“You know they could kill you, right? I may just end up as a doll for them to play. But that Sergei guy, he really hates you, doesn’t he?”

“Haha. Yeah, he does. Probably would have killed me by now if he didn’t get the kick out of torturing me” said Mikhail with a sarcastic smile.

“Aren’t you afraid? He’s gonna beat us up, torture us…and then he’ll-”

“Well, I guess I am afraid…a little”

“Doesn’t seem like it, from the tone of your voice” said Diego.

“Yeah. I sound awfully chill, don’t I?”

“Are you on drugs? Cause that would explain a lot of things” said Diego with a mild grin on his face.

“If meditation is a drug, then maybe”

“Meditation? You of all people believe that crap?” mumbled Amanda almost to herself.

“Hey, if you didn’t try it out yourself, don’t judge” said Mikhail, this time a bit grumpy. 

 “How does your so called meditation help you to be calm anyway?” grunted Diego.

“When you guys feel scared… you get utterly consumed by fear, you become the fear unconsciously. You get so wrapped up in the emotion that you completely forget yourselves.  When I get scared I know how to look at my fear. I can observe my fear. And if fear can be observed then how can the observed be the observer”  

After finishing his words Mikhail looked at them with a playful grin.

“I-I don’t know what to say about that” said Diego.

“Haha. It’s a very internal process. You’ll never know what I mean unless you tried doing it. Thoughts and emotions, they come and go. Identification with those cloud-like phenomena is the problem.  And if you learn to be a pure witness to them, without being for or against, sooner or later you will know that nothing can shake your inner being, the inner witness”

Mikhail’s voice became more alluring as he said those words.

“A-are you sure about that? I feel like shit and I don’t see anything inside myself besides fear and sadness” asked Amanda.

“Then, look at that fear and sadness. There is nothing wrong with them. Just keep on looking. You can try. You can always try”        

The three of them became quiet again. The two guards who were sitting on the sofas occasionally walked around the room. But every minute they made sure to examine them with the corner of their eyes.

“Hey, how much is Sergei paying you two? I can make it double” claimed Mikhail with a friendly face but the other two did not reply.

“Yeah, like hell they are going to listen to the words of the captives” grunted Diego.

“Perhaps, but I know one thing without these two telling me. That Sergei isn’t cut out to be a leader. Unless he changed of course. But seeing how he is acting up to now, it’s extremely unlikely”.

“Oh, and you’re cut out to be one?” taunted Amanda with a tone that was hollow yet sarcastic.

“Well, probably a better leader than you ever would be. Seeing as you’ve betrayed your current teammates” said Mikhail.

“You’re still gonna give me shit for that?” said Amanda sadly.

“As long as I live. Which depending on the circumstances could be a few days. In that case, I definitely will” said Mikhail casually

“Mikhail, I don’t know if you’re an idiot or just this brave.” said Amanda.

“Mmm, Why not both?”

Even after hearing his silly words, Amanda was still gloomy.

“That’s good for you, I guess. I, I’m still…afraid”

“You don’t look like the girl who tried to kill us all previously. You looked so serious and dangerous then. I was actually starting to panic” said Mikhail.