Disclaimers have been disclaimed.
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WARNING: Some content may cause triggers as certain torture/rape may be suggested or described.
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Chapter V - Fade To Black
Tali cringed and tried to hold her composure as she now watched Hunter being sliced by the man's blade yet again. He'd come back the other day, as promised, and introduced himself with little information as to what he wanted or to why they were there. There was no form of violence that day though, to Tali's relief, but Hunter had reminded her to brace for the storm. Now, it seemed, today was the day the storm came pouring down.
Hunter screamed in agony but was quickly subdued by a thunderous blow to his stomah that caused him to almost topple over. Almost. He'd been chained to a pipe in the far corner of their cell with two of the masked men now holding him up as Tali was forced to watch from the chair that another masked man tide her to. He was now holding her head in place so she couldn't look away. Between every moment of the torture inflicted on Hunter, their captor looked back at Tali with a sadistic grin and demon possessed eyes. He never said a word though. The only sounds came from Hunter's agony and her frightful gasps as she watched.
This man, rightly named Lucifer, had only been in the room for an hour and had already done a number on the younger man in which she'd forced herself to trust for hope that they'd get out of this predicament alive. It seemed, though, that her hope was fading as he grew increasingly weaker by the second.
Hunter had warned that this was coming. He explained, in great detail just the day before, that Lucifer would try to break them where their strengths were first.
"He will continue to try to break me down physically, but you he will focus on mentally."
He was right. Tali felt all sense of her logic and mental stability going out the window of her mind. If the enclosure of the four walls in this dungeon like cell hadn't already made her lose all sanity, the visual of a young man just a few years older than her being tortured without an obvious cause surely had begun to make her mentally go off the deep end. Still, she tried to fight the urge to give in to the want to lose hope, for his sake.
"There will come a point when he's felt like we've broken enough and we have to let him believe we have. While we may be broken in the places he targets, we must remain untouchable in our souls. No matter what happens, Tali, don't give him your soul."
She cringed again while letting out a small whimper at the sound of Hunter's torment as Lucifer struck another blow to his stomach. He can't take anymore. She noticed how Hunter's legs were almost completely no longer holding him up. The pain on his face showing immensely how much agony he was in and how close he was to breaking. Tali felt an unusual pang in her chest, was it the ultimate feeling of fear? Not quite. It was more anger than fear. More fight than retreat. More risk than conservation. Something in her had shifted when she locked eyes with Hunter and saw something hidden beneath the agony in his eyes. His soul. It was a sign that belief of his own words to her the day before had come to fruition.
"As long as you keep your soul, you can still put up a fight."
Maybe she really was losing it, or maybe, just maybe, she'd tapped into a source within that almost likened her to her mother in her prime. Whatever it was made Tali snap as she yelled, "Enough!"
Her voice was clear. Her tone was sharp. Her breathing steady. All eyes now fixed on her. Silence spread like wildfire as Lucifer walked slowly toward her curiously. His masked man removing his hands from holding her head as the boss motioned for him to move. Tali turned her head slightly and cracked her neck without losing eye contact with her captor. The noise from the gesture and her new bold demeanor causing him to stifle a chuckle as he finally stood before her.
It strangely resembled a Mexican standoff. Her nose flared as her anger and hatred towards him was clearly visible.
"Young Tali", he finally broke the silence, "you have something you'd like to say?"
She stayed quiet and looked him up and down. When her eyes met back with his, she spit in his direction. The force of air behind the salivation causing it to land square on his face.
Immediately he countered by drawing a blade to her throat. She didn't flinch, to his surprise. She was calm ... too calm. And he didn't like it. "Hmph, seems our young Tali has proven herself more feisty than I thought gentleman", he spoke sarcastically to his men. "Leave us. I think I'd much rather enjoy this with just Mr. Amadi's eyes watching." The men did as instructed and exited the room, leaving Hunter to collapse on the floor, still chained to the pipe.
Tali still wouldn't look away from Lucifer. She could tell he was trying to break her down with his evil glare but she refused to give him the satisfaction. Don't you dare break, Tal. They stayed in this staring match for what seemed like hours but had only been a few minutes. Finally, Lucifer stood straight and walked behind her. She took a deep breath and prepared herself for his impending assault. Taking a moment to look directly into Hunter's eyes, she nodded as if to ask if he was okay and he responded with his own nod to confirm he was for now. Blinking slowly as his eyes slightly glazed over with relief and gratitude that she'd taken the attention off of him. But she saw the fear creep back in as they both new what her outburst would now mean for her. She stiffened and braced herself again, as she nodded to him one more time.
The moment between the two teens ended swiftly when Lucifer began his own rain of terror on Tali. He started with the same technique he had done earlier on Hunter by using his blade to carve a crude swastika on the exposed skin of her left shoulder. The girl bit down on her lip to hold in her scream as tears instantly began falling from her eyes. Hunter forced himself to look away as now their roles had reversed and he was the target of mental torture while Tali was the target of physical.
She tried desperately not to move as it would surely cause more pain but her body involuntarily jolted with each swipe of the blade. A small moment of relief struck when Lucifer had finished his carving. Small moment indeed. In no time at all he had grabbed the mess of curls on her head and jerked her head back to see her tears. He smirked in pleasure and choked her from behind. Tali faught for air. Gasping hard as his grip around her neck tightened. He laughed maliciously as he watched Hunter try to force himself up but the earlier torture proving to do its job as the young man was rendered helpless in the desire to rescue Tali.
Just as she was coming close to sufication, Lucifer broke his hold and Tali's head fell forward as she quickly tried to swallow in as much air as possible. As she seemed to finally find her breath again, he started the process over. He did this a total of five times before he stopped completely after now finding it boring. Tali was gagging after this last release and tried hard to control her breathing and swallow the vomit that was beginning to rise in her throat.
When all seemed calm, he moved in front of her and slowly cut away her clothes. She tried to fight again it but there was no use. The ropes holding her to the chair proving that resistance was futile. Her heart raced as she shuttered at the thought of what he planned to do next. Her 17 year old body now almost completely exposed to him. As if to read her mind, he finally spoke, "this should be fun and relatively painless", he paused to watch her shift uncomfortably. "Painless for me that is", he continued with a horrid grin as he secured the blade back in his pocket. Then he punched her in the face without warning. Immediately she was in a daze.
"Please stop", Hunter barely choked out from his spot on the floor. Slowly he was drifting in and out of consciousness as the shock of his latest torture was finally overtaking his body.
Lucifer looked back only for a second before turning to land another blow on the young girl's face, causing Tali's head to snap to the other direction. He then shifted his aim a landed a punch straight to her gut. She let out a displeasing groan as the shockwave of pain slashed through her body. Her eyes snapped shut as he repeated it over again. Each blow feeling increasingly harder than the last until he stopped and pulled the blade back out.
She opened her eyes slowly, barely able to hold up her head, as she tried to focus on what he was now doing with the blade. Feeling the familiar burning sensation on her wrists as from their first encounter, it occurred to her that he had cut the ropes that bound her to the chair. Almost instinctively, she tried to muster enough strength to throw a punch back at him. Letting out a hostile grunt, she took a swing and it landed on his cheek but it wasn't enough.
Lucifer grabbed her, his eyes almost lustful, as he enjoyed the fight she was now putting up. He threw her to the floor and pinned her down.
Frantically, she beginning crying out as she tried to push him off and get away. The weight of his body centered on top of her, however, made it impossible for her to move anything more than her hands. In an act of desperation, she reached up and scratched his face leaving an immediate visible claw mark.
Now he was furious. He took her hands and pinned them above her head, rendering her immobile. A small whimper escaped her lips as terror flashed in her eyes. He noticed and the view of gratification settled on his face. In one swoop, his head was buried in her neck. Biting down as if he were a vicious lion and she was his long awaited prey.
Tali screamed at both the excruciating pain and uncontrollable fear. The shrill sound causing Hunter to stir again and his eyes widened as he watched the horror unfold before him. He couldn't move or speak, and eventually all sound left Tali's voice as well. Her head fell to the side and their eyes met. She silently pleaded for help but he could do nothing.
Lucifer lifted his head slightly to follow her gaze and found immediate pleasure in the teens' silent heartfelt exchange. Somehow, without notice from either one of them, he used one hand to lower his pants while the other continued to hold Tali's wrists in place. Then, in one fluid motion, he lowered her panties and entered her virgin walls roughly. The force making her head snap back to center focus on him. Still, no sound escaped her lips. Just a single tear rolled down her cheek as he thrusted in and out of her with a death like stare. In that moment, she prayed death would surely and quickly come as she felt her innocence leave her body. Her innocence ... and perhaps ... her soul, as wave after wave of pure unbridled pain washed over her and everything began to fade to black.
So this chapter was hard to write, to say the least. I'm hopeful though, that the small group of people reading, so far, can continue on as the following chapters will be lighter and more hopeful.
