Whale was tied up to a chair. There were no visible signs of torture but the pain could be felt all over his body. Regina had been torturing him with magic for the last two hours. David had done her a favor by leaving Whale exactly where he had been torturing Ruby that day two weeks ago. It was his time to feel pain. It was her time to make him feel the way he had made Ruby feel. She would not let him get away with it and she would make him suffer.
"Regina stop it!" He screamed while she took a minute.
"I'm pretty sure Ruby begged you to stop but you didn't, so why should I?"
"Please! You've done enough!"
"I don't think I have. I don't think my magic has hurt you as much as you hurt Ruby."
"I won't do it again!"
"Of course you won't. There is no way I'm letting you come near Ruby ever again."
Regina looked at him and found herself enjoying the torture. That was the part of her that truly represented The Evil Queen. When she did things like that, she truly lived up to the name they had given her back at home. She didn't enjoy being evil but she enjoyed revenging Ruby. Doing this, torturing Whale, was the only thing she could do to defend the wolf.
She looked into Whale's eyes and used her magic to tighten the rope around his chest. She saw him struggling for air and trying to form the right words to make Regina stop. But no matter how hard he tried, she wouldn't stop. She took her time, tightening the rope harder and harder each time. He closed his eyes and tried his best to breathe and that's when she stopped the pressure around his chest. Whale's face was red from the struggling and he couldn't talk. He was hyperventilating, or at least he felt he was because there was no air in his lungs.
"Are…you…enjoying…this?" Whale asked as he tried to breathe properly. "You…are…evil."
Regina walked up to him and talked straight on his face. "I am evil when I have to be, dear. What about you? Do you consider yourself evil? Or you hitting Ruby wasn't evil at all?"
"I…am…sorry."
"Now you are sorry?" She let out an evil laugh. "You broke her cheekbones Whale! You smacked her around for months and now you're sorry? You are such a pathetic human."
"I shouldn't…have hurt…Ruby." His breathing was almost back to normal. "I'm sorry."
"I don't care!"
Hearing him say he was sorry made her even angrier, it made her blood boil insider her body and all she wanted to do was hurt him. She couldn't believe how pathetic he was. He spent the last months hurting Ruby and now when he found himself in trouble he tried to save himself. She hated him. She hated him with every inch of her body. How could a man be such a coward?
Regina closed her eyes to concentrate and used all her power to lift Whale's chair up and hit him against the wall. She didn't open her eyes; she could hear Whale screaming in pain. The sound his body, and the chair, had made against the wall sounded as though she had broken some of his bones. He deserved it, he deserved being smacked against walls and screaming in pain.
As she opened her eyes, she used her magic to put the chair back on it's place. She looked at him. She studied his expression. All she could see was pain. He kept biting his lip to avoid screaming out but she knew he was dying to let out a whining sound. Regina knew she shouldn't, but she was enjoying his pain. Once again, she used her magic to tighten the rope around his chest and slowly saw how he struggled for air, he couldn't breathe.
"You are pathetic, Whale. Ruby loved you, I don't see why but she did, and all you did was hurt her. She trusted you and you broke her trust. You got drunk every night and smacked her around." She moved closer to his face. "How pathetic do you have to be to hit a woman? How coward can you be to get drunk and hit the woman who loves you? I have no respect for you, Whale, and once I'm done with you, no one will ever respect you."
"Are you…going to…kill me?" He asked while the rope kept tightening around his body.
"Oh no, I am not going to kill you. You don't deserve that. You deserve to live a life of suffering. A life in which no one will ever respect you again. You will continue living in your stupid misery. I feel sorry for you, Whale, you are so pathetic it makes me sick to my stomach."
Regina kicked his chair down and used her magic to hit him over and over again against the floor. There was blood coming out of his mouth, he had bitten his tongue, and the torture was starting to leave signs on his body. She untied the rope and knew that there were marks underneath his shirt. She was done with him, she had done what she wanted to do and now she was done with him.
"Hello?" David said as he answered the phone.
"David, I'm done."
"Please tell me you did not kill him."
"I made you a promise. I promised I wouldn't kill him and I didn't. He's alive but he will need medical attention. I think I broke a few bones in his body."
"Regina!"
"What? You didn't ask me not to break his bones."
"How am I going to explain that a prisoner broke his bones?"
"David, dear, I am the Mayor and I will not ask you such thing. I don't care what happens to him in custody."
"Did torturing him make you feel any better?"
"Much better."
"Well I'm glad at least someone had a good time."
Regina laughed at his comment. "This was my way of revenging Ruby. He hurt her more than we know, he deserved this."
"I know he did. I just feel sorry the poor guy was up against you."
"He was not up against me. He was tied up to a chair."
"I do not ever want to be tied up to a chair and against you."
"I had you in a prison cell once."
"And I do not want to go through that ever again."
"Thank you for letting me have him, David."
"Just leaving him there and I'll pick him up soon."
"Remember to take him to the hospital."
"I will."
David had been the one to arrange everything so Regina could have her time with Whale. In the last couple of weeks, they had become friends and they both felt good about it. No one understood why they had become so close but they didn't care. David knew how it felt to want to protect the person you loved from a terribly bad force. Regina was now taking the role he had had when he defended Snow back at home.
"Regina!" Ruby ran towards the door as she saw the Mayor walking in. "Where have you been?! I was worried sick about you!"
"Wolf calm down, your body heat is about to transform my house into a sauna."
"Where were you!?"
"At work."
"Don't lie to me. David told me you were going to torture Whale."
"Charming cannot keep a secret."
"Are you okay?!"
"Yes, I am."
"What did you do?"
"I made him feel the pain he had made you feel, don't worry about it."
"He could have hurt you!"
"Of course not. I have magic, he doesn't."
Ruby hugged Regina as tight as her weak body allowed her to do so. She had been worried about the older woman all day long. She knew what Whale was capable of and she had feared he would hurt Regina as he had hurt her. Part of her was happy because Regina was standing up for her. But the other part of her was just simply worried; she didn't want anything bad to happen to Regina.
"Do not ever do that again, Regina."
"Well…I truly hope you never again have a boyfriend that hurts you that way."
"I don't want any boyfriend." She looked into Regina's eyes. "I want you."
"Ruby, we've talked about this."
"I know we have but you still haven't asked me out on a date."
"I told you I wanted to take things slow, wolf."
"It's really sexy when you call me wolf."
"Stop it, Ruby."
"Come on, Regina. You said it yourself, you trust me."
"Yes and I don't want that to change."
"I won't do anything to change the way you feel about me."
"I am still not asking you out on a date."
"Then I guess I'll have to do it." Ruby moved closer to her. "Regina Mills, also known as The Evil Queen, will you go out on a date with me?"
"Yes Ruby Lucas, also known as wolf, I will go out on a date with you."
"We have a date, tomorrow night."
"You better pay."
"I will."
Regina smiled, genuinely smiled for the first time in a long time. She had defended Ruby that day and now she was going out with her. She had no idea what would happen between them, whether things would work or not, but she wanted to give the wolf a chance. No, she wouldn't let her into her heart but a date wouldn't hurt her.