Peter was breathless as he ran. His entire body was still weak from the damage of the nanobots electrocuting every cell in his flesh and blood. His lungs burned for the need of oxygen and rest as he sobbed uncontrollably over the loss of his mother and father, hyperventilated as the panic of possible death pulsated throughout his small body, and panted heavily as his legs pumped rapidly into the ground, pushing him as far from the monster coming after him as they could.
Right behind the child ran Mathias, eagerly giving pursuit as he thought of how easier this game was than he actually thought. Like Peter, Mathias too was sore down to his very bones from fighting two men in one night- with one of them almost killing him- but the possibility of capturing Peter and ending the Oxenstierna family in one go crushed the exhaustion and ache without effort. The boy was small and weak and oh so slow that Mathias figured that much effort wouldn't be needed to kill him. In fact, at the rate this game is progressing, the week won't even be over before Mathias's killed them off and won the game. That thought brought a smile to his lips as Mathias decreased the distance between himself and Peter just as they were getting to the stairs.
Hearing the heavy stomping coming closer behind him, Peter jumped onto the rail of the stairway and slid on it to the lower level. When he reached the landing, he jumped off the railing and quickly glanced up at his uncle with fright prevalent in his eyes before disappearing into the darkness.
"Heh, smart kid," Mathias muttered to himself as he reached the stairs as well. He mimicked Peter's move on the rail and followed the child's path. As he ran blindly into the room, squinting into it to find some hint of movement or a silohuette of a child's body, Mathias felt up and down the wall for the light switch, cursing himself for not bothering to memorize at least the tiny details of his house, and swearing even louder when he remembered the one detail that would have helped him the most at this point. He clapped his hands loudly and the sound-activated lights switched on, allowing Mathias to spot a moving blur just before it disappeared around the corner and into the hallway.
"Run along, little fawn, run along~!" Mathias cooed loudly. He went after Peter again in a half-jog, half-skip pace, switching on the lights in the hall with a quick clap of his hands. Again, his eyes met the sight of the small child running frantically for his life, a view that heightened the predatorial focus and instincts within his mind so much so that he could practically feel some drool moist the corner of his lip, like a lynx preparing to taste the deliciousness of young fawn flesh.
"Leave me alone!" Peter cried over his shoulder. He stopped running when he noticed the doors aligning the walls of the hallway and yanked open the one closest to him. He shut it behind himself, locked it, and looked around, finding that he ran into the recreation room, occupied by a couple of pool tables, a flat screen television mounted high above a hockey table, a flashy-looking sound system, a couch in the center, and many arcade games placed along the wall like a fence for the play space.
Peter went to one of the arcade games standing along the opposite wall, pushed against the back to move it forward as Mathias shook the doorknob- his heart rapidly beating in a frightened frenzy as the machine moved too slowly for his comfort- and hurriedly squeezed himself into the cramped space.
Mathias took a step back from the door and kicked at it, pounding the bottom of his foot near the doorknob until the wood around it splintered. One more kick completely shattered the wood, and the door swung opened and hit the wall with a bang, making Peter jump and hug his knees tight.
No, no, please, no, Peter prayed silently. He slowly breathed into the crevice of his knees to calm his nerves in a method that his father showed him- inhale through the nose, hold it in while thinking of an image that is soothing, and exhale through the mouth- but kept his ears alert for the nation lurking within the room with him. The breathing exercises weren't working; with each footstep Mathias made, Peter's heart sped up, pounding against his chest and counteracting any sedation he felt.
Mathias stood in the center of the room in front of the couch, glanced at the many arcade games that stood around the room and shook his head as his eyes lingered on one that looked too out of place from all the others.
"Damn, Peter, you sure are a pretty fast kid," he chuckled. He walked to the pool tables and placed his hands under one of its edges. "You're actually much faster than your pop, dude. Admittedly, I'm kind of surprise that I was able to keep up with you."
Peter stared down in confusion at the ground. He bit his bottom lip and stiffened his shoulders, preparing to stifle his reactions. He must stay hidden for as long as possible; hopefully, long enough to "win" this psychotic game of Mathias's and make it out alive.
"I mean, yeah, I'm here, and you're here, and unless by some miracle you manage to get by me and escape this room, I'm still coming after you to kill you, but you did give me a good chase. Hell, I think you were pretty much up there with Ice when it comes to running." Mathias squatted slightly and prepared to put the weight on his knees. "Too bad the world's not going to witness such amazing speed when I find you..."
Mathias looked at the moved arcade game and tightened his grip on the edge of the pool table. "UNDER HERE!" He lifted the pool table and flipped it over.
Even though Peter had his whole body tensed up to prevent any reactions from giving away his location, he still squeaked and jumped as the pool table crashed to the floor. Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness, please, no! Calm down, okay?!
Looking down at the upside pool table, Mathias clicked his tongue in mocked disappointment. "Huh, guess I was wrong this time. Anyway, what was I talking about? Oh, that's right!" He went to the next the pool table and prepared to lift that one as well. "You know, I can't quite understand how you are so fast that I barely caught you, yet you couldn't get away from me on that one night a while back..."
Peter gasped and started to shiver. That night...no...He jumped again as another crash boomed throughout the room.
Mathias walked around the second flipped pool table and strolled leisurely about, keeping his hands in his pockets and making sure to make as loud of footsteps as possible, keeping his ears opened in the direction of the arcade game that he knew Peter was hiding behind. "I guess the good thing about you being fast is that you make this more fun than I would have ever thought. Guess I should've expected the most fun from the wildest, most imaginative member of the family, especially with the awesome games of hide-and-seek you used to make me play with you...
"Still, can't let you get away, now can I?" Mathias went to an arcade game far off from where Peter was and placed his hands behind it. "If I did that, then what's the point of creating this whole game to begin with, right? I'm in it to win it, kiddo!"
Why is he saying all of this? Peter wondered to himself as he stiffened himself. He steeled himself just in time to hold in a cry as he heard another bang.
Mathias merrily jumped over the facedown game and went to the next one. "It is kind of too bad that I have to kill ya off as soon as I find you. Now that I think about it, it would be cool to let you run off so I can chase you some more, wouldn't it? Gives us more one-on-one uncle and nephew time together before I never see you again. Maybe I would've been able to teach you some more lessons to learn, ah, 'the hard way'. Ha ha!" He pushed the second arcade game down.
Peter gasped in surprise and hugged his knees to his chest. He closed his eyes and tried Berwald's breathing method again, this time breathing faster and faster as the footsteps crept closer. When it was getting worse, Peter pressed his hands onto his mouth to block the heavy breathing noises.
Even though it was muffled, Mathias could still here the boy's hyperventilation starting up. As he picked another arcade game that was closer to where Peter hid, he was able to clearly see a corner of the boy's pajama shirt spread out on the floor in open view. It was another clue that showed Mathias where Peter was, though at this point he really didn't need it. "You know, you really took to heart the lesson I taught you that night. I've never seen a kid so quiet before in my entire existence, and I've lived through both Norge's and Ice's childhoods!
"I didn't really want to have to do that to you so early- you know, before the whole chase started because I wanted to save your body for later- but you kind of forced me to play my hand back there." Mathias chuckled and kicked at the bottom corner of the arcade game with his toed. "And now I'm pretty glad that I went on ahead with the rape. I got to discipline you when your mom and dad failed to do so, instead letting you become a loud-mouth brat that ran on too much sugar and too little structure.
Mathias licked his lips as he reminisced. "...Heh, and I got a little taste of how delicious a young, beautiful body can be, so there's another good reason why I did that. Can't wait for another bite."
Peter didn't want to know what he meant by all of this; he wasn't quite sure why his uncle was making his body seem like some kind of treat to be eaten, but he knew that if this recollecting the night that Mathias raped him was anything to go by, all this talk of "delicious body" and "another bite" were implications that shook Peter to his very frightened core.
"N-n-no..." Peter sobbed softly. His knees shook together violently as his hands gripped his head to stop the pounding in his head. His stomach wrenched and twisted in a sickening and painful knot. "Not again..." He could feel his bladder getting ready to burst as yet another crashing sound, followed by the vibrations underneath him as whatever Mathias was doing caused the floor to shake. What is he doing?!
When Mathias decided that he was finished keeping Peter in suspense, he quietly made his way over to the machine that the boy hid behind and leaned against the wall beside he. He folded his arms and watched Peter completely lose his composure: squatting in the dark, gripping his head in his hands, hyperventilating and snivelling with tears and snot streaking his face. He waited patiently to see how long it would take Peter to notice him standing right next to him; it wasn't as fun to grab his prey if it's just sitting there as it was when it's running away and making it more challenging.
Peter pressed his face into his knees, slowly slouching forward as he began to feel lightheaded from his panicking episode. Oh, my God, I'm going to die...He's going to get me...Why is he doing this to us? What did we do? Was it because I told them by accident? I didn't mean to- wait... Beyond his heavy panting, Peter heard light tapping close to him. What is that?
Peter peeked from between his knees. Close by, a large sock-covered foot was tapping on the hardwood floor. Peter's gaze followed the foot upward to the red plaid pajama pants, large, toned arms folded over a blood-stained tee shirt, and sky-blue eyes staring back down at him with the slightest hint of impatience.
The corner of Mathias's lips turned up in a bored expression. " 'Sup?"
Peter gasped and screamed as he turned away and tried to escape through the other side of the game. Mathias quickly grabbed Peter by the collar of his shirt and pulled him closer and from behind the arcade game. As Peter wriggled his body and yanked at his collar to free it from Mathias's fingers, Mathias used his other hand to grip Peter's throat and hold him high, laughing inwardly at how light the child was. Peter dangled in the air, digging his fingernails into the flesh of the hand as it squeezed his windpipe. Mathias brought his other hand up to the slender neck along with the first one, causing the windpipe to close tighter and tighter until Peter was sure that he was going to die soon. Peter's tears and drool ran down to Mathias's hands.
As he looked up at Peter, Mathias tilted his head in mock interest. There was an empty, immoral sense in the way Mathias grinned softly as he contemplated silently.
Hm, I wonder if I should go for it tonight? I mean, I did just have some fun with Tino and I am pretty beat. But damn, this kid is so cute and fiesty! Should I just kill him and save his body for tomorrow? Naw, I'm doing that with Berwald. Maybe...
"Well," he purred, finally breaking his silence. "This ended pretty quickly for you, huh?"
Peter flapped his lips and sputtered in an attempt to say "no."
Mathias lowered Peter and brought him closer, making the tip of their noses touch just barely. Peter could feel Mathias's warm breath brush his face as he said in a hushed voice, "It was pretty fun while it lasted, kiddo. You were pretty okay." He then took Peter's mouth with his own, sucking in his lips and sloppily licking the palette and teeth with as much passion as he can muster for a child that he barely liked.
Peter wanted to scream. A small whimpering noise rumbled in the back of his throat as he tried to scream for help, tried to protest, tried to breathe, but he couldn't. This kiss was cutting off the last bit of air he could glean, and he could feel his heart rate drop.
In a last effort to save himself, Peter used up the last of his strength to give Mathias a kick to his body.
Maybe the kick was harder than Peter intended, maybe it was where the kick had landed, or maybe it was just the whole unexpectation of it all, but Mathias would never expect someone with a light body, small limbs, and overall incapability to lift anything heavier than twenty pounds to deliver a kick that felt like a steel hammer slamming right into his ribcage. Mathias gasped and doubled over, releasing Peter to wrap his arms around what he was sure were a couple of broken ribs.
Peter crumpled to the ground, lying still and panting heavily as his body started to take in large amounts of air to make up for being cut off. There was a hazy feeling in his head and his vision was nothing but moving blurs, but once his lungs filled with enough oxygen and his blood flow stabilized, the haze in Peter's brain dissappeared, and he was able to think clearly again. Get out of there! Pushing himself off the floor, Peter tried to run away on his weak legs. Mathias broke out of his hellish physical torture long enough to remember that he had a kid to catch and reached out to Peter, grabbing him by the ankle and tripping him. Peter screamed in terror and thrashed about to break Mathias's hold on him, kicking Mathias under his chin with his free foot and punching Mathias in his pelvis.
"SON OF A BITCH!" Mathias cried out as a tooth fell out from his mouth. Despite all of the pain pulsating through his body and the tingle of unconsciousness starting because of it, Mathias kept his grip on Peter and moved into a kneeling position. He dragged Peter closer to him, panting and wheezing softly as he hid how much damage his body was suffering. He turned his head away and spat out a thick spittle of blood onto the floor and returned his gaze to the child below him.
A bloody smirk broke across Mathias's face. "Wow, you little snot, you actually put up more of a fight than your old folks combined, ha ha!" He grabbed Peter's face and lifted it to his own, hissing menacingly, "You manage to beat the bloody shit out of me without even trying to fight! That's some good ability in you! You would've made a great kid for me..." He then slammed Peter's head back to the floor. "Too bad I fucking hate kids."
Peter winced and teared up at the pounding in the back of his head from hitting the floor. His body wanted to pass out from enduring so much pain in one night, but one sight gave him enough strength to stay awake and continue to fight: Mathias struggling to hold Peter down on his chest with one hand and sliding the waistband of his pants with the other, exposing himself for the boy to see.
"NO!"
Peter jerked up from the floor and swung his fist into Mathias's shoulder. That hit was the final attack that Mathias could handle. Mathias fell to the side and cried out in agony, holding his shoulder and cringing as the pain from being hit with steel and fighting two grown men in one entire night finally built up. It was so much that Mathias felt himself slowly fall into unconsciousness, which Peter took advantage of by clambering to his feet and getting away from Mathias with as much speed he could muster. Once out the room, Peter ran faster, letting his body instead of his mind guide him to wherever it took him; his instincts had to take over since his mind raced with so much fear that he was starting to see white light despite having a clear vision of all of the tapestry and furniture he had to dodge.
Peter didn't break his sprint, didn't slow his pace, until his instincts pulled him into what felt like a relatively safe closet. Bursting inside, Peter immediately slammed the door shut, pulled down half of the clothing inside that was large enough to wrap his whole body with from their hangers, and sat huddled on the closet floor, tightening the clothes around him like he used to when he awoke at nights, using the multiple layers as a protective barrier to shelter him until his Mama or Papa came...
He wasn't safe. A part of Peter knew that he wasn't safe, now that a killer was chasing them all and both of Peter's parents were dead, leaving no one to protect him or help him. He knew that he needed to find a better hiding spot than under a large bundle of clothes he found in an obvious closet that they all passed over a dozen times, but it was safe enough to let him calm down.
Peter started to stabalize his breathing rate, pacing his inhalation and exhalation through his nose and out his mouth. When his mind as well as his heart slowed down, he was able to clearly collect his thoughts as they came at him from every part of his mind. His uncle almost raped him again. His parents were dead. He was now alone and scared and sick. But he survived the night. He escaped Mathias's clutches and did a damn good job fighting back, so it showed that he wasn't weak like everyone said.
Peter started to cry as he lied on his side. His parents were dead, but he was alive, and can fight back. He had a chance to walk out alive if he could stay hidden from Mathias's sight long enough. From within, Peter felt himself bursting with relief and grief, crying that he was alive and that he had no parents; the parents he loved and who loved him back, who took care of him and told him time and time again that he'll grow up and maybe gain independence as a nation, are dead. Along with the fear and loneliness, the low from the overwhelming dose of adrenaline finally took him, and he fell asleep with cheeks soaked with tears.
It was only ten minutes when Mathias passed out, blood still dribbling from the corner of his gaping lips. When he awoke, there was a jolt of fiery pain that went all throughout his head and abdomen. Rubbing his chin, Mathias stood up from where he was lying and went to the door of the recreation room. He leaned on the threshold as his head swam dizzily, unabling him to walk properly. He spat out more blood before continuing on with his walk, slouching through the hall and pass the rooms - pass the closet that Peter was blissfully asleep in- and to the stairs. He climbed them one by one, each step feeling like a cinderblock tied to his leg that filled him with aches and nausea. On the final top level, Mathias continue on to where his hazy mind was sure was a bedroom.
At the doorway, Mathias took a moment to rest. He came all the way up the stairs before his body even started to recover from the strong blows Mathias never expected from someone as small of a micronation as Peter, making his exhausted and half-conscious mind crave rest; he couldn't remember what possessed him to climb the steps in his condition other than the possibility of a bed to sleep in. He was about to go to the bed to lay his weary body on when he spotted something on the floor within the darkness.
Two bodies in a slowly-growing pool of blood, lying side by side like lovers, both unmoving and silent and staring at each other. His eyes settled on the taller one, Berwald, and all exhaustion he felt instantly vanished. Straightening up as if torso wasn't suffering from internal damage, Mathias stomped over to his younger brother and knelt beside him. He pressed his index and middle finger onto Berwald's jugular just below the jaw. After feeling a couple of pulses- very weak and slow thumps that showed that Berwald was still alive, albeit he was barely alive and was dying slower than Mathias expected- Mathias roughly turned Berwald onto his stomach, grunting in fury at his failure as he worked on undressing his little brother and let his anger harden him in his pelvis.
"Hey, Berwald, you would not believe who I just ran into!" Mathias hissed in Berwald's ear as he ripped Berwald's shirt in half down the back, exposing the many stab wounds to the cool room air. "That little brat of yours, Peter! And when I saw him, I thought to myself, 'well, gee, how fun would it be to play with my little adopted nephew one last time before he goes away to the big guy in the sky with his ma and pa,' y'know, to meet his maker and all that shit, but guess what, Ber-Ber?
"That little fucker got away. Heh, I didn't know the kid was that fast! Luckily, I was able to keep up with him, but do you know what happened after I was getting ready for him? He kicked me! He kicked me and punched me and actually escaped from me! Can you believe that shit?!" He threaded his fingers into Berwald's hair, yanking it to turn Berwald's face to him and stare into the blues eyes clouding over with death with every passing second. "Of course you can believe it! You and your little hubby over there were probably training him to be this awesome fighter or something. You should be so damn proud!"
Mathias smashed his younger brother's face into the carpet, smiling with a bit of deranged satisfaction as the blood splashed. He pulled down Berwald's pajama pants as well as his own. "But not too proud; I'm going to capture that little piece of shit and show him who's the king around here!" He climbed on top of Berwald and stiffened his hips to began penetration, but stopped when something occurred to him. He looked over at Tino, whose lifeless eyes stared back unblinking. Dead or alive, it made Mathias uneasy to have someone watch him fuck when they weren't going to enjoy the sight, so he reached over and turned Tino's head before forcing all of his fury, pain, and embarrassment at being defeated by a child onto Berwald.
"D-damn! And to think I was going to- to save you for tomorrow, too!"
Aw, shoot, I'm sorry for another late update. I'm really slow with this, and I think it's especially going to get slower now that I pretty much sold my soul to Tumblr. X'D And I'm sorry that this was a poor-quality chapter, too. I wanted to get Peter's "escape" out of the way and I kind of rushed it (plus, I just wanted to update). I haven't and will not give up on this story; it's like another one of my babies! :D A creepy, rape-and-murder sadistic baby...wow...
And thank you all for the reviews! I'm so happy! Yay! \(n_n)/