[A.N.] I have a lot more chapters pre-written than I thought... It's just a matter of reading over and editing them before posting, so that's why I've been posting in batches. Gonna start slowing down soon-ish as I get closer to what I'm currently working on. Anyway, I had fun with this one :P here's Ten.
The gunshot wound didn't do any major damage and the medic told Ana she'd make a full recovery after patching her up. Vaas had shown up to inspect her and throw a fit, screaming at Tomas and blaming him for her injuries.
"It wasn't his fault, Vaas. Everything was going fine 'til a truck full of those assholes showed up, we couldn't have seen it coming." Ana tried to explain.
"Cállate!" he yelled, pointing his finger at her as she lay on the ground of her shack.
Ana did as she was told and remained silent as he continued to scold Tomas, telling him he was lucky Vaas didn't put a bullet through his head and that if she gets hurt under his watch again he won't hesitate.
"Outside," Vaas ordered, "Get the FUCK out!" he shoved Tomas through the door.
Tomas stole one last glance at Ana before the door slammed shut loudly, she gave him an apologetic look, feeling guilty, but she wouldn't attempt to interrupt Vaas.
Ana heard the lock click shut and her eyes widened at the hard, dull sounds of Vaas' fists connecting with Tomas' body. Tomas' stifled cries of pain getting more and more audible with every blow. It seemed to go on for at least five minutes.
"Get him the fuck out of my sight... piece of shit." She heard Vaas mutter and the shuffling sounds that she could only assume was Tomas being dragged away.
The lock clicked again and Vaas threw the door open. Ana swallowed hard, his hands were drenched in blood. His face and arms flecked with red.
"Did you-" she didn't know how to ask.
"Nah, he'll probably live, but hey-" he shrugged and sat on the table like he used to, "I gave him orders and he fucked up, if he didn't get punished then we'd have fucking anarchy around here." He grinned devilishly before turning his attention to his hands, as if things weren't chaotic already, "Ah... see here? Fucker's face dislocated my finger." He shook his head and unflinchingly took hold of the misplaced digit, popping it back into place with a loud crack.
Ana watched him, he was looking at her funny, fidgeting slightly, "The fuck happened to your hair, by the way?" This drew a small laugh from her.
"Rakyat had a hold on it." She reached up and touched her hair, she could feel that it had been cut choppy and uneven. It was longer in the front where the man hadn't had as good a hold of it, one side even more-so than the other. A pang of self-consciousness hit her, "Do I look stupid?"
Something about the pure worry on her face, eyes wide, head titled forward, made Vaas smirk. He shook his head, fucking woman, worried about stupid shit... He remained silent for a moment before shrugging, "Eh, you always look fucking stupid."
"Dick." Ana scoffed, worried for a second that she was being too casual with him, that he'd snap at the playful insult.
But he didn't, he inspected her with hooded eyes and rolled his tongue around in his mouth, as if he was plotting something. Without warning he launched himself off the table and let out a quick, loud sigh as he landed on his feet, shaking his arms a few times at his sides. He walked the two steps it took for him to be directly before her and knelt down, Ana met his gaze and noticed his eyes were fully dilated and she remembered his request to Carlos as they parted earlier. He was high.
Raising his bloodied hands, Vaas cupped Ana's face and shook his head. She shivered at the delicateness of his touch, it was so rare that it made her nervous. The last time he was this gentle was when he got drunk and Carlos had hurt her.
Maybe being intoxicated does something weird to him... Or maybe it's when he blames someone else for my injuries, Ana thought to herself.
He ran his thumbs gingerly over her cheeks, she could feel the sticky warmth of drying blood rubbing off on her. Acting on impulse she reached up and took one of his hands in hers, pulling it from her face to check out the damage. All his knuckles were swollen and bruised, the mixture of Tomas' and his own blood made it look almost as if he had shoved his hands in a vat of red paint.
Vaas sat silently, watching her slender fingers glide over his cuts, the cocaine still coursing through his body, he couldn't feel any pain even as she touched the wider gashes across his knuckles. Ana reached beside her and picked up her water bottle and the rag that the doctor had used to wipe the blood from her leg. It wasn't terribly blood-covered... she poured a bit of water onto the cloth and brought it to Vaas' hand. She focused on cleaning his hands of all the blood, trying her best to ignore his eyes burning into hers.
As carefully as she could she wiped around the open cuts, slightly horrified when she noticed the shard of a tooth embedded between two knuckles. She swallowed hard, her throat tightening as she imagined the sight that took place outside just moments ago. Ana pulled it out, a thick pearl of blood seeping out from the now-open wound, and tossed it towards the closed door. She snuck a glance at Vaas as his attention turned to the tooth clinking against the wall. His expression was more relaxed than she'd ever seen it despite his slight shake. Had he not looked the part she wouldn't even expect that he was a crazy person.
Ana finished cleaning his hands to the best of her ability and let go of them, fresh blood still seeping slowly from the deeper lesions. She looked up at him to find his eyes back on hers. His stare was soft, not the animalistic glare she was used to, the one that she had only seen on a few occasions. The one that made her heart ache for him.
What happened to you? She wondered again, something must have made him this way. Something drove him mad, something painful, she could see it in that expression. Ana shifted her gaze down slightly to the blood dotted under his eyes and across the bridge of his nose and cheeks. She winced as she imagined the force he must have beat Tomas with to cause these spatters.
Ana raised the rag to his face, but hesitated, she expected a challenging glower but he still held the same empty look. She noticed that his pulse was racing, visible through the veins in his neck. Must be the drugs.
She touched the cloth to his skin and he shut his eyes for half a second before quickly gripping her wrist and pulling her hand away. That brief instant looked like a moment of bliss had washed over him, but when his eyes flew open that ravenous stare had returned.
Blinking at him, Ana loosened her fingers letting the bloody cloth fall to the floor, "I'm sorry." She figured she had crossed a line and was sure punishment was coming. She shut her eyes, anticipating a blow, but to her surprise, Ana only felt a soft pressure on her mouth.
Vaas' lips had never touched hers this lightly before, her heart was pounding in her chest as she sat there motionless. He took her face in his hands again and leaned further into the kiss, she heard him inhale deeply, a slight shake to the intake. She felt his brow frown against hers, holding her face tighter and pressing almost painfully against her lips.
Just as Ana was about to reciprocate with equal verve, she felt Vaas shove her away roughly. Her back slammed against the wall and she exclaimed loudly in shock.
"Fucking shit, Anaïs." Vaas growled as he got to his feet, pointing a finger at her, his body shaking with rage, "Don't-"
Ana waited for him to continue, looking up at him fearfully.
"Don't fucking do that again. You stay here from now on. Scared the shit out of me... stupid bitch." He ordered angrily.
"But Vaas!" She gasped, she didn't want to be contained to the shack again. The thought of it alone sent her into a panic. She wanted to do something useful.
"Shut the fuck up!" he screamed, voice cracking. He came closer, his arm held up, threatening to backhand her at any second, "You stay here. You don't know what you're doing out there, gonna get yourself fucking killed and then I'll have to fuck one of these..." he waved his hands around irritably, looking for the right words, "dirty, used-up sluts... You're still of value to me." He changed his tone, speaking the next words more to himself than Ana, "In more ways than one. Even if you're damaged I could still sell you for a decent price. Maybe even better than the pricey Asian... but probably not..."
Ana frowned. She knew that whatever money Mei's parents had sent could never be less than what she would sell for, they were very wealthy and would pay any price to get her back. Unless...
"You sold her anyway..." Ana breathed.
"Of course I fucking sold her. You think I'm an idiot? Is there something wrong with your head? If I let her go I'd be fucked!" He laughed it off, anger still boiling over.
"You were never gonna let any of us go..." she thought back to all the hostages she had seen pass through the camp, tied to bamboo posts, locked in cages, "Because then authorities might find out where you are." It seemed so obvious in that moment, she felt imbecilic for believing even for a second that the captives that got ransomed would be released.
"I'm the only authority here." he insisted, "No one is going to fuck me-"
"I understand." She cut him off, "It makes sense, I guess I just thought you were 'a man of your word'." she echoed his words and he squinted his eyes slightly, clenching his jaw, "In hindsight it was pretty fucking stupid to believe you. You're a psychopath." She couldn't stop the words coming, she was so angry that he had lied, that he had given Mei and her parents hope just to sell her into sex slavery anyway. At least Jenny and herself knew from the beginning that they weren't going home.
Vaas watched her incredulously, she was talking back to him and he fucking hated it.
"You know-" Ana let out a breathy laugh and looked up at him, "I don't know what the hell got into me. Maybe there is something wrong with my head." she pressed her palm to her temple.
The silence surprised her, Vaas still hadn't moved. So she continued.
"I mean I knew from the start that you were a fucking asshole but-" she shook her head, "I don't know just, fuck... Fuck you."
"Really? This coming from the girl that murdered her own cousin?" Vaas finally spoke, "That wasn't me, you did that on your own. You're not so moral yourself, sweetheart."
Ana could see his hand shaking, narcotic induced fury taking over his body, "You gonna beat me too? Like you did Tomas? For absolutely no fucking reason?"
"Don't test me." He warned.
"I don't even fucking care anymore. I did everything for you. I gave everything to you. My body, my dignity, my sanity, my fucking family! I brought those towers back down, I cleared that outpost for you, I never ran away from you, I nearly fucking died for you... And you still make me sleep on this disgusting floor every night." She was just waiting for him to attack her now, "I did everything I could for you, gave you everything I had and you don't give a shit about any of-"
"Get over yourself, puta. You think because you do these things that I fucking make you do that I have to respect you or something? You're still just another dumb American bitch that I'm keeping around 'til you don't make me hard no more. Them I'm gonna fucking throw you to the dogs like the rest of these whores." Vaas moved away and then shifted as if remembering something.
He came closer, grabbing her by the neck of her shirt and hoisting her up off the floor, yelling directly into her face.
"And you think I fucking bought any of your bullshit!?" He screamed, "I knew you were trying to fucking trick me, you think you're so clever? I'm always one step ahead, hermana."
"That's where you're wrong." She admitted, "I was going to leave the first chance I got, the second you left me alone outside or forgot to lock my door I was fucking out of here. But then I really did want you to trust me, I wanted to stay here. Something changed my mind."
"And what was that." He snapped condescendingly.
Ana paused for a while and thought, she tried to remember, "At first, protection. But then... I honestly don't even fucking know anymore. Stockholm-syndrome? No... not even that. I must've lost my fucking mind to want to willingly spend even one second around you." She sneered at him and he snapped.
Vaas took hold of her neck and dragged her higher up the wall, holding her off the ground and squeezing. He was screaming at her, cursing her and slamming her against the wall repeatedly, his muscles rippling with drug fueled strength. Ana couldn't make out any of it. Her ears were ringing, her head pounding from the vice grip he had around her throat as she choked for breath. Kicking her feet against the wall, pain ebbing through her injured thigh, she forced herself to keep her hands balled up firmly at her sides.
He must've taken note of this because he looked down and his expression shifted, "Que, hm? You WANT to fucking die? Ay?! You fucking-" he pressed his lips together into a tight line and squeezed even tighter.
A blood vessel burst in her eye, replacing the whiteness with a horrible crimson, the skin of her face reddening as her mouth hung open, her instincts forcing her to try and gasp in oxygen.
"Y-" a slight sound escaped her gaping mouth and Vaas loosened his hold slightly.
"What's that chica? Got something else to fucking say?" He asked behind bared teeth.
"Y-you're so fuc-fucking brok-en, you p-piece of shi-it. She choked out, a sickening rattle in her voice.
Just as she was about to black out, Ana felt herself hit the floor, gasping in as much air as she could, coughing up thick wads of bloodied saliva, every sound she made rasped painfully in her throat. She felt Vaas' boot connect with her side twice making her ribs ache. She let out a pitiful, uneven cry, her voice cracking.
Vaas punched the wall, leaving a bloody print, and kicked the door open, "Carlos! Get a hold of some buyers, I want this fucking bitch gone tomorrow." Ana heard him scream.
She curled in on herself and stared at the scar of the 'V' on her hand. She clawed at it repeatedly until she drew blood. Silent tears streamed down her face and she trembled, she had experienced a glimpse of the darkest parts of her captor and it scared her to death. But she would be sold soon, hopefully to someone who would treat her better. Although, despite her renewed hatred for him, she was devastated that Vaas didn't want her anymore. The thought brought on painful, wracking sobs, her heart felt physically broken. And she hated herself for it.