The Ring of Rebirth

“As you know: to graduate, you need to at least reach 70 in GT; if you are 60-70, then you must stay in the base and be a servant for the rest of your life; if you are below 60, then disposition.”

The children sat on the ground in a circle as T3 paced in the middle. Tiff and Nick looked at each other at these words. Nick gulped and took a deep breath to calm himself, while Tiff wiped the sweat in her palm onto her clothes.

She could hear her heart thumping, threatening to burst out of her throat. She imagined herself being a servant…cleaning up bodies and bloodstains all day and can’t even peek at the outside world. Or worse, getting disposed. She bit her lips at this thought.

T3 started to proclaim the scores from her clipboard, “Brandon, 81!”

A boy proudly beamed.

“Rachel, 67!”

A girl’s eyes widened in terror and blurted, “No! I’d rather die than become a servant!”

“Alright, as you wish.” T3 shrugged, pulled a pistol from her belt and aligned it with the girl.

With a loud ‘bang’, a bloody hole appeared on Rachel’s forehead. Her stunned expression froze, and her body clouted onto the ground.

The two kids beside her edged away from her quickly while the mood became tenser, though nobody made a fuss. They were used to the sudden killing and depositions that happen all the time. Two brawny servants came and lifted the body away.

T3 continued as if nothing happened, “Michel, 84! Spenser, 71! Tiffany, 78!”

Tiff signed in relief. It was not until now that she realized how tense she was. She felt giddy, so she closed her eyes for a second to steady herself. She covered her cheeks with her cold hand to make sure that this is the reality. All that was twirling in her mind, again and again, were the words, ‘I survived GT! I’m going to live! I survived GT! I’m going to live! …’

“Nick, 83!”

Tiff saw Nick beaming like a fool with something shimmering in his eyes, she assumed they are happy tears. She was so glad for both of them she nearly cried as well, but she blinked it back before anyone could see. T3 hates expressions of emotions.

Soon, all the names and their scores were announced. For some, this was their happiest day ever; while for the others, today was either the beginning of their nightmare or the end of their life.

“So, in total, there are twelve graduates, two servants, and the rest have been disposed.” T3 concluded.

Servants came, dragged away the bodies and mopped the puddles of blood.

“Graduates, you will go on your first mission around eight months from today. During the period before that, you’ll attend the preparation which will teach you about transportations and modern technologies that you certainly will need at some point in your mission.”

“Tomorrow, each of you’ll get a phone. You can only use it while you are on a mission, and you can only use it to do mission-related things. The phone will be confiscated once you get back to the base. And remember, we can monitor the phone and use it to track you.”

A man ran to T3 and whispered something into her ears while she kept nodding, the corner of her lips rising higher and higher.

“Ok, graduates,” She was smiling when she talked, which surprised quite some children, “Follow me. Since you are soon going to leave the base for your first mission, it’s time to show you the consequences of betrayal in the Organisation.”

“An adult, can you believe it, a nineteen-year-old lad sold us to the police because he wanted to start a family! How ridiculous is that? Risked his life for a family that has not yet formed! Police officers came, but of course, all defeated and became our practice targets. Then, that young man threw away his phone and escaped to Mexico. We sent people to search for him and they were back yesterday with the guy.”

“So, children, don’t even think about betraying us, because we’ll HUNT YOU DOWN, no matter where you run to.”

T3 led them through tunnels after tunnels before they finally entered a metal room at the far end of the base.

They grouped in front of a man who was cuffed erectly on the wall by his wrists and ankles. His messy hair and ragged clothes suggested he put up a good fight before he was captured. He squinted at the sudden brightness and wriggled uncomfortably.

“Oh, yeah, and his fiancée.” T3 snorted in contempt and pointed at the other side of the room.

There, a lass was also cuffed on the wall with her tangled brown hair falling in front of her, covering most of her face.

“Hey, Brian, nice to meet you again.” T3 smirked beside the man.

“Go, away,” He growled.

“Fine. I didn’t want to do this, but your attitude left me no choice.” She said joyfully.

T3 beckoned a muscular servant into the room and went to the wall to push the lever beside the woman upward. The cuffs around her limbs snapped open and she thumped onto the floor.

She moaned and slowly supported herself up with her arms. Her hair fell beside her and revealed her delicate features, even in a state like this, she was still a beauty.

“Brian, since you’ve already tricked your fiancée here, why not enjoy this with me?” T3 then turned to the servant, “She’s all yours.”

With her words, delight and excitement gleamed on the servant’s face. From the moment he became a servant until now, he has been trapped in the base for more than thirty years, and he never thought he could ever taste woman in his life.

The gal gritted her teeth and spit the words out, “You! Tricked! Me!”

Brian blinked in shock, then something dawned on him and he frantically explained, “No! She was talking nonsense. I didn’t trick you here. I’d never trick you, believe me! I love you!”

T3 leaned against the wall and smiled. She gestured for the servant to start.

Exasperation boiled in Brian’s eyes, but he reassessed the situation quickly and swallowed what he was going to say.

Instead, he went for pleading, “T3, don’t! I’m very sorry for my attitude. She doesn’t know anything, and it was all my decision. She’s innocent. Please, let her go.”

“Well, too bad, isn’t it?” T3 taunted and instructed the servant, “Give it to her hard.”

“No, you can’t!” Brian struggled against the cuffs in vain.

“Yes, I can.” As she said this, the servant was already marching toward the girl.

“I’ll do anything! You can punish me however you want, but she’s not part of this!” His eyes were wide with dread with his face contorted from the bawling.

“You’ll be next. Relax, man.” T3 chuckled at Brian’s panic and told the servant, “Let her suffer.”

The gal scrambled to retreat while the servant advanced. The evil grin on his face widened as he cornered her, grabbed her shoulders and forcefully turned her to face him.

“Go away, you jerk! Don’t touch me!” She shrieked and pushed the man, though she can’t move him even for the tiniest bit.

Brian’s fists tightened beside him, his fingernails cutting deep into his palm, “Please, T3! I’m begging you, make him stop! Show some mercy!”

“Mercy? You grew up here, you should know there’s no mercy in the Organisation.”

The woman’s clothes and his own was long torn away by the servant. She gulped in terror as the man’s palm covered and twiddled her full breasts. He split her legs and entered her so suddenly and with such piercing pain she cried out. The man groaned hoarsely with elation.

“No… Go away, from me…” She moaned and wriggled feebly as he thrust himself in and out.

Tiff averted her eyes, finding the scene revolting. She peeked at the other kids. Some of them were watching vacantly, some watching with exhilaration, while a few showed distastes like her.

Tiff edged toward Nick and found him gazing at the ground expressionlessly. She didn’t dare to talk, so she touched his hand. He gave her a tiny smile and rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. For some reason, that was very comforting.

Soon, the lass lost her strength to move or speak, all she could do was glare at Brain with her beautiful blue eyes, convinced he’s the reason she winded up here.

She tried to resist, but the servant pinned her legs apart with so vehemently she couldn’t move at all. She nauseated at the man’s rude touches all over her, and the sting down there was so sharp she had to bite her lips from crying out, though a few moans still slipped through. Droplets of tears rolled down her flushed cheeks while she suffered.

Brian’s eyes became damp, too, as he blamed himself for wanting to leave the Organisation, and now ending the woman he loves in a state like this. He turned his head away and shut his eyes, refusing to meet her glare or to watch any further. His tears spilled from the corner of his eyes and splattered onto the floor.

“I’m not letting you get away from this, Brian. If you don’t watch, the next thing going into your fiancée will be something like a baseball bat. And, I may do it myself!” T3 raised her eyebrows.

He gritted his teeth as he slowly opened his eyes again. The servant’s butt was still thrusting violently while his fiancée remained in the humiliating pose like a ragged doll. She has quit struggling against the man and was now laying there yieldingly, her face pale and blank with her eyes closed. Brian wasn’t sure if she has passed out or accepted her fate, but either way, the scene made his heart shatter into pieces.

The servant finally got up from the gal after a long time, leaving her trembling uncontrollably on the floor. T3 shot her, and her breathing stopped almost immediately.

“See? I kept my word.” She shrugged and slid the gun back into her belt, signalling the servant to drag the girl’s body out of the metal room.

Brian closed his eyes, “Now, just kill me, please.”

“Well, not that easy, man. She got her punishment for seducing you, but you haven’t got yours for your betrayal.” T3 clapped her hands together and another stout servant came in, holding a bucket of water, a black whip, and a huge chunk of salt.

He laid those beside Brian before he then threw the salt into the water and stirred it with the scourge. It was about two meters long with sharp hooks poking from it. After a while, T3 waved the servant away and picked the whip up.

Brian stared at it impassively for a second before shutting his eyes again.

“Playing cool, huh?” She mocked.

The corner of T3’s lips twitched upward as she lashed him. A line appeared from his shoulder to thigh where his clothes tore, and a red, long scratch was visible on his bare chest. At the second and third strike, the whip sank into his flesh and tore some of it away with it. Blood rushed out while Brian grimaced, gritting his teeth and swallowing his groans back.

The next few scourges cut deep and tore more flesh away from him, faintly revealing some ribs underneath. He writhed and howled in strained agony. The veins on his neck and forehead bulged like a monster’s claws.

Tiff’s stomach churned as she saw Brian’s mushed chest and the pieces of flesh on the whip. She gulped and decided to escape the scene by staring at the floor like Nick. She tried with all her might to tune out his cry, to think about other things, to let her mind wander. Though Brian’s desperate howl still penetrated her head like lightning striking her again and again. She could almost feel the scourge lashing on her as well with each yowl of anguish.

“Not cool anymore, huh? I wonder how come.” T3 smirked.

“Kill me…please.” Brian muttered shakily, wheezing.

“Yeah, I suppose I’ll show some mercy today.” She shrugged.

She threw the whip into the bucket, splashing some red water onto the floor before she went to a lever on the wall. Instead of pressing it down this time, she pushed it up. Then, the cuffs locking Brian’s limbs moved towards four different directions, stretching him.

Nick quickly covered Tiff’s eyes and whispered into her ears, “Trust me, don’t look.”

She nodded and closed her eyes obediently.

Brian closed his eyes before being pulled into chunks. Blood and his organs rained everywhere, some falling onto the ground while some still hanging to a chuck of body. T3 then pressed the lever down, releasing the chunks and letting them fall to the ground.

She then turned to face the children, “If you ever betray the Organisation, then prepare to pay for your action. Death, terrifying to the others, might be all you wish to have.”