REceiving REtribution

Summary: Three months after Centipede is captured, life is just starting to begin again. After being in the hands of torturers far worse than Jason, our precious "Haise" attempts to start a new life. With his amnesia, it might end happily for once. Or is that another cruel joke that he was brain-washed into believing? Rated M for torture. No romance unless you look into it.

Thanks for reading.

I can swear I hear a soft voice whispering in my ear. Maybe it's a song. Maybe Kafka's tragic stories. The voice is kind and caring and unfortunately interrupted by a monstrous screeching. I immediately miss the nostalgic whisperings as my own strained throat runs dry. I can't take the time to notice that my eyes neglected to give tears. I thrash in my bonds like a wild animal would in a trap. Bloody and lacerated limbs pulling away their own skin and flesh as they attempt to escape from the iron claws of their predator.

The pain crammed into my body is unlike any hardship before. I can feel that much worse things had happened to me. Another voice (raspy and wretched) mumbles to me mindlessly and it sent unwanted longing into my being. I deny it. I reject it in its entirety. The raspy voice of the monstrous vermin rises until it matches the screeching that fills the dry air.

It becomes a barrage of discordance as even more voices come together. These noises circle around me. They seem to prefer their metal quills filled with rat poison rather than any antidote. It comes down and punctures my thigh in the time a hummingbird could flap its fragile feathers. Dear Kafka, save me again with your gentle words. Tell me of 'The Cross-Breed' or my gentle 'Metamorphosis' once more. Tell me of that blissful lamb that was turning more into a growling cat with each passing day. That man (I think he existed) with his white hair… His knife glinted against his glasses as he caged me.

I'm pushed against cool metal as even more leathery restraints are placed so tightly that I can feel the loss of circulation. Another spike injected into my skin. This time it goes through my spine vertically. I straighten immediately. I've now lost feeling of my body and the terrible screeching has passed. I'm thankful because the sound was unnerving.

There are more words yet they almost sound foreign compared to the beautiful language my mind claims to remember. It's the language of my home… my old and antique home. An image of a tall prideful mountain appears. Golden Buddha. A bustling summer crowd. A pond with frogs. I look to the faces but they are distorted. There, right there in the sunset, it's The Faceless sitting next to me as we gaze at the stars. The Faceless as she takes my order. The Faceless as she interrupts my peace of mind with her ramblings of Faceless mothers. The Faceless Japanese.

That's surely the language. Now I remember the words and letters and numbers. I think I'm counting again, except backwards. It makes a melody as the counting matches with the sounds of deafening drilling into my bones. These sevens… Times that by twenty and nine. Add three. Divide by two. Take that number and derive from it the number of times I've (half) died. Another leather strap is placed as a muzzle and I bite down on it like my last meal.

That putrid taste of a cow's skin is what finally makes me realize the hunger gnawing on me. I'll live another day. Aren't their starving children? I envy them. Let me trade places.

I can't drift into a peaceful sleep like I wish I could. It's a stubborn insomnia and I'm pushed into sitting position. My hands are now secured tightly behind me with thick chains cutting into my wrists. The gag is removed and I audibly gasp for fresh air. An unseen visitor sits before me, only his heavy breathing gives him away.

"You are Haise Sasaki." The smooth voice claims. I wonder who this person is directing their words unto. I pull against the chains. I swear that I can't feel my fingers. "You are Haise Sasaki. Haise Sasaki."

My voice strains as I repeat the unique words; "S… S…. Ssssa… S-sasa.. Ssasasa… k.. ki? Wh-Wh… Who?" It's that raspy and wretched voice again that speaks for me. I'm struck by something but it really isn't anything. It's just a small drop in the goblet already overflowing.

"You are Haise Sasaki," The voice repeats. I already knew that. "You are known as Haise Sasaki."

A broken record plays in the background, repeating that same line once more followed by once more. I think I've memorized it by now… Maybe once more just for the sake of it. It becomes a lullaby eventually. Sweet 'Rock-A-Bye' and a Faceless mother joins to sing of her love to me. The soft voice I heard when I awoke comes back to me as I begin to drift again. I hear it. It's as clear as the broken record and the pitter-patter of water dripping into the goblet. Sunshine… You make me happy… I think I'm begging now but I'm not sure if it's for The Faceless mother to sing louder or for the record to silence.

"You are Haise Sasaki."

I drift into that peaceful sleep that I imagined, but my dreams are a blank slate. Sleeping is such a breeze. Twelve hours go by before you realize that you had once closed your eyes. I regretted not saying my prayers but how would I say them? I suppose I could plead for that lullaby to be burned onto the record, but I would have nothing to offer in return. Doesn't there have to be a sacrifice? I haven't given anything. Have I?

I wake again wanting a midnight snack. I can still here the voice in the background, but now it sounds like a recording. It drones on and on. I went back to sleep because I found my limbs too tired to fight the binds.

"Who are you?" The smooth voice asks by the next day. I jog my memory, not wanting to disappoint. My body is feeling a mosquito-bite pain better and so I'd rather not again return to the slightly worse state. My memory seems a bit hazy… Yes, that's right. Haise.

"Haise-" I jump at the sound of the answer. It hurts my wrists and I let out a soft hiss of pain. "Sasaki."

"You are Haise Sasaki. You are definitely Haise Sasaki. What was your name before?" I'm sure that the answer to that one is here too. I think again of The Faceless. I try to imagine what they looked like. I think one had teeth. The Faceless woman… Wasn't she pretty? Didn't she say my name prettily? Walking home… Home. It wasn't a memory of a woman this time but I think I know a name.

"Come on. Think."

"H-Hi… H-Hide. Wasn't-sn't I-I-I H-Hide?" I feel so strongly connected to that name. That raspy voice keeps suggesting that we were one of the same. "Hideyoshi Nagachika."

I hear sharp intakes of breath around the room. The sound of shifting air is replaced by the spiked whip as it slashes against my back. Again. A skyscraper sunflower climbs to the sky, as if on the wings of an angel. It strikes again. A rabbit is running through a field of clovers as it is hunted. Again. A. A few more times. Twice more. Until the blood runs in rivers and someone cries to the torturer to cease his responsibility. I sit jerking violently in my chair. There's another shout. At the end of a long hallway, someone commands that my restraints be tightened. It took two hours before I calmed down again.

"Nobody has ever gone by that name. You have always been Haise Sasaki. You are Haise Sasaki."

...

I won't be able to upload again until at least Wednesday, but it's already typed. Thank you so much for reading. Please tell me what you think (I love critiques!). reviews also make my chronic loneliness go away.