12 Prologue

Prologue

"Get up."

The words didn't register to him as he lay in a cold, dark prison cell. His skin bruised, his hair matted, he was a pathetic sight. A rat scampered over his shackles. He didn't even have the energy to fend it off.

"I said, get up!"

The butt of a staff jabbed him in the ribs. He coughed, spitting out a few drops of blood.

"I told you," said the prisoner, "I don't know anything."

The corrections officer sneered and grabbed him by the hair, yanking him up. "You're under arrest for suspicions of conspiracy to commit terrorism! If you squeal, pig, maybe we won't turn you into bacon."

"Aha, I'm a pig now?" The prisoner gave a rotten little chuckle. "I'm not that gullible, you know? No Sorcerer would ever give up an opportunity to torture an Unforgivable. You're all the same filth wrapped in a glittery package. Of course that's a lie."

"The filthy one is you!" Spittle flew from his mouth as he screamed, beating him savagely. "How dare someone like you talk back at me! It doesn't matter what happens to you! Nobody would miss an Unforgivable! Maybe I'll just kill you right now and seal your body in the walls, huh?"

"Then… do… it." The Unforgivable, eyes black and blue, blood dribbling from his mouth, looked up at him and flashed a savage smile. "But there's more than me, who share the same dream. You can bring one of us down, but there'll be five more to replace me. The world must change, and if my death brings that change forth, then I'll still have won!"

"You… you…!" The officer yanked his staff back, aiming for the Unforgivable's head. "Why don't you just d—"

Bang!

A muffled explosion pierced through the oppressive dark, and with one last look of surprise, the officer staggered and fell down dead, a gaping wound in his back.

"Leader!" A girl's voice and tiny footsteps grew closer and closer until she reached the Unforgivable's cell. She was small and hard to notice—the perfect person for espionage. In her hand, a strange bent object, but she soon concealed it under her tattered dress.

"Felice!" The Unforgivable gathered his strength and sat up. "You came for me!"

"Just in time, Leader." She bent down, revealing the trail of red lines running down her neck. Like him, she was also an Unforgivable. Felice took the keys from the corpse's pocket and unlocked his cell. "Can you walk, Leader?"

He struggled to his feet. "Yeah," he said. "I'll manage. How did you get past the guards?"

"The others are here too. They've… neutralized the ones who noticed. Come, Leader, before anyone else realizes what happened."

"Right."

He followed her down dark halls to the laundry shoot. She opened the hatch. "I came through here. Our comrades are already outside."

"You climbed up like that?" He stared in disbelief down the tunnel. "You really are amazing!"

"Thank you, but make haste."

Leader nodded and slid down the tunnel, landing on top of a pile of old towels. The garage door connecting the prison loading dock to the outside was cracked open, but not wide enough for anyone to really see in the oppressive cloak of night.

A Worker stood by the door. He wore the jail staff uniform. It was nice to have connections on the inside, thought Leader.

"Yo!" he waved. "They really roughed you up, man!"

"I thought I was done for." Leader crawled under the crack to the outside, where a small group of Unforgivables stood. A few bodies dotted the landscape. All guards. The silencers must've worked perfectly for no one to notice any of their coworkers were missing, Leader noted.

"You really saved us last time," said another Unforgivable, "but don't you dare get caught again! We need your brilliance to lead us."

"Don't sell yourselves short," answered Leader as they made their escape. Waiting for them was a produce cart. His comrades helped him up, and the others boarded after, covering themselves with a tarp.

"You didn't tell them anything, right?" asked Felice.

Leader laughed. "They don't even know my name!"

The others joined in with his laughter as the cart exited city limits, taking them back to their secret base.

Leader stretched out. "Let's celebrate when we get back, guys. But after that, another step forward!"