God's Punishment
-/-
"Does it hurt?" Brittney asks one day while Orc's bringing her the meager food she's allotted. "The rock, I mean?"
"Not anymore."
"Why did it happen?"
Orc shrugs and pulls a spoon from his rough-hewn shorts. "God's punishment for Bette, I guess."
Brittney swallows the food he spoons into her mouth. Even on her damaged body, the wounds of captivity are clear on her bound wrists and ankles. "Do you think God's punishing me?"
"I don't know. I don't think so," he says, at a loss, as he loads the spoon with more spam.
"I think He sent me on a mission. I think He wanted me to warn everyone about the demon, the, uh, about Drake, I mean." She bows her head after each spoonful. "He sacrificed me to save you all."
Orc, having no such grand purpose, says nothing.
"Orc, why won't you kill me?" she asks as tears clear new pathways down her dirty, bloody cheeks.
He places the spoon to her lips again, feeling that the answer is there, somewhere he can't see it, knowing he can't explain why keeping her chained up is less terrifying than killing her now.
Brittney's still crying when Drake's hateful glare sweeps back over her face.