CHAPTER 16
*Please note that Elliot Dawes is an OC of mine and that this happens after Avengers Assembled and before Captain America 2, carrying on into that timeline. Also the following may be sensitive to some people and may cause triggers. Its torture, violence and cruelty.*
I grew extremely weak. By the time the three days were up, I felt like I was wasting away. A light breeze would tear me apart by this point. The door opened and the light actually burned me. I cried and let out a hiss, pushing myself into the shadows. I squeezed my eyes shut as someone dragged me out. My entire body was stiff but it began to loosen up as I got carted down the corridor. My legs had regained motion in them. I had such joy at wriggling my toes again. The world spun and I was extremely light headed. I was given a chunk of bread to eat and a small amount of water. I ate slowly and carefully. The Red Skull appeared, looking angry.
"There have been some S.H.I.E.L.D agents sighted nearby," he snarled. "Luckily they were distracted by other means. Now, Miss Dawes, I hope you have learned your lesson?"
I looked up at him. A small smile spread across my face. It hurt to smile. The pain had never died away. My face was crusted with blood, I was filthy from peeing and pooping in the same position and my right leg was badly infected. I think ninety percent of my body at this point was infection, the other ten percent was pain.
"I've learned a lot in solitary confinement," I told him brightly. "I've learnt everything I leave behind and it's given me life to keep going. I am never going to tell you the formula. You can torture me all you like, but I won't ever tell. You might as well kill me now,"
My voice sounded weird. It was thin, like it had been stretched out over centuries. The Red Skull laughed. It sent the hairs on my body sticking upright. A shiver ran through my body at the sound of that horrible, cruel laugh.
"Even the strongest break eventually," the Red Skull chuckled. "And you are not trained to withstand torture,"
Today I was water boarded. I passed out most of the times. It got to the stage where I had no more strength to do anything. I got chained to a wall and left there. The world wouldn't stop spinning. I felt like I was about to die.
The next day I was fed another chunk of bread and given a little more water. I got whipped until the skin on my back was in shreds, barely clinging to my muscle. I felt detached from my body by this point. I felt the pain but I hardly registered it as to happening with me. I was broken. I was broken beyond anything. I couldn't speak, I couldn't do anything. He fired question after question at me but I could hardly hear him. My mind had gone completely blank. Nothing made sense any more. I was just floating between life and death. Life was clinging onto me and death was barely even trying. I wanted to die. What is the point in living after all this is over? My body is destroyed, I am too weak for anything. I'm going to die like the Jews did when they were liberated from the camps: someone will overfeed me. That's if anyone actually comes and rescues me. The mention of the S.H.I.E.L.D agents being closed brought me hope when I first heard it but now, I doubt they will. I feel like I'm trapped here, that I will never escape. Nobody's going to find me. Nobody cares enough to find me. To S.H.I.E.L.D I am a dangerous inconvenience, they'll lock me up the moment I'm better so I don't cause any more damage.
I was rudely awoken by noise. People were running around yelling. I was curled up against the wall, shivering. There was gun fire and yelling. It was all too loud. I couldn't handle it. I closed my eyes and prayed for the end. I hoped this was the end for me. I hope my final moments were lost in a battle between the will to survive and the need for me to die. I assumed the shouting and the firing were part of my imagination.