A Panic Surges throughout the Castle

That late afternoon in the palace was evergrowingly still. It had gotten very late in the day and the sun was touching the horizon once again. This meant that Carlos spent yet another entire day hulled up in his workshop. He spent hours tinkering with gadgets, making plans, and building weapons. It was the only thing he could do anymore with any confidence. Though his right arm was still broken, he could still use his fingers. Learning to use his left hand was a bit of a learning curve. Though he stayed in his workshop for days and days, he never felt that way. To him it felt like just a few hours. Only when servants would bring him food did he realize how much time had passed.

Carlos heard a commotion in the castle while in his workshop with curiosity. He didn't know what could possibly have guards running down the hallways but it made him worry. Before he could go investigate, a low level guard barged through the door.

"Lieutenant! Something has happened in the dungeon!" She said, out of breath and her eyes full of panic, "it's the queen!"

Carlos didn't have to be told twice, he stood rapidly and hobbled out the door with a wince.

"Sir, are you alright?" The guard asked him.

"I'm fine, go get Jay." He ordered.

The guard nodded firmly and then ran off down the hallway.

Carlos walked as fast as he could. With each step a shooting pain went up his legs. He tried to ignore it, but the further he got the more his lungs burned. After all this time he still felt so restricted by his injuries. The dungeon wasn't that far from his workshop. He made his way down the stairs and saw a crowd around the cell they were keeping their prisoner.

"Move aside!" He told them, "What happened?"

He came upon a scene of doctors applying bandages to Evie's bloodied torso on the floor.

"Evie!" He said breathlessly and then quickly knelt down beside her, holding onto her hand and checking her pulse on her neck. She was still alive but her pulse was extremely low. Her skin was pale and a sheen of sweat coated her. Her lips and eyelids were turning a strange blueish color.

"What happened here?" Carlos growled at the doctors.

"We're not sure, Lieutenant," one told him, "she was stabbed here in the lower abdomen. We believe she could have possibly been poisoned."

"Poisoned? By who?" Carlos almost didn't have to ask, his eyes naturally trailed into the cell to meet with their newly captured prisoner. She had a cocky grin on her face as she looked down at him, "you…" he breathed out with fury.

"Lieutenant, we don't have much time." Another doctor said.

"Take Evie to her quarters, and quickly, try to get her stabilized." Carlos told them.

"Yes sir." They responded and quickly delved into action.

They gently picked her up off the floor and carried her out of the dungeons. Carlos' concern consumed him but he had other business to attend to. As everyone left, he stayed standing there and turned his head toward the cell. A low growl escaped his lips as his eyes now met with the cruel figure in the cell.

"You," he spoke again, "what did you do?"

All he heard was an ominous laughter coming from her. He snarled, he was not amused.

"Bitch!" He cried out, marching into the cell. He grabbed onto her jacket with his one good hand and pulled her closer to him, making the chair lean forwards towards him.

"Don't get too excited there, little pup." Mal teased him, twisting and pulling his anger to her will.

"I'm not playing these games. Not anymore." He slammed her chair back to the ground then pulled out the switchblade he kept in his jacket.

"Oh look, the puppy does have a bite." she mocked him incessantly.

"You're never gonna hurt any of my friends again." he growled and then put the knife right up to her neck. She curved her head back but she could still feel the pressure of the blade against her skin.

"Go on then," she spoke with confidence, "kill me."

He wanted to. He really wanted to. But something pulled him back. He just couldn't cross that threshold, he couldn't break free of his limitations. It made his blood boil.

"No," he breathed out, "no that's too good for you. I'm going to make you suffer."

Before Mal could react she felt a stinging pain across her cheek as red began to run down her face. She hissed in pain but held her breath in. Then his fist collided with her face, she didn't make a sound. She spit blood on the ground below her. Then he used all his strength and drove his knife through her hand, pinning it to the arm of the chair.

"Argh!" She cried out in anguish and then grit her teeth. Tears began swelling up in her eyes.

"You're never getting out of this cell, you hear me?" He told her, their faces just inches apart.

"I bet you're glad I can't fight back." she forced a smile and looked at his scars, "looks like you've still got some mementos from our last meeting."

"You better hold your tongue before I cut it out." Carlos spoke darkly. He swiftly punched her temple. She just took a deep breath and perked her head up to look at him right in the eye.

"That all you got?" She asked, blood was now leaking from her nose.

His white rage filled him. Another punch to the head, and another, and another, he just kept beating her senseless. One after the other he began to lose himself in the motion. Everything began to slow down as he kept going. Eventually his breath caught up to him and he stopped, exhausted, and put his now bloodied hands on his knees.

She chuckled faintly, "I don't remember you being so weak, Carlos. All bark and no bite."

"Shut up!" he howled, then he kicked the chair into the wall. Mal let out a grunt as she hit the wall. She wanted nothing more than to break her bindings and fight back but she was much too weak.

Carlos looked over at the small wood burning furnace in the room, inside were several pieces of hot iron used for torture. He picked up one and then looked back at Mal.

She was already breathing heavily and snarled at him, "try it if you want, but nothing can hurt me anymore."

"I beg to differ." He said before driving the scolding metal onto her chest.

She couldn't hold it back anymore. She let out a howl of pain and threw her head back in agony. She thought the pain would never stop. The smell of burning flesh filled the room, and Carlos pressed harder into her skin.

She screeched in torment; hot tears flowed freely down her face that was twisted into a horribly agonizing expression. Carlos was unphased, he wanted to press harder, make her feel every bit of pain he felt, and finally prove to everyone that he is in control of his own destiny. He wouldn't let her touch anyone he cared about ever again.

Harder he drove into her skin, more he wanted her to scream, he needed to hear her suffering clear as day. He needed to exact his revenge. He needed to drive the metal straight into her heart.

"Carlos!" was the word that snapped from his torturous trance. Then he felt two strong arms grab onto his chest and pull him away and onto the floor. It took a second for his eyes to focus back only to see Jay ripping the hot iron from his hand.

"What are you doing?" Jay chastised him as he threw the iron to the other side of the room.

"She…" his eyes focused back to Mal, who still had her head thrown back and her chest was heaving up and down, "she tried to kill Evie."

"Carlos, look at me," Jay put both of his hands on either of Carlos' shoulders, his eyes trained back to Jay, "you are better than this."

"I'm not, Jay, she… she poisoned Evie, she's evil, she's a monster, and she needs to be killed!" Carlos' eyes were back on Mal and the fury returned to him. He tried to get up but Jay pushed him back down to the floor.

"Stop! You're not killing anyone!" Jay said, "calm down."

He looked back at Jay and suddenly a wave of emotion came over him as he looked into his stern, brown eyes. His eyes shimmered with tears, "she tried to kill Evie." he squeaked.

"I know." He said and then pulled him back up to his feet.

Carlos put a hand to his head and let tears flow down his cheeks silently, "I told her not to come down here. I told her."

"I know." Jay said solemnly. He put an arm around his friend and escorted him out of the cell.

Jay closed the door and it locked on its own. Before Jay left with Carlos, he took the time to look into the cell to see Mal for the first time that evening. Her chest was still heaving and her skin was already starting to blister. The one thing he noticed about her is that she wasn't a monster or a beast. She was alone in that cell. She was conflicted and angry. He made eye contact with her for a few moments before turning his head and leaving her alone there.

Mal heaved over again and she couldn't help but yelp in pain as her skin moved. She bit down on her tongue and clenched her jaw in order to stay conscious. Though she said it before, nothing can hurt her anymore. Nothing compares to the agony of losing her rightful place of ruler of the Isle.

How does it feel, Mal? To be overthrown and abandoned by everyone; does it burn? Does it tear your soul apart?