Kali opened her eyes slowly. The room around her was dimly lit and her head was throbbing painfully. She went to move her arms but found them tied securely to a chair. Kali felt panic rise up in her chest and began pulling against the ropes around her wrists, feeling blood flowing freely down her hands after several minutes of struggling.
"Now, now, poppet. Don't want ya bleedin' too much just yet, do we?" That voice made Kali shiver despite herself and when Graegarn came to face her, she glared at him furiously.
"Tah mah duh!" Kali growled, pulling against her bindings again.
"I'll ruttin' scream!" She added but Graegarn only chuckled.
"I want ye to scream, poppet." He said, getting real close to her ear before whispering, "I love it when you scream."
Kali spat in his face and he snarled, backhanding her hard until black spots cascaded across her vision. She spat away blood and stared up at him defiantly.
"I killed ya. I put that gorram bullet through your head myself!" Kali stated, baffled that Graegarn was even alive, let alone knew where she was. Graegarn let a wicked grin lift up his mouth before he rapped a knuckle against the front of his scull. It clinked like metal and Kali's face blanched.
"Can never be too careful, eh? Ya see, everyone always goes for the 'ead. They wanna make sure your dead, real proper. Which is very lucky for me." He explained, far too happy with himself for her liking.
"Did ye like the pretties I left on ye back from last time? I thought they was right artistic." He continued before pulling a very familiar object from within his coat and gazing at it lovingly as it glinted in the light. The surgical knife he held in his grasp sent shivers up her spine and she knew in that moment, that this was it. There was no coming back from this. He would disfigure her til she either gave in or died. That had always been his way. Last time she had been lucky but Kali knew her luck had run out.
Mal is going to kill me for this!
Graegarn slowly brought the blade down, grasping her arm harshly before slicing a deep wide split in her forearm. She hollered in pain, gritting her teeth together in agony and trying not to give him the satisfaction of her reaction.
"Sher Toh!" Kali spat back, the feel of fresh blood gushing from her arm making her head spin.
"Ya know what, poppet. I think you could do with bleedin' a bit more than that, don't you?" Graegarn stated, licking his lips hungrily when he saw the fear in Kali's eyes increase tenfold. He chuckled and raised the knife against, cutting across her side at the top of her ribs and down to her belly button. This time, Kali screamed. She screamed as white hot pain sprang up in her side, she screamed in anger and fear, she screamed just to hear herself so she knew she was still alive. Kali felt her shirt soaked by blood and when she looked down, she saw the deep tear in her side, blood pooling and flowing down to puddle in her lap. Kali let her chin hit her chest in defeat and blackness consumed her.
Mal sat unmoving on the edge of the lumpy mattress, the doxy having left for the night after Kali's outburst had made him feel so guilty, he had told her to leave. All he kept seeing over and over was the look in her eyes. That look that said they were both hiding things from each other and were bound to hurt each other in the end. And he had succeeded. There was a knock at his door for the second time that night and Mal wondered whether perhaps Kali had come back to abuse him for choosing some dropped up droxy for his pleasure instead of her. Mal stood from the bed and went to the door, opening it and raising his eyebrow when he saw Jayne standing in the hall, that ridiculous beanie from his Mom ever present on his head.
"Jayne, what's goin' on?" Mal instantly asked, knowing Jayne wouldn't be here unless something was wrong.
"Mal, people in town been talkin' bout an outsider bein' kidnapped a couple hours back. Said a round, short man struck a young woman dressed in men's clothes and hauled her off. Mal, I don't wanna come to no conclusion but..." Jayne began, his voice anxious.
"Kali." Mal answered for him and Jayne nodded. He instantly reached for his jacket and his holster, securing it around his waist before racing out into the street.
When Karli woke up next, it was to the sounds of a struggle filling the small space of the room. She shivered steadily, feeling cold and weak as the wound in her side continued to bleed freely. The blood on her arm had coagulated into a thick puddle in the open wound and she groaned at the pain overwhelming her body. The sound of gunshots made Kali start in alarm before a body tumbled to the ground and the sounds of low chatter filled her ears. She tried to open her eyes, blinking sharply against the light overhead before letting out an agonising whimper.
"Kali?" The familiar voice made tears come to her eyes and she felt soft warm hands against her face.
"Mal?" Kali mumbled weakly, hissing as the ropes around her wrist were cut and removed and Jayne appeared before her. She knew then she was in deep shit as even he seemed worried by her condition.
"We gotta get you outta here, darlin'." Mal replied, slinging her uninjured arm over his shoulder before lifting her into his arms. She cried out in pain, hissing between her teeth before resting her head against his chest, trying desperately to focus on the sound of his heart beat, rhythmic and unwavering instead of the blinding, confronting pain consuming her. It was too much and she blacked out in Mal's arms.
When she awoke again, she found herself lying against a cold metal table, Simon's urgent voice ordering Mal and Zoe around the room as they handed him implements and bandages and did exactly as he ordered.
"Simon." Kali said, surprised by the small, weak quality of her voice.
"Kali! Can you hear me?" Simon asked, shining a torch in her eyes before she tried to nod in response. She could barely move so she settled for a croaky "hi", yelping when he pressed yet another bandage against the deep wound in her side.
"We gotta do this now." Simon said, looking up at someone out of her view.
"Alrighty." She heard Mal say with a tired sigh before he was hovering over her worriedly.
"Darlin, we're gonna get you stitched up real good. The Doc's gonna give you something to put you to sleep so you can't feel nothin'. Dong ma?" Mal explained.
"Okay." Kali answered weakly, swallowing hard. Mal looked up and nodded at Simon, the pinch of a needle being stuck in the back of her hand seemingly small against the agony wrapping around her. She felt the ache of the smoother working through her system and felt the pain begin to fade like a dream. And though so much had gone wrong and though she may die tonight, Kali still felt the tugging at her heart strings, the pain that would never fade.
"Wuo Shang Mei Er, Mei Sheen, Byen Shi To." Kali mumbled weakly, before she fell into a deep dreaming.
"What did she say, sir?" Zoe asked, Kali's voice too low for her to hear.
"I will close my ears and my heart and I will be a stone." Mal repeated, his voice shaking, before he cleared his throat and said stoically, "We've got work to do."
Tada! This story is growing fast, I am finding it so easy to keep writing and I hope you all will continue reading :) The line "I will close my ears and my heart and I will be a stone" are alas NOT my genius but the genius of the Firefly novelisation! I found the line on a website for Firefly sayings etc., which has been really helpful with writing this story! Does everyone think Mal is still acting as he should be, confronted with this situation? I want to make it as realistic as possible.
Feedback is love!
alae-megallen
