Thanks to all readers, old and new, and thanks for the many comments on last chapter. WARNING: Torture, physical and psychological, as well as a slightly mean cliff hanger.
When John wakes up, he is shaking with cold. Clearly in pain but trying to keep his composure. I follow his example but soon I realise that he sees through my façade.
"You all right?" he asks, and I nod. He draws a face at my feeble attempt to lie non-verbally but his voice is warm when he goes on, "I know you tried to hold on as long as possible. You had to give in in the end."
He really means it. I nod again and relax a little. Our eyes meet and there is no resentment in his glance at all.
"She will not be able to come between us, you know?" he says and I cannot help but feel warm inside.
Does he know that our chances of escaping here are slim? Most likely. But he would never give up and neither would I.
The warm feeling inside stays for a while and after some time, John falls asleep again.
###
John wakes up just seconds before Mary is back. No time for us to exchange information but I can tell from the way he sits up that his wounds hurt but not agonizingly so.
Mary, on the other hand, is in a remarkably good mood.
Big Boy is with her, carrying a tray in his hands and a folding table under his arm. For a second I am scared that there are torture devises on the tray but it turns out that they only brought food and gauze. Meaning: She intends to keep us here for quite a while and cares enough for John to treat his wounds.
(Well, I say care … Just like her idea of love, her idea of caring is a sick, perverted kind of feeling. But she is oblivious to it. She honestly thinks she loves John and takes good care of him.)
At a nod, Big Boy releases the ties around my wrists and my left ankle. Then he flops me around gracelessly and ties my ankle up again. He also ties up my wrists again, but I have more space to move my arms now. That way I am facing the ground, but could kneel if I wanted to.
Mary makes a big fuss about serving the soup for me in a dog's feeding bowl. She places it in front of me, pets my head and tells me to eat. Such a blunt attempt at humiliating me. It wouldn't even work if I were less hungry. She tells me I could eat with John at the table if I only told her that I'd want to. What a meticulous attempt to draw me out.
I don't dignify her poor effort with any kind of reaction and start eating instead. Not the first time I have to eat from the ground without using my hands. I do so without being humiliated at all. That this does not destroy her good mood makes me suspicious.
But instead of getting angry she only frowns at me mildly and then sits down next to John who was placed at the folding table by Big Boy. His hands are still tied together and Mary starts feeding him. Watching that is a lot worse than eating like a dog.
Nothing lasts forever, though. After a while, neither of us are hungry any more and Mary sends Big Boy away.
He returns with something that looks like an old-fashioned washtub. Water splashes over the rim when he places it in front of me. I do my very best to keep a neutral expression on my face but the idea of this setting is clear. The washtub is deep enough to drown someone (me) in it.
Mary, who has chained John up at the wall once more, kneels down next to me. (Again, all is set so John has to watch. Brilliant, I cannot help but think.) "You know the rules, Sherlock," she says, unable (or unwilling) to hide her amusement. "Big Boy here will dip you in again and again until you ask me to stop. Or, of course, until you have drowned."
Before I can react to that, Big Boy grabs my head and pushes it under water.
I can hold my breath for nearly two minutes More than enough time to consider what to do. Mary will stick to the scenario as before. I will endure the dipping as long as I can and then give in, asking her to stop (if Big Boy does not accidentally drown me before, which is not unlikely). She will hurt John afterwards.
And then I see the flaw of her rules: There is no reason to wait with asking to stop until I am completely exhausted. I can just ask her right now, she will hurt John, and we are done for now.
My feeling of triumph is soon swept away by the pressing need to breathe. Two minutes are over and my head is still under water. I surely can go on longer. Longer. Longer.
My lungs are burning now and against my resolution I start to panic. I fight against the hands that hold me down, start trying to shake them off my head, feel my body jerking (quickly wondering how terrible it must look for John), my legs kicking, my thoughts becoming erratic, my head jerking, my lungs burning and burning -
and suddenly there is air and I gasp and pant and my hair is wet and cold and I'm shaking and panting and finally there is enough air inside my lungs again and I can force my body to calm down.
Big Boy pulls me into a kneeling position again and there is Mary's face right in front of me. "You only have to say it, Sherlock," she purrs, a satisfied half-smile on her (despicable) face. "Do you want me to stop?"
I try and erect my body a little more so I can look down at her. "Yes," I answer (still a bit out of breath), "please stop." I am sure that I am barely hiding my smug grin.
She is surprised, completely stunned for a moment. Then her eyes turn hard. Murderous. "God," she spits and gets up, "you think you are clever, don't you?"
(Yes, but this is probably a bad moment to tell her.)
She is beyond angry, her whole body tense, pure hatred emanating from every pore of her skin. She stands up, barely able to control herself, and gives Big Boy a cold look. "Kill him," she says to him, and turns around. Does something to John I cannot see, something that makes him scream in pain.
Before I can give it another though, Big Boy grabs me and pushes me to the ground. Kneels on my chest and presses his enormous hands on my mouth and nose. I don't have any time to take a deep breath and this time it's less than two minutes before I feel like suffocating.
Panic takes over again and I fight him with all I have but no matter what I do I cannot free myself. Before long my vision is blurring and my arms stop flailing, are barely twitching now and I can feel my body slacken before everything is covered in darkness.
Note: Thank to my wonderful betas. All mistakes left are mine and mine alone. :-)