The Truth Will Out
Jesus thought he had left his past as Malcolm Bright buried in the remains of New York. He thought wrong.
Fandom: Prodigal Son, Walking Dead
Tags: crossover, Jesus was Malcolm Bright, pre-Daryl/Jesus/Rick, spoilers for up to episode 11 of Prodigal Son, Paul is good with kids and they like him as well, canon-level violence, kidnapping, whump, mental whump,
Chapter 6
Malcolm scurried away from John the best he could with being chained up. He tugged uselessly against the shackles when they didn't let him move any further.
"You don't have to be afraid little Malcolm, you're undergoing a transformation given by God himself and I have been chosen to guide you through it." John stepped closer until Malcolm's shackled legs were lying directly between John's feet.
"A transformation? A transformation into what? A killer? Have you taken a look at the new world we live in? Everyone is a killer in one way or another," Malcolm's hands began to shake in the metal shackles as he spoke. He had to try and figure some way to escape; he had to make sure to keep John's attention on him so the others would be safe.
"I will admit this outbreak helped aid your transformation. It has made you used to killing and I bet you felt relieved the moment you killed your first un-dead. You justified it as survival and that they were already dead and you were just giving them mercy." John plucked words out of Malcolm's mind from when this first began all those years ago. Malcolm's hands shook harder and he had to make them into tight fists to stop them from rattling the chains and drawing attention to them. He could still sometimes feel the phantom pain from the last time John Watkins had him chained up in a basement.
"I myself am very thankful for the un-dead, they helped me learn many things about the human body and nowadays without proper health care or hospitals we have to take care of our bodies. Broken bones and stab wounds are not so easily healed anymore, however, there are other ways to inflict pain," John trailed off as he reached down and placed his hand against Malcolm's right shoulder and pressed.
Malcolm screamed as burning hot pain erupted from his shoulder and he gasped desperately for air when John released his hold.
"Dislocations and sprains can cause just as much pain if done correctly," John finished his thought as he drank in the pained look that painted Malcolm's face and the way his newly shortened hair fell messily over his paling face.
"What are you going to gain from doing this, I rejected you back then and I will reject you now," Malcolm gasped out before writhing with pain as John pushed hard against his dislocated shoulder.
"It's cute you think you have a choice little Malcolm." John petted Malcolm's hair, as one would do for an animal. Malcolm pulled away from the touch with a growl on his tongue; he didn't want this man anywhere near him.
"Behave or you'll regret it," John warned as he gripped Malcolm's hair and pulled the man up onto his knees properly almost savouring the groans of pain Malcolm made.
"Doubt it, you can do whatever you want to me, but I won't accept you." Malcolm spat on John's face before yelping and collapsing sideways onto the floor when John punched him across the face.
"You always did need some motivation little Malcolm. It looks like I'll have to hunt down that kid you were trying to protect." John mused as he knelt for the bolt on the floor that held the ends of the chains connected to Malcolm's wrist shackles.
'So we're still in Alexandria,' Malcolm thought as he spat a mouthful of blood into the dirt as he pushed himself upright, back onto his knees. He felt a flare of hope light up within him for the first time since he woke up in the basement, woke up in his past.
"Don't even think about trying to escape, if you do I'll make sure your little friend pays for it," John warned as he lifted the chains to hook then through a bolt on the wall above Malcolm's head. Malcolm screamed as his arms were wrenched up above his head and his vision whited out for a moment or two.
"I'll see you soon little Malcolm," John petted Malcolm's hair again before he rose and left the room, locking the door with an almost deafening click.
Malcolm's head lolled to the side and he caught sight of his reflection in the dusty mirror across from him. Malcolm let out a hysterical laugh when he saw that he not only looked just bloody and beaten he had been all those years ago but he also looked like John's addicts that he strung up before crushing them. John was going to try and cleanse him of his ethics and morals, what little Malcolm had left after all these years and when he did that Malcolm knew he would break. Malcolm shivered in the sticky heat of the dark basement and he just had to hope that his ploy worked. That by sending John out into Alexandria to find Carl that Rick and Daryl would catch John and find him before Paul Rovia dissolved into Malcolm Whitely, his father's prodigal son completely just like John wanted.
~~/~~
"I'm coming with you," Carl said firmly to his father and Daryl. His hands were white-knuckled as he held onto Paul's knives like a lifeline.
"Carl," Rick started slowly.
"No! I'm the reason that guy got him; he stayed behind to protect me! I'm coming with you to find him," Carl interrupted his father firmly.
"Stick close to us," Rick said simply as he checked the chamber of his Colt python. Carl nodded firmly and adjusted his hold on Paul's knife, the same one the older man had handed to him mere hours earlier. Night had fallen on Alexandria but that didn't stop them all from searching. Torches cast shadows around the trio, mingling and dancing in the low wind of the night. The three were silent and head's on the swivel, only shaking their heads in reply when they passed another search party.
"It has to be an empty house near the clearing. Someone must have come running when they heard the gunshot go off," Carl said as he steered Rick and Daryl down the street towards the clearing after they cleared the area surrounding the Grimes house.
"Did the man who took Paul say anything else, did Paul say anything that could help us find them?" Daryl asked Carl as he lifted his torch up over the mess of footprint in the clearing again, anger rolling through his veins at the sight as it did the first time he saw it.
"They kept talking about… A basement, he may have taken Paul into the basement of a house here." Carl said as his brow furrowed as he thought back to the words that were exchanged mere hours ago.
"There a few empty houses down that way, we'll check them one by one." Daryl turned away from the site of Paul's kidnapping and stalked down the road that hopefully would lead them to Paul and the man who took him.