Feliciano woke slowly.
His head hurt. His stomach hurt. And he couldn't see anything.
He felt panic seize up in his throat as nausea began to eat away at his stomach, along with the feeling of hunger. He hadn't eaten in a while, at least he didn't think. It felt like a hollow, gnawing feeling. He attempted to move.
His arms... He couldn't move his arms... Oh god he couldn't move his arms.
He made a strained noise as he tried to pull his arms loose from whatever was holding him back. He knew what was happening. He didn't want to face it, he had faced it before, and he was afraid. So very afraid.
He could feeling something warm beside him. It had to be a person. It wasn't Germany. He could tell, the person seemed smaller. But still bigger than him.
Italy began to struggle a bit more, letting out a fearful whimper. He could feel tears already working their way past the dirty, smelling blindfold. He heard the person beside him grunt, and shift. Yes, it wasn't Germany.
"Antonio?" He whispered. "Is that-a you?"
He heard a grunt in response.
"F-Feli?" That was definitely -Spain- Antonio. "What's going on?"
"I-a don't know..." It took all of his willpower not to burst into a fit of terrified bawling right then. He knew he sounded scared, his voice sounded as if it was teetering on the edge of an emotional cliff.
Italy took a breath, trying to remember what Germany -Ludwig- had told him about situations like this. He needed to get a bearing of his surroundings. Who was there with him, where he was, what position he was in, any comprehensive idea of where he was.
He knew Antonio was there. That was a comforting thought, that there was someone stronger and braver than him. He swallowed, trying to free himself once more. There was some sort of rope or cord wrapped around his arms and wrists, and a blindfold around his head. More was wrapped around his ankles and shins, effectively keeping him in place. It didn't feel like the cord though, it felt more like duct tape.
He struggled from the awkward laying position and onto his knees, feeling the duct tape grinding his ankles together. He let out a hiss of pain. Antonio seemed to get the idea, and he felt movement to his left. The other was struggling to his knees as well. He sounded stressed, grinding his teeth together as a shuffling sound was heard.
Feliciano let out a squeak of surprise as Antonio's head landed in his lap. Antonio grunted, trying to get to his knees again, but instead finding himself stuck. Feliciano tried to help him, pushing his head up as best as he could, but there was no way he was moving.
"Can you see?" Feli asked finally.
"No." Antonio replied. He sounded scared now too.
The two didn't exchange anymore words, and Feliciano moved into the next step of the procedure. He took another deep breath. It as cold. The shorts he had put on before he woke up here where very short, and old, but he hadn't expected to leave. He was wearing an old sweater, the sleeves long and hanging over his arms. It was baggy on his thin frame, and slipped off of one shoulder. The bottom of the shirt went down and practically covered up the shorts, no doubt he looked like some sort of slut. He didn't have any shoes either. That wouldn't be good in the situation.
He struggled vainly again, shifting his knees. He accidentally bumped Antonio, who tried to sit up once more. For a third time, he failed. Feliciano twisted his head around. They where seated awkwardly on an old spring mattress. He could feel the cold radiating off of the wire frame just behind him. He could hear the springs squeak every time he moved, and it hurt his ears it was so high pitched. Antonio continued to fight to sit up again, but ended up rolling off of Feli's lap and laying on his stomach halfway across the bed.
Feliciano could hardly see through the blindfold, but he could make out shapes. He saw a patch of light s few feet away, and a dark shape -probably a dresser- on the other side of the room.
As if on cue, the door opened. His head swiveled to the door.
Antonio seemed to look up as three people entered the room. Feli tried to see where they where going, but they all spread out. A fourth stood just in the door.
He could feel uneasiness settle over his shoulders as he felt someone grow close. Suddenly, someone grabbed his hair. They took a good fistful, and pulled. Hard. Feli let out a yelp of pain as he slipped from the bed and fell to the floor. The side of his head hit the floor with an empty crack, and he could feel it throbbing. He let out a pain filled wail.
"Feli!" Antonio called.
"Shut up." Someone replied. Instinctively, Feli felt himself curl up, but once again he was grabbed by the hair and pulled along. He began to cry, feeling tears working their way through the blindfold and down his face.
"Don't touch me! Get away!" Antonio shouted. There was a thud, but he continued to shout. He too was dragged to the other side of the room where Feli was going. Feliciano heard a door open, and he as pulled across a new surface. Suddenly he was lifted by the ropes holding his hands back, and down into some sort of incline. The bottom was damp. He felt around with his feet. They hit a slim object. Chunks of something clung to it, and it was cold. Freezing cold. As he continued to feel along it in any attempt to gain a sense of his surroundings, he realized something that made his stomach drop.
He pulled away with a cry.
It was a bone.
A human bone.
He heard another thud, and Antonio shouting again. Feli fought his way over to the other, his words escaping as a jumbled mess.
"Toni! Toni there are-a dead people! They're going to try to kill us, there are dead people..."
Feli let himself begin to cry. He didn't know what was going on. He didn't want to be killed. He couldn't, he couldn't die. But he didn't want to have to feel a bullet through his head, or his head being disconnected from his body, or being stabbed.
Antonio tried shouting up at their captors again.
There was a thud, followed by two more. There where three people on the pit with them. One pulled something out. Suddenly, he was greeted with a bright light. He blinked, fighting to hide his tears. His vision cleared. The blindfold was gone. He looked around slowly, letting his eyes adjust. There where three men in the pit with them, all wearing dark masks in order to hide their faces. An old computer sat on a low table not too far away, and there was a camera attached to it, facing them. Two stood on either side of them, and a third was blocking the only exit, a low staircase up out of the pit.
He looked to his left to see Antonio sitting there, in practically the same situation.
One of the men went to turn on the computer, and the two men on each side of them reached forward, forcefully wrapping their fingers in their hair. Feli let out a pained squeak of fear as his head was forced down slightly, and he was staring at the dirt covered ground.
He hear Antonio try to struggle again, but he quickly went silent. Feli looked out of the corner of his eye to see a the barrel of a gun pressed against the back of his head. Antonio was staring at the ground with wide eyes, his mouth slightly agape in a now clear and obvious fear.
Feli let out another squeak.
He heard a dull whir, but the hand on his head stopped him from looking up. His heart was beating at a million miles an hour. Where as Romano? Romano would be here. Romano could help them, scare the men. He had said he had friends in high places.
Feli tried to look up, but the hand pushed his head back just as forcefully. He began to cry quietly. As if on cue, what he assumed was formerly his blindfold was pulled around his face, stopping any attempts at speech. He let out a whimper, and once again his head was forced down. All he did was manage to catch a glimpse of the man sitting at the computer.
After a moment, he heard a crackling sound. Speakers. He heard a voice, angry and annoyed.
"What the hell do you want? I told you I was done with your damn business!"
Feli nearly choked on his gag. He heard Antonio let out a gasp.
That was Romano. That was Romano's voice. The urge to cry only became more intense as he listen to w short conversation between the two. The man wanted Romano to do something. But he kept refusing.
"I said I was done, 'boss'. I'm not doing anything."
The man just laughed. He just laughed, as if Romano had cracked some funny joke.
"Really?"
The man stepped away from the camera. He heard Romano's voice go slack, anything he had been tying to say faltering as he saw. He saw them.
"Wh-what the hell did you do to them." Romano sounded as if he where trying not to throw up. Feliciano wanted to look up so badly.
"Nothing." The man hummed. "Yet."
Feliciano felt as if he was literally paralyzed with fear as the man seemed to grow closer. He could feel his heart beating quickly as he saw the man's shoes at the ground in front of him.
He whimpered as he felt the man grab him by his hair, pulling his face up. He was frozen in place as the man looked at him, withdrawing a knife. He heard Antonio cry out vainly, as if shouting for the man to stop. He felt the cold metal against his cheek. He wanted to vomit. His stomach he felt like a boiling vat of nervous energy, and he could practically feel it rising up in his throat.
Without warming, the blade was pressed slightly harder against his face. He let out a cry of pain as he felt blood began to slide down his cheek. There was no response from Romano. The blade rested on his shoulder, and the metal felt like ice against his skin. He squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the cut to be made, but the blade was quickly removed.
Mere moments later, a screaming pain rattled threw his head. His vision went white, and he screamed. Feli screamed as loud as he could. His head landed on the ground painfully, the side of his face throbbing. He heard Antonio try to shout. His vision faded in and out. His breaths where short and scattered. Tears streamed down his face. The brick that had just been used to bash his head in landed mere inches from his nose. He yelped fearfully as his hair was grabbed again. His head was raised, and then slammed into the ground.
He vision went white, and he wailed.
Again.
Again.
Again.
He could hear Antonio trying to shout at the man to stop, he was struggling. He heard Romano struggle to breathe. He snapped his eyes shut.
Again.
Again.
He braced himself for another impact, but there was none. He was held there by his hair, whimpering and crying, waiting for the next painful movement to be delivered.
Fire burnt through his scalp. His eyes flew wide, tears streaming down his face hotly, his cheeks red. He screamed. He screamed at the top of his lungs, hoping someone would help him, anyone. His voice felt raw as he was dragged towards the computer. His vocal cords where searing. It felt as if someone had ripped his throat out. His head felt like someone was trying to pry the top off. The knife mark on his face stung as he continued to scream and cry.
He found himself staring at the computer screen, eye to eye with Romano.
His brother's face was gaunt. Pale.
He whimpered as the knife found its way to his throat, hovering threateningly. He saw Romano choke.
"Fine."
The word came out soft. Fast. Scared. Romano shouldn't be scared.
The man seemed satisfied.
"You have one week. No more, no less. If you fail to complete your mission, will never see these two again."
Feliciano felt his heart sink as the screen went black and the plug was pulled. He was dragged back, past the human leg bone laying nearby, and thrown down in front of Antonio. He seemed to swear, glaring at their assailants.
But Feliciano didn't care anymore. His head hurt. His eyes hurt. His face, his stomach,, his legs and arms. He wanted to sleep. He wanted to wake up from this horrible nightmare.
His eyelids grew heavy.
His world became black again.