SWNOVELS Chapter 27: Death Row
Hanna came to just as someone or something laid her on a straw bed. An enormous blurry figure snapped chains on her wrists and ankles, and then on the collar around her neck as she lay on the straw bed. “What?” Hanna moaned.
“Sleep now,” the figure rumbled softly. “You need to recover your strength from the Emperor’s assault before you go to the Arena.”
Hanna felt a prick on her neck and fell unconscious with a moan. When she came around, Hanna noticed she was lying on a straw bed with chains on her neck, wrists and ankles that reached to the wall, but didn’t hold her down to the bed. A small light shined down on her bed, barely lighting the cell. Her head throbbed as she slowly sat up, feeling a bit more energized. “Ugh,” she moaned, holding her head. “I wish that truck would stop running me down. It’s getting old.” Looking around at the cell, she saw it was twenty by twenty with her chains attached to the wall. A small drain sat in the floor and the smell of rotting flesh permeated everything. A heavy metal door lay on the far wall: the only exit from the room. Slowly, her head stopped pounding as she massaged it and her neck.
“Well,” Hanna murmured, “I guess this must be my last stop before the Arena and my death. I might as well take advantage of this last brief moment of peace.” Pulling her legs up and sitting cross-legged on the bed, Hanna started breathing deeply and relaxing her mind and body in meditation on the Lord God Almighty. A sense of peace came to her as she gained a deep focus. The platinum apparition of Hannibal oozed out of the corners of her mind and smiled warmly at her.
Deep in her mind and soul as the platinum Hannibal smiled confidently at her, the hooded angel murmured, “Do not be afraid. You’re not alone for the Lord is with you.”
A smile crossed Hanna’s face. “I know,” she whispered, “I’m not alone; not anymore.” Hanna then prayed for Selina, the women of the Harem, the poor souls on the sex floor, and those lost in Hell’s Kitchen. The sense of peace she had when she awakened deepened as she prayed and meditated. Soon the peace she felt lulled her to sleep.