Nevermore22/Cally_Kari_Shokka (depending the website): Due to a total of two responses, I decided to continue this thing. ^^ Reviews are welcome, flames are put on my wall for all to see. :D Someone! Review! ..Please?
Thanks goes to Nokiasama2003 (SO sorry for getting the name wrong last chappy!) for her review and emails. ^_^ Anyway, here we gooo..!
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Captive: Part Two
If you are near to the dark
I will tell you 'bout the sun
You are here, no escape
From my vision of the world
You will cry, all alone
But it does not mean a thing to me
-- 'Aura', .hack//SIGN
Consciousness returned with a force that was neither wanted or achieved. Light, florescent and natural, filtered through the still closed eyelids of a teen. However, said teen simply did not want to awaken. To be awake was to be in pain; Two weeks in captivity left him with that knowledge.
"Doctor, I think he's awake." A femenine voice called out. Doctor? No doctors ever visited his cell..
"Call his friends. They've been in the waiting room for hours." His friends?
Deciding that there might possibly be no danger here, eyes opened with tentative fear. White greeted him. With the recollection that his cell had no white, or even this level of luminoscity, his eyes open to their full. A confused glance around heralded the following facts: He was in an actual bed, an open window was next to said bed, the walls were white, and an echidna doctor with two nurses of the same species stood a few feet away. He was either in a hospital or a mental institution.
"Good morning, Mr. Chameleon." The doctor greeted with a friendly smile. "Or, rather, good afternoon. It's nearly one o'clock."
"Wha.." A cough. His throat was somewhat sore. "Where am I?"
"Echidnopolis. Saint Angel Hospital, to be specific. The Guardian and your friends brought you in yesterday afternoon." The doctor seemed nice enough.
"Espio!" Before any other questions could be asked or answered, Knuckles and the rest of the Chaotix all but barged in to the room. Knuckles was the one who called his name. "Thank god that you're awake!"
Confusion was the only response Knuckles recieved for a few seconds. "..What do you mean?"
"You were in the ER since last night!" That came from a frowning Mighty. "The doctors kept on telling us how much blood you lost and that you needed surgery and a hell load of other stuff. We didn't even know if you would make it through the night!"
Espio glanced around at the faces of his friends, who, as memory of the previous day returned, had risked themselves to save him. "How did you find me?"
"That son of a bitch, Kragok, held ya ransom." Vector growled, saying the Legionairre's name as if it were a curse. "I just wanna kill that fucking -- "
"Vector!" Mighty glared at the crocodile, a chastising expression on the armadillo's face.
"What?" Vector, for his part, couldn't figure out why Mighty was upset.
"You shouldn't have tried to save me." All eyes turned to Espio in shock and disbelief. "You could have been killed.. Or worse.."
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Shudders racked the hung form as blood pooled underneath chained and shackled feet. The cell was cold, quiet, dark, and with only memories to accompany the prisoner child. He hated to think of himself as a child; After all, he was of legal age. Yet, he had to admit, he was just as helpless as one. After a single day of captivity, and he had allready screamed, had allready givin in to pain that he shouldn't have.
The 'click' of the cell door gave him incentive to look up and forward, fear in his heart but not in his eyes. Kragok was the one to walk through the door.
"My friends won't leave me here." Kragok stared at the teenager with surprise, not expecting vocal retaliation after what had happened the day before.
"Perhaps. And perhaps not." Kragok smiled, smug in the situation. "If they do find you, they will undoubtly attempt a foolish rescue. And then.." A laugh. "..They will be the same as you." A second laugh. "Admittingly, the armadillo is quite attractive."
Espio couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You're sick.."
Kragok only chuckled in reply, making his way behind his captive.
..And the pain began anew.
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"Hey, when has danger ever stopped us before?" Knuckles asked, smiling at the bedridden chameleon. He did not recieve a smile in return.
The door opened with a quiet hiss. A meek nurse peaked inside. "M-Mr. Guardian? Constable Remington is requesting an audience with you and your friends."
Knuckles frowned. "Now?"
If it were possible, the nurse only became more meek. "H-He said it was urgent."
Knuckles released a small sigh, then turned back to Espio. "We'll visit you again later, all right?"
A nod was all he recieved in reply.
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The chatter began as soon as the door was closed and they were sure they were out of earshot.
"Vector, what the hell is the matter with you?!" Mighty chastised, giving his taller friend a glare.
"What? What I'd do?" As it happened more often than not, Vector was utterly oblivious.
Julie-Su, who had otherwise remained silent throughout the entire visit, sighed in annoyance. "Vector, you heard what the doctors told us. Vulgarity might bring back memories."
"Hate to say this, But I think anything has a chance of bringing back memories." That came from Knuckles.
"I still can't believe that this happened to him." Mighty frowned, troubled by the situation as a whole. "Julie, did you know that Kragok -- "
"No." Julie-Su interrupted Mighty before he could finish the question. "To be honast, I just didn't think he would sink so low. I knew -- know -- that he's sick and twisted, but I never thought of him as a rapist."
A few seconds of silence accompanied the group of worried teenagers as they continued their walk. Perhaps it was because one of them finally said the words aloud, allowing all their minds to finally absorb the simple truth of it all. Their friend, a brother by battle and hardship, had been raped.
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As soon as he was alone, the tears began to fall.
Espio hated himself, appearing so pitifull. He hated to be pitied, to be weak. He hated the fact that his friends had risked their lives for his own stupidity. After all, he should have been more prepared, should have escaped captivity, should have been able to fight back. He should have been able to fight off the Legionairres who attacked his home as he slept..
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"This is all your fault, you know." Kragok said between breaths, both arms around Espio's cheast, holding his captive against his body for every shift and thrust. The tears that fell against the Legionairre's arms went unnoticed in the moment. "Had you just been strong enough to fight us.. Espy-chan.. Then you wouldn't be here.."
Pain filled sobs were his only response for a few seconds. "..Stop.."
"But this is.. So much fun, Espy-chan.. My little whore.."
"Please.. Stop! Stop!"
A scream erupted at a vicious thrust.
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Eyes widened at memory, and Espio hugged himself in an attempt at self comfort. The recollections of that hellish fortnight refused to escape his mind, bringing back flashes of pain and images of torture by even the smallest of unintentional reminders. Yet, he didn't want to let his friends know how greately he suffered. He didn't want them to feel either pity or guilt.
It had to end. Espio didn't know how long he could live with constant flashbacks; He wouldn't be able to fight, wouldn't be able to help protect the island.
He wouldn't be able to live.
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"Guardian." A curt greeting from the Constable.
"Constable." A response just as official, just as lacking in emotion, save for the raised eyebrow. Normally, official curtousy was thrown out the window with Knuckles, and he wondered at the sudden change in the older echidna. "What was so important that I had to see you now?" To say that he was upset for being pulled from his pained friend would be something of an understatement.
"As you're all well aware of," A glance around signified the remaining Chaotix, "The Dark Legionairres arrested yesterday are being held in the prison system on multiple charges. However, those in custody barely account for a sixteenth of the Legion's full number."
Knuckles wondered at the stoic, nearly completely lacking of personality, in the tone of Constable Remington. Normally, he would be friendlier, keeping official tones as far away as possible. With a glance to his friends, he could tell that the same thoughts were occuring to them as well. However, none made a comment on it. "And?"
Remington frowned. "While interrogating Kragok," None of them missed the strange expression he made while speaking the name of the Legionairre commander, "He made some disturbing yet cryptic remarks."
Knuckles was starting to get a terrible feeling down his spine. "What kind of remarks?"
"Firstly, that there were Legionairres who came to the ruins and left within the two weeks of your friends' capture. Secondly, Kragok claims that he was not the one who ordered the kidnapping. And, third, non-Legionairres seemed to have been involved."
There was a slight pause as the protectors of the Floating Island digested this strange bit of information. Knuckles seemed to be the voice of the four for the moment. "Was this all the information Kragok decided to reveal?"
The first trance of personality throughout this entire morbid conversation passed through the Constable's face for a brief second, yet Knuckles was able to identify the emotion; A clear sadness, almost pitying in essence. "Well, no, but I rather not go into details." Knuckles couldn't help but wince at the implications of just how much Kragok could have gone in to.
"Thanks." Knuckles said after a few moments. As if taking this as a signal, Remington nodded slightly before turning and walking away.
As soon as the Constable was out of earshot, the Chaotix began to talk amongst themselves again.
"What the hell did that mean?" Vector asked, frowning in confusion.
"Legionairres came and left.." Mighty made a sound something akin to a 'hmph'. "Sick.. Some people actually came to the ruins just to hurt Espy and then leave.."
"If Kragok wasn't the one who wanted Espio kidnapped, who was it?" Julie-Su frowned. "I mean, this could go all the way to Dimitri himself.."
"I don't even want to think about that!" Mighty shuddered at the prospect.
"Non-Legionairres were involved.." Knuckles shook his head slightly. "This just gets worse with every passing minute.."
Vector began to growl low in his throat.
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A stinging pain awoke him, once again, from sluber. It almost seemed to be a hobby of his captors; See what instruments of pain would awaken their toy from unconsciousness quickest. Turning head and eyes, Espio was able to glimpse a metal creature with a whip in hand. 'Creature' by defenition only for the fact that it was more machine than flesh. A name came to recollection; Xenin. He wasn't too afraid of the mostly-mecha Legionairre; Although powerfull, it lacked the anatomy for what was truly feared.
Turning his perception back to his front, Espio was nonetheless forced in to the all familliar depths of fear. The single Legionairre he feared above all others stood, smirking smugly. As usual as of late, Kragok was not wearing the cloak normally donned during battle, a sign of true perversity. "Good morning, Espy-chan. Sleep well?"
The only response from the bound chameleon was an empty glare. Of course, Espio couldn't even tell if it actually were morning; No light from the sun penetrated the dank cell.
If it were possible, Kragok's grin only became more smug. "I have a surprise for you, Espy-chan." The tone sent new warning bells in Espio's mind; Far too saccharine to bode well. Kragok looked to Xenin. "Bring him down."
Bring him down? In the week of his captivity and torture, not once before had he been released from his shackles. It was then that Espio began to wonder if Kragok was finally going to kill him; Death would be a welcomed liberty.
With limbs stiff from being held in a single position for so long, there was absolutely no way for Espio to fight or struggle. Xenin had no difficulty holding the chameleon on knees covered in dried and wet blood.
The kneeling position was utter agony for the teenager; Stiff limbs combined with far too much abuse to the lower half of his body had made every muscle between the waist and knees sore as if enflamed. Nonetheless, Espio managed to hold back tears.
A hand around his horn forced his head to move upwards, eyes forced upon his most hated and feared captor. The first sight his eyes stopped upon was that dangerous area between the echidna's thighs. A moment passed before Espio understood why he was unshackled.
Kragok's perfectly gleefull tone only confirmed the understanding. "Open wide, Espy-chan.."
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Espio screamed as he awoke from the nightmare. ..No, not nightmare. Memory. A terrible, terrible memory that he wished he could forget.
Releasing a rather indignant cry of frustration, Espio flopped backwards on the hospital bed. Not even in his sleep was he safe from memory, and the realization of this fact filled him with new dread. Was there truely no escape? Would he spend the rest of his life reliving that fortnight, always fearing, always screaming? Would Kragok forever be in his mind?
A turntable of misery and thought brought fitfull slumber back to the victimized chameleon, even as a final thought made way for a new round of nightmares.
Would death be easier?
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Nevermore22/Cally_Kari_Shokka: Aaaand THAT'S a wrap for this chappy! Is anyone reading this? ^^ Nokiasama, your emails are welcome, and any suggestions and ideas are, too. That goes for any other readers, as well. Kyaha..
Espio: *hiding in a closet* Save me from this madwoman! o__o
Nevermore/Cally: *locks the closet* Kyaha!
Espio: ;__; Noo..