Plop. Plop.
Blood dripped into the metal bucket steadily. Just small drops, but they amounted to quite a good bit. Collecting in that medium-sized bucket, filling up his nostrils with that unmissable scent.
Coppery.
It was an addiction, he was coming to admit. The need to see the man who'd taken Fenrir away from him bleed.
Suspended upside down, Tom was held in place by chains that lopped around his neck, hung down his torso to his bound wrists then continued on to his ankles. The shackles at his ankles dangled from a large hook extending from the high ceiling. Skin pale from the loss of blood, darkly purple bruises decorating his body, Tom was soaked from sweat and blood. Aside from the occasional groan that seemed to escape him involuntarily, he remained quiet. His lips were chapped and peeling, but his eyes stayed closed, breath choppy as his face got almost as brightly colored as the blood that dripped from him.
Plop. Plop.
Harry shifted from his position, leaning against the bars of the cage, arms folded. He nodded to the man next to him.
"Do it."
Conner stepped into the cage and Harry followed closely. He liked to watch these things. Make sure they were done right. The way he wanted. The way that would cause the most pain.
Conner picked up the high-powered hose and pointed it at Tom' face, then he turned the power on.
Tom jerked violently with a loud gurgle.
Harry smiled.
Ice-cold water, directly onto his captive's face. Tom could twist only so much. There was no escaping that hose and the water. Harry knew how it felt, too. Like a million tiny needles were flying into your skin at once, at top speed, embedding in your bones. Freezing you from the inside out.
Water flooded the floor, sloshing up against his boots before sliding down the angled floor and circling the drain. This cage was built for this.
He watched dispassionately as Tom fought a futile battle to escape the hose. Failing. Every jerk caused the chain around his neck to tighten and bite deeper into his throat.
If Harry was lucky, Tom might even come away with a tattoo around his throat… A permanent mark… A collar of sorts to show who Tom really belonged to now. He spoke softly,
"Enough…"
Conner immediately dropped the hose.
Harry dropped to his knees to be face to face with a sputtering Tom. His captive's lips were blue, teeth chattering as he wheezed.
It was…beautiful…It was so breathtakingly beautiful…
"Mr. Voldemort"
He grabbed Tom by the chin, holding his bobbing head in place. Water dripped from his dark hair, streaming from his nose and ears, bubbling past his lips when he coughed long and loud.
"Eva…Evans."
Tom's words trembled badly, but when he opened his red-rimmed eyes, they mocked Harry,
"Didn't I…"
His throat convulsed and his eyes rolled back in his head. His lashes dropped then lifted again before he whispered…just loud enough so that only Harry could hear,
"Didn't I say call me Tom?"
Harry dismissed Conner from the cage with a wave of his hand and spoke calmly,
"You fascinate me, Mr. Voldemort… You have always fascinated me… I wish to cut you open, dissect you,"
Harry murmured,
"To see what makes you tick. What drives you."
Tom's laugh quickly turned into a fit of hacking cough, rocking his body as it hung upside down from the hook,
"D-do you read minds, Evans?"
Wrists tied together at his front, his fingers… the tips also tinged with blue… twitched,
"Because I was th…thinking I'd love to finish what I started…"
His gaze held a challenge even as he swung from the chains,
"You know, carve your chest open. See if the tin man has a heart."
Harry sighed before speaking,
"Get him down,"
He told Conner, who was standing guard outside the gate, without taking his gaze from Tom as he stood,
"We're not done,"
He directed that last bit to Tom.
"Hey, Eva…Evans, have you noticed that you keep kneeling for me?"
Tom asked in a rush. His teeth sank into his peeling bottom lip, halting their trembling,
"I like it."
Eyes swollen, teeth chattering loudly, he still managed to wink at Harry,
"You should always be on your knees."
His defiance was just about as fascinating as his suffering. Harry smiled coldly,
"You give excellent conversation, Mr. Voldemort."
"M...My bed partners didn't keep me around for just my wonderful physique and amazing prowess."
From what Harry witnessed while surveilling Tom, the vampire didn't keep bed partners around for longer than the length of time it took to get the deed done and suck them dry. But it didn't matter, so he didn't speak on it. Instead he turned and walked out the cage.
"Don't stay away too long."
Tom's halting words drifted to him,
"I'll be waiting impatiently for the next time you take a knee for me."