I know, I was a bit slow with this update, but this chappie was extremely hard for me to write o_o! I bet you'll soon see why...
It's a pretty long chappie as well!
*** Chapter Thirteen : The Prize For Friendship ***
It was evening and the sun was setting. Igniting the Mississippi sky in different shades of orange, pink and purple. But everyone ignored the beautiful sunset, at least everyone in the residence. Because the mood in the residence had been solemn down all day, especially since the incident earlier this day.
One of the slaves had saved Cornelia, probably even saved her life! But then the Aventines had found out that their daughter and the slave knew each other personally, and probably spent a lot of time together. But neither of them would tell anything, and they had to drop the subject for the moment, as they actually had guests to tend to as well. But it was always present, like an elephant in the room.
That evening, Gabriel Aventine was sitting in his study, deep in his thoughts. He had just grounded his daughter, and she hadn't been too happy about it, but still she took it relatively good. Which only concerned him even more, as his daughter would usually burst out into a raging fit everytime he did something like that. As far as he knew, she was still sitting in her room, but he couldn't hear any curses or something crash against the wall.
When he asked the other slaves if they knew anything about her daughter and that farmhand, Bentley as he apparently was called, they had all said they didn't know anything. They seemed to be speaking the truth as well, except for one; Cornelias nanny Lucy. Matt had thought that the cheetah had acted a bit oddly when they questioned her, so he was told to keep an extra eye on her.
The Willows were staying the night, but at the moment it was uncertain how things were looking for the future marriage; the Willows said they didn't want their son to have anything to do with a girl who has been with a slave. And now, Gabriel was praying that the hyena hadn't ruined his daughter for good! Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted when someone knocked on the door to the study.
"It's open!" He said and leaned forward on the desk in front of him when Chuck poked his head in. "Chuck?" He asked and raised an eyebrow at the wild dog. "What're ya doin' here?"
"Sorry if I'm disturbin', sir... But..." Chuck said lowly and looked down at the ground as he entered the study.
"But what?"
"But there's somethin' ya must know, sir..." He looked up at his master and began fumbling with a loose end of his tattered shirt. "It's 'bout yer daughter, and Ben-... Errm, I mean the slave!"
Gabriel gritted his teeth. "Tell me ev'rythin' ya know!"
…
It was close to midnight, and Cornelia hadn't shown up yet. Bentley was about to give up and climb back down when he heard someone enter the stable and rush up the stairs to the loft. It didn't take long until Cornelias head poked up above the ladder. She was breathing hard and her hair was ruffled, as if she just ran all the way here.
"I thought ya weren't comin'!" He said with a happy and relieved tone in his voice. She didn't answer as she heaved herself up on the platform, walked over to the wall and slumped down right below the window. Nobody said anything for a while."Soo, got any homework for me or somethin'?" Bentley said eventually to break the silence, but Cornelia just shook her head and kept being silent. "Oh, wait a sec! Ya forgot somethin' last time ya were here!"
She curiously tilted her head towards him when he began to search for the floorboard he had hid her notebook under. He found the board and pried it open so he could get the notebook before handing it back to her. She silently took it and nodded.
"Thanks..." She mumbled.
Bentley frowned worriedly and tilted his head slightly to the side. Cornelia was never this quiet. "Corny?" He asked carefully, and she looked back up at him. "You're bein' real' quiet, what's wrong?"
"A lot..." She said with a sigh and looked back down. "But I think... We..." Her voice failed her so she paused, took a deep breath and said: "We can't see each other like this again..."
Bentley flinched. "Why not?"
"Why do you think, dummy?" She snapped back and bit her lip. "Dad WILL find out sooner or later! He's been suspicious as hell ever since noon, interrogatin' the staff and ev'rythin'!"
"Oh..."
"Yeah..." She looked down at the notebook in her hands. "So I guess this is the last time we'll see each other like this... It's a pity..."
"Yeah..." He averted his eyes and scratched the back of his neck. Suddenly she handed the notebook back to him with a stiff arm, still looking straight ahead. "Uh, Corny?"
"Here, you can keep it!" She said and waited until he took it.
"Y-yer notebook? Why? What should I...?"
"Hell I dunno, I just don't want it anymore, that's all! Do whatever ya want with it; keep it, burn it, use it as toilet paper, I don't care..." She slowly stood up. "Even if dad won't find out, it's just a matter of time 'til I have to marry Phil, and become 'Mrs Willow'..." She paused, grimaced and stuck her tongue out in disgust. "Life ain't fair for any of us, huh?" She was quiet for a while, solemnly staring down at the ground.
"Corny?" He said carefully and stood up. Cornelia shot him a quick glance before bolting to the ladder.
"'Bye, Bentley!" She hollered as she slid down the ladder. "I-it's been fun!"
"C-Corny?! Wait!" He exclaimed and made his way to the ladder, but just as he peeked down he saw that she was already running down the stairs on her way out of the stable. He stood there, just looking at the direction in which she had run off to with a sad frown. "Y-yeah..." He said lowly after a while and glanced quickly at the notebook in his hand. "B'bye, Corny..."
…
Cornelia bit down hard on her lip as she crawled out of the bushes on the other side of the wall. She knew saying goodbye to Bentley would be hard, but just that half-assed 'bye' she threw at him before threatening to break down had been a lot harder than she thought. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and looked down at it. Tears... Dammit...
She proceeded to sneak around the main door and over to the vines that climbed on the wall. She, as so many times before in her life, climbed up on the vines and over to her window, but when she got there she saw something that definitely ruined her night even more; boards. The window to her room was nailed shut with thick boards! Her heart skipped a beat and she nearly fell down.
"W-what?! When...?" She thought out loud to herself and tried to pry the boards away with her hands, but nearly lost her footing in the process. The board wouldn't budge. "Shit..." She hissed and glanced down at the main entrance. "Shit, shit, shit, shit!"
They knew! They knew that she was going to sneak out, and must have boarded her window shut while she was away! She bit her lip to stop herself from screaming out loud in frustration and hurried to climb her way back down to the ground. She tried opening the windows on the bottom floor as well, but they were all locked as well as the back door. There was only one way in; the front door.
She knew they must have planned this, and they were all probably waiting for her in the great entrance hall. Therefore she hesitated for a long while before finally gathering up the courage to walk in through the big door. To her surprise, the hall was empty. Dark and empty. She locked her eyes on her target; the big staircase in the middle that led to the second floor, and prepared to make a run for it. She had just closed the door as silently as she could when she heard footsteps behind her.
She sighed and gritted her teeth. "I fuckin' knew it..."
"I'm very disappointed in ya, Cornelia..." Her father said as he walked out from one of the rooms, backed up by Mr Willows, Bentler, Matt, Grace, Lasher and Lucy.
Cornelia took a deep breath and began to march toward the staircase with her chin in the air. "Dad, some moron nailed boards in front of my window, fix it!" Suddenly Matt stopped her by lashing out his arm in front of her, closing off her path. She came to an abrupt halt and growled at her uncle. "Really, Matt?"
"I was the 'moron' who boarded up yer window, Cornelia!" Matt growled in return.
"Oh, then I must apologize!" The younger female said sarcastically and threw her arms out. "B'cause callin' YOU a moron would be an insult to morons worldwide!"
"Enough now, Cornelia!" Gabriel barked loudly and made both his daughter and brother to turn their heads to him. "Just tell me one thing, why?" He growled and walked up to his daughter, who actually happened to be slightly taller than himself.
"B-b'cause I like takin' long walks in the night, duh!" She snapped back and placed her hands on her hips. "Now tell yer mongoloid brother to let me pass! I'm tanked and wouldn't mind gettin' some shuteye!"
"So, you've been out on a walk, huh?" Matt said lowly and picked out a straw that had gotten stuck in her hair. "Been out walkin' in the stable, perhaps?!"
Cornelia swatted his hand so he dropped the straw. "Y-you're crazy!" She burst out. "I ain't got time to argue with a crazy, drunk bastards like you!"
"Speakin' of drunk..." Matt continued and grabbed her wrist, stopping her from bolting to the stairs.
"Hey! Let go of my hand or I'll break it off, capische?!" She snarled and tried to yank her hand back from her uncle, but it was as if her wrist was stuck in a vice. "I mean it!"
"How come I find THIS on the stables loft?" He let go of her wrist and Mr Willow threw an empty bottle to her, which she caught with ease. She looked down at it and felt the color drain from her face; it was the bottle she had stolen from his cabinet the night before. "And how come it's empty?"
"I dunno... M-maybe you just partied a bit too hard with the slavegirls again, Matt?"
"We know, Cornelia..." Her father growled, and her heart began beating faster.
Sweat started to pearl on her forehead as she nervously turned to her father. "K-know what?"
"We know all 'bout you and that secret lover of yers." Matt opened his mouth again, and this time Cornelia was confused for real.
"What? S-secret lover...? Wait, what?!" She raised her eyebrow. Are they talkin' 'bout me and Bentley? Wait, they think...? Oh god no...
"No use in playing dumb, Miss Cornelia. Because we know you aren't" Mr Bentler, who usually was quiet in moments like these, said with a snort.
"Are you completely sure 'bout that?"
"Chuck told me ev'rythin' earlier, apparently 'Bentley' has told him all 'bout you two; how you two for ten years have been sneakin' out and met in secret every night on the stables loft..." Gabriel said and Grace flattened her ears to her neck and turned away. She didn't want to hear what her daughter had been doing without anyones knowing.
"Actually, for the first three years it was in the bushes near the wall, but yeah, we're pretty awesome at bein' stealthy aren't we?" Cornelia said and cockily folded her arms across her chest.
Her dad raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised over her sudden change of tone. "So, ya ain't denyin' it anymore?"
"What's the point?" She shook her head. "I ain't ashamed of him! In fact, he's my BEST FRIEND! NOT lover!" She added with a low growl. "Nothin' of what any of you have told me 'bout the farmhands has been true! And Bentley has proven to me that they're better people than what y'all are!"
"Here we go again..." Matt mumbled and slapped his palm to his forehead.
"Cornelia, do you realize what danger you could have put yourself in?" Bentler burst out with a concerned frown. "We are talking about a very p-...!"
"DON'T you DARE to call him primitive, Professor Furball!" Cornelia snapped at her teacher, and her tail whipped angrily. But then she calmed down and took another deep sigh as an awkward silence arose in the residence. "Cards on the table, huh?" She thought out loud to herself before looking up at all the adults surrounding her. Lucy was the only one who didn't look upset or worried. She looked calm, and almost a bit proud. "Dad, I apologize. I know, I know, I didn't think that word existed in my vocabulary either! But still; I'm sorry."
A faint smile appeared in the corner of her dads mouth. He probably thought that his daughter finally got some sense into her.
"I'm sorry I've probably broken every rule in the house. I'm sorry I've put myself in danger by befriending someone like Bentley. I'm sorry for expressing myself and I'm sorry for not bein' the daughter y'all wished for, but most of all I'm sorry that you are such a simple-minded, intolerant, arrogant, judgmental and paranoid caveman, dad"
And there he lost the smile just as quickly as it appeared.
"Really, dad? All my life you've been tryin' to tell me that I have to stay away from them, but why? B'cause they're dangerous?! B'cause they're primitive?!" She slowly shook her head and rolled her eyes. "You don't know that!"
Matt snarled. "Yes we do!"
"How come?"
"B'cause we... We... Well, first of all, if they're not the dumb animals we know they are; how come they're not just wiping us out, huh? We've had this discussion b'fore, ain't we?" Matt said and got an agreeing choir on nods from the others. "If they wanted to be free, all they have to do is to burn the entire plantation down and cut our throats! They can do it! They've got us outnumbered and outpowered, isn't that right, Lucy?"
The cheetah flinched when Matt called her name. "E-excuse me, sir?" She said, and when Matt repeated himself for her she gulped and nervously looked around. "Y-es... I-I guess... But w-we would never do th-that, sir!"
"And why not?" Matt kept pressing on, but Cornelia piped in before Lucy could answer.
"Why would they? There ain't nothin' they'd gain from it! Sure, they might kill us all and finally get away like free men and women, but what then? Hell, they'd be chased down like criminals and hung on the spot! If they're lucky! Not only would they be punished, but slaves on every damn plantation in the south would pay for their actions as well! In the end, EV'RYONE would suffer from it! And they're smart enough to know that ain't right. That it's even more wrong than what they're havin' to go through now! To keep me away from their side of the wall, you've been tellin' me that they're bad people, but here's the fun part; why are y'all lettin' the houseslaves near me then, huh? Y'all even been too lazy to raise me that you put me in the hands of a cheetah ever since b'fore I could walk! If they really were bad people they would've hurt me a looong time ago! But they haven't! B'cause they ain't the bad people here; YOU are! And Bentley has helped me to see that!" She let out a short, hopeless laugh. "Y'all should just see him; he's amazin'! It's like, 'are you even real, bro? He's the nicest guy I've ever met, and he's a lot smarter than all of you combined! He's... He's my best friend in the world..." She paused and found herself with a careful smile on her lips. "He has been like a brother to me ever since I met him... I... I don't know how he's been able to stand me all these years, but... But I'm happy he has..." She was quiet for a while before turning her head up to look at the adults. "And he cares! He cares more 'bout me than ANY of you assholes do! He listens to me! You NEVER listen to me!"
"O-of course we listen, honey!" Grace interrupted her daughter with a sad shake of her head. "And we DO care about you! Just look at all the things we've done for you!"
"Like what?! Decidin' my future b'hind my back?! Tryin' to control my life?! Have any of you ever stopped and thought; 'Hey, our daughter doesn't seem to like these silly little dresses with pretty pink bows, maybe we should let her wear whatever she feels comfortable in? And maybe she doesn't like to be dolled up and put on some god damn display on some stupid get-together? And maybe, just maybe, she doesn't wanna be married off as a child to some stiff bore son of an even stiffer plantation owner?' No! You haven't! B'cause to you, I ain't yer daughter! To you, I'm just some god damn exhibit! The only ones who has ever treated me like an individual has been Lucy and Bentley, two of the people y'all seem to loathe but still insist on forcin' to work themselves to death only so that you can bathe in money! They have been my family, more than YOU will ever be!"
Nobody said anything for a long time, while Cornelia was breathing heavily after her little raging rant. It was like they were waiting for her to calm down before daring to speak. She tried to slow her own breathing down and calm herself. Hopefully, they had actually listened to what she said, because she was sure as hell never gonna repeat herself!
The first one to open his mouth was Gabriel. "Lucy... Take Cornelia to her room and make sure she stays there..." But that only made everything worse.
"See?! SEE WHAT I'M TALKIN' 'BOUT?!" Cornelia exclaimed and bared her fangs in anger. "It's ALWAYS the same thing; 'Cornelia, go to yer room!', 'I don't want to hear more, to yer room now!', Lucy, lock her up in her room!' Why?! B'cause I'm right! And guess what? I'm not done!" She turned to Bentler, who was slightly alarmed by her threatening tone. "Mr Bentler, how does my grades look? Pretty good, right? How do you think that happened? You, if anyone, knows what a lazy, dense fucker I am, right? Well, I'll tell y'all why my grades suddenly are so great; Bentley. He has been doin' my homework and given me cheat-notes for every test for the last five-or-so years! He is the brightest guy I've ever met; he actually understand the gibberish you've been insistin' on teachin' me, Bentler! In fact, he's actually had to teach me some things that he learned on his own!"
"Wait, are you tellin' us that he knows math?" Matt exclaimed in disbelief, and Cornelia nodded.
"Duh! I've been teachin' him for seven years! He's bright as a bulb!" When she said that, the others disapproval was painfully obvious. It was only Gabriel who didn't seem to budge, since he already knew about that part from what Chuck told him.
"Lucy..." Gabriel said with a low voice. "Take her to her room, now!"
"Hey, I still ain't done yet!" Cornelia growled and yanked her arm away when Lucy tried to grab it. "Mr Willow, you can tell yer son that no matter how many times he asks me, I'll still answer him with a no and a kick to the groin! You Willows can go to hell for all I care! Mom, dad, do yourselves a favor; don't go lookin' for a new suitor! If I ever were to marry anyone, it would be an hyena. They're loyal, reliable, intelligent, fun and fuckin' awesome in bed, I'm just sayin'!" She ignored the adults mixed reactions and turned to Lucy, who actually seemed to be struggling to keep herself from laughing. "NOW I can go to my room, and I don't need you to take me there, Lu. I can go on my own!" Lucy nodded, but still followed her up the stairs.
The adults were still gathered in the hall as they heard the low slam of Cornelias door getting slammed shut by the temperamental teen. Mr Willows turned to Gabriel with a disgusted frown.
"Well, it seems fairly obvious that a marriage between our children is out of the question, now when Cornelia has made it clear what kind of girl she really is..." He said bitterly, and Mr Aventine closed his eyes to let out a restrained sigh. "Me and my family thank you for your hospitality, but we'll be departing tomorrow. Goodnight, Mr and Mrs Aventine!" And with that, he turned around and walked with long, determined strides back to the guestroom where he and his wife was sharing.
Gabriel stood still on the spot and gritted his teeth, trying to keep his blood pressure in place. Lasher, who up until now had been quietly standing by the side and listened to the young redheads rantings, slowly walked up to his boss.
"I'm sorry to hear what that bastard has done to yer daughter, Mr Aventine" The wolverine said and sadly shook his head. "I reckon he needs a good whippin', am I right, Mr Aventine?" He added with a smirk and meaningly tapped the whip that hung from his belt. Gabriel slowly nodded.
"A good whippin' doesn't even begin to cover for what he's done" He slowly and with shaking hands drew a cigar from his chest pocket and fetched a lighter from his suit. "Tomorrow..." He said and paused to light the cigar. "I want you to give the slaves the day off. I want them all to bear witness to what happens with someone who brainwashes an Aventine, and uses her..."
Lasher nodded in approval. "Just give me a number, sir!"
Gabriel pondered for a while and let out a puff of smoke before turning to his overseer. " One-hundred lashes. No more, no less."
…
Bentley woke up early in the morning by the sound of angry shouting from the kitchen, and something that sounded like a frying pan being thrown at the ground. He woke up immediately, threw on his clothes and ran down the stairs, only to be met by granny Ama having a raging fit at Chuck. Ellie and Finn were there too, and they didn't seem too happy either. When they noticed Bentley arriving in the kitchen however, they all turned quiet and looked at him. He felt uncomfortable by the way they were looking at him, and nervously fidgeted with his hands as he snuck up to the table and sat down.
"Umm, is ev'rythin' alright...?" He said eventually, and got an angry snarl from Ellie in response.
"No! Chuck tattled!" She said angrily and threw a furious look at the wild dog.
"I had to!" He defended himself and scowled at Bentley. "You would've caused a lot of trouble to us other if no one had told Mr Aventine! Yes, I told him 'bout you and Miss Cornelia, but only b'cause I had to!"
Bentley felt his stomach churn and his heart skip a beat. "Y-you told him...?"
"Ev'rythin'... But I HAD to! They would've started askin' 'round, and maybe start hurt some of us! They would've done anythin' to get their answer, an' I didn't wanna just stand 'round here when I could spare others misery!"
"Get out!" Ama growled and swung her wooden spoon and the much taller wild dog. "Get outta my house!" A few curses, shouts and eventually kicks later, Chuck finally left. And Ama stood still on the spot, breathing heavily from the strain she just put on herself. "I-I'm sorry, hun..." She said lowly to Bentley, and Ellie pulled out a chair for the old lizard to sit down on. "I-I didn't know that he would tell Mr Aventine..."
"T-they're gonna give us all the day off..." Ellie said with a low, concerned voice. "B-b'cause they want us all to watch yer punishment..."
"M-my punishment?" Bentley flinched, and the lump in his chest grew heavier when Finn nodded solemnly.
"We don't know what they've got in mind... But I've got a bad feelin' 'bout this..." The spotted hyena said and his round ears flattened to his neck. "A very bad feelin'!"
…
Finns bad feeling had been correct an hour later, when Bentley had been taken away to the 'Whipping Tree', the same tree outside Lashers house which Bentley had used to pull a prank on Lasher seven years ago, ironically.
There, he was tied with his arms over his head and exposed back facing the crowd and the overseers behind him. The slaves had been gathered and watched worriedly as the overseers were getting prepared. There were four of them, and they would have to take turns; everyone delivering 25 lashes each. Even Mr Aventine and uncle Matt was there for the occasion, but there was no signs of neither Cornelia, her mother nor teacher.
Bentley was staring into the bark of the tree, mentally preparing himself for what to come. He was more or less used to it by now; he had been whipped countless amount of times before and was actually starting to get a couple of visible scars on his back. His arms were spread apart and tied up by two small iron rings that had been screwed into the tree, and he tested to pull the ropes. Once again, the overseers had outdone themselves with the knots; he could hardly budge his wrists at all.
"Yer name is Bentley, ain't it?" He suddenly heard Mr Aventines voice behind him and turned his head as much as he could to get a view of the mountain lion.
"Wow! Ya actually remembered my name, sir!" He said cheerfully and smirked at his master. "I feel honored!"
"Ya know how to spell it too, I presume?" Mr Aventine ignored the hyenas witty comment.
Bentley nodded. "B-E-N-T-L-E-Y, sir! And I know how to spell moron too; L-A-S-H-E-R!"
Lasher was heard growling from somewhere behind them, but Gabriel ignored that as well. "Then I guess ya know why you're here too"
"Yeah, b'cause me and Corny were friends, right? Basically, you're gonna get those neanderthals b'hind us to whip me as a punishment for bein' friends with yer daughter!"
"You're gettin' what ya deserve b'cause ya ruined my daughter!" The mountain lion hissed, having enough of his slaves cheekiness. "If it weren't for you, my girl would've been married by now to a wealthy family! She would've had a bright and prosperous future, but now I don't know what to do with her! But..." He sighed and took a step back. "I will not forget that you saved her life yesterday, and for that I am grateful..."
"Woohoo!" Bentley said sarcastically and rolled his eyes.
"Therefore, you'll just get one-hundred lashes t'day, I think you know how many that is..."
Bentleys eyes widened. "W-wait, a hundred? JUST a hundred?!"
"You'll either survive it, or perish. That's better than if you hadn't saved her; if I hadn't owed ya for her life, I would kill ya at once! But now, I'm givin' ya the possibility to survive"
"Oh you are SUCH a compassionate being, sir!"
"DON'T make me change my mind, hyena!" And with that last hissing warning, Gabriel turned to the crowd as Wilkes stepped forth and did a few test-lashes with the whip in the air. "I have rules. Rules that I expect y'all to follow! B'cause if ya don't; there WILL be consequences!"
Klatsch!
Bentleys body jolted as the first lash left a trail burning like hellfire straight across his back, but he didn't scream. "AAAAHAHAHAAWILKES! Am I right?! You're ALWAYS so close to the shoulders, buddy!"
Gabriel continued his speech, ignoring the hyenas comment and encouraged Wilkes to do the same. "I don't want my daughter to have anythin' to do with any of you, therefore the three rules; Don't look, don't disturb and absolutely don't touch. Three very simple rules, and this joker has managed to break them all!"
Klatsch!
"OooWEEE! Geez, man! It was a COMPLIMENT!"
"The only thing stoppin' me from killin' him right here and now is that he saved my Cornelia from bein' run over by a stampedin' stagecoaced, and probably saved her very life!"
Klatsch!
"ARGH! Oh C'MON! Now you're just bein' an asshole, Wilkes!"
"Therefore I'm gonna be merciful t'day, and give him the choice b'tween life and death; 100 lashes to the back! Nothin' more, nothin' less!"
Klatsch!
"Okay! OKAY! Sorry 'bout the A-word! Geez!"
"Are ya outta yer god damn mind, Mr Aventine?!" Suddenly granny Amas voice broke through the crowds anxious murmur, and the little old lady elbowed her way through. "Ya ain't givin' him any choice; you're sendin' that poor boy to his grave! There ain't no way in hell he's gonna survive this!" The crowd murmured silently in agreement. They knew Ama was right; even if Bentley was pretty hardy, there was just no way someone as young as him was going to survive 100 full lashes!
"Proceed, Mr Wilkes!" Mr Aventine ordered and ignored her.
Klatsch!
Bentley gritted his teeth in pain, yet couldn't help but to force out a weak laugh. C'mon, Bentley! Ya can do this! That was five lashes! Only 95 to go!
…
But as the lashes kept hailing over him, he found it harder and harder to stand it. The pain was excruciating, and his back burned like fire that only seemed to intensify by every second! Somewhere around the 30th lash, he gave up and cried out in pain as another crackle of the whip split his back.
"S-stop..." He whimpered, but the lashing, now delivered by one of the newer overseers Skeet, didn't cease. "Stop! P-please! I-I'm sorry, okay?! AH! I'M SORRY! P-please! Stop!"
"Please, do as he says!" Ama pleaded and turned to Mr Aventine. "He has never gotten this many b'fore, he's learned his lesson! Please, tell them to stop!" But Gabriel didn't even as much as look at the older lizard. Instead, he let the overseers keep doing their work, and Lasher was excitedly waiting for his turn; he were to give Bentley the final 25. And if the hyena had survived until then, Lasher would make sure he wouldn't last till 100.
The lashes kept coming and coming, and the pain was getting worse. Soon Bentley couldn't feel anything else but the fire on his back. After what felt like forever, there was finally a break for a couple of minutes. Bentley chuckled weakly in relief and lifted his head as much as he could. It was over! He had made it! He had made it through all the lashes!
But suddenly another lash crackled and his back was set ablaze yet once again, making him cry out in pain and shock with a broken voice. His legs gave up underneath him and his entire body began to shake as he slowly realized that they had only switched overseers. He was at 50, meaning that he had only gotten half-way. He sobbed and kept repeating to himself: I'm only half-way! I'm only half-way there! Fifty more! HALF-WAY THERE!
And he also realized that he wasn't going to make it. He was already getting weak. He was definitely going to die, and he was okay with that; he would do anything to get out of this right now! Anything!
Black spots was dancing in front of his eyes, the world was spinning and the only thing that kept him up was the ropes around his wrists. Let it end... He thought to himself and clenched his teary eyes shut, his voice was too weak to be able to form any words. Please, father... Let it end!
Ellie winced and turned her head away, she hardly reacted when Finn put his arm around her shoulders to comfort her. "S-someone's gonna stop them, Finn!" She whimpered as another lash made Bentley let out a weak cry of pain. Finn grinded his teeth. He agreed with his sister, but didn't say anything. He couldn't say anything!
…
Meanwhile in the residence, Cornelia had found out what they were doing, but was unable to do anything to save her friend; she had been locked up in her room all day. She had smashed her window and tried to pry away the boards from the inside, but to no avail. All it had gotten her was a deep cut in her right palm from a glass shard. She had instead turned to the door and banged with her hands on it until her hands began to bleed. She knew Lucy was outside, guarding the door.
She didn't know how long she had been banging on the door, or how many lashes Bentley had gotten yet, but she felt the time was running out and for every minute that passed when Lucy wouldn't open the door, she grew more and more frustrated and scared.
"I swear to god, Lucy! OPEN THE FUCKIN' DOOR! NOW!" She screamed and slammed with her palm on the door. Her voice was getting hoarse from all the screaming and shouting she had done, but she wouldn't let it stop her.
"I've told you, Miss Cornelia; I can't! One more slip from me and I'm history!" Lucy responded and kept sewing on the skirt she had in her hands, to keep herself occupied. "He's already lost his trust in me after findin' out that I after all knew 'bout you an' Bentley! I can't fail my master again!"
"But they're gonna KILL Bentley, Lucy!"
Lucy sighed a restrained sigh. "I know, Miss... I'm sorry..."
"You ain't even BEGUN to feel sorry, Lu! Not unless YA OPEN THIS DOOR PRONTO!"
The shouting and the door-banging went on for a few more minutes, and Lucy tried to ignore her young mistress as well as she could. But after a while, the threats and violent screaming ceased and Cornelias tone of voice changed dramatically.
"PLEASE, Lucy! J-just open! He's gonna die, and it would be all my fault!" Cornelias voice was trembling with genuine fear and she sounded close to sobbing.
Lucy put the skirt down. "C-Cornelia?"
"You know what he's like, Lu! You've met him! And you know he doesn't deserve this! He's such a nice guy, he ain't done ANYTHIN' wrong! I have! It's all my fault!" She sniveled the rustling sound of her slumping to the ground against the door was heard. "If I hadn't talked to him that first day we met... If I hadn't insisted on makin' him my friend... If I hadn't gotten my stupid, anxious-ridden ass drunk and slept with him, this wouldn't have happened!" She discontinued when her voice threatened to break and was quiet for a while. "Please, Lucy! I beg of you; open the door! L-let me save him! Please!" Lucy didn't answer. She just silently gritted her teeth and squeezed the key she had retrieved from the pocket in front of her skirt. "L-Lucy? Please, I... I love him!"
Without responding, Lucy quickly got up from the chair and turned around to the door. She unlocked the door, and as soon as Cornelia heard the key getting inserted into the lock, she got up from the floor and waited as the door was opened. As soon as she saw Lucy in the doorway, she lunged forward and threw her arms around the king cheetahs neck.
"Th-thank you!" She sobbed and let go before Lucy got any time to respond. She bolted down the stairs while Lucy followed her with her eyes, smiling proudly. Sure, she was going to get a lot of hell for this, but it was it worth!
Cornelia ran faster than she had ever done in her entire life. Through the hallway, out through the front door, along the driveway and out on the road. She figured running around the wall would be faster than squeezing through and crawling around in the bushes. She jumped over the fence into the slaves living quarters and stopped. Holding her breath as her ears perked and listened intently. She finally heard the faint sounds of a crackling whip hitting something soft and fleshy and dashed towards the sound. A large group of slaves a few feet away from a big tree was blocking her vision, but the whips crackling was loud as thunder now.
"B-Bentley?" She sobbed and ran into the crowd, elbowing and punching her way through. She got out into the clearing just as the 74th lash was crackled and left another red line on Bentleys already messy back. She was stuck like paralyzed for a few seconds, just staring at the horrible sight in front of her; Bentley was tied up to the tree, his back was nothing but a red striped, bloody mess and he wasn't moving. But when she saw the overseer getting ready to hand out the 75th lash, and for the overseer his last before Lasher took over, she screamed out a horrified 'NO!' and ran towards Bentley.
That was when Mr Aventine noticed his daughter, and his eyes widened as she stopped in front of Bentley, quickly turned around to face the overseer and held her arms out. The overseer couldn't stop the whip in time, so it hit her straight in the face. She screamed in pain, clamped her hands over her left eye and staggered to the side, but managed to keep herself standing.
"STOP! HOLD IT!" Gabriel shouted at the overseer, who now was terrified when he saw who it was he just hit.
Cornelia gritted her teeth and removed her hands from her eye, revealing a deep, bleeding gash straight across it, going all the way from her forehead to her cheekbone. When she also staggered over to Bentley and threw her arms around him as to protect him, the crowd drew a unified gasp and instantly turned their heads to their master, who couldn't believe what he saw with his own two eyes.
"Go on! Don't let me stop you!" Cornelia said with a thick voice and buried her face into the hyenas bloodstained mane. "I deserve this more than he do anyway!"
"Cornelia, get away from there at once!" Gabriel hissed angrily.
"Fuck off!" She sobbed and shook her head, tightening her grip around Bentleys seemingly lifeless body and burying her face even deeper into his tasseled mane. "I won't leave him!"
"Somebody get her away from him!" Her father growled at the overseers, and they were about to walk over to the two teens when one of the slaves suddenly placed himself in the way; Finn.
"It's enough now, Mr Aventine!" The spotted hyena said and balled his fists. "Killin' Bentley would be a huge mistake, and ya know it! He might not be perfect, but he's a good and hardy worker, and I know he has learned a lesson here t'day!"
"Please, let it be enough!" Ellie said and sided up with her brother. The two hyenas were soon joined by Ama, and then Church. Even Toby joined them, to Ellies great joy, as well as Chuck and the rest of the slaves. Eventually they were all standing between the teens, and the overseers. With a frustrated growl, Gabriel had to admit himself defeated.
"Fine..." He growled and folded his arms across his wide chest. "He's had enough; cut him loose!"
Cornelia was scared; she couldn't tell if Bentley was breathing or not! She bit her lip to stop herself from crying in front of the entire plantation as she tried to lift Bentleys head and place her hand in front of his nose. But when she couldn't feel any breath, she started whimpering and hug him even tighter. "Please don't be dead! Please, oh PLEASE! You're my friend! Y-you can't die on me now!"
The first signs of life she got from him was when he was cut down. When he hit the ground, a weak and pained groan was heard by everyone, and Cornelia almost cried in relief as she bent down and scooped his big head up in her arms. He was too weak to even keep his mouth closed, and drool mixed with blood ran out of the corners of his mouth and soiled down her clothes even more, but she didn't care.
"D-dont'cha dare to die on me now, y'hear!" She said lowly and moved his thick hair to the side to see the rest of his face. "If you die on me now, I'll fuckin' kill ya, capische? I-I'll bring ya back to life and kill ya!"
When Finn kneeled down by her and Bentley, she instantly reacted by hissing and holding his head tighter to her chest, but relaxed a bit when she saw it was just another slave. "Miss, I don't mean to intrude, but we have to get him home an' have a lookit those wounds, ok?" He said and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. He had already broken the first and second rule about the plantation owners daughter, so he didn't care he was breaking the third one as well.
Cornelia glanced down at his hand before nodding slowly and let go of Bentley. She got up on her feet and took a few steps back as Finn and Church helped to pick the young hyena up and carry him towards Granny Amas cottage. She wanted to follow them and help them nurse Bentley back to health, but she knew she would endanger the rest of them as well.
The crowd of slaves disbanded and left Cornelia with her father and the overseers. Lasher was beyond furious for missing out on his chance to get his revenge for all the years of humiliation the young hyena had caused him. And so was her father, but for another reason. He met his daughters gaze and growled lowly at her, she replied by baring her fangs in an angry hiss before slowly making her way back home. She couldn't help but to smile, however, when she pictured her mothers face when she saw that her daughter was covered in hyena blood!
Gabriel watched as his daughter slowly left the area and angrily began to grind his teeth. Matt sighed disapprovingly and shook his head from side to side. "No offense, brother, but somethin' has to be done 'bout yer daughter!" He said, and Gabriel responded by nodding seriously.
"Yeah... Do you know if Mrs Cohen is still in business?" He raised a questioning eyebrow at his younger brother.
Matt thought about it for a while, before nodding carefully. "I think so, how come?" The gray haired mountain lion smirked. "Plannin' on sendin' little Cornelia to her or somethin'?"
Gabriel nodded again. "Been thinkin' 'bout it for a while since that's where Grace was studyin' when she was Cornelias age, and then I reckon Mrs Cohen wouldn't mind this little challenge as well!"
The other mountain lion chuckled. "Yeah, I heard she loves a good challenge ev'ry now and then! I sure am curious to see how she handles little Cornelia!"
Wow, turns out Corny CAN have an anxious breakdown in public too :P
Gosh do I feel awful for doing this to Bentley... And it was damn hard to write it too o_o! Oh well, I have to comfort myself with the thought that it is not ME personally that's doing the whipping, but one of my other (a bit less empathic) characters!... Which indirectly IS me/a part of my imagination... Damn it, I'm a horrible person ;_;...
Anyway, that's enough self-loathing for me :D! I'll be pretty busy next week (family, friends, my dads insane pool-project etc), so I bet next chapter will be pretty late as well :/... Meh, I'll see whenever I get the time for the next update, see y'all then ;D!
