"M-My...my right..my right h-hand..." Rudy whimpered, his voice laced heavily with pain. He held his right hand to his chest, his body shaking. "I-I c-can't..."
Penny looked at Rudy sympathetically. She sat down beside him, slinging her arm over his shoulder and pulling him close. She could feel this body shaking against hers. She felt so bad for him. He was in a lot of pain, both mental and physical, from Draow's horrific attack. It was such a low blow, something she would have expected from Draow anyway. It hurt her seeing Rudy like this, so shaken up and wracked with agony.
After Draow crushed Rudy's right hand and let him drop, the bat wolf and the hybrid zoner just smirked at his pain. Draow looked the most satisfied. He had mentioned something about how it was nice to finally avenge his master, and how he looked forward to doing more to the boy. Bardot might have said something in response, about taking it easy so the two of them would last for a few days, but Penny hardly paid attention to him. Her mind was focused on Rudy.
The 16 year old boy was on the ground, writhing in pain. He held his trembling right hand. He was constantly crying out in pain. His calls of agony made Penny's heart twist. She immediately rushed over to him after Bardot released her. She knelt down by Rudy and coaxed him to let her see his hand. She gasped at what she saw.
Draow's fang had punctured straight into his hand, all the way through. There was a gaping hole in his hand. A few of his fingers were bent at odd angles. When she attempted to touch his hand, Rudy screamed and yanked his hand away. She looked at him sorrowfully and apologized. She was able to touch his hand long enough to tell there was more eternal damage. A few broken pieces of bone. She realized that he needed to go the hospital as soon as possible to get his hand treated.
Since they weren't going to be able to do that any time soon, she did the next best thing. She did whatever she could to treat the wound. She had no medical items with her at the moment. She had a feeling even if she did, she wouldn't be able to use them; no doubt Draow or Bardot would have taken them from her. So she used the only thing she had available. Her own clothes.
She reached down towards her skirt. She gripped the end of it and pulled hard. She tore off a long piece along the edge. She turned to Rudy and asked him to hold out his hand. Not surprisingly, he was reluctant and moved back from her, holding his hand protectively. She didn't back down so easily, and she kept getting close to him, telling him the wound needs to be patched up with something. Eventually, Rudy did give in, though reluctantly, and let Penny do her best to mend his broken hand.
She wrapped the cloth around his hand. She made sure it was good and tight. Rudy winced and whimpered at the pain. She tried to be as gentle as she could. She made sure to go slow as she continued wrapping the cloth around his broken hand. Once it was wrapped around enough times, Penny then tied the ends together, secure and tight. After she was done, Rudy pulled his hand to himself once more. He lightly wrapped his left hand over the bandage and grimaced at the pain. He looked over at Penny and thanked her for the help.
Although Rudy was grateful Penny helped him, his mood didn't get any better. He sat on the ground, his legs crossed, holding his hand in clear agony. Tears flowed from his eyes. Penny knew that they weren't just from the physical pain. It was from the mental pain inflicted on him. Penny was glad that Draow and Bardot had left not long after injuring Rudy's right hand. She didn't want to hear their mocking voices as they watched Rudy clearly suffering.
Penny knew, without a doubt, that this whole thing had been planned. Bardot and Draow both knew that Rudy would come to her aid if she were in trouble. And Bardot did make a deal with Draow which involved getting revenge on them, especially Rudy. So they had set up the perfect trap for him. Bardot attacks her, Rudy rushes over to save her, and he becomes open to an attack. Draow seized the change and took Rudy's right hand into his jaws. And, despite Rudy's pleas for mercy, the bat wolf still crushed his hand. Penny would never forget that sound, or the screams Rudy made right after he was dropped.
She continued to hold onto Rudy gently, careful not to touch his hand. He leaned against her, sobbing against her shoulder. He had comforted her earlier when Bardot taunted her about her father's death. Now it was time for her to do the same for him. They leaned against the rocky wall, laying below a few of the orange torches. Their fiery warmth did little to chase of the cold they were both feeling.
The attack on Rudy's hand was a double blow. The physical pain was horrendous, and he lost a good amount of blood from it. He couldn't move his hand at all without being wracked with horrific pain. It was also a mental attack. Rudy is the protector of ChalkZone. He is the one who wielded the magic chalk and helped the zoners whenever he could, both against minor things and more major ones. He felt confident in his ability to protect them due to his ability to draw and create anything out of thin air. But with his right hand crushed, he could no longer do that.
Rudy had been afraid of injuring his right hand ever since his left one was permanently damaged by Mr. Cosmo. He had been extra careful with it whenever he did anything. He knew that if he wrecked his right hand, that was it. It wasn't like when he broke his arm just before a bowling tournament. At that time, he could still use his left hand decently. Well enough to defend himself. Now he could barely grip a piece of magic chalk with his left hand, let alone draw with it.
Now, with his right hand crushed and his left hand much weaker than it used to be, Rudy was completely defenseless. Even if he had magic chalk, he wouldn't be able to use it very effectively. If the damage in his right hand becomes permanent... Rudy wouldn't be able to protect ChalkZone anymore. He wouldn't be able to draw. He would have lost his artistic abilities.
The thought broke Penny's heart. Rudy prided himself in his art and his ability to help and protect others. Being stripped of this, being rendered unable to do anything with art anymore, no longer able to protect others, it really hurt him mentally. She shot a glare in the direction Bardot and Draow had walked in. They were truly monsters. And she looked forward to when karma struck them back.
As she held Rudy against her gently, stroking his hair in an attempt to calm him down, her thoughts wandered to her father. Tears welled up as she recalled the cruel words Bardot told her. She remembered every detail. She could practically hear her father's screams of pain. She could see him being ripped apart by this monster. And the way Bardot taunted her about her father's death, it still sent chills down her spine. If she ever needed proof of Bardot being worse than Cosmo...this was it.
She had been making great strides with her father. Even though he wasn't there much as she was growing up, and though her mom didn't really like him that much, she was growing close to him as he started spending more and more time with her. She looked forward to whenever his dad had enough time off to take her places or just to hang out in general. He was a good man...a good man...
It had been such a terrible blow to her psyche when she learned her dad was gone. Not just captured, but actually dying. And very painfully at that. She never thought something like that had happened. Neither her mom nor herself had suspected something like this. If he had been living with them, they might have noticed him going missing. But because he lived across town, there was no way for them to know when he disappeared...not until they saw the news...
Even if they get out of this alive, she knew that was only the beginning. She needed to deal with the loss of her father. She knew her mom was upset by the news. She may not have liked her ex-husband that much but she still would care if something terrible happened to him. She wanted now, more than ever, to be in her mother's arms, hug her, trying to seek comfort. The loss of a parent was a heavy blow to bear. Penny still had a hard time believing it was true, but it was all confirmed when Bardot had the audacity to eat her father's arm in front of her like that. Daddy...
Rudy also needed comforting as well. If the damage in his right hand became permanent, and his ability to draw hindered, she knew he was going to go through a mental breakdown. He wouldn't be able to help the zoners as much as he used to, and that was going to hurt him mentally. He loved helping them out and he was determined to protect them from any possible danger. With two permanently damaged hands, he wouldn't be able to do any of that. He was going to feel very low, and he was going to need support from his friends to help him recover mentally.
Her thoughts then wandered over to Snap. She was very worried about him. When Bardot had told them what happened when he visited them briefly, she and Rudy were both horrified. The thought of Snap, Rapsheeba, and Blocky almost dying like that..and the way Bardot said it so cheerfully, so happily... It was obvious how sick this zoner was. She couldn't believe that he was forcing those three to go through all that torment. And of course, Bardot was going to tell them every bad thing that happens to them, just to drive their spirits down further.
Penny was not aware of just how bad these 'games' of Bardot's would get. Would the last few games be unbeatable? Would Snap die a horrific death? Her eyes welled up with tears at the thought of her friend losing his life to this. And Blocky and Rapsheeba...they were getting pulled in for the ride as well. Bardot was going to have fun hurting them, she could tell. He didn't care if they weren't his targets. The guy was twisted, sadistic...he'd torture Blocky and Rapsheeba just for the fun of it...
Penny couldn't believe all this was happening. It was a nightmare...only it was reality. She felt so helpless. She felt the same as Rudy, like they couldn't do anything. And right now, what could they do? They were trapped. Her father was killed. Rudy's right hand was crushed so he would be defenseless. They were both injured. They were both going to die a painful death if Snap is unable to get to them in time. Things just looked really bleak for them. She felt like there was nothing she could do.
Yet, despite how low she felt, she still had some spark of hope in her. She didn't want to completely lose hope that they'd get out of this. She and Rudy knew how competent Snap could be. She knew that Snap wouldn't rest until he found them. Snap knew they were in grave danger, and he would hurry. She had to remain confident that he'd find them in time.
And once he does, they could capture Bardot and Draow and bring them to justice. It wouldn't be hard to convinct either of them. With all the damage they did, especially Bardot and with Draow's past crimes, they would be locked up forever. Penny would be more than happy to testify against those creeps in court. She would, in that way, make them both sorry for what they've done. She didn't know what kind of punishment they could get that would satisfy her, but she was certain the zoners there would think of an appropriate and satisfying punishment for those two.
Despite her crying, despite her feelings of helplessness, despite her injuries, Penny hadn't truly given up yet. And she knew Rudy hadn't either. They weren't going to give into the torture that easily. They would not allow Bardot and Draow the pleasure of breaking them, of taking away their hope. Rudy was right. They had been in a terrible scrape with Mr. Cosmo. Thinks looked hopeless then, but they still managed to pull through against the odds.
And they could do it again.
"I'm...I'm hungry..." Rudy murmured through his cries.
"Yeah...I know..." Penny whispered back.
Neither of them had anything to eat or drink for almost 24 hours, if not more. Though both of them could easily survive a day without food, neither of them knew how long they were going to be here. It was hard to say how long it would take Snap to get here.
Though their hunger pains were pretty mild, they knew it was just going to get worse from here. As the days go by, they would get hungrier and weaker. And the weaker they got, the more vulnerable they became to their captors' torture. They would soon be unable to fight back effectively. If Snap didn't find them soon, they were both going to suffer a very painful death. Penny knew that they could last a while longer if it was just being without food. But humans didn't last nearly as long if they were deprived of water, which meant that she and Rudy had less time.
And dying of dehydration...that wasn't exactly a pleasant way to go. It was a slow and painful death. And it was going to be further aggravated by the torture that their captors were going to inflict on them. The blood loss was going to speed up the dehydration, speeding up their death. Stopping the bleeding from any new injury they recieve was going to be crucial. But even if she did manage to stop all bleeding, she could do nothing about the water situation...
She could feel the back of her throat feel a tad dry. It wasn't too bad now, but it was going to get worse as time went on. She swallowed, wishing she could have a glass of water right about now. But she knew that Bardot and Draow would not allow her and Rudy to have anything. Though Bardot had access to the real world and could bring food and water for them, it was unlikely he would. He was very clear about wanting them to dehydrate to death, so giving them water would just delay his 'meal time', as he would put it.
It did seem a little odd to be thinking about food after what's happened to them. But having no food, or water for that matter, was part of their torment. It was one part of all the bad things that happened or is going to happen to them. It was going to make their stay much less pleasant, not that they were going to have a good time here to begin with.
Penny gingerly touched her forehead and immediately seethed in pain. The cut itself had stopped bleeding. The blood coagulated a while ago. But it was still a deep cut and it hurt to touch it. It was like someone was slowly cutting her head open with a shard of glass. Though it stopped bleeding, she knew it was going to get worse if she didn't find some way to treat. She didn't have much to worry about in regards to chalk germs. But Rudy was with her, and he had real world germs on him, as did she. Their wounds could still become infected. Even using their clothes as bandages wouldn't stop infection from settling in. They needed sterile bandages.
When Penny shifted herself, she accidentally hit against Rudy's side. He let out a yelp of pain and cringed away from her a bit. She looked at him apologetically.
"I'm sorry, Rudy." She said to him.
Rudy groaned and said, "It's okay. I know you didn't mean it..."
Penny looked down at his side. Her eyes widened when she saw a bright red stain. "Rudy...let me take a look."
Rudy was a bit reluctant. He put left hand carefuly over his side and scooted away. He looked at her with slightly widened eyes and he shook his head. "No. It's fine...really."
"Rudy..." Penny said, narrowing her eyes. "Let me look."
"No." Rudy shook his head.
Penny was frustrated with Rudy. She didn't know why he had to be so stubborn. She needed to look at his wound and see how it was healing. This was, currently, Rudy's worst wound. The one on his right hand was bad, yes, but the one in his side was deeper and had more flesh torn. She needed to look at it and see if there was anything she could do to help.
With how Rudy reacted to her accidentally touching the area, the wound was very tender and sore. With how deep the wound was, she wasn't surprised. It was also a clear sign that Rudy was lying; that area wasn't fine. He could try to deny it all he wanted to, but she could see right through his lies just by his reactions alone.
Penny gently touched his left hand. "Please, Rudy... You were bitten pretty badly by Draow there. Let me take a look. I'll do my best not to hurt you, okay?"
"...oh okay..." Rudy said reluctantly. He moved his hand away.
Penny motioned for Rudy to straighten himself up. When he did, she reached down to the bottom of his shirt. She grabbed it and lifted it up a little. She pulled it until she could see the wound in plain sight. She grimaced at it.
She could see the puncture marks where Draow had bitten down. The skin was discolored, mostly a dark purple. She thought she saw a little bit of green, too, and she realized, in horror, that infection had already started to settle in. And that wasn't her only worry. In the biggest puncture wounds, there was still blood dripping from it. It has been at least 24 hours, and the wound was still bleeding...
Horror swept through her heart, an uncomfortable feeling gripping her chest. All of her wounds had stopped bleeding an hour or so ago. But Rudy's side wound...it was still bleeding. He was still losing blood. And judging from it, the bleeding hardly slowed down. Draow had done a lot more damage to his side than she thought. She had to do something to stop the bleeding and fast.
Penny kicked off her shoes. She grabbed one of her socks and pulled it off. Yeah it wasn't exactly the best smelling piece of cloth, but she needed something thick, and her socks were a little thicker than her skirt. She pressed the cloth against Rudy's side. He hissed in pain and struggled a little. Penny placed a hand on his shoulder and gently rubbed it to try to calm him down a little. She felt bad about doing this. She could see how much it was hurting him. Tears of pain were coming from the boy's eyes. But she had to do this to stop the bleeding.
But to her horror, no matter how hard she pressed the sock against the wound, no matter how much pressure she applied, the wound just wasn't stopping with the bleeding. Fear swept through her body as she realized what had happened. Draow bit down so hard that...that he ruptured something inside Rudy. The bleeding was eternal, deep. No amount of pressing against the wound was going to stop it. He needed to to the hospital, and fast.
But he wasn't going to be able to go to the hospital any time soon. And there was nothing in ChalkZone that could help them. The blood would dissolve any bandages she got from this place. Not right away, but slowly it would. It would do little to stop the bleeding. And if she didn't stop the bleeding soon...oh no...Rudy...
"No...come on...please..." Penny whispered. She pressed the sock a little harder, prompting a cry of pain from Rudy. "Please...work..." She hoped that, by some miracle, she could stop the bleeding. But it didn't work. She shook her head in disbelief. "No..."
Rudy gave her a small smile. "It's...okay. I'll be fine..."
Penny shook her head. "No you won't. You're still bleeding." Her voice was laced in worry and fear. She stared at the wound for a few seconds, then turned her gaze back to Rudy. "I lost my father. I don't want to lose you, too..."
"You won't.." Rudy said reassuringly. He put his right arm around Penny, careful not to move or hit his damaged right hand. He pulled her a little closer to him. "We'll..get out of here. And we will both be fine. You'll see..."
Penny tried her best to smile back. But she could barely manage it. Her dark brown eyes slowly gazed back down on the bleeding wound. She needed to find a way to stop the bleeding and fast. Rudy was going to lose strength faster if he kept bleeding out like this. And with Bardot and Draow willing to hurt him more, to give him more injuries, having an injury bleed like this for over a day wasn't something that Rudy could afford.
"I know, Rudy." She finally said, trying to sound as hopeful as she could. "I know."