke cleared. Those backstabbers fared the best. This new civilization worked out for them as they did got to keep their nice homes, or were upgraded to one. Fuck them, too. In my opinion, those humans are worse than the fucking monsters.  

Fuck, my arms were starting to go numb and ache at the same time. It’s hot as hell in this room on top of everything else. It’s not smelling too good in here, either, like mildew and sweat. I had no idea where I was, but I knew I was surrounded by tiled walls and the floor was cement. I guess that’s the point. They want to break me, see me tremble or even beg for my life. I won’t. Not ever! Man, fucking Jonah, we were going to blow up Hirsch Industries this morning. It is one of the largest companies that funded the vampires’ slave trade. After the supes took over, they all went their separate ways, battling each other for prime land and status throughout the city. There are still some rumbles as they seem to never be satisfied. Me, I didn’t give a shit, I attacked them all. I’m an equal opportunity enthusiast like that.

Regardless, we were going to save lives tonight and possibly make our army stronger in the process. Unfortunately, those people at Hirsch were still locked up, and now I am, too.  I know the guards standing outside my door are human, the vampires are well asleep by now.  That part was still true. Sun did these fuckers in, burnt them to a crisp. Not so for the dragons or werewolves, they were 24/7 threats, but since they all went their separate ways, the vampires don’t trust them in their territories and vice-versa. There are some neutral zones, like where you’ll find the dungeons, brothels and sanguinistas. Those are the places where these supes go to get their rocks off and their feed on. I would have bombed them if I could live with taking human life. I couldn’t, so I didn’t. 

I looked around the dark room again, ’cause hell, what else did I have to do? I’d been hanging here for hours now with  the need to piss something fierce, and my stomach was growling for some grub I knew wasn’t coming. When the sun sets in a few hours, I’ll be a dead man. That much was certain.