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The Skin House

Chapter 3: Arrowhead

His bright hazel eyes opened slowly. Where was he? Why was he in pain?

Then he remembered.

Kaoru remembered the kidnapping, the masks, and the torture. Everything. It almost felt the same waking up this time as the first time. The only difference was, he could immediately piece together where he was.

Kaoru's arms were bound by something, though he was not sure what as of yet. All he knew in his blurry mind was that he could not move them. He could move his legs and feet, but only a bit. His mouth was free, however. He no longer had a gag or anything keeping him from talking.

"Ah, I see you are awake," a familiar, calm voice spoke from off to the side.

Kaoru turned his head to see the long-beaked masked figure fiddling with different objects on a table.

"I hope you had a nice, induced sleep, because we have a long and busy day ahead of us."

That's right. He had been given a sedative, which put him to sleep.

Kaoru could hear the doctor's smile, though he could not see it.

"Why don't you stop being a coward and show your face?" Kaoru spat.

A chuckle came from the man as he continued shuffling around with his equipment on the other side of the room.

"In due time, my boy. In due time," he replied.

Kaoru glared at the man and was about to retort until the door on the other side of the room opened and one of the executioners entered.

"Ah, you're back," the doctor said. "Any word?"

"They have not come close to us," the executioner replied in a deep voice.

It was the first time Kaoru had heard one of the executioner's make any kind of noise, let alone speak. That was not his main focus, however; instead, he was curious as to who "they" were.

"Good," the doctor replied. "And I trust that none of them have tried to leave the area?"

"Yes, that is correct."

"Perfect."

It was then that Kaoru realized, they were talking about Tamaki, Hikaru, and the others. That meant they were safe. That also meant that they must be searching for him, but had not even come close to where he was being kept. That made Kaoru's heart sink, but at the same time, he was glad that they were out of harm's way.

"Are you ready to help me, then?" the doctor asked as he walked over to Kaoru.

The executioner nodded and walked over to him as well.

"Surely, you have noticed that you cannot move your arms, Kaoru," the doctor said.

Kaoru only glared at the man in the mask, but did not say a word. He had noticed what it was that was keeping him restrained by now. It was a strait jacket. His arms were crossed over his chest and bound to his sides. His feet were strapped down.

Kaoru had also noticed that he was no longer on the plank of wood he had woken up on however many hours before; the doctor had referred to it as a Tiger Bench, which was supposedly a Chinese torture technique. The doctor had told him this after his whipping and bleach punishment; in which, afterward, he had decided to perform another cinderblock treatment on his already bruised legs.

Now, instead of the Tiger Bench, he was on an old, rickety hospital bed. His head rested on a flat pillow.

Before he could even attempt to keep his mouth shut, it was pried open and a bit gag was situated around his head and inside his mouth, preventing him from speaking. The gag tasted of leather, but that was the last thing on Kaoru's mind as he heard the doctor's next words.

"We are going to try something really fun today," the doctor said as he held up what appeared to be a large pair of tongs with cloth tips.

The doctor placed the tongs against the sides of Kaoru's head. Kaoru hated how weak he seemed in the doctor's presence; he did not want to appear afraid, but he could not help the whimper that came from his mouth.

"This is what you would call an ECT," the doctor began explaining. "Also known as, Electroconvulsive Therapy. It has been used for decades. Of course, the patients tend to be put under anesthesia. However, we will have none of that here."

Kaoru began breathing heavier as he saw the executioner charge up a box-like device out of the corner of his eye. It began to make an electrical whirring noise, causing Kaoru to panic even more.

"This procedure will send an electric current through your brain, inducing a seizure," the doctor continued explaining. "Now, don't worry. I have done this multiple times."

Kaoru began shaking his head, he felt tears forming in his eyes. He whimpered as the executioner went over to the device and put his fingers on a switch.

The doctor held the tongs on Kaoru's head.

"Oh, sh sh sh," the doctor soothed mockingly.

He then looked to the executioner, and nodded.

Kaoru continued to shake his head and whimper, tears flowing out of his eyes at this point.

The executioner paid no mind to Kaoru's persistent sounds of fear. He flipped the switch and a louder whirr of electrocution could be heard as it traveled to Kaoru's head.

Kaoru immediately began convulsing, his eyes wide. Noises emerged from his throat that would have made any normal person's heart break or at least tremble. However, the doctor merely watched until he nodded at the executioner to stop the electricity.

The red-head stopped convulsing and his eyes glazed over. He was breathing heavily behind the gag in his mouth. He was so tired and groggy.

The doctor looked into his eyes. He pulled down his bottom eyelid then pulled up on his top eyelid, observing. There were now red burn marks on Kaoru's head where the tongs had been. He slapped Kaoru's cheek at an attempt to make him focus once again. It worked only slightly, so the doctor snapped his fingers at the executioner, who seemed to understand what he wanted.

The doctor kept his hand held out, and soon a sharp scalpel was in his hand. It gleamed in the dim light. He brought the knife up to Kaoru's face and quickly cut him from his nose to his ear.

Kaoru let out a scream. Even though it was muffled by the bit gag, it was still loud.

Blood immediately flowed from the long wound. The scalpel was no longer gleaming its original silver color. Instead it was a shiny red color from Kaoru's blood.

The doctor was pleased that he once again had his patient's attention, or at least somewhat. Kaoru continued to scream as the tongs were placed on his head once again.

"Crank it up a bit higher," the doctor ordered.

Kaoru shook his head again, in an attempt at begging the doctor to stop, but it was futile. The doctor would not listen. The executioner would not listen. Kaoru was just an object. He was merely a little piece in their game.

The whirr of electricity started up again and Kaoru was once again racked with a seizure. His eyes shooting open as the electric current surged through his brain. Drool seeped out of the corners of his mouth as his convulsions continued. The blood continued flowing from the wound on his face and dripped into his hair and onto the bed.

…

"Kaoru! Kaoru!" Tamaki yelled into the woods.

Off a little ways away he could hear Hikaru shouting the same name, his voice even more hoarse than before. They had traveled far from the camp, and the morning sun was beginning to come up.

Tamaki looked up at the pink sky gently showing its way through the tree branches. It would be beautiful if the circumstances were different.

As much as he hated to admit it, he could feel exhaustion creeping up on him. At first, he had so much adrenaline. He and Hikaru had been traipsing around the dense woods like wild men trying to find Kaoru, but they had not come any closer to figuring out where he was than hours earlier.

Just as Tamaki was about to let out a sigh of frustration he saw something gleaming on the ground. He tilted his head at it and walked closer. He bent down to examine it and his eyes opened wide.

A necklace.

He picked it up and examined it, brushing some dirt off with his thumb. It was silver and the little charm was in the shape of an arrowhead. There were small flowers along the hilt of the arrowhead. There was no mistaking who it belonged to.

"Kaoru…" Tamaki whispered.

30 Hours Prior

"Kaoru, do you need help with that fire wood?" Tamaki asked from behind the small, red-head.

"No thanks, senpai. I got it," Kaoru said with a small smile.

Night had fallen and they had already gone through a few logs of wood. Kaoru had offered to grab more. Tamaki followed him to offer help considering Kaoru was not the most muscular of the bunch. Hikaru was even more muscular than his twin.

Tamaki's eyes caught on the necklace that he wore and he said, "I see you found your necklace?"

Kaoru touched it and said, "Yeah. I guess I thought I had clipped it properly and it fell off into the grass. Hopefully it's clipped well now. I don't want to lose it again."

When Kaoru stood up, one of the logs rolled off of the pile in his arms. He let out a sheepish laugh and said, "Actually, senpai, can you pick that up for me?"

Tamaki let out a small chuckle and said, "Sure thing."

…

Tamaki looked at the necklace in his hand for a few more moments until something else caught his eye. What appeared to be dragging marks were indented in the small patches of dirt. They were so faint that anyone else who was not looking for a missing person would miss it. Tamaki, however, knew better.

He clenched the necklace tight in his hand and called over his shoulder to Hikaru.

…