Biohazard: Resident Evil VII

Chapter Twenty Five: Lucas's Game

As when he had first been captured by Jack, Ethan was dimly aware that he was being dragged across the barn's concrete floor, but that was about the extent of it. The next thing he knew, everything was dark, but instead of being dragged across the floor, he was now stationary, in a sitting position. It felt like he was sitting on a cold, metal chair, and his left arm was lying flat on a wooden table or bench right in front of him, but he couldn't move it.

His other arm was free, as were his legs, and since the dizziness from his latest row of unconsciousness was starting to fade, Ethan was starting to be able to move around again. However, before he could even begin to start investigating the dark area, the room was flooded with light as what felt like a bag was roughly pulled off his head. Everything was a blur at first, but after blinking a few times, the first thing he saw was Lucas standing right in front of him.

"Mornin', buddy!" The bald man exclaimed, smacking him in the side of the head. "Now, I know you're over here jus' rarin' to get back to the action, since you was so quick to put a hurtin' on your buddy and that stupid fuckin' cop… but you gotta learn to share, Ethan. It ain't fair, you jus' hoggin' the spotlight all the time, so I done got you some friends."

Lucas then backed away, allowing Ethan to see the… odd sort of room that he was in. There were intensely bright lights mounted up in all four corners, and the far wall was covered with what looked like television monitors of different sizes. He was sitting on a chair at a table that had a green felt covering, as if it had been made for playing card games, and his arm was restrained with a series of bolted-down clamps starting at the elbow.

There was another clamp on his wrist, keeping his arm locked to the table, and as for his fingers, his hand was stuck inside a metal hand-shaped impression that had a separate tie-down for each of his fingers. This made it impossible for Ethan to move his left arm in any way, and there was some kind of machine mounted onto the table next to his hand. It was red, with a settings dial, and a pair of prongs that pointed down a couple inches away from the back of his palm, but other than that he couldn't tell what it did.

He was also not alone; there were two others around the table, arms locked down in identical fashion near similar machines, and Ethan could tell that they were women, even though there were bags over their heads. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who the two women were, although Lucas did seem a little disappointed that Ethan didn't gasp in shock when the bags were pulled off to reveal that it was Mia and Zoe sitting around the table with him.

"Lucas, have you lost your mind?!" Zoe yelled, looking up at him. "You better stop this fore' Eveline finds out, cause' then you'll…

The short-haired woman's words were cut off when Lucas suddenly balled up his fist and socked her in the side of the mouth, and Zoe might have fallen right out of her chair if her arm hadn't been bolted down. The bald man went to hit her again just as she was recovering, but then Mia stopped him by grabbing his wrist with her free hand, but this just resulted in her getting a hit of her own.

"Leave them alone, you son of a bitch!" Ethan yelled, trying to reach him, but failing because of his own arm. "You think you're a big man, beating up on girls who can't defend themselves? If you were a real man, you'd treat Mia with respect regardless of whether or not she liked you, and you would never raise a hand to your own…

Now it was time for Ethan's words to be cut off, when Lucas took a kind of remote control unit out of his pocket, and pushed the button, causing the machine next to Ethan's hand to activate. It hummed and sparked as the prongs suddenly stabbed down into his hand, making Ethan scream as he was jolted by a high voltage electrical current. This went on for a couple seconds, with Ethan screaming and his legs kicking around underneath the table, until he nearly collapsed when Lucas let go of the button.

"Stop this!" Mia yelled, trying to get to Ethan but only being able to reach a bit past his restrained hand. "I'll stay here, just let Ethan go!"

Instead of reacting in his usual manner, the bald man simply turned and walked out of the room, through a nearby door. The electricity had left Ethan barely able to move, and Mia was still trying to reach him… but Zoe was doing something else. She had her free hand reached under the table as if fumbling around for something, and then the metal impression holding her hand… moved a bit as if it were starting to loosen. However, a moment later the monitors on the wall behind her came to life, each showing Lucas sitting at some kind of desk in another room.

"Okay, I gotta admit I wasn't quite ready to go and use this again." The bald man explained. "There's supposed to be fun stuff like guillotines for cuttin' off fingers, and this big ol' blade that goes and chopps off heads… but that stuff got all tore up workin' over them boys from Sewer Gators durin' poker night, and I ain't had no time to fix it yet. Fraid' all I got left is the 'shocker', and no, it ain't the kind I gave Mia earlier."

Suddenly distracted from Lucas's ranting by a kick to the shin by Zoe, Ethan looked over at her, and it took him a second to realize that she was trying to silently tell him that her restraints were loosening, both by silently mouthing the words and showing him that she could move a tiny bit. He was never very good at reading lips, so it took a second again to realize that she was mouthing the words help me, while pointing underneath the table in a way so Lucas couldn't see her hand.

"Okay, so let's go on and get started." The bald man continued. "I'm gonna ask each of you questions; tell the truth and nothin' happens to you… lie and you'll be ridin' the lightnin'. Now, Zoe… we all know you're a slut, but tell the truth… if Ethan, here, asked you for sex, would you give it up?"

"Go to hell, Lucas, you fuckin' pervert!" Zoe yelled, spitting at the monitors. "Ethan's a married man, I'd never get tween' him and his wife!"

There was a reaction to one of the monitors that could be seen on the wall next to Lucas where he was sitting, and after looking at it, he shook his head. The bald man then gave a pretty good Maury Povich impression saying 'our test reveals that was a lie' before making Zoe shriek as she was electrocuted in the same manner that Ethan had been before this… game… had started. She was sobbing and shaking by the time Lucas stopped the current, and as much as Ethan wanted to save her, the only thing he could do was reach under the table and hold her free hand, which she squeezed tightly.

"Okay, movin' right along." The bald man laughed as Zoe's hand moved back to working on her restraints. "Our next guest is Mia Winters, and everyone here knows me an' her been fuckin' round' for a while, but our viewers're dyin to know… do you still love Ethan?"

"Yes, I do." Mia replied, looking at Ethan. "Ethan, I still love you just as much as I did when we got married."

Another reaction in the monitor, but this time Lucas looked disappointed as he said that 'our test shows you told the truth' in a far less convincing Maury Povich impression. The bald man pushed the button anyway, but this time instead of Mia getting electrocuted, it was both Ethan and Zoe who were made to suffer. Apparently Lucas had forgotten to mention that telling the truth caused the other players to get hurt instead. It was more difficult for he and Zoe to get back to trying to free her after the current stopped, but the bolt was almost loose… just a little longer.

"Now, Ethan, I know you been bein' good and waitin' your turn." Lucas continued as they struggled with the bolt. "But since you got to have fun doin' the barn fight all by yourself… let's go back to Zoe. Okay, slut… here's the big one… do you wish Mia was dead so you can run off with Ethan? Answer fast, you stupid bitch, or all three of you get it!"

"No, I don't!" Zoe yelled, frantically trying to get the last part under the table free. "I could never wish that!"

From the look on her face, Ethan could tell that she was lying, and although he was flattered by this revelation, there wasn't any time to even react to it, since the short-haired woman was about to get electrocuted, and the bolt was now free on her hand restraints. This meant that if she started convulsing from the current, Lucas would discover that she was free, and there would be no hope of escape. Even with the bolt out, the metal hand impression was harder to release than it looked, so after the bald man's next Maury impression, Ethan did the only thing he could think of.

Just as Lucas pressed the button, Ethan reached over and grabbed onto the machine's prongs, preventing them from going into Zoe's hand. This gave her the time she needed to finish freeing her hand before slipping her arm out of the other restraints, but Ethan was only dimly aware of this while he was being electrocuted in her place. He thought he heard her say something to him, but couldn't be sure as his body flailed around, and when the current finally stopped, the short-haired woman was gone.

"You cheatin' ass mother fuckers!" Lucas yelled, kicking open the door and storming into the room. "Where the fuck did that little bitch go?!"

Even though he felt like he was going to die, Ethan was happy that Zoe had managed to escape. However, this fact didn't help once the bald man pushed the button to start electrocuting Mia, making her scream while Lucas ran over and punched Ethan in the mouth. He kicked the chair out from under him, before grabbing Ethan by the hair and bashing his head into the side of the table, and then resumed punching him while Mia was still being electrocuted.

"You know, city-boy." The bald man said, stopping long enough to push the button, allowing Mia to collapse. "I'm startin' to think you might be a bit smarter than you look… not that the bar's too high on that, now. Anyhow, you impressed me so much, that you an' me's gonna play a special game… jus' the two of us. Sounds fun, right? But, first I gotta put a hurtin' on you for ruinin' the game… you understand."