The candle flickered to life in the cold, cement room with a loud hiss. Dan lowered his lighter into his coat pocket and leaned to inspect the flame before wrapping calloused fingers around the base of the candle stick.

 

Dan carefully spun the light to the captive seated in a wooden chair before him, noting the girl’s anxiety by a betrayal of sweat seeping from her dirty forehead. She was looking up at him with stern eyes, waiting patiently for a word to be spoken. Thomas, Dan’s right-hand man and unofficial bodyguard, stood behind the chair with large, crossed arms.

 

The silence caught on for such a time that Dan thought the girl would speak on her own. His gaze penetrated the girl’s pupils, searching for signs of weakness, but her fixed stare offered him no hints. The rat was maintaining her composure. No matter.

 

The shadows danced along the earth-ridden walls of the underground cavity as Dan placed the candle into a fixture on a nearby wooden table. The change of light placement highlighted the texture of the girl’s brown hair, dropping to her shoulders in tangled cascades.

 

Thomas looked from the back of the girl’s head to Dan. He, too, was waiting in anticipation.

 

“Now,” Dan began with a silky voice. “Why don’t we begin with introductions? I am Dan. The ogre that dragged you in here is Thomas.” He paused. “And you are?”

 

She kept her visage frozen in passive defiance. Dan took two calm steps in her direction and tugged on her wrists, bound to the arms of the chair with thick rope. Thomas’s work.

 

“You did a fine job with securing these lovely arms, Thomas. Fine rope, firmly knotted by a fine hand. Craftsmanship, I say.”

 

Thomas, obviously unsure of a response, merely dipped his head. “Thank you, sir.”

 

Dan started slowly retracing his steps back to the candle on the table, his back to the two. “If there was ever a way to make them tighter, I might have-”

 

“Anna,” a quiet voice muttered.

 

Dan stopped walking. The calm smile he had perfected over the years formed on his lips as he turned to face the helpless, yet tenacious, girl.

 

“Your name… is Anna. Cute. And where are you from, Anna?

 

This time she remained quiet, even after being treated to another lengthy silence.

 

Dan took a deep breath and began pacing the room, hands in his coat pockets playing with the lighter. His worn boots padded against the uneven concrete floor.

 

“I’m afraid it has become a common occurrence to greet those like you in chambers just like these, Anna. President Wade would hate to find out exactly how your people turn out. Fortunately for us, he never asks. Doesn’t bother to know. He trusts us, you see. And so, as far as we’re concerned, I say what happens to whom around here.” Dan ceased his pacing and raised an eyebrow to the prisoner. “Maybe we should stop meeting like this? Your people and mine, that is.”

 

No response, except for that stare.

 

“And for what cause, Anna?” Dan continued, now properly facing her. “To light some lightbulbs? Is it really that fun to you people? How much can you really get out of-”

 

“It’s more than that, and you know it.” Anna snapped. The sudden outburst made Dan flinch, causing him to grin to himself. Thomas remained unaffected, arms still crossed. He really was an ogre.

 

“Well then,” Dan muttered, putting out his palms. “Enlighten me, as you would those lightbulbs.”

 

“It has to do with this corrupted government,” Anna quipped. “It has to do with a mindless population. It has to do with monsters like you, transforming a utopia into an autocratic nightmare. We work our provided jobs, eat our provided meals, and live in our provided houses. We marry our provided spouses, for crying out loud! A person can barely speak on his own without getting arrested.”

 

Dan noticed a vein bulging from the girl’s temple. Good.

 

“And on top of all that,” Anna added, “your blind President Wade decides to ban lightbulbs several years ago. Lightbulbs!” She cursed for emphasis. “Who does that? I’ll tell you who: someone who gets enjoyment from controlling peoples’ lives and changing the rules for sport. Someone who takes advantage of inflated politics and mindless consumers. Wade doesn’t give an iota of consideration for us, let alone dogs like you. Can’t you see that, idiot?”

 

Dan laughed at that last remark. “I’m sorry princess, but my relations to President Wade are none of your concern. Perhaps if you realized how a little change in your perspective can alter your feelings, we wouldn’t be in this predicament, hmm?” He walked over and picked up the candle on the table.

“Sir,” Thomas said in his deep voice, “my apologies, but there are other prisoners to visit. We can’t take too long.”

 

Yes. Anna was only one of many.

 

To Dan’s pleasant surprise, Anna’s determined face gave way to one of mild concern. “Others? You have others?” she asked.

 

Dan chuckled. “Oh yes, Anna. At least twelve of you. You didn’t think you were the only one to get captured during the… What do your people call it… the Lighting?” He shook his head. “It is quite a form of disobedience to light a lamp post with anything but candlelight, Anna. And distributing lightbulbs to the public? Are you wanting people to light them and get thrown in prison? To what end does your Brigade do this, dear Anna?”

 

Her faced had regained its stoic poise. “Hope.”

 

Dan disregarded her with a wave of his hand. “Pathetic. You know, Anna, some might consider a system in which the government cares for you to be a paradise. Your decisions are already made; there is no room for error because there isn’t error! Our glorious president has made sure of that.” He motioned the candle to Anna. “You, Anna, and your Brigade, are the only error I’m afraid. An error that will be fixed with time, I’m certain.”

 

“Our leader will never allow that,” Anna whispered.

 

Dan scoffed. “Yes, of course. Your little leader, Jonah. King of the Lightbulbs.”

 

“Jonah, Leader of the Brigade,” Anna corrected sharply.

 

“Sir,” Thomas interrupted again. They were losing time.

 

Dan nodded and walked over to Anna with the candle.

 

“Anna, I’m afraid we’re running short on conversation time. This is an official work candle issued by our president. I’m sure you’ve seen them all around the city. A beautiful sight to behold, for sure.”

 

“Their glow only serves to reflect the dark, clouded minds of the city,” Anna replied coldly.

 

Dan hesitated, studying her for a moment. He grunted. “Thomas, remove the rope from her right hand and stretch the arm out for me.”

 

As Thomas did just so, Anna showed no sign of restraint. Not even a quiver in her spine. Remarkable.

Thomas lifted her fragile arm and straightened it toward Dan, balancing the index finger so it stuck out from the hand. Thomas knew – they had done this before. And so they would do it eleven more times once this was over.

 

Dan hovered the flame of the fairly large candle just below the finger. He paused to see her reaction: still nothing, though her chest had to be pounding about now. Both Dan and Thomas knew the feeling – the torture sequence was to be endured to an extent by all who wish to be initiated into the President’s Order. And in all honesty, it was by far the least strenuous form of torture they administered.

 

“Anna,” Dan started calmly. “Your people have a hideout. We know this. My men search for it day in and day out. Please, why don’t you make this easy and share the details with us?”

 

Anna kept silent for several seconds, as he knew she would. Unfortunately for her, he was nearly out of patience.

 

Dan lifted the flame to her finger. Within seconds, Anna’s face contorted and her eyes closed, attempting to bear the pain, utterly helpless. Thomas made sure to hold the arm steady against her shaking body, for the best results.

 

The soft whimpering escaping her gritted teeth seeped into the dark room for several long, painful seconds before Dan lowered the flame, allowing a shaken Anna to fully observe the sight of her singed finger before pressing her again.

 

“Tell us, and I’ll drop this candle,” Dan reassured impatiently.

 

Being that her heavy breathing was the only response he received, he lifted the flame once again. As before, Anna shut her eyes and did a surprisingly fine job of suppressing her groans, though a few still managed to escape as the flame devoured the finger at its own gruesome pace. Her finger was beginning to melt after a time – Dan wasn’t keeping track of his torture duration anymore.

 

Tears streamed from Anna’s face as Dan lowered the flame from a deformed stub of a finger. Her heavy breathing and quiet sobs were now wracking her body.

 

“Tell me,” Dan uttered under his breath.

 

Anna sniffed loudly, but still defiantly kept her silence.

 

Suddenly Dan flew forward and smashed his fist into the girl’s left cheek, sending both her and the chair sprawling on the ground with a loud crash. Thomas had quickly reacted to Dan’s assault by letting go of the girl and jumping back.

 

Dan kneeled over Anna’s prone, heaving body and grabbed her throat. “Tell me!” he roared.

 

Now struggling to breathe, Anna stared at the wall past Dan with wide eyes, like a bloated fish gasping for water.

 

“Speak!”

 

“Sir!” Thomas asserted. “She can’t answer you if she can’t breathe!”

 

“She won’t answer me, oaf!” Dan yelled, followed by a string of curses. It was useless with this one.

He released Anna’s neck and stood, brushing his coat. “Take this one back to her cell and tell Blythe to hold the next interrogation for another hour.”

 

“But sir-”

 

“Do as you’re told!”

 

Dan stormed past Anna’s body and ignored the sounds of her desperately sucking for air. He would have to try harder with the next one.

 

*****

 

The pain had told her to yell, but she’d held it in. She figured if she could hold it in, she wouldn’t give the man any information.

 

It had worked, but just barely.

 

And now Anna was being led back to her dimly-lit sewer drain of a prisoner’s cell by the bodyguard. The cell was just like one you would expect to find in a dungeon or castle: stony floor, water dripping from the ceiling, and one cold, bare sleeping cot, all guarded by an iron, barred jail door.

 

And yet, having been taken to the catacombs beneath the city, Anna had really expected it to look a little less… medieval.

 

The muscular jailor pushed her into the lonely cell without a word and half-mindedly secured the door shut before retreating down another corridor. Within moments, Anna was alone, as she had been for the past four days, or at least she figured it to be four days.

 

Anna scrambled to the door and grabbed the bars, wincing at the horrible sting of her useless finger. She craned her neck to search for other cells nearby – surely if there were others, they were nearby!

 

“Hello?” she called. “Is anyone there? Can you hear me? It’s Anna!”

 

She steadied her breathing and listened. Nothing. She tried again, only to endure the same results.

Defeated and lonely, Anna stumbled to a corner of her cell, sank to her bottom, and grabbed her knees close, letting the tears roll as an unrelenting stream down her dirty face.

 

It was only several minutes into the sobbing that she lifted her head and caught sight of an object lying near a puddle of water on the floor. Slowly, she crawled over to it and picked it up. It was a piece of paper.

 

With writing on it.

 

“I’m sorry you had to go through that. But I can’t betray my position just yet. I’ll see that your friends are relatively unharmed. Dan still has to go through me to get to them.

 

I’m working on a plan for you. For us. Just trust me.

 

 – T”

 

Baffled, Anna looked up into the corridor beyond the cell door with a gaping mouth. There, leaning in the shadows of an arched passageway, was the jailor. Thomas. Watching her.

 

And beneath his fixed stare, held in his large, rough hand, was the clear casing of a single lightbulb.