After the boy was washed and dressed, Sasuke led him over to the bed and let him relax as he sat down at his desk and flipped open his heavy text book on medicine. For the Uchiha clan, there was only two career paths they could take, and medicine was simpler to Sasuke than the laws of the world. So with a half-hearted mind, he began to read. He was just now studying up on less important things that he didn't foresee being in the exam for his third year, but of course, Fugaku made no exceptions. Memorize the entire book. Yeah right.
Instead, Sasuke found his mind wandering. Even through the shower, the boy had said nothing to him, despite his effort to start a conversation, and he was getting extremely frustrated as time went on. Did he really have no voice, or was he just playing at being mute? Either way, his father had demanded to hear screaming tonight, and the idea turned Sasuke's stomach. What was he supposed to do; rape the abused boy? Torture him? A scowl had formed on his lips before he knew it, and he was absentmindedly drumming his fingertips across the text he was supposed to be engrossed in.
What to do, what to do...
Then an idea struck him. Standing up, he moved over toward his night stand and opened the drawer, pulling out his phone and taking a quick glance through his contacts list. His scowl faded, only to be replaced when a smirk when the Hyuuga's number came up. Hinata, of course. Majoring in computer technology, certainly she'd be able to make a recording for him to play at Fugaku's pleasure, as long as he didn't find out. Dialing the number, he sat down on the bed, only to jump up again as he felt the bed shift awkwardly. His gaze shot to the head of the bed only to find the boy curled up against the mountain of pillows at the head, almost in the fetal position and staring at him with wide eyes.
Oh. That's right. He'd almost forgotten already that he was there, and now he'd gone and startled it. He didn't have much time to think about it, however, as on the next ring, a rather tired female voice came on the line.
"Visiting hours are over, please hang up, or try again. Preferably just hang up."
"Very funny, Hinata."
The voice on the other end brightened, only bringing the smallest of smiles to Sasuke's face as he sat back down on the bed.
"Oh, Sasuke. Geez, what time is it... it's already past ten thirty; normally you don't call this late. What's wrong?"
For a second, Sasuke debated on what to answer, before he just gave in. Hinata was a childhood friend, and their clans were already close. A few years back, there had even been talk of Hinata and Sasuke marrying, but surprisingly enough it had been Hinata that had declined for the both of them. She was the understanding type, and even wanted to marry for love, not duty or tradition. It was admirable, but she was already getting a lot of bad attention from other clans, who didn't like the way she bought multiple slaves just to free them and give them actual jobs at her estate.
No, Hinata didn't make life easy on herself, but she made life easy for those around her, so it was no hardship for Sasuke to open up and tell her the events of the day. He started with his fight with his father, then the trip to the auction house, about the last slave who was threatened to leave in a body bag the next day, and then about Fugaku's order of hearing the mute boy screaming tonight.
"I see." her response came, carefully indifferent, but Sasuke continued,
"So actually, I was kind of hoping for a favor. Is there anyway you can use your knowledge to throw together some kind of soundbite or something that makes it seem like a young guy is screaming, so I can play it in the dungeon tonight?"
"Hmm... it'll take me around forty minutes, but I don't see why not. However, can I ask a favor from you too?"
Sasuke's brow arched, but without her being here in person, he knew she couldn't see the question on his face.
"Sure? What's up?"
"Mind if I talk to the new pet?"
This time, Sasuke's gaze shot over to the boy, who remained curled against the pillows, dressed in loose sweat clothes that Sasuke had on hand but seemed a bit big for his too slender form, who continued to stare silently at Sasuke himself. After a few seconds, he finally sighed, saying quietly,
"You know he's probably not going to say anything, right? I've been trying to get him to talk all day, and it's more of a pain than it's worth."
"I know. I just have a few things to say. It's okay if he listens."
Giving a semi-wild shrug of his arms, he agreed and handed the phone over to the boy, who just stared at it. Impatiently, Sasuke held it out further until he took the phone from him, then just to make sure, Sasuke mimed putting the phone up to his own ear. Satisfied, he watched as the boy slowly mirrored his action by lifting the phone to his ear. A few seconds later, Sasuke watched as the boy jumped, probably to Hinata's voice, and finally tore his gaze away from Sasuke to glance at the phone.
A few moments after that, his eyes completely closed, and whatever Hinata had to say, she somehow seemed to be hitting home. Sasuke had to admit, he was impressed. As much of a bad rep she had among the more traditional clans, she was an amazing person, and he almost envied her for it. To have the patience and will to go out of her way to make someone else feel special and wanted... It was something he could never do. Of course, that didn't make him like everyone else; just because he couldn't do it himself didn't mean he was going to stop her from doing it. So he watched in fascination as the boy's face went from pained to relaxed, to surprised, then...
Sasuke's heart jumped when the smile first spread over the boy's face. It was a little impish, but it was genuine, and it hit him hard. Without his permission, memories that he'd tried to bury decided then to creep up on him.
Blonde hair, blue eyes... of course it mattered. Three years ago, his pet had been blonde and blue eyed. Three years ago, he'd had the intention of keeping that pet forever. Three years ago, that same pet had left scars that could never be healed. Sasuke wasn't aware the boy was holding the phone out to him until he heard Hinata's questioning voice over the speaker, and without meaning to, he yanked it out of the blonde's hand, not caring if he startled him or not.
"Hm?" he answered shortly, only to hear a quiet pause from Hinata's end before she started,
"Anyway, I'll have the file sent to your email here in about forty minutes, okay Sasuke?"
"Sounds good." was his only reply.
He knew he was leaving Hinata hanging, and part of him felt guilty for it, but the pain and anger from those years back were clouding his mind, making his answers snippy and arrogant. She seemed to catch on, however, and the conversation lasted a few more seconds before the two of them hung up. Throwing his phone onto the desk, he fished around for some paper and a pen, all but throwing it at the boy even as he turned his back to return to his studies and wait on the email.
"I don't care if you don't talk. I need to know what to call you. So write your name, or whatever you want to be called."
Moments after he sat down, he heard the scraping of a pen on paper, but he refused to turn around, even once he heard the fluttering of the paper stop. He stayed at his desk, studying until he heard the familiar ping from the desktop, and downloaded the file onto his phone. Without even looking at the boy, he unlocked the door, flipped the lights off, closed the door behind him, and locked it again, hiding the key in his pocket.
It seemed like his mother and father had retired to their respective rooms, thankfully, so Sasuke's trip to the dungeon was quick and painless with none of his father's slaves to impede his progress, though he hesitated a few seconds before finally laying his hand on the door handle, twisting it open. Once he was inside, he tried to avoid looking at the toys his father kept even as he set up the file, waiting about ten minutes in case his father was listening before hitting play. He almost dropped his phone at the volume of noise produced, but managed to set it quietly down on the floor, having to cover his ears. Admittedly, Hinata had done a good job; it sounded like the anguished cries of a living twenty some male.
The only problem was, his heart was trying to pound its way out of his chest. Screams were by no means his favorite sound, despite how messed up his father was. He in fact, detested the noise, but he had heard it all too often to be afraid of it. No, his heart was beating quickly because he was worrying his father might catch him. That's what he told himself, at least. Sitting down on the floor, Sasuke tried to drown out the screams with the names of different vaccinations and what they were made out of, going over what he had attempted to study today. After a few minutes, he had calmed down slightly, pretending to only be imagining the screams, and making himself feel better by rationalizing the sounds were computer generated.
The only problem was, his mind started to catch up to his heart as he remembered standing frozen outside the dungeon doors when he was younger, hearing disembodied screams and not knowing what to attribute them to. His hands cupped over his ears harder, trying to drown out the wailing and shrieking, but he watched all over again as the door slid open to reveal his father with his hands around a woman's neck, her entire face blue and purple as she struggled against him with wide eyes. Sasuke gasped, enough to draw his father's attention, but instead of dropping the woman, all he did was turn his gaze on the boy.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he asked, but the younger Sasuke's tongue had gone numb.
He watched as the body in his fathers hands went limp, only for Fugaku to swear and throw her on the ground, her head bouncing sickeningly before her lifeless gaze rolled over to meet Sasuke. Startled but unable to move, Sasuke felt his stomach churn tighter and tighter, but even turning his gaze away from the stare of death from the woman couldn't save his stomach.
Strewn about on the floor were toys of both genders, bound or chained in awkward positions, with rubber and glass and metal and other materials and objects obscenely protruding from their bodies. Many were crying and wailing as well, and most sported either burns or gashes, and sometimes both and more. Sasuke remembered heaving up his lunch on the floor only to be yelled at by his father. When Sasuke finally ran out of the room, he'd vowed never to go back into the dungeon. He'd kept that vow, up until eighteen. And until now.
Swallowing, Sasuke tried to shake the memories off, curling his knees up to his head and burying his face in them. Just a little bit longer, he told himself. But even past the hands curled tightly around his ears, amid the screaming and pained cries, Sasuke heard something that sent a shiver down his spine. In the recording, there was just a split second of it, but he thought he heard another voice. It had been distorted, and much higher pitched than the male screaming, but there was definitely something off. As much as he could, he tried to listen for it again, but when the screaming was all he heard, he once more tried to tune it out, waiting for the ordeal to be over.
Finally, after fifteen minutes, the track ended, and Sasuke gave a sigh of relief. Taking a few moments to gather himself, he picked himself up off the ground and pocketed his phone before exiting the dungeon, taking care to walk quietly up the stairs. Thankfully, there was no one to stop him, and before he knew it, he was standing in front of his bedroom door again. With another quiet sigh, he took out the key and unlocked the door, surprised a little at how dark it had gotten in the room.
To make sure he could see, he flipped on the light even as he turned around, closed the door and locked it again, before returning to his dresser and replacing his phone. With a silent thank you to Hinata, and a promise to himself to call her tomorrow to figure out what that recording was made from, he finished clearing his things off the desk and putting away the items left over in his room. By now he was pushing a little past midnight, and the day was wearing heavily on him.
Turning off the light, Sasuke returned to his bed and had just thrown the covers toward the foot of the bed when he was startled by a sharp but soft snore. He jumped, straining his eyes through the darkness, finally making out a curved shape laying in his bed. Damn, why did he keep forgetting? A scowl lowered Sasuke's lips as he stood there, thinking. What should it matter? With a shake of his head, Sasuke climbed into the free side of his bed, and threw the covers up over his shoulders, hearing something flutter and clatter to the floor.
Whatever. He'd deal with that tomorrow. He turned over, facing away from the blonde, and closed his eyes. In a matter of minutes, he was asleep.
Blonde hair and blue eyes filled his dreams that night. Dreams of pleasant excursions, of lovely nights on the town, and passion filled evenings. Those dreams, however, very quickly turned to nightmares. Suddenly he was standing barefoot on cold asphalt, with no recollection of how he'd gotten there, only to see his blue eyed blonde beauty scowling darkly at him.
Her lips parted, but he couldn't remember the words before pain exploded all around him, dropping him to his knees. His body ached, but his heart ached more than whatever ache let tears run down her face. All he could remember was thinking this couldn't be happening.
Suddenly he was thrown against plush, carpeted floor, his hand raising to his swelling cheek as he heard Fugaku yelling at him, but the words weren't registering. Again and again, he was kicked as he struggled and fought to get up. He'd lost his pet. Somehow that pain registered more than the beating he was receiving because of that fact.
Again, the scene flashed, and in an instant, he was in the cold dungeon, watching through watery eyes and numb limbs as Fugaku took turn after turn in front of him with his blue eyed blonde, her screams echoing out around him, tearing at every last one of his heart's strings. Then he felt the cool handle of the butcher knife as it was placed in his hands. The forceful shove of his father's hand on his shoulder. The sickening squelch of blood seeping out of punctured flesh. The warm, sticky liquid flowing over his hands and splashing on her face as she struggled, crying out for mercy.
Crying and begging to live.
Sasuke awoke screaming.