Chapter 11

When you come to the end of all the light you know, and it's time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen: Either you will be given something solid to stand on or you will be taught to fly.

- Edward Teller

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Lights flashed on, so bright after the darkness that Harper actually moaned in pain as his eyes teared up. Felix was standing right in front of his pathetic, trapped body before they were adjusted enough to see again.

"Good morning, my little Kludge. I trust you spent the last two days comfortably?" he laughed.

Harper thought of several sarcastic comebacks to that, but he was so exhausted speech was beyond him at the moment.

"And how wonderful to see you're still hanging in there."

Ha ha, big guy, you're surely the life of the party with jokes like that.

Almost gently, Felix reached out and cupped Harper's chin in his hand, lifting his battered head up and looking straight into his eyes. Harper tried to pull away, but every move put more tension on his screaming shoulders and hands, so he gave up.

"Hmmm," Felix muttered thoughtfully, "It won't be long now, you know. You've been beaten and bloodied. You've had no food or drink for some time. Your pathetic human body cannot last much longer before it succumbs to the pain, the exhaustion, and the starvation."

And you're just now figuring this out? Harper thought snarkily, if a bit slower than usual. I was under the impression that was the point from the beginning.

Still, Felix seemed unaware of the stupidity of his comments. Abruptly, he let go of Harper's head and Harper was unable to stop it from falling forward harshly, sending spikes of pain through his arms that left him gasping.

Felix took a step backwards and began to circle the cross, like a vulture does his prey.

"It's been a busy few days, hasn't it?" he continued like he was making small talk and not speaking to the prisoner he had skewered on a wooden frame. He stopped behind the young man and ran a hand up and down the part of Harper's back that overlapped the wooden beam. "Let's see," he said as Harper let out a strangled cry and arched his back involuntarily, "Was it fifty or sixty lashes I put on you. I seem to have lost count."

Tears leaked down Harper's cheeks from the agony as Felix stepped in front of him again. This time he reached up and patted his victim on the chest. Harper's mouth opened in a silent gasp.

"And then there was the fun as I claimed you again."

Harper was in danger of blacking out from the pain shooting through his body and the effort to breath on the cross. Vaguely, he wondered if Felix was trying to hurry his death along. Through the shadows clouding his vision, he felt a hand on his neck, fingering his useless dataport and irritating the red and blistered skin around it.

"This part was particularly fun. I had no idea the current would burn the skin as well as fry the circuitry. I must say it was a nice bonus."

"And then there was your final punishment," Felix said fondly as he reached out and flicked Harper's left hand. This time Harper did scream, but his throat was so dry it was hardly more than a whisper.

Felix stepped back again, smiling as his victim squirmed on the cross and gasped for air. "All in all, I would say it has been most enjoyable. Now slave, do you think you could lift your pretty little head enough to smile for me? I'm having a picture taken to preserve this moment for posterity and to send to your silly little friends. I would hate for them to go on not knowing what happened to you."

Harper could think of several places he wished to tell Felix to go but at the moment he was trying not to die. As for lifting his head up, not a chance.

"No? Oh well, makes the picture all the better if you are bowed in submission to me."

Bowed in submission? I thought I was mounted on a cross?

The words flickered through Harper's mind but once again he said nothing, and once again Felix started speaking.

"Did you sleep well last night? I did. Fresh silk sheets after a long, relaxing bath: just what I needed. It has such a way of calming me, especially after the excitement of the day. Focused my thoughts, and you know what, I realized something. I realized I had forgotten something important."

He strode forward and roughly lifted Harper's face again, ignoring the pain that flashed across it.

"I'm wondering if you've figured it out yet for yourself, boy?" he shouted, his eyes blazing. "Have you figured out yet that you are a slave! A SLAVE! And I'm your master. I have the power of life and death over you and there is nothing you can do about that!

"Believe me, I've figured that part out," Harper finally mustered enough strength to croak. "You've got me pinned to your freakin' tree waiting to die, what more do you want me to do?" he gasp weakly.

"What more do I want? Hmmm…that's a very good question. See, last night as I was sipping my nightly glass of wine, I realized I had yet to let you in on a rather large joke. What joke, you ask? Well, I will tell you." He dropped Harper's head and stepped backward, gesturing to encompass Harper's body and the cross he was stuck to. "This joke," he grinned madly.

Harper's brain was way too pain-frazzled to comprehend and the last effort of speaking cost him too much, so he simply hung there, not really caring what the joke was about.

"Slave," Felix hissed, "your crimes are too great to simply let you die! Did you honestly think I would let you escape so easily for a second time? Death is too kind a punishment for you! I have decided that you will live; and you will live the rest of your life in pain and as my slave, so that others may see what happens to those who chose to defy me!"

Live? Harper was confused. A little late for that, ain't it Uber? Big, freaking nails stuck through my hands, remember?

Felix motioned to his guards to come forward and for the first time, Harper realized they weren't alone.

"Take him down," he ordered. "I'll return shortly."

"What?" Harper groaned, finally getting sound past his lips. Take him down? None of this was making any sense!

The two guards ignored him as they approached his limp body. Not sure what was going on but afraid it involved more pain for him, he tensed up as they touched his legs and then instantly regretted it as pain shot through his arms and chest, leaving him without air for several seconds. By the time his thoughts cleared again, he realized the wires around his feet were being removed and that it hurt a lot!

"Ahhh!" he moaned, unable to help himself. The wires were pulled away leaving bloody gashes coiling around his ankles, shins, and feet, and he suddenly knew that those wires had been cutting so deeply because they had been helping support him more than he realized. Abruptly, the whole weight of his body hit his arms and the world instantly snapped to black as his chest constricted from the shock and he passed out, unable to breathe.

When he woke, only a minute had passed but everything was different. His arms were still stretched out and attached to the crossbeam, but both he and it were now lying once more on the floor.

It was just too much of a shock for him to absorb what was happening. He hadn't wanted to die, but he had at last accepted that he was going to and made his peace with the thought. Now, Felix had come along and once again yanked the rug out from under his feet and even that small comfort had been taken from him. Hazy with pain, dehydration, and confusion, Harper barely felt the two Nietzschean guards loosening the ropes that tied his arms.

But he did feel it when they yanked the first nail out.

If that inch-thick spike had hurt going in, it was nothing compared to how it felt coming back out. Even if the Ubers had wanted to, there is no gentle way to rip a six-inch long nail out of a hand that is sandwiched between it and a block of wood. Prisoners are not meant to be alive when those nails are removed and obligingly, Harper's body complied. As the nail tore from his hand, he felt his heart-rate sky rocket and his eyes rolled back in his head. The last thing he heard was one of the Ubers shouting for Felix.

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The next time Harper awoke it was a surprise. He could tell he had been unconscious for a long time, maybe even hours. Everything hurt more than he ever imagined it could have, but strangely he was alive. He noticed right away that his chains had been returned and he was once again secured to the cold metal table; and just lying secured to that table as opposed to hanging by spikes on a cross felt like heaven.

Amazing how circumstances could change one's perspective.

He heard movement to his right and tried to turn to see who it was, only to find that a strap had also been placed around his forehead, holding his head tightly in place. He didn't need to move, however, as Gaius Felix's menacing form was soon towering over him again, blocking the light.

"Ah, so you are finally awake."

"Apparently…" Harper muttered, testing his voice out and finding it not quite so weak.

"I must say, it wasn't very nice of you to die on me like that, and just as I'd decided to grant you your life and all." Felix noticed the shocked look that passed through the young man's eyes and smiled.

"Yes, you were dead. I had to call my personal physician just to make sure my new toy didn't expire before I even got a chance to play with him." He pointed to an IV that Harper had failed to notice before, running off somewhere into his forearm that he couldn't see.

"What did you give me?" Harper asked, alarmed.

"Stupid Kludge," Felix laughed, "I'm not going to poison you after all this! I simply asked the doctor to revive you, give you something to calm your heart rate and relieve the shock, and to give you enough fluids and calories to keep you from repeating your trip to the pearly gates. Apparently, your sorry little body was weaker than even I thought and I over-estimated the time you could spend on the cross. But, all is fixed now. Oh and don't worry, all your wounds are still as they were before. I made sure the doctor didn't touch them or give you anything for the pain so you wouldn't be forgetting our time together anytime soon."

"How considerate of you. So sorry for inconveniencing you by dying, but I was just crucified," Harper mumbled, still not used to the idea that he was alive and certainly not sure on whether he liked Plan B any better than he had Plan A. As his senses gradually woke up, he was more and more aware of the building agony, especially in his mutilated hands.

"Back to the sarcastic comments I see," Felix frowned, leaving Harper's line of sight as he spoke. Out of habit, Harper strained against the metal strap, trying to see where the Nietzschean was going. "That tells me you are recovered enough for us to continue."

"Continue? Continue with what?" Harper rasped, wishing he could see what Felix was doing, "Surely even you must have better things to do than torture me all freakin' day long?"

"Actually, for once you're correct. I do have things I need to be attending to," the large man said, walking back to Harper's side and setting several things down just out of sight. "But there are loose ends I need to tie up here first."

Harper gulped, sensing he wouldn't like those loose ends.

"I never intended to kill you, you know. I simply wanted you to think I was going to, in the hopes that it would loosen your tongue and get you to snitch on your mighty captain. Apparently, I underestimated your stubbornness in that area, but no matter. I hardly care why the two of you were so careless as to be caught poking around my drift. I've had my fun and you and your captain will never have the chance to finish whatever you were planning, so all is right in the universe. The added mental and physical torment the "execution" put you through was also not unwelcome, a wonderful bonus to my joke.

"I wasn't joking, however, when I said you are to be my slave. The rest of your miserable life will be spent in the mines of Rellim, as a drudge worker and a painful reminder to those around you of what happens when a slave runs away."

Felix picked up one of his tools and brought it to the left side of Harper's head and this time Harper knew exactly what was going to happen. The pain was so mild compared to the rest of his hurts, he simply glared tiredly at Felix as the tag was attached to his ear and he was once again a slave.

"I'll run away, just like last time. You know that," he growled with all the anger he could muster. "You know I'm too smart for you; you can't keep me. And besides, my friends will be looking for me."

"Your friends think you're dead," Felix said simply, "and I am not stupid. I will make sure you can never run away again."

The Nietzschean reached behind Harper's head to the top of the table and suddenly Harper became aware that a machine was attached to the edge that hadn't been there before. Felix pulled it forward and part of it swung around on a hinged arm to rest right on top of Harper's face. The large man pushed a button and the machine whirred disturbingly to life, clamps leaping out and attaching themselves around Harper's eyes, forcing the swollen lids open wide and holding them there.

"I hope you looked long and hard around you while on that cross because that is the last you will ever have that luxury."

True panic and claustrophobia were welling up inside Harper because he suddenly knew what was coming.

"No! Please wait! Don't do this!" he cried, squirming on the table and fighting in vain against his bonds and the contraption attached to his face, ignoring the agony his motions sent through his body. "Please, anything but this!"

Felix simply laughed, and then he casually reached over and flicked another switch.

Lasers shot out of the machine and buried themselves in Harper's watering eyes and another ear-shattering scream was ripped from his raw throat. Spikes of pain gouged straight through his eyeballs and into his brain. This pain was worse than being whipped, worse than when his dataport was fried, worse even than having nails driven through his hands and being mounted on a cross. This was pain that connected straight to Harper's brain and his sensitive nerves and pain receptors went into overload as the world around him abruptly faded to black.

He should have passed out; he wanted to pass out! In the last four or five days he had been tortured, beaten, branded, enslaved, and crucified. By all rights, he should have been unconscious long ago, but apparently Felix had taken measures to make sure he couldn't escape to blessed oblivion this time. However he did it, whatever he gave him, Harper remained awake and in more agony than he'd ever been. He had no idea how long it lasted. It could have been minutes, it could have been hours, but it didn't really matter. Then end result was the same.

When the lasers ceased, the machine powered down, and his breathing stopped coming in gasps, the lights did not come back up for him.

And they never would again.

Harper was blind.