Mac was plunged into darkness, he closed his eyes for minute and then opened them again, there was now a little light filtering through the window. He knew it was probably a bad idea, but he wriggled and moved his shoulders, managing to get the gag off, there was no way he wanted to have that in all night. He tried to calm his breathing down, part of him wishing he'd been drugged again, it was gonna be hard to sleep with all the thoughts racing through his mind. The main thing he was thinking was where he was, it was obviously a house in the middle of nowhere, but surely people had to know it was there. Whoever sold the house would know about it, he guessed it was possible it had all been handled online or through a middleman. There must be some way for the team to find him. He was thinking that he might be able to make something to communicate with if he was left alone for long enough, when there was a sudden noise above, before he knew it the light came on and James came storming down the stairs.
Dammit, he'd forgotten there was probably a camera. "I'm sorry," he tried to say as his father approached, the words cutting off by a slap to the face.
It dazed him so he had no defence when his father ripped his hands apart rolled him on his front and wrenched them behind him. "If I leave you with a gag in I expect it to still be there when I come back," his father roared in his ear.
Mac was too lightheaded from the hit and the pain in his shoulders to really hear the words. He was aware of his father on top of him securing his hands, he then felt the gag be pulled back in his mouth, so tight this time he was sure it would cut into his lips. He was dragged closer to the wall, his stomach scraping across the concrete, he felt his wrists pulled and released, but when he tried to move them he hardly could, he guessed they were now attached to the wall.
"I never should have tried to make you comfortable; this is the thanks I get for that. You will stay this way until I decide to release you, you ungrateful child, you so much as move an inch and there will be punishment for it tomorrow."
James took one more look and walked back out of the room, plummeting the place back into darkness. Mac was panting, trying desperately to get himself under control, he was shaking, and he was in pain and he was really trying not to cry. Why did he forget about the cameras? Everything was going ok; his father was treating him better and then he had to ruin it.
Deep down Mac knew it wasn't his fault, but he couldn't stop wishing that he'd left the material in and just gone to sleep. Now falling asleep was going to be impossible, the position he was in was so uncomfortable and he felt like he could barely breathe. He thought he could hear Jack's voice in his head, 'In and Out, that's its kiddo, just breathe' god he wished Jack were here. He finally calmed down, thinking about Jack sitting beside him, so much so that he fell asleep, not waking up until morning.
To say that Mac was sore when he opened his eyes the next morning was an understatement, he definitely hadn't been this bad the whole time he'd been with his father, he wasn't even sure he'd ever woken up that way before. The frustrating thing was he could barely move, his arms were practically locked in place and he knew it was going to be hell when they were released. His face hurt, he hoped the material in his mouth might have loosened overnight, but that didn't seem to be the case and his throat and lips were once again extremely dry. He laid there, trying to be as still as possible, praying that his father came down. Part of him was worried that the man that had done this to him would leave him to suffer, he just prayed that the nicer man who he'd spent time with over dinner would be the one to come down instead.
Mac knew that there was something wrong with his father, he was leaning towards multiple personality disorder, although he hadn't seen a transformation from the personalities directly. If that were happening then Mac was worried, he was sure he'd read somewhere that eventually the dominant personality took over, and he didn't have to be a genius to figure out which one that was.
After what seemed like hours the door opened, Mac stayed incredibly still, if it was the man he feared he wanted to appear compliant, not wanting to do anything to escalate the situation.
"I'm so sorry that this has happened to you Angus, I know that you were in pain already last night," James said, heading across the room.
Mac breathed easier, it was the man he wanted, he waited patiently for him to come over.
"You shouldn't have taken that gag out Angus, not after I told you it was necessary that you wear it, you've only got yourself to blame for the pain you're in."
Great, so even the nice version of James was blaming him.
"I'll take the gag out first and then we'll see about your arms," James knelt next to Mac, untying the knot and carefully taking the material out. "Your lips are cut, but it doesn't look too bad."
Mac couldn't believe how much that hurt; he was dreading his arms being released. James leant over and pulled on Mac's arms, he flinched at the pain, but they were soon moved back to where they were.
"You need to sit up before I remove them completely," James said, helping Mac to rise from the floor.
The whole process hurt, he was sore all over, he was breathing heavy, already tense as he knew what was about to happen. Mac watched his father move behind him and take hold of his wrists, there was a noise and then he let go. Mac gasped as his arms hung at his sides, the fire was back, along his shoulders and down both arms. James moved around taking hold of his arms again and pulling them forward.
"No, stop," Mac stuttered through the pain, his father couldn't be restraining him again.
"I'm not going to attach your wrists together for now Angus, but you need to move them into a better position, it will help with the pain."
His father was right, so he let him move his arms, panting the whole way through, finally his hands were resting in his lap, he wasn't close enough to the wall or he would have leant against it. James seemed to sense this and manoeuvred Mac closer. Next thing Mac was aware there was a bottle against his lips.
"Drink."
He did, wanting to guzzle the whole bottle, his father only let him have a little and then took it away.
"More?"
"You'll get sick if you drink too much, you can have some more later," James said, putting the lid back on the bottle. He placed it on the floor and reached over to release Mac's ankles. He then got up and walked across the room. "Rest there for a bit and then we can have some breakfast. I'll let you have some more painkillers after."
Mac just concentrated on his breathing, hoping that the pain would ease and that he wouldn't have to endure anymore. He really hoped that this side of his father stayed for the day, unfortunately he didn't think that would happen, he never seemed to see only one personality, it was always a combination.
Maybe half an hour later and Mac was feeling a little better, he decided to get up and empty his bladder, maybe have some more water. After he was done he walked around a little, he'd been cooped up for almost 24 hours, he was surprised his legs didn't give way. He had just started another rotation around the room when the door opened.
"You must be feeling better if you're up," James said, heading towards his son.
"I feel a little better," Mac replied, standing still against the wall.
"Good, well it's time for breakfast, I've cooked some eggs." James approached, unlocking the chain around Mac's ankle. His father then carefully took Mac's wrists and hooked the cuffs together at the front, directing him to go ahead of him up the stairs.
His arms pulled a little, but it wasn't too bad, Mac walked up the stairs and into the kitchen, sitting where he sat each time he was there. James restrained him like he had the first time, both ankles and one wrist, he then gathered up the breakfast things and placed them on the table. There was eggs, toast, fruit and juice. Mac waited patiently for his father to tell him to eat, he didn't want to assume that he could have what he wanted.
That seemed to please his father and he proceeded to put some of everything on a plate and hand it over. "Eat."
Mac didn't have to be told twice. He started eating, wincing when he moved his arm and when the food hit his split lips. His father didn't make any comments, just ate his own food. He only spoke once he'd finished.
"I've been kind to you Angus, why did you disobey me?"
Mac decided to be honest. "It was uncomfortable, and I didn't understand why you had me wear it, you said yourself we're in the middle of nowhere." He held his breath after that sentence, hoping he wasn't about to set his father off.
James seemed to be taking in what Mac had said, speaking calmly after a moment. "That wasn't your decision to make Angus. I'm trying to teach you to behave, follow rules and most of all listen to what I have to say."
He got up, tidying the breakfast stuff up, Mac's heart started beating a little faster, not sure what was going to happen next, calm words are sometimes the worst. He waited until his father sat back down opposite him.
"I think this is my fault," James said. "I obviously wasn't clear on the rules when I brought you here."
Dammit this wasn't going to be good, if his father gave him specific do's and don'ts then he wouldn't have much breathing room.
"The main rule is this is my house and you won't do anything without my permission. I'll give you certain freedoms, especially as time goes on, but not too many, keeping you safe is my number one priority. You will do what is asked of you without any questions. My decision is final, I'm afraid it doesn't matter what you think. If I feel that you need to be punished then you will be, there will be no discussion. You will take part in any experiments I feel need to happen; they'll only benefit you in the future so being a little uncomfortable now is not a big ask. I'm not a monster, if you're in pain I'll help, although if you've bought that pain on yourself then there might not be as much help as you would like. Sometimes pain is necessary. I'll decide if it is or isn't and if it is how much. Finally, you know I always liked that saying, 'children should be seen and not heard.' Unless spoken to I would prefer it if you kept quiet. Constant questions are unhelpful."
Mac was stunned, he was sure he'd just seen a transition between personalities. He also couldn't believe some of the rules, pain is sometimes necessary, great that didn't sound good. And seen and not heard, yes he remembered that from his childhood, he never coped well with that one. Mac wasn't sure if he should respond, he guessed not as there didn't seem to be a question in there.
"I want to put you in with the tapes again today, but we'll wait until this afternoon. I also feel like there needs to some form of punishment for last night." James looked at him, hands under his chin, he seemed to be thinking it over.
Not only another session with the tapes but he wants to punish me too, I thought this personality wasn't that bad, Mac was starting to think that none of them were any good. He looked at his father, not wanting to look away.
"There's too much fire in your eyes," James said, standing up. What did he mean by that? "You need breaking a little bit more, you shouldn't be looking that defiant."
Mac started breathing heavier backing away as best he could from his father, he had no idea what the man meant by that and he really didn't want to find out.
"We just discussed that I make all the decisions, so this is happening whether you struggle or not, the easiest thing for you to do is just let what's going to happen, happen, it will be better for you and for me." James came over to Mac and released him from the chair, instantly gripping his arm and pulling in towards the 'secure room' as he called it.
So much for the sadistic James being the only once to use the room, his arm was hurting from where he was being dragged, he couldn't help it, he was scared. James pushed him into the room and said words he did not want to hear.
"Strip, everything, off now. If you don't wanna do it yourself I can do it for you."
Mac believed that James would, and it probably wouldn't be pretty, he really didn't want to do this but what choice did he have. He took off his clothes trying not to show his fear.
"Turn around," James said, shutting the door behind him.
Mac did just that and he heard James walking towards him, a blindfold was fitted over his eyes and his was then spun around three times and pushed to the floor. Mac was disorientated and couldn't see so he crumpled to the ground, the breath being knocked out of him for a second. He had a sudden horrible thought; his own father wouldn't do that to him would he? Why else did he make him take all his clothes off. There was a sudden pain in his side, a boot had connected to it, he felt his wrists pulled, his arms feeling like they were coming out of their sockets, next thing they were released but they'd been secured tightly to something, he received another boot this time in the other side, his ankles were pulled similar to his wrists and they were secured to something too. Mac was shaking, he didn't know what was happening, James was so silent, he couldn't even hear him moving around. Suddenly there were noises, something off to his left, then his right, banging, whistling, then nothing and then the noises started again, always from somewhere different. He was trying not to react to them, but he couldn't help it, his body reacted instantly, this went on for a while, he couldn't say how long. The noises stopped as abruptly as they started and Mac breathed a little easier, his body slightly relaxing, that obviously was the worst thing to do though as there was suddenly another kick to his side, this one harder than the others. Nothing and then something hit him in the face, then the side again. The blows kept coming at intermittent times, mostly after his body had started to relax. Again, there was nothing, but Mac kept his body tense, he was breathing so heavy, his whole body was on fire, this had to stop soon, his father couldn't keep this up. Just when he thought it must be, because it had been a lot longer between blows he was suddenly soaked from head to toe with freezing cold water. His body arched trying to get away from it, which only made the pain worse, he lay there shivering, hearing the door open and close, James had finally stopped his torture.