Despite what Bardot had told them about 'having fun', he had yet to do anything to Rudy or Penny. He decided he needed to go do something, and had left Draow in charge of watching them. Bardot told Draow not to do anything to them while he was gone. Bardot didn't say where he was going; just that he needed to 'get something set up', yet never said just what that was.
Not that Rudy cared. He was glad that monster was gone, even if it was just for a short while. He couldn't stand looking at him. He enjoyed the time Bardot was away. He couldn't stop the rage from building up everytime he saw his face. What he had done, it was unforgiveable. He hadn't known him that long, and already he felt like punching him in the face.
Before Bardot left, he felt it necessary to inform them on what he had done, specifically, to Penny's father. And when he had finished the story, Penny...she was even more broken down than before. He wanted to comfort her, but..what could have said to something like that? Nothing he thought of to say seemed good enough to help her. What could he say to someone who...just lost their father...?
Bardot..he would pay for what he did. Somehow...someway..he was going to pay. He was going to regret everything he did against them. He was going to suffer. He was going to see to that.
Bardot confessed to killing all of his previous victims. He hadn't bothered telling what he did with the first four victims. It seemed he had wanted to torment them, so he described, in detail, what he did to Penny's father. He said he had specifically targeted him because he was Penny's father. Rudy had a feeling that he had wanted to strike where it hurts the most. The heart. If shattering a poor girl's soul was what he had intended, then he certainly succeeded in doing that.
Rudy was utterly horrified and disgusted when the hybrid zoner explained what he had done to Mr. Sanchez. He talked about how he had tortured him. He had strapped the man down on a table in some other part of this forsaken place, and started to bite him with his fangs, injecting his burning venom to char the poor man on the inside. And after that, he tore the man's jaw from its hinge when the man had apparently insulted him. Then, slowly, he ripped the man's limbs off, one by one, and let him slowly bleed to death.
The hybrid zoner described how hard it was to butcher the man after that, cutting his body into pieces for easier transport. He said how he was leaving them out in the heat somewhere so they'll dry. He said he won't be able to eat them until all the liquid was completely dried up.
And he said all this with a smile on his face. His tone was casual, like he was just talking about the weather. He had kept his eyes locked on Penny's most of the time. He seemed happy with her reaction, the way that she quickly fell apart when he described her father's fate. And as Penny cried harder, Bardot's voice seemed to rise in volume. It was like he wanted to make sure Penny heard every word as he told the story of what happened to her father.
And just when he thought Bardot couldn't say anything else cruel, he had gone over to Penny and showed off his necklace to her. He said that the tooth he wore came from her father. He mockingly told her to pay her respects and watched her cry for about a minute before he moved away from her. He was sick...he was vile...
Rudy was glad that, afterwards, Bardot left, giving them sometime alone without having to stare at his mug. Surprisingly, they were released from their restraints, though Bardot informed them that, soon, they would be put back in the chairs. It wasn't like they could go anywhere, anyway. They had no magic chalk...
Rudy felt so helpless without the magic chalk. He felt like there was absolutely nothing he could do. He was free, no longer tied down to the chair. But this was ony temporary, and might have been done not to make him feel better, but to make him feel more trapped, because he would have the freedom of movement, but nowhere to go. If he had magic chalk, he would be able to save Penny and himself, but his captors were careful to make sure he had no magic chalk with him. Same thing with Penny. They were both chalkless.
There was only one place out of here, and that was where Draow was. The large wolf bat was asleep, but he was laying in the doorway, his face turned towards them. They wouldn't be able to sneak around him without waking him up. Neither of them could jump that far, and Draow would surely hear or smell them if they got too close. They were completely trapped in here, in the company of two vicious zoners who were eager to torture them.
Rudy, as gently as he could, held Penny in his arms. She had ran to him as fast as she could after they were both released from the chairs. This was after Bardot told his little 'story' to them. Penny was so distraught, so heartbroken over what happened, she just wrapped her arms around Rudy and hugged Rudy. Her body shaking, she refused to let go.
He rubbed her back gently, trying to think of someway to comfort her. He felt his shoulder get moist as Penny cried into it. Her body shook with emotion, sobs wracking through, as she continued to cry. It hurt Rudy to see Penny this way. He wished he could comfort her, but he couldn't think of anything to say to this. She had just lost her father. It was...going to take a long time to recover from it.
He was horrified and shocked at how casually Bardot said all those things. It was like he didn't think it was a big deal, like he was just talking about the scores on the next football game or something. He either didn't know how big of a deal of what he did was, or he did know, but he chose to forget. He had absolutely no remorse for what he did. And his reaction to Penny's crying...the way he looked happier, the he way he laughed... Rudy really wanted to give him a good punch.
Rudy held Penny close to him, tightly but gently. He looked down at her, tears dripping from his eyes as he watched his girlfriend cry her heart out. He wished he could take the pain away. He wished he could make things better for her. But there was nothing at all he could do. He just held onto her, trying to sooth her by whispering to her, trying to give her some hope that they would be rescued and Bardot and Draow would be brought to justice.
Rudy reached down and cupped Penny's chin, tilting it so that she was looking at him. His heart felt like it was going to shatter into pieces when he saw how reddened and moist her eyes looked from all her crying. Her cheeks were red too, stained with the tears that drained from her eyes. She gave a loud sniffle and he could see fresh tears falling down, reflecting barely in the light of the torches.
"I promise...we'll get out of here soon..." Rudy said in a comforting voice. "And your father's death won't be in vain..."
A few whimpers escaped Penny's throat. She stared at him, her eyes widened in fear. Rudy could feel her fingernails dig into his skin as she clung to him like no tomorrow. "What..what if we don't...?"
Rudy moved his hand up and gently stroked her hair. "Never say 'never'. That is what I learned when we tangled with Mr. Cosmo. Things looked bleak then. I know it seems hopeless now, but...trust me, Penny. Somehow...we'll get out of this."
Penny's lower lip quivered. She pressed the side of her head against Rudy's chest. She cried harder. Rudy could feel her tears dampen his shirt. "I..I hope you're right Rudy..."
"We will." Rudy said, trying to sound as hopeful as possible. He could sense a bit of doubt in Penny's voice. He wanted to try someway to lift her spirits up a little. He ran his hand gently along the back of her head. "I promise we will."
Penny didn't sound like she was too reassured, as she just continued crying after that. She didn't bother replying. If she had tried, her words would have been incomprehensible due to the sobs that took over her now. Rudy couldn't stand seeing her like this. It just made him hate Bardot more. He was the reason she was such an emotional mess right now. To kill her father and then flaunt about it... Rudy hugged Penny a little tighter, trying to help her feel more secure.
He stared off at Draow, who was still asleep. He narrowed his eyes at him. That bastard was also a reason why they were in this mess to start with. He had been the one to drag them here, where no one may find them. He was blocking their way out, and if he dared get close, he would get bitten by those jaws.
Draow had hurt Penny, too. While Bardot went for her emotions, Draow went physical. He had cut her up, bruised her, threw her into the ground. He had attacked him as well. Rudy still felt pain from the wound on his side. It was still bleeding a little, even after this much time had passed. But Draow had hurt Penny more than him. She had a few more bleeding wounds and she looked worse off. This along with the thing about Penny's dad...it made Rudy wonder if these two creeps were purposely targeting Penny more, make her suffer more...
He didn't understand why at first, at least with Draow, since he thought, out of everyone, Draow would blame him the most for his master's death. Penny didn't have as big of a hand in his demise. Then he realized that the reason Draow might be messing with Penny more was to get to him. Draow knows how much he cares about Penny, how much he loves her, so part of his revenge is forcing him to watch her suffer. He growled at this realization. The bastard...
His mind turned to Snap. His expression softened a little as he thought about his friend, what he might be going through right now. No doubt Snap was worried sick about them. He and Penny had been gone for many hours now. They were abducted in the middle of the night, when his parents were sound asleep. When he checked the time after he had been untied from the chair on his cellphone, which was about the only thing he could do with it, it was about 6:30, 7:00. And now another hour has passed. They had been gone for 19, 20 hours...
Almost a full twenty-four hours without seeing his family, his friends... Twenty-four hours being trapped in ChalkZone with Penny, having been abducted by two monsters who wanted nothing more than to torture and torment them. Snap is probably calling a search party as he spoke now, trying to find him.
Rudy was worried. What if Snap doesn't realize just where they are? He might think they are in the real world. He might come out and try to find them... Oh no...What if something happens to him? If Snap goes out in the real world to find them, if he takes that risk, what if he gets...rained on? What if he runs into danger somewhere? If something happened to him, he might never find out what it was. He could...he could die not knowing what became of his friend.
He hoped that, somehow, Snap would realize they were in ChalkZone and come looking for them. He was still fearful for his friend. He didn't know how well he could stand up to Draow and Bardot. But Snap wasn't the kind of guy to give up. He had often put himself in the line of fire for him and Penny. He knew Snap would do whatever it took to save them. Snap would find them...eventually.
He just hoped that, by the time he does find them, it wouldn't be too late.
He heard claws scraping the ground. Tensing, he looked over at Draow. The bat wolf had woken up. He yawned, showing off his razor sharp teeth. He got up from the ground. Rudy thought, at first, Draow was going to come after them and do something else horrible. But instead, he was merely stepping aside for the other zoner. Bardot came walking in.
Rudy glared at him, his eyes burning with hatred. He held Penny protectively, trying to shield her from his sights. Bardot merely smiled at him. Rudy soon took notice of something the hybrid zoner was carrying in his mouth. When he got closer, Rudy stifled a scream when he saw what it was.
A human arm...
Bardot laid the arm in clear sight of the two teenagers. Despite Rudy trying to convince her not to look, Penny turned her head anyway. As soon as she locked eyes on the arm, she screamed and pushed herself further against Rudy, her body shaking harder.
It was clear that this was Mr. Sanchez's arm. Rudy could see the signature ring that he wore in his middle finger. The arm looked very stiff and solid, having no sign of life in it whatsoever. It looked a little darker than usual, as if Bardot had...had cooked it... The smell of the dead arm hung thickingly in the air, making Rudy feel nauseous. It took all his strength and will power not to throw up in disgust.
Then came the most gruesome part. Bardot had started to eat the arm right in front of them. Penny hid her face, not wanting to see it. Rudy closed his eyes and looked away. But neither of them could block out the sounds of teeth slicing flesh, cracking against bone. They couldn't ignore the swallowing, gulping sounds. They both shuddered, clearly disturbed and frightened by this.
The sound of Bardot eating Penny's dad's arm had two effects on Rudy. First, it sickened him. He couldn't believe that Bardot would go as far as eat Penny's deceased father right in front of her, especially shortly after telling her what he had done to him. It was truly vile, heartless, disgusting. He couldn't stop the rage welling up inside of him. The only thing stopping him from doing anything was Draow's presence, and the fact that this zoner was really fast. Likely, he wouldn't even be able to catch him.
The other effect it had... Rudy realized that he was getting hungry. He had a feeling Penny wanted food as well. They hadn't eaten anything all day. He didn't think Bardot or Draow were going to allow him to eat, though. Why would they? They were heartless monsters. Rudy had a feeling that he and Penny would have to go through days without eating or drinking anything.
When it was all over, when the crunching and tearing sounds stopped, Rudy dared to open his eyes. He could see bones scattered on the ground. With one that Bardot broke off himself, he was picking his teeth. Bardot stared at the tip for a second and then tossed it away like it was garbage. Rudy growled at this, wanting so much to lunge at the monster.
Bardot slowly approached them. Rudy narrowed his eyes and held onto Penny. He gave a look that told Bardot not to get too close. This did not faze the yellow and red zoner. He paced around them once, making sure Penny got a glimpse of him. Smiling at her terrified reaction as well as Rudy's protectiveness, Bardot moved around in front, turning around to face Rudy. His tail swished from side to side. His ears were perked straight up. An evil smile spread across his muzzle, his lips curling up a little to show a little bit of his teeth.
After a few moments of silence, when Bardot spoke, Rudy could have sworn that he must have been reading their minds.
"I take it you two are hungry. Aren't you?" Bardot tilted his head a little to the side. "I know it's been a while since your last meal. Almost twenty-four hours, right?"
"You're not going to allow us to eat, are you?" Rudy said, his voice low. "Or drink either."
Bardot chuckled at this. "You are a smart boy. You are correct... I cannot allow you two to eat or drink anything, not that you can here, in ChalkZone. No nourishment." He sneered. "But even if you could consume chalk water and chalk food, it's not like I am going to give you any of that. You see...I have my reasons."
Rudy expected Bardot to get close to them, but he was a little surprised when he stayed where he was. Bardot hadn't attempted to get to them, hadn't attempt to hurt them. Not that it made the situation any better. After what he did to Penny's dad, he knew he wasn't safe around him. At any moment, he could strike.
"You see, human meat tastes better when it's dry. Usually, I kill my victims, cut them up, and let them dry in the sun. But..for you two...I decided it would be best if I let you dehydrate to death rather than killing you outright. Less blood to drain out, less...real world liquid to clean up. So I won't be killing you two. At least...not directly..."
"You're...you're horrible..." Penny managed to say.
"Perhaps, my dear..." Bardot said, sounding casual. He gave Penny a sideways glance. "Still, if I want to eat you, I have to let you dehydrate first. I cannot have real world liquid. But once you are all dry and chewy... Then I have nothing to worry about. You become...edible to me."
Bardot began to pace around them again. He kept his distance, as if he knew Rudy would try to slug him if he got too close. He walked around him almost like a vulture circling prey. Rudy kept his eye on him the best he could. He tensed up whenever Bardot was behind him. He never knew if Bardot was going to go for a blow to the back or what.
Then Bardot stopped. He looked over at Draow. He used a paw to gesture for the beast to come over. Rudy's eyes widened as Draow got closer to them. Everytime he took a step, the ground seemed to shake a little. He winced as he heard the claws tap on the ground, knowing just how sharp they were. Now Draow stood next to Bardot. Two pairs of gleaming eyes stared the two sixteen year olds down, causing Rudy to shudder.
"But don't think for a second that this will be a...pleasant stay." Bardot said, his voice going from sweet sounding to creepy in a matter of seconds. As he spoke, Draow lowered his head and got a little closer. "For you see...I needed someone like Draow to help me catch some prey. But to win his servitude, I offered something in exchange..." Bardot got closer, putting his face close to Rudy's. "And that something...is you..."
Bardot pulled his head back before Rudy could strike him. He jumped a foot away, arching his back as he landed, tail high in the air. Draow let out a low growl, chalk drool dripping from his mouth. His eyes were fixated soley on Rudy.
"So for the next few days...you will be our...play things." Bardot said. His voice grew darker as he said each word, and by the end, his words were intermixed with growls that sent chills down the teens' spines. "Just because we aren't going to kill you right away...doesn't mean we can't have a little..fun with you..."
At this, Bardot suddenly lunged forward. He grabbed Penny in his claws and yanked her away from Rudy. She let out a scream, calling to Rudy for help. Almost right away, Bardot threw her into the ground, pinning her down.
Rudy rushed forward, reaching his right hand out towards her. He realized, too late, what a big mistake that was...
Before he could react, he was suddenly aware of pressure on his right hand. He looked over and his eyes widened in horror when he saw Draow's teal eyes staring at him. He snarled as he clamped his jaws on his hand and started to pull him back, keeping him away from Penny. Realizing what was about to happen, Rudy started to struggle, desperately trying to pull his hand out.
"No, please..don't do it!" Penny begged, her eyes wide with fear. She tried to get herself free, but Bardot held her down. Unable to watch as Draow increased the pressure, Penny looked away.
Placing his left front paw across Penny's head, Bardot gripped tightly and yanked her head up, pulling her eyelids open, and forced her to watch what was happening. He put his face next to hers and said, "Let's watch this, shall we?"
Tears streamed down Penny's face as she reluctantly watched. "Rudy...no... Draow, please! Let him go!"
Rudy felt himself being lifted into the air. His feet no longer touching the ground, he began to kick. Pain shot up his arm, mostly concentrated on his hand. He banged his weaker left hand against the side of Draow's head. Despite being less mobile, he tried to use his left hand to pull the wolf bat's jaws open, but to no avail. He stared, wide eyed, at Draow.
He felt his heart pounding. A cold feeling swept through his body. His breathing quickened. And it wasn't just from the pain. He knew what Draow was about to do. Panicking, he tried to get free, thrashing violently in the air.
"Don't do this!" Rudy pleaded. "Please no..."
He was unable to say anything more. His eyes widened, his pupils turning into dots, as a horrific pain started to take him over, followed by a crunching sound. Blood flowed from his right hand, down his arm. The warm liquid clung to his skin, contrasting with the cold tears of pain that dripped from his green eyes. Then Draow released him.
"Rudy!" Penny cried in horror.
Rudy laid on the ground, crying and yelling in pain. He clutched his right hand to himself. His body trembled from the pain and shock. He stared down at his right hand. He couldn't believe it. It..it wasn't possible. No...not this...
But he knew it was true. As he stared at his right hand, as he felt the chilling horror overtake him, he knew it was true.
Draow had crushed his right hand...