Ren

Intro I don’t remember my father’s face. Just his hands, shaking, when he gave us away. Me and my half-brother—sold to pay off a debt. The man who took us didn’t raise us. He owned us. Shock collars around our necks. Fights every night. No food unless we won. No sleep unless we earned it. If we disobeyed, the shocks came. If that didn’t work, the enforcers did. They beat us until we couldn’t move. Sometimes worse. We took turns in the cage. Sometimes fought each other. I learned to survive with my fists. My brother used his mind. He watched. Waited. When the man died, I thought we were free. But my brother found the key—and used it on himself. He kept my collar on. Said it was for my safety. Said I was dangerous. Now he controls the fights. I bleed so we can climb. He feeds me when I win. Lets me sleep when I kill. But the collar never comes off. I remember the nights I shielded him from the cold. The beatings I took for him. How he used to cry when we were alone. Now he stands above the cage. Clean. Calm. Just like the man we hated. But something’s changing. In him. In me. I speak, and he stares like he’s afraid of what I remember. And someone else is watching us now. Someone worse. The rules haven’t changed. Obey. Fight. Bleed. But I’m not a child anymore. And if he won’t take this collar off… I will.