She inhaled slowly, her own breath ringing loud in her ears. The silence was unnerving. It seemed to weigh down on her, crushing her, taking hold and ripping her apart, slowly and agonizingly. She couldn't predict how much time had passed since. This…this place...

She got up slowly, licking her now dry and cracked lips. Reaching forward, she caught the beautiful ornate goblet, and filled her mouth with its contents.

Ah, the sweet liquid hit the back of her throat, filling her with much-needed warmth. Barely a second later, she spat it out. Clutching the goblet as hard as she could, she threw it at the wall, mustering all her force and willing it to break apart into a million little shards. And even as it hit the wall, even as it shattered, just as she hoped it would, she sank to the ground, her now-moist lips stretched into a wry smile. Long, soft fingers ran against her hair, caressing it.

She turned, the wry smile melding, reforming itself into a snarl. Her teeth dug into her lower lip, drawing blood. She caught the pale hands caressing her hair, as if she belonged to the owner of the hand. Barely looking up, she tightened the hold on the arm. Her delicate fingers crushed the longer, stronger ones. A shriek filled the air as the pale-white fingers cracked and broke.

And as her heart rose to delight as the shriek reached the crescendo, she joined in too. Now the two of them were screaming, together, alone, in the dark room.

She looked into the mirror. The fingers of her right arm were tightly clutching what remained of her broken and mangled left arm.

The wry smile never left her face.