"My name is Cosette Cygne."Few passebys probably turned to glance curiously at the small woman, who was standing in the middle of the road and muttering to herself. She was saying everyday things, her name, her husband's name, where she was from, names of her loved ones.
But they were all things Cosette wasn't supposed to be able to say.
Cosette was under magical orders, that prevented her from speaking about anything that had to do with details of her past or current situation, her real name or Ulric's name. But now she could voice them, and it was all thanks to the bracelet Cosette had on her wrist. Cosette looked down at the power bracelet, swallowing a bit. She had been suspecting the bracelet shut off the orders, but she hadn't gotten around to testing it before now, just few days before Christmas Eve. Cosette had been scared, so scared, because being able to voice all what she was going through gave so much power into her hands. It gave Cosette a chance to escape, to go to the polive, to run away, anything. And all of that was terrifying. Cosette was terrified of Ulric's power, what he could do to her. All the horrible scenarios ran through Cosette's mind as she stared down at her wrist, swallowing down a lump in her throat. She should do it now, go to the polive station, contact Ghum, go to Willow, anything. And that was when Cosette made the biggest mistake she could at that moment.
She decided to sleep on it.
Cosette turned around and went home. Her mind was numb and in chaos simultaneously and she sighed as she took her power bracelet off, hid it and opened the door to the house Ulric kept her in. Almost immediately after closing the door a fist struck Cosette's face and she hit the door, her head striking the wood. Cosette let out a yell of pain and a whimper, when Ulric's hard hand grabbed her arm. He yanked her hair and pushed her head forward, so he could see the back of Cosette's neck. And there Ulric saw Ghum's mark, the one that allowed Cosette to contact. He let out a grunt of anger and hit Cosette again, with his palm this time.
"What does this do? WHAT DOES IT DO?!"
Cosette bit her lower lip in fear when Ulric yelled in her ear, and she held back the tears as she looked up at Ulric. Cosette didn't contact Ghum, she couldn't.
"I-it...w-with it I-I can...t-talk to them...in m-my mind..."
Cosette voice was quiet and shivered, and she let out a yelp of pain when Ulric pulled her hair. He dragged Cosette through the house by her hair and to the basement. Cosette knew what was down here, it was where Ulric took those who knew too much. She often heard screams of pain from there, and she hyperventilated and started crying. What was Ulric going to do to her? Was he going to kill her?
Ulric opened a door in the basement, and revealed a small filthy room. He tossed Cosette in there, looking at her like she was filth.
"In here no one can hear you. You can come out after I'm sure you will never even consider going against me again."
And with that Ulric left Cosette in that cold, dark room, that was reinforced with magic that made quiet all noise and prevented any use of powers. Cosette was alone and trapped, and after few weak and futile attempts at opening the door she merely bundled herself in the corner and cried. But instead of defeat her mind started harbouring hope and anger.