- Edited -
The Trix left Rhythma alone for the following day - just as they had promised. But after that, the witches and the fairy fell back into the same old routine. In fact, about a week later, the torture became much more brutal.
"Get up, wretch!" Icy snarled.
Rhythma lay on the floor, eyes glazed over with pain. Her breath came in short, ragged gasps as her gaze darted over to Icy, who stood in the middle of the bedroom with crossed arms.
"Well?" Icy raised a brow, and a ball of ice formed in her palm. "I'm waiting."
The fairy groaned and rolled onto her stomach, using all of her strength to heave herself onto her hands and knees.
Icy laughed and hurled the ball of frosty power at her victim, freezing her hands to the floor. Rhythma gave another groan, too weak to make any other sound.
The witch walked over to the trapped fairy and ran her fingers through Rhythma's silky black hair, still chuckling madly. The fairy suppressed a shudder, still on her hands and knees.
Suddenly, Icy grabbed Rhythma's hair harshly and wrenched her head back. The fairy struggled against the witch, managing to find her feet and stagger back.
She crashed into Icy and sent both of them tumbling to the ground, her landing on top with her back pressing Icy to the floor.
It was only when she felt the witch's hands on her neck did she realize who she had just knocked down.
And she knew that there was more pain to come.
Icy growled. "That was a mistake, little wretch." Her voice came out as a soft hiss as her hands - still gripping Rhythma's neck - began to grow colder.
No, no, no! Rhythma screamed in her mind, reaching for her mind link with Icy. Please, not another brain blast!
Normally, Rhythma would not have stooped so low as to beg for mercy from the witch, but she was already so weak, and her body couldn't take the kind of punishment from Icy.
Icy's lips brushed her ear. "Are you begging for mercy?"
Rhythma made no reply, only another whimper.
Icy laughed again and twisted her nails into the fairy's neck before flipping her over.
Now, Rhythma was pinned on her stomach with Icy on top of her, pressing her knee harshly into the fairy's back and holding Rhythma's arms in a tight lock behind her.
"Hmmm," Icy brought her mouth close to Rhythma's ear. "What should I do to you now?"
Rhythma whimpered.
She could break my spine at the moment. All she has to do is bash her knee in the right place. Rhythma closed her eyes. Somebody wake me up when this is all over.
And suddenly, Icy jumped off of her and kicked the fairy in the stomach. Rhythma gave out a low moan as the pain filled her entire body once again.
Icy went for another kick to her stomach, but Rhythma found enough strength to roll somewhat clear of the blow. Instead, Icy's foot made contact with Rhythma's lower leg.
A snap echoed across the room.
Again, Rhythma felt pain. She gripped her leg and wailed, trying to ease the agony. The limb wasn't broken, but it hurt a lot.
Apparently, the snap had been loud enough to wake up Stormy and Darcy, who entered the room and watched as Icy stood menacingly over the crying fairy.
"Hello, sisters," Icy greeted the two witches. Then she turned back to Rhythma, still wailing on the floor. "Get up, wretch. It's only dislocated." A dangerous smirk came to her face. "In fact, I'll be nice and relocate it for you."
Rhythma's eyes widened in fear and she began to shake. Please no, her mind - fuzzy from the pain - whimpered. Anything but that.
Icy - who hadn't heard the thought - approached Rhythma, her smile wide and cruel. The fairy took that as a warning to run, and she tried.
In fact, she managed to make it a few steps before Icy grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back. Rhythma let out a squeal of pain, but that seemed only to make Icy more determined. Not even a moment later, she felt ice creep up her arm.
Icy leaned forward. "Take this as a warning, wretch," she hissed into the fairy's ear. "Now, lay down on the floor and let me relocate your leg."
Rhythma knew that there was no other choice, but for some reason, her body refused to obey Icy's firm command. Instead, she wrenched herself out of Icy's grip and lunged for the other side of the room.
"Get back here!" Icy screamed, racing after her. A second later, she caught the fairy's long hair and managed to get a hold on her arm when Rhythma yelped in pain.
Icy wrestled Rhythma to the ground and straddled her, pressing her angry face close to the fairy's. Rhythma screamed, terror consuming her entire body. She didn't want to face the wrath of an ice witch. In fact, the fairy's entire body began to squirm and thrash underneath her captor.
"Darcy! Stormy!" Icy yelled, trying to keep her grip on the struggling fairy. "Help me hold her down!"
At once, the two witches were on her, Darcy holding one arm and Stormy holding the other.
Rhythma still struggled.
Icy stood up and stepped back, her blue eyes blazing as she glared at Rhythma. "Stormy," her voice was dangerously quiet.
The magenta witch raised her head. "What?"
Without taking her eyes off of Rhythma, Icy replied, "Give her a mouthful of lightning." A cruel smile came to her face. "As a punishment."
"That might kill her," Stormy said uncertainly. "She's already very weak."
Icy took a step forward, her eyes filled with malice and still trained on Rhythma, who had gone still with horror at what Icy had commanded. "She doesn't seem so weak right now. Make her eat lightning." The deadly note in her voice made Stormy flinch.
Rhythma had stopped struggling and now began to tremble.
Stormy and Darcy glanced at one another, Darcy's hand keeping Rhythma pinned to the ground.
"Her adrenaline is kicking in at the moment," Darcy tried to convince Icy. "She'll weaken again in a second."
The air around the witches grew frigid. "I said to make her eat lightning. I mean it."
Stormy rolled her eyes. "Fine." She put her hand on Rhythma's mouth. "Open up, wretch."
The fairy did not move.
"Don't make this harder on yourself, kid." Stormy warned. "Open your mouth."
Rhythma was too paralyzed with fear to obey.
Finally, Stormy sighed and pressed the area between her thumb and index finger into Rhythma's clenched teeth. She managed to pry the fairy's jaws apart and Rhythma attempted another scream, this one muffled, as she bit down hard.
The witch winced, but kept her hand where it was.
Stormy pulled Rhythma's head into her lap, and Rhythma saw her exchange a glance with Darcy. She clearly didn't want to do this.
"She's really scared," Stormy ventured, looking down at Rhythma's face and seeing tears rolling down her cheeks. "Icy, don't you think -"
"Do it." The ice witch's voice held no mercy, only malicious. "Then she'll be too weak to run when I relocate her leg."
Darcy turned her head away. "I can't watch."
Stormy fixed Icy with a glare, something she didn't do often. "You are going to kill her."
Icy didn't say anything. Instead, she stepped forward again and looked down at Rhythma, who was now laying limp in Stormy's grip. "Do it now, Stormy."
The magenta witch sighed, but complied, charging her hand with lightning and looking down at Rhythma. "Sorry about this, kid." She sounded sincere, like she actually felt sorry.
And then she pulsed.
Rhythma couldn't even find the energy to scream as Stormy shot the lightning into her mouth. The fairy jerked upwards in attempt to get free once last time, but it proved useless. Her vision grew hazy, and her throat began to burn. She wasn't even sure if her heart was still beating.
Stormy released her after a moment and gently removed Rhythma's head from her lap. The fairy was limp on the floor.
"That's better." Icy said evilly, coming to stand in front of Rhythma half-conscious body. "Now you don't have the energy to run."
Darcy let out a small whimper from nearby, something a witch never did. "She barely has the energy to breathe."
Icy didn't listen. Instead, she crouched down beside Rhythma and took her leg in her hands. "This is going to hurt," she warned. "But I honestly don't care."
Then, she jerked the fairy's leg in one direction and popped it back into place. Rhythma couldn't even jerk at the pain.
Icy stepped back. "Now. Stand up."
Even though her whole body protested against her, Rhythma struggled to a standing position and stood directly in front of Icy, feeling nothing but pain as she stared directly into her captor's eyes.
Icy smirked. "Good. Do you remember the rats from a few years ago?"
Rhythma nodded slowly.
"Bring me one of them."
The fairy turned and walked away from Icy with her head down, her eyes staring blankly at the ground. The voices in her head had gone silent, and everything was too quiet.
She walked past Darcy and Stormy, who stared at her in horror.
"You've broken her." Stormy whispered. "You've actually broken her."
Darcy watched her, seemingly in conflict with herself. "Her mind is dead. She's surrendered completely to us." The dark witch turned to face Icy, who also stared at Rhythma, shocked. "I don't know if that's a good thing or not."
That was all Rhythma heard before she entered the Trix's bedchambers. She looked around, feeling numb, and caught sight of a clear plastic box hidden underneath Darcy's bed. She walked over and dragged it out, hearing the creatures inside scuttle around in fear.
Rhythma opened the box, grabbed one of the oversized rats by the tail, and stood up. She faintly remembered the name . . . Elda? Most likely.
Sighing, Rhythma shuffled back over to Icy and handed her the rat. It squealed in panic as the ice witch held it up at eye level. "I think it's time we did ourselves of this vermin, don't you think sisters?"
Stormy and Darcy seemed to snap out of their guilt trance and grinned wickedly. "Of course." Darcy chuckled.
"I remember the day we caught the three little mice," Icy sighed.
Rhythma remembered too.
The witches were in class.
Rhythma was alone, huddled under a table where the Trix had left her after a beating. She didn't plan on moving any time soon, so it surprised her when she heard voices.
And not ones she recognized.
"Come on!" A high-pitched female voice snapped. "We have to hurry."
Rhythma's eyes widened. Someone was breaking into the dormroom!
She had to warn the Trix, or she would be discovered.
Quickly, Rhythma put one hand on her head and reached out to Darcy's mind. C-can you hear me? She asked tentatively.
Loud and clear, little wretch, Darcy snickered. What do you want?
Th-three w-witches are in y-your dormroom, Rhythma stuttered, trembling. They're l-looking for s-something.
There was silence, and Rhythma thought that Darcy hadn't believed her until she heard the witch's voice.
"What are you doing in my dormroom, you little rats?" Darcy hissed, appearing out of nowhere and startling the three freshmen in the room.
"Why aren't you in class?" the witch who had spoken before now challenged.
Darcy didn't reply. Instead, she raised her hand and Icy and Stormy appeared on either side of her, scowling.
"You've made a mistake, coming here," Icy said seriously. "Now you'll pay."
Stormy laughed and raised both of her hands along with the other two.
Together the three witches surrounded the freshmen.
"Feared by man, feared by cats
Turn these trespassers into a bunch of rats!"
And then, left where the freshmen were standing just seconds before, were three, oversized rats.
Icy laughed and walked toward the window, the rat still struggling in her grip. She looked over her shoulder and raised a brow at Rhythma, who kneeled down on the floor with her head bowed.
The rat shrieked as Icy held it out the window.
"Be glad we let you live this long," the ice witch hissed.
The rat have another squeal and twisted its head to stare at Rhythma, a pleading look in its eyes. Rhythma looked down, avoiding its stare. There was nothing she could do for it now.
Icy gave another cruel laugh before letting go of the rat. Rhythma faintly heard it screech as it fell, before it was abruptly cut off.
Sleep was hard to find that night, as the Trix were all doing something with their vacuums.
Rhythma lay awake, staring at the ceiling as the witches chuckled evilly at whatever they were doing.
It turns out, the voices Rhythma constantly heard in her head were not gone for good. Stormy's lightning torture had paralyzed them for a while, but it would take much, much more to get rid of them for good.
Now they were back, whispering uncontrollably into her mind, keeping her awake. And Rhythma - although annoyed by the constant noise - was glad they were back.
Now she had to plan.
Rhythma had to escape.
Before they broke her for real this time.
She needed to get away before the Trix silenced the voices for good.
A/N: So that was a little intense.
2273 words now. Interesting.
Random Fact of the Chapter: Rhythma has schizophrenia, which is why she constantly hears voices and has sleeping problems.
I need torture ideas. Nothing too brutal, but . . . you know . . . like what you've seen so far.
Question: Who is your favorite pixie?
Mine is Livy, Pixie of Messages.
Please vote, comment, and enjoy. New chapter will be out soon. And Rhythma will escape soon.