Disney's Dangers: Chapter 13
"They say you died. They say you were gutted like a fish up in that tower." The elder brother ended each sentence with a vicious kick to Eugene's ribs, relishing every time his boot connected with an awful thud.
Eugene refused to make a sound. He refused to let tears spill down his cheeks to mix with his sweat and blood.
He didn't even realize the Brothers had stopped beating him until he felt warm breath on his face that made him want to gag. It smelled like sour ale and garlic.
"Are you scared of death, Rider?" Said the whisper in his ear, "Do you have nightmares about Death's icy claws closing around your heart; squeezing until it beats no longer?"
Eugene didn't say a word, but yes, he was still afraid of death. Even more so than others, he believed. He did have nightmares about the cold steel of a knife as it sunk deep into his flesh. Eugene wasn't just afraid, he was terrified of death.
"And you don't have a flower to save you this time."
Those words hurt worse than any knife ever could. He would never see Rapunzel again. Eugene wished that he could have had more time to-
"Why won't you scream, Rider?" The second brother roared in frustration.
Eugene heard a deafening crack and felt fire lick across his back. He moaned in spite of himself.
The dam was beginning to break.
Tears began to flow freely down his cheeks as the whip crawled across his bare skin, tearing the flesh from his body and painting the stone floor scarlet with his blood.
"Of course, when this is all over," The older brother drawled, "I'll find that flower of yours."
Eugene had planned to say something grand and heroic, but he couldn't gather enough air in his lungs to do it. The sound that came from his lips was more of a strangled gasp. When had breathing become such a difficult task?
The man didn't take so much as a breath, but continued on, "I'll drag her in here by the hair if I have to. I'll show her your blood. I'll show her your broken body. Can you guess what I'll do next, Rider?" The brother's voice grew so soft that any other person might not hear it, but to Eugene, each word was like a white hot dagger being thrust into his ears. "I'll kill you and make her watch. She'll see the light leave your eyes. Then I'll snap her pretty little neck."
A piercing shriek echoed throughout the room and only after it had died away did Eugene realize that the awful sound had come from him.
The Stabbington Brothers had won. He had given them the pleasure of seeing him writhing in a pool of his own blood, screaming in agony and fear.
They had broken him.
They left him alone then; trembling from the pain and the effort to stay awake. He was afraid of the nightmares that would surely plague his sleep.
All he could do was wait until the door opened and he could see Rapunzel one last time before the pain was ended.
A/N: Wow this was violent... Reviews are welcome!