Are you guys bored with this story or something? It's okay we only have two chapters to go :) Thank you for sticking around!
Thank you to FairytaleAmber for her work as a beta! always awesome
Warning: This chapter contains torture. It was
extremely hard for me to write but it is important to the plot.
Chapter 30- Before I Make My Final Run
Sookie slept on a small table near the coffins. It sure wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, but she managed to get a couple hours in. The only reason why she woke up was due to the tugging need to relieve her bladder. There were no washrooms in the vault and she was not about to go pee in a corner of the room either. Even in an apocalypse a Lady did not do such things, but it would make the room smell of urine and that was just plain gross in her opinion. Therefore, she decided to exit the room against Eric's orders. She was sure it would piss him off but Sookie thought he couldn't possibly understand what it was like to be trapped in a room having to go so bad it bordered on painful.
She managed to open the vault's trap door and out in the pitch-black outer room. She closed the access and placed the tiles on top of the opening so no one would find the entrance, even in the dark. Sookie reached one of the walls and followed along the texture until she found the next door. Her eyes would have got used to the darkness but without any light source, she was walking blind. She managed to open the door in a long rustle, which seemed louder in the silence that surrounded her. Since she was in the basement, there was very little light slicing through the small windows. Sookie decided to not venture too far so she followed the closest wall to one of the windows, where the sun graced her with warm light while she took care of business. She tried to look around and get accustomed to what was surrounding her but it was difficult. Not only it was a dark basement but it had seemed as though someone had blocked off most of the windows. Probably Eric and Pam when they had decided to make this warehouse their home. She also guessed their involvement in building the vault which had seemed out of place in the abandon building.
As she finished her business, she gave up trying to get used to the darkness. She stood up and started walking to the vault when she heard a noise coming from the staircase. At least where she thought the staircase was. She froze trying not to make any noise so she could better listen to whatever was going on. Her instincts told her to walk in the other direction where she thought another staircase was. Sookie knew she had no time to go back to the vault and even if she did, if there was a human coming into the basement, she would not risk Eric and Pam's safety.
She followed the wall still not fully adjusting to the obscurity but enough to be able to walk. As she reached the other side, the door of the opposite stairwell flew open in a screech that chilled Sookie right to the bone. She couldn't see what came in the door but she heard the fast footsteps, the grunts and the mumblings. Terrified, she opened the door and climbed the stairs as fast as she could without ending up on her face. By the thuds they were moving towards her, she judged the corpses to be of the running kind, which made her take an exit to the first floor.
Sookie had no desire to be face to face with rotting horrors. She took the time to grab one of the big tables that was nearby and pushed it to the door in order to slow them down. She then turned around and looked at her surroundings. The first floor was mainly offices. She had the option of two corridors to take. The one in front of her would bring her to the other staircase where she could go up one floor or down back to the basement where she could circle back to the vault. Alternatively, she could go take the other corridor that was long and narrow and that would bring her to the main entrance where she could exit the building and maybe run back to the farm. Where it was not safe, but was no worse than being in this building with a bunch of corpses. Sookie opted to hide, sensing it was almost nightfall and Pam and Eric could probably help her out in the event she was cornered. Therefore, she ran down the corridor in front of her, to reach the flight of steps. So focused on reaching the staircase that she saw too late a door open, passing it quickly she saw it swing out of the corner of her eye. Someone grabbed her and forced her inside the room closing the door behind them. She turned around to look at who had helped her but the person punched her in the face. Sookie spit blood but didn't have the time to ask what was going on as she felt another hit. An atrocious pain reverberated through her skull as something had hit her on the head. She crashed onto the floor unconscious.
Three men stood looking over Sookie's body. The room was small, probably an old office that had served for administrations purposes when the warehouse was still in use. They waited until the two corpses from the staircase were able to come out to ambush them in the corridor. One of the men used a whip to hold a corpse off while the other two got a hold of the other. They pinned the corpse to the floor and tied its hands behind its back. The corpse must have been a recently turned one as its flesh was still intact and only a nasty infected bite on its neck gave any clues to how it might have died. When its hand were secured, one of the men sat on the corpse in order to keep it down as the other two men took care of the other one which was still held by the whip. The second was definitely older, its face had sunk in and while it tried to break free from its hold, its skin ripped at a couple of vital intersections on its arms. The man with the whip tightened his hold on the corpse as the other one secured its hand behind its back. He then pulled out two mussels out of his pockets and carefully placed them on both corpses.
''We will leave them in this room for now, we can come back to get them later.'' One man said to the others, who nodded in agreement.
One of the men signaled to the other to grab Sookie by the arms and legs as they exited the building quietly.
Sookie woke to an enormous pain on her jaw. A short man had punched her and Sookie yelped as she slowly open her eyes. Her vision was blurry and her headache was a wicked thumping inside her skull, but she managed to focus on the man that had touched her.
She didn't recognize him right away but she felt a familiar feeling, as if you had seen that person before but couldn't quite remember where. He didn't have to bend down too much to be at her eye level despite her being tied up and sitting on a chair. He showed her his yellow teeth in a terrifying smile and his eyes lit up as he clapped because she was now awake. He gestured to the door and looked back at Sookie who was still trying to figure out where she was.
He continued to stare at her mentally debating if he could get away with touching her. Sookie felt nauseated and prayed for what he was waiting on to come sooner rather than later. Her wish was granted when two men casually entered the room. She immediately recognized Blake and his right hand man, whom she did not know his name.
''What's going on?'' She asked but Blake suddenly slapped her and told her to shut up.
''You will speak only when asked to.'' He declared.
Blake grabbed a chair and put its back to Sookie as he sat straddling it.
''I know the shit you can do so don't try your little tricks on me.'' He said.
Sookie frowned not sure what exactly he was referring. She dropped her shields in order to hear his thoughts and gain knowledge of his intention. And was hit by a striking mental agony which made her screech loudly.
''As I said, I know your game so do not try to read my mind, cunt.'' He spat at her face.
Sookie's confusion was obvious. She couldn't understand why Blake and other villagers of the farm would capture her and treat her this way. They had nothing to gain. She tried to think of something she might have done to upset them but other than killing corpses, she never engaged in any human violence that she could remember anyways. As she tried to figure out what was going on, Blake slapped her again, this time, drawing blood.
''Now, you are going to tell me what I need to know.'' He said with an amused look on his face. ''Otherwise, I won't keep my men from having fun with you anymore.''
Sookie looked up at him feeling confused and mad. She tried to look at it as a misunderstanding and there was still a chance to fix it.
''What do you want?'' She asked in an effort to end the confusion.
''The cure, where is it from?''
She frowned and looked at the short man who was standing in the corner of the room. She could hear his thoughts, which made her wonder if the mental block was only on Blake. She concentrated on the man but was only rewarded with bits and pieces of random information came fourth that she did not need.
She then saw a brief image of the old lady who had made tea with the cure, destroying the rest of the plant in a fire smiling to a shadow beyond the fire Sookie couldn't identify.
She shivered at the thought that they had destroyed it. It took hours in Faery to make it, which meant months in this world. Months they did not have. Thankfully, Eric had hidden some of it from the farm and she hoped that these bastards didn't know that.
Blake was staring at her, until he got up, and grabbed her hair pulling her head back. Sookie tighten her teeth and her grasp on the chair got stronger as she hissed in pain.
''We gonna try that again, where did you get it! Rumor is that it is not from Louisiana.''
''Why do you want to know?'' She asked.
''Answer me!'' He roared.
She didn't. Instead, she focused on the short man who was now thinking about Faery. If he knew about Faery, why was Blake asking her a question he already knew the answer to?
Blake then grabbed one of her hands and gestured to his right hand man to pass him a tool. Moving quickly he took something out of a nearby dusty dresser. A couple nails and a small mallet.
''Did you know,'' He started releasing her head as he turned the chair to face the right way and sat on it, ''that some of the most sensitive nerves in your body are located in your fingers?''
Sookie couldn't help the small pinch of anxiety slowly building up in her stomach. The questions kept pouring in her head as she wondered what was going on. Her eyes were focused on Blake's hands, which were now holding the nail in one hand and the mallet in the other. The other man untied Sookie's arms from the back and tied each of them to the chair's arm rest.
Blake placed the nail between her index and its fingernail. He smiled.
''Where did you get it Sookie?''
She didn't reply and looked away brazing herself for what was next. Blake didn't wait more than a couple minutes before hammering down the nail with the mallet which caused it to enter Sookie's finger. She screamed in pain, reminding herself there were ten fingers so nine to go. She wondered if she should tell him where she got the cure and couldn't think of a reason not to, since he already knew the answer. Why would he ask her that question over and over again?
The answer slowly made its way to her brain; he was establishing grounds. He needed a question he knew the answer to in order to know he had broken her. The more she would refuse, the more he would torture her and if she were to lie, he would know and would continue to try to break her. The only choice she had was to tell the truth and let him believe he had broken her. However, doing this too early would probably give her away especially now that Blake seemed to know she could read minds. Maybe he didn't know how since he had allowed another man in the room with no mental protection. Sookie felt even more jumbled at the thought that maybe he had done it on purpose so she would pick up on false information.
As she internally debated what to do, Blake placed another nail under her thumbnail this time. He looked up at her once again and asked her the exact same question, which she ignored and was rewarded with the same result. She yelped at the pain. When the nail made its way through her finger, the pain was dense and hit her hard but that wasn't the worst part. The throbbing pain that followed and didn't leave was a slow nightmare and now she had two fingers in it.
When Blake was done with the first hand, he proceeded to the next one and when he ran out of fingers, he sighed heavily.
''I was hoping this would have been enough to make you understand your cooperation is mandatory.''
He went back to the dresser and took out a weird object Sookie had never seen before. It looked like metal tongs, which at the end of each side, was split into two, making it look like a claw with four teeth pointing inwards. She didn't have to wonder too long about its usage as Blake sat in front of her and ripped her shirt off exposing her bra. He signaled the other man who exited the room.
''Do you know what this is Sookie?''
Sookie decided at this point in would be a good idea to look at her fingers, which were still heavily bleeding. She did not want to know what the object was for but she knew at this point Blake was trying to use fear as a method of torture.
''It is called a breast ripper.'' He simply said as the man came back into the room holding a torch.
''You see,'' he started, grabbing the torch in his left hand at the tongs with the other. He brought the claw part of it to the fire to heat it up. ''It was used as a form of torture especially designed for women. It is a very old object but it is so useful to inflict pain without the scare of you passing out,'' He stated as the metal turned red.
The other man was now standing behind Sookie and in a quick movement; he sliced off her bra exposing her breasts. She clenched her fists and teeth and frowned at Blake who was now admiring her.
''Where is Alcide?'' She asked not knowing if her friends were part of all this, prisoners themselves or simple unaware of what was going on. She still had no idea where exactly she was but the smell reminded her of the farm, deducting she was near its location.
Blake did not answer her and instead finished heating up the claw. He handed the torch to the other man and opened the claw so he could clamp it on to Sookie's breast who yelled at the terrible pain not only the heat of the metal inflicted to her but the clamping itself.
''I am going to ask you, only one more time Sookie, where did you get the cure? If you don't answer me, I am gonna pull so hard it will rip your breast off.''
Sookie decided that it was the moment to pretend he had broken her but as she looked to the floor, Blake pulled the ripper off which did exactly what it was supposed to do. Its claw had dug deep into her flesh and by pulling it; it ripped most of her breast's skin off as blood flooded her chest. She screamed in agony no longer able to hold back the tears.
"It is from Faery!'' She yelled at the top of her lungs the pain burning her very core.
''Where is Faery?'' Blake asked smiling proudly at his accomplishment.
Sookie hesitated to reply which caused him to take back the torch and reheat the ripper.
''It's a different dimension, I think.'' she said. ''You need a portal to get to it!''
''How do you open the portal?'' he asked. ''We destroyed the cure Sookie and I need to make sure you can't bring any more back.''
Sookie was still crying as she looked up at him in utter confusion. Why would they be destroying the cure, the very thing that would bring them salvation? She was hit with a couple thoughts coming from the man who was watching the scene. She could tell he wasn't comfortable with what was going on so she decided to get information from him even if she ran the danger of getting false information. She asked aloud where Alcide was again in order to influence his thoughts. She had asked it to Blake but it worked, she was rewarded with images of Alcide, Tara, Jason, and any other member of her community imprisonment. She then saw the witch giving Blake something to drink and she wondered if that was the cause of her mental pain when she had tried to read his mind.
''Why are you doing this?'' She asked as Blake did not reply to her question about Alcide.
''How do you open the portal?'' He replied calmly, bringing the claw closer to her other breast.
''Stop!'' she sluggishly said in fear. ''I will tell you everything you want to know but please stop with that!''
Blake smiled and placed the ripper on the top of the old dresser. He then sat down again ready to listen to what she had to say. Sookie was losing a lot of blood and she was starting to feel the effect. Her head had started to spin and her speech was becoming difficult. She felt as if her mouth was swollen, heavy with a paste that felt more like glue than anything else.
''Only a Fae can open it.'' She managed to say.
''Are you one?'' He asked and she gestured positively.
''Is there more of you?'' She nodded negatively, if there was she wasn't aware of it.
The other man was now facing them and looked at her with eyes heavy of sadness. Another man entered the room and Sookie tried to focus on him but she was having difficulties concentrating. She tried to listen to his thoughts but wasn't able to.
''So if I kill you right now, that portal cannot be open again?'' Blake stated more as a statement than a question.
Sookie twitched at the thought that her death was imminent but as she more blood dripped down, her thoughts became less and less coherent and she was ready to fall asleep. The only thing that kept her aware was another random thought, this time coming from the second man who was thinking about a hooded figure she did not recognize. The hooded figure seemed to be glamouring Stephen, the Were who had killed the cat and who had been accuse of killing members of the community in Bon Temps. He had blood on his hands and was shaking. The witch was standing there too smiling wickedly. The thought switched to the farm where she saw Simon standing and greeting the second man.
Sookie closed her eyes as her breathing slowed down. Blake punched her a couple times in order to wake her up but she had lost too much blood. Barely conscious, she heard them exit the room as Blake declared to let her bleed out. The second man had stayed in the room a little longer. He had crouched to her level and was now staring at her.
''No one ever escapes my crosshair bitch.'' He said as he grabbed a blade from the back of his pants and stabbed her to the stomach as if he was gutting a deer. She managed to open her eyes and watch him take the blade out of her belly.
''Fellowship of the Sun.'' She mumbled but was cut off by him stabbing her again.
''You got that right bitch!'' He said before exiting the room.