3
Bloody Games

Day three: it was night. They had offered her a couple of fruits, which she reluctantly ate. She didn't care who it was from; if she didn't eat for one more day, she'd be going insane by now. Katara didn't have much of a choice on sleep, either. She slept whenever she got tired. Her optimism is dying down. Where are you, Aang? If her friends didn't show up today, then she will plan an escape.

Boredom has conquered the world of Katara. She yawned every now and then, and played with rocks from time to time. Her patience and tolerance with this resistance is very hard to endure. Caves get boring very easily. The only thing that keeps her company is her thoughts. Which reminded her... Red Eye is supposed to be here by now.

Just when she thought of it, he entered the cave and approached Katara. This time, resistance leader Jing tagged along, holding a very bright lantern.

"Good morning, Katara," Red Eye said.

"My name is Jing," the resistance leader said. "Follow us."

Katara stood up and stretched, about to follow Jing out the cave, but was halted by Red Eye.

"Hey!" he said, reaching his arm out and stopping the waterbender. "Wait a minute." He revealed a syringe, filled with the chi-blocker fluid. Without remorse, he injected the fluid into Katara's left arm, forcing her to yelp. "You think I'd let you go out there like this along with the moon?"

Outside of the cave, the moon and stars provided night light. A covered wagon and three new resistance soldiers stood outside, waiting for her.

"Due to your refusal to give out information," Jing explained, "We are transporting you to an interrogation facility underground."

"My name's Hedgehog," a resistance soldier said to her. "You better talk this time, Katara. You're being transferred to a torture facility, too. These guys may show mercy, but we won't. Get on the wagon." Red Eye and Jing pushed Katara into the back of the wagon and placed a lock on the door. One resistance member was at the back with the waterbender. The other two were guiding it. Katara could hear the high-pitched whining of the ostrich horses. She had the feeling that she would hear that for the rest of the ride.

She sat in the corner, away from Hedgehog, who was sitting at the back with her. He looked at her with dark eyes.

"You better talk at the facility, Katara," Hedgehog boomed.

Katara shaked her head.

"We will toss you into the torture chambers if you don't give us information." Hedgehog grimaced. "The torturers are merciless. Each time I go in, blood is shed and splattered all over the walls and floor. Are you really going to risk your life rather than talk?"

This was the dignity-ripping process that Red Eye had told her about. They try to pick on your soul with all of these gruesome details and try to toy with your mind. When you finally break, you have lost your soul. Katara wasn't going to let this happen.

Then, suddenly, a thought had crossed the waterbender's mind. Was Red Eye warning her about this all along? The ride got bumpy as the wagon descended underground. It came to a rough stop. Hedgehog shoved Katara out of the wagon, making her land on the dirt floor. He then kicked her side, sending her across the floor. Taking out a syringe, Hedgehog stabbed it into Katara. This time, it was painful. The fluid went into her body, forcing her to fall asleep. The other two resistance members dragged her into the facility.

-

She woke up, cold and scared. Katara was wearing nothing but her underclothes. She was lying on a flat rod. Her hands were tied on the top and her feet were tied at the bottom. A cloth was wrapped around her mouth. Looking around, there were two smaller tables on each side of her. One had a giant plier sitting on top of it with burn markes chiseled on the edges. The other one had an arsonal of knifes that were neatly organized and shined.

Suddenly, a man, not Hedgehog, walked in. He was dressed in black clothing with a blank mask sitting on his face. On his shirt, there were was a big red "III" mark on it. Katara could feel him looking at her. The torturer walked over to Katara and swiftly flipped the table up. She was now in a vertical position, but she was still tied up.

grabbed the pliers and opened it up, facing it towards Katara.

"Ah, this is my favorite one," III spoke. Katara tried to wiggle her arms around, attempting to break free. She wanted to scream as loud as she can, but she knew it wouldn't make a difference. Suddenly, Katara was between the two giant pinchers that were the pliers. "I want to hear you shriek."

III ripped off the defenseless waterbender's mouth cloth. Her face was straight, but was full of expression. After a second or two of anticipation, III began to pinch hard with the pliers on Katara's midsection, as she did her best to hold in her screams. Sweat poured down her body. Her face went read. Her body began to go numb, which meant to pain was going away.

But III knew that this was happening. He heated up the metal pliers, beginning to burn the sides of the pinchers, thus burning Katara. Strained yelps escaped her mouth as she felt a rush of pain run through her body. Her joints were aching from the vertical position that she is in. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She wanted anything but this...

III pinched even harder and heated up the pliers more. Katara was finally screaming. Screaming made some of the pain go away, but it was still there. Her voice grew hoarse from her yelling, and III let out, getting what he wanted. He opened the pinchers and put the pliers away. The imprints, burn marks, and bruises wrapped around her torso. She dangled from the rod weakly.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" III asked. "The next step: begging for life." He took a small, shiny blade from the knife table. Katara closed her eyes.

III walked over to her right side. He shined the blade in the light, looking at it mischievously. Without remorse, he made an incision into Katara's upper arm. She yelled again. Once you yelled, you had to do it again. He then took it out, watching the blood drop down the knife and her arm. He then wiped it off, and got ready to make another incision. He set the blade on her skin. It was so sharp that it already started to make a cut.

"No." the word escaped Katara's weakness. III looked over at her face. "I can't take it..."

Giving her time to soak in her last cut, he made another one, next to the original. Then another one. Katara let out horrifying screams.

"Please, no more!" she yelled. "No! No! No!" She could take in a few more cuts, but III wanted to hear this. She continued to beg for her life.

"Fuck this," III murmured. He took a knife, getting reader to make even deeper gashes.

Suddenly, the door behind him blasted open. A strong gust of wind brought III down, knocking him unconscious. The rescuer walked over to Katara.

"Katara?" a very familiar voice struggled to say.

"Aang," the waterbender faintly declared.

Hearing the commmotion outside of the chamber, he untied Katara and carried her delicately out of the room, looking for an exit. From her weakness and injuries, she passed out as the candles of the rocky hallways made weakening hallucinations.