Avery was cuffed down to a table in the center of the room. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't yank herself free.
A man in a clean grey suit stood over. He wore his hair back in a ponytail and a crooked grin on his face.
He was holding a silver knife in one hand. The other end lightly pressed against the index finger of the other one as he gently turned the blade.
"Hmm, such a shame." He said softly as he looked down at Avery. "You're much prettier than the escapee. But, surely a trap or two triggers like always and I can still claim her. You'll just have to be the new play toy."
"Regardless if I live today or not, you sure fucking won't buddy." She spat at him with anger.
He chuckled a bit as he brushed a hand against her cheek.
"Who said anything about killing you?" He said. "You're too pretty to kill; I have something better in mind."
He then too the back of the blade and gently slid it down the front of Avery's chest.
"Definitely too pretty to kill." He said again. "I must make you my little play toy." He slowly leaned down and placed his lips upon Avery's neck. She had averted her eyes in disgust as she continued to struggle herself free.
Pickman moved his lips up and down Avery's neck; she could even feel him inhaling deeper in some occasions. He was taking in the sort of aroma she was giving off.
"Such a beauty of God's work. You're too pretty to use for my art when you're already a piece yourself." He said, running the back end of the blade down her shirt again. "Such a pity. I wish I could let you go. But, I know you will try to run away or hurt me. I can't allow that."
He then took the blade and stabbed in into the table, next to Avery's head. He brushed his hand along side her face and then turned away from her.
"I need my supplies." He said as he began to walk away. "I need to finish my creation before I can play with my new toy"
He disappeared for a few minutes. Avery could hear a few things being knocked over or dropped to the floor. He eventually returned, carrying a couple cans of "paint". He set them down at the end of the table that Avery was cuffed to and pulled a couple of brushes from his pockets.
He looked over at a blank canvas that hung on the wall, and then back to her. He stared at her for minutes before he began to do his work. He went away with it for a while, acting as if he was careful of every stroke of the brush he had in his hand. But then he stopped. He paused for a moment to gaze at his work.
"Something…" he mumbled under his breath. He then slowly turned back and looked at Avery. She could feel him searching her body from top to bottom. He then proceeded to place the paint brush down and walk towards the table. "Yes… something is missing."
He walked over to the side he left the knife in and pried it from the table. His hands then slowly directed to the hem of her shirt, his knife in the lead. He gently slipped the blade underneath her shirt and slowly began to life. Avery wanted to squirm, but feared that with the wrong move he would hurt her in worse ways. He lifted the shirt up to the bottom of her chest; not to expose her.
"Beautiful." Pickman said, brushing a hand across her stomach, the knife still clutched in the other hand. "There's no way I can kill a beautiful piece of work…" he said with a grin.
But Avery suddenly felt pain along the right side. She saw that Pickman had made a long but small incision cut on her side in the area that was exposed. She yelled for a moment from the pain, which followed heavy breathing.
Pickman stabbed the blade back into the spot on the table and picked up a brush that was near. He gently pressed the ends along the cut he had put on Avery; collecting the blood as paint. Avery had yelled in more pain when the bristle ends of the brush dug into the wound.
"Beautiful…" Pickman said, turning back to his painting and pressing the brush against the canvas.
Danse had suddenly freaked out when he heard Avery's yells echoing in the distance.
"Fuck, we gotta get back to her fast!" Octavia said as she went off in a sprint. The others then followed behind.
They dodged every turn and barged through every door before Octavia approached the last door.
"Stop-stop-stop-stop-stop!" She ordered, trying to hold the others back. "This is it, but we gotta be quiet getting in."
The men all held their guns up, ready to fire as Octavia opened the door. Avery's screams of pain were now louder without the door muffling it out.
"Beautiful…" they heard Pickman say, Avery still moaning in pain and discomfort.
They all entered with room with heavy caution. Octavia pointed nate, maccready and 2 of the 4 others to climb up the railing to the 2nd level of the room. She motioned danse and the others to slowly follow behind her. They worked their way around piles of empty cans, blank canvases and other junks. Octavia was about to completely walk around a corner when she caught a quick glimpse of Pickman and darted back behind the wall. She sat in the dirt against the wall trying to figure out the next move.
"What are you waiting on?!" Danse whispered. "He's there and we can finally gun him down."
"We can't just go guns a blazing!" She snapped back. "He's very slippery. One wrong shot and Avery could be the dead one here."
The room was then completely quiet, aside from the sound of Pickman's footsteps around the other side. They heard various sounds after that; one what sounded like Avery having a gag placed in her mouth to muffle out her voice. Another being the sound of chains and cuffs unbuckling.
The room fell quiet again, but only for a moment. Pickman had caught them completely off guard when he spoke directly to them.
"I didn't plan on killing her." He started with. "But if you make the wrong move, I'll have to make a change of plans. So I suggest you come out slowly with your guns put away and your hands up for me to see."
"Shit!" Avery gasped, hitting her fist on the floor.
"What the fuck now genius?!" Danse snapped back.
Octavia sat there quietly, biting her lip thinking it through. Avery had muffled out a sound a pain through the gag; Pickman had gently pressed the tip of his blade into Avery's side again.
Octavia sprang up without hesitation and did as told. She strapped the gun to her backside and slowly began to walk around the wall to face Pickman. Octavia noticed Pickman was holding Avery close; her arms still cuffed together, a gag in her mouth and the blade to her neck.
"Come on now." Pickman said ery, pushing the blade a little harder to her neck. "I know you found her little lost boys. They need to come out too or else." He move the blade to her back side again and punctured a small point again, Avery screaming once more.
Danse was livid. It was already bad to hear anyone screaming in distress, but because of the guilt, it was much worse. He gave in and followed Octavia and came out with his hands up. And soon, the others followed behind.
Pickman had a crooked grin on his face as he watched all the others walk from behind the wall.
"Funny… I expected a few more if you." He said, the blade now back to Avery's neck.
"It's just us." Danse growled back, the look of disgust hung on his face. "Let her go know damn it."
"Now, why would I do such a thing?" He asked. He had now moved the blade to the side of her face and gently ran it down her cheek without cutting into it. "She's a work of art on her own. Better use is to keep her alive and use a little bit of her when it's really needed."
"You sick son-of-a-bitch!" Danse yelled, ready to storm at him. But he stopped in his tracks when Pickman moved the blade back to Avery's neck.
"I told you! I don't wanna kill her! But I will if I need to!" He yelled at him. He made a light brush on Avery's neck in the moment. The made the others squeem a bit. Avery gasped in pain through the gag and flinched lightly.
MacCready and the others accomplished sneaking up the railings without being noticed. All they could do for the moment and listen and watch in horror, but hope that something works out right.
"Now, this is how we're going to do this." Pickman began giving orders. "You all, are going to step into the cage over there, and that's where you'll stay. Looks like enough supply for a month's work of art."
He then fixes his eyes down on Avery. He moved the blade away from her neck and began nuzzling his face into his neck. He even traced his tongue along the cut on Avery's neck; he seemed to even enjoy the taste of her blood. His attention then turned back to the group.
"As long as you stay here, she will be kept alive for as long as I can keep her." He took the hand that held the blade and gently ran his fingers down her side. "She will make a marvelous play to for when I need a little inspiration."
MacCready couldn't take much of this anymore. He ready his rifle and readied himself to aim for Pickman's head.
"MacCready no!" Nate whispered. "You could hit Avery!"
"I'm not going to hit her! And we can't let this fucker keep this shit up any longer." He snapped back, keeping his shot aligned.
The others were at a loss for words. All they could do was stand and watch in disgust as Pickman began to become more handsy with Avery. He brought the knife back up to her neck, but began to use the other hand to reach under her clothes. He started simple with running his hands under her pants on her outer thigh.
He moaned softly as he whispered into her ears. "So soft and smooth… like porcelain." He then turned his attention once more to the group and pointed the blade towards the cages. "In, now!"
They hesitated for a moment, but followed his ordered. Octavia took the lead, the others following and Danse taking the back.
"No no." Pickman stopped him. "Out of the power suit buddy. Be useless putting you in a cage with such an advantage.
Danse stopped dead in his track. He hesitated again once more, but did as Pickman ordered.
Danse had stepped out of the power armor, dressed in an orange and white one-piece suit.
"Good boy." Pickman said. "Now into the cage, as ordered."
Danse stood frozen for the moment, examining his surroundings. He had a plan to try and get them all out of this, but his bigger concern was making sure Avery made it out with them.
"Hey!" Pickman yelled, snapping Danse back into reality. Pickman held the blade tighter the Avery's neck, causing a bit of blood to draw. "I said get in damn it."
Danse had snapped. He didn't finish thinking the plan through, but he went for it.
He grabbed the end of the table close to him and flipped it towards Pickman. Pickman's reaction was to throw Avery aside and to move out of the way. In the process, even though the pressure of the blade lighten, the knife had lightly nipped Avery as she fell.
"MacCready, take the fucking shot!"