Urrrrgh…
…
…
…
What—
The patient bit his question short with a miserable whimper as the left side of his face erupted with white pain. He lay still, drawing short, shaky breaths in…and out…and in…and out…as the pain slowly subsided to a dull ache.
His mouth was filled with a coppery tang, and he shivered, recognizing the taste of blood. Carefully, he probed the inside of his mouth with his tongue, searching for what was bleeding. He was quite surprised when his tongue slipped into a gap between two teeth and he felt his gums, warm and painfully tender. It took his pain-fogged mind to understand that his upper left canine tooth was missing.
Slowly, he brought a shaking hand to his left cheek, gingerly running his fingers over the swollen, bruised skin. What had hurt? He wet his rough, dry lips as he tried to remember. Had it been his jaw? Or was it the cheekbone that had sent the needles of agony screaming through his head? He shuddered, unable to recall where the pain had come from, but knowing beyond doubt that something was broken.
He continued to explore his face, fingers clumsily finding scabs, swelling, tenderness everywhere.
What had happened? He closed his eyes, willing himself to remember how he had come to be in such a sorry state.
There were things—bugs—inside of him…he'd been bound, unable to move his arms…. There had been a door…
…
…
…
Yes, the door. The door that would allow him to prevail over his unseen tormentors…the door that would grant him freedom—dear God how could he have forgotten about THE DOOR? It was such an important thing to remember that—PAIN!!!
White pain erupted as his fingers struck upon his broken nose, blinding him as it slashed through his head. White pain like the ceiling, the walls, the tiles of his prison. His white prison. Everything so clean and white, white, white, WHITE, WHITE, WHITE! EVERYWHERE WAS WHITE!
YAAAAAAH! Got to get out, out OUT!
He beat his hands on the floor and rambled on.
OUT…I WANT OUT! LET ME GO YOU SONS OF BITCH BASTARDS!
Tears pricked his eyes and he moaned wretchedly as the left side of his face went numb with pain.
He had to…had to find the door. Had to get out now, now, now, now, NOW! Had to beat the Watchers RIGHT NOW!
With a scream, he began to beat at his own face.
I'm getting out of here! Getting out! NOW! AAARRRRGH!
He could see the door…it was a deep, rich black. It was so beautiful…so beautiful it made him want to laugh and cry all at once.
I…I win…hahaha…haha….
He was close…closer than last time, even. Almost close enough to reach the handle…almost….
Something horrible zapped through his body, racing through his veins and fizzing in his blood. Pain…but…but no. It was…God, what was it? He knew. He knew because he'd felt it before. It was…it was…
…
…
…
Electricity…? Yes. That was it. It was the Watchers…their bugs wereshocking him. The door began stretch away, falling down, down, down into an endless expanse of nothing. So far, far away that he could not even see it anymore.
No…no…no, no, no, no, NO, NO, NOOOOO!
The Watchers…they KNEW! They KNEW about his door! And their bugs—their bugs would never let him reach it.
NOOOOoooooo…
…
…
…
May 19th. Eighth test run short, but marginally informative. Patient is now in advanced state of mental deterioration. Caused further damage to face, in spite of electric shock conditioning. This tendency towards self-injury is clearly deeply rooted in the patient's psyche. Indicative of neglect / abuse during childhood? Further inquiries pertaining to the patient's upbringing are needed. Next test run to commence in two weeks, to allow patient adequate time to heal / rest.
Author's Notes: Sorry this took a little longer to post than usual. I just learned how to use photoshop, so I've been drawing and coloring like mad for the past couple of days. Anyways, next chapter will be the last, and as promised, I will be revealing the identity of "the patient!" In the meantime, feel free to comment or take some final guesses....
Thanks to Flame Swordswoman, shadowwaker, the nameless, Silvershadowfire, Hiro.P, mandapandabug, Boomer0X, Silently Broken, DemonAlphaWolfKidNE, Dark Magician Girl / Hikaru, Pyro, Enlightening, and Karimaru for reviewing the last chapter! All your comments / guesses are much appreciated!