It has been reported that some victims of torture, during the act, would retreat into a fantasy world from which they could not wake up.

In this catatonic state, the victim lived in a world just like their normal one, except they weren't being tortured.

The only way that they realised they needed to wake up was a note they found in their fantasy world.

It would tell them about their condition, and tell them to wake up.

Even then, it would often take months until they were ready to discard their fantasy world and

PLEASE WAKE UP!

Source: Wake Up – Creepypasta

Author: Unknown

Chapter 42: Afterlife

Song: Afterlife by Avenged Sevenfold

It was the panicked screaming from my Mum that had woke me from my sleep this morning. She'd woken up to find that my Dad was still gone despite him saying that he wasn't going to be gone for very long. I knew that I should have tried harder to stop him, but he's a fully-grown adult lion and I'm just a cub.

"I don't know what's happened, I just woke up and he was gone. There was no note or anything, and he left the Sword of Omens and Claw Shield here too so wherever he is, he's vulnerable."

I twiddle my thumbs uncomfortably as I listen to the conversation in the Council Chamber, my tail twitching slightly. I just wish that I had woken Mum up when Dad left but I instead blindly did what he told me to and went back to bed. Then again, I was only obeying what my Father had told me to do.

"The security systems show him leaving the Lair around two in the morning but none of the night guard saw him. I don't understand why he would do this though, he seemed alright almost."

"Trust me Bengali, he was far from alright. I probably know my mate better than what the rest of you do and he was just getting worse mentally. I just pray to the gods that he hasn't gone…gone to…"

"I saw him last night…"

I cringe when everyone turns to look at me, and I tremble slightly when Mum gets to her knees in front of me, grasping my hands in hers. I can't look her in the eyes, that is, until I feel the reassuring gentle touch of her hand on my cheek, wiping my tears away.

"Lola, sweetheart, what was he doing? Did he tell you where he was going?"

I shake my head, wiping the tears with the cuff of my hoodie.

"No, Daddy just told me that he had to go and do something important and that he'd be home by the sunrise…"

—(BORDER)—

That Evening

I awake to find myself cloaked in nothing but darkness, my senses going into overdrive as I try to make sense of my surroundings. When I try to move my arms, I realise that they are fastened tight with chains and thick metal restraints locked on my wrists. It's in that moment I remember the fight, and I can't help but growl weakly in both rage and hunger; Mumm-ra and I had fought unarmed for hours in the main hall of the Pyramid and when he realised that he wasn't going to win easily, he cheated in the end and one of the Mutants had shot me with a stun gun from behind. The bloody cowards.

My stomach hurts from my hunger and the dozens of bruises that probably cover my belly. I honestly have no clue how long I've been here for already but the darkness tells me that it's probably the middle of the night or somewhere thereabouts. I try to wriggle out of my bonds but every time I move, it sends spasms of pain down my arm and back which suggests that one of my shoulders is either dislocated or broken. Great. What the hell was I thinking, coming here unarmed?

My head hangs in shame as I feel the tears welling up in my eyes, spilling eventually and running down my cheeks. Why do I feel so weak? I blink, uncomfortable about the crusty feeling around my right eye and, when I lick my lips, I taste the unmistakable metallic tang of blood. I don't remember much about the fight but one thing that clearly sticks out to me was being hit hard on the side of my head with rubble when Mumm-Ra threw one of his statues at me. I sigh, and that's when I tell myself to just stay hopeful. My friends are going to realise that I'm missing very soon if they haven't already, and once they realise where I am then they'll come to rescue me.

…

I hang by my wrists in the squalid cell for what feels like hours, maybe even days passing before I hear movement outside. I strain to listen as I hear keys click into the lock on the cell door, and I have to squint against the harsh bright light as it swings inwards and Slithe appears. I growl angrily, remembering that he was the one who shot me with the stun gun. I notice the soft red glow in a phial on his belt, and I feel the colour drain from my face when I realise that he's got phials of liquid Thundrainium, likely to subdue me if I decide to retaliate against him.

As he approaches, he hisses with a face of pure satisfaction at seeing me in such a vulnerable situation.

"Thisss isss it, Lion-O. You have been defeated and now we're going to make your life hell, yesss?"

He reaches behind him and pulls out the stun gun that he had earlier and he shoots me in the chest with it. There's a bright flash of green as the sharp needles pierce my skin, and the voltage amps up to being borderline unbearable as I roar at the sensation of what feels like thousands of red-hot ants crawling under my skin. It thankfully doesn't take long for me to pass out from the shock, my entire world fading to nothing but darkness as I lose consciousness.

…

I awake again some time later, my head reeling from a nasty pain that makes itself known, and I realise that I'm strapped to a solid wooden table, the cold of the wood seeping in through the material of my shirt. The stench of fresh blood assaults my senses so I lift my head to see Mumm-ra standing over me, staring at me with his piercing red eyes set into a hideous visage of rotting flesh and soiled bandages. His signature stench assaults my senses due to how close he is to me, and it takes everything to not lose what little I have left in my stomach.

"So, Lion-O," he says triumphantly as he taps the Sword of Plun-darr against his shoulder, scowling down at me as he presumably revels in his victory "What do you think of my hospitality?"

I growl viciously at him, vowing the cruel bonds restraining me to break as I bear my fangs at him. I make a desperate attempt in that moment to summon my powers to incinerate the heavy leather but nothing happens. What? How? I've never not been able to summon my fire powers before. I look at Mumm-Ra when I hear him cackling, glaring daggers at the ancient demonic being.

"If you're wondering why you can't summon your powers, it's because I created a special little drug that, when mixed with Thundrainium, will completely destroy the pyrokinetic powers of the Barbaries - I've completely eradicated your powers and you'll never be able to use them again."

"Go to hell!" I roar, the edge of fear that creeps into my voice betraying just how scared I am of my current situation. Mumm-ra laughs maniacally before he hits me around the head for my insolence with the Sword of Plun-Darr. As I black out for the umpteenth time, I can hear Mumm-ra's laughter echoing off the stone walls, taunting me. Tormenting me. This isn't it, I can't let this be it. Not much longer and my friends are going to realise that I'm gone if they haven't already.

…

The cruel, suffocating shock of a bucketload of ice-cold water is what brings me to my senses this time as it's thrown over me, and the first thing that I see once I've managed to focus my vision is Mumm-Ra approaching me from a stone altar, a ceremonial dagger in hand. He uses it to slice my shirt down the middle, revealing my bare chest as I feel my heart pounding against my ribcage like some wild animal longing to be freed.

"By the time we have finished with you Lion-O," he begins as he stares at me with murderous intent in those lifeless red orbs set into his grotesque face, "You will have betrayed your entire species and you will no longer be remembered with awe and wonder as the direct descendant and reincarnation of the lion who saved Ancient Thundera from the grip of tyranny, but with scorn and hatred as the traitor who gave Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living the most powerful artefact of the Thunderian race."

I growl again, trying my hardest to keep my cool as the humiliation washes over me in waves.

"I'll never reveal anything, no matter what you do to me. My life is worth far less to me than my legacy that I'd leave behind if you kill me and, trust me, I'd be dead before I even considered telling you anything about where the Sword is. Besides, we all know that you would never be able to wield it."

Mumm-ra chuckles to himself as he stands above me, hands either side of my head as I look away, uncomfortable with seeing him above me.

"Really? Well, we shall see soon enough because I have something of yours. Do you really want to die? Or would you rather spare them the image being branded into their mind for the rest of her life?"

"What the hell do you mean?"

I try to lift my head up to see what's happening, completely forgetting that I'm completely strapped down to the table. I keep struggling, becoming increasingly frustrated and angry when I realise that I can't even-

"Daddy! Help me! Please!"

Shit

I feel the colour drain from my face and the blood turn to ice in my veins as it feels like my heart stops beating in my chest for just a moment.

"Mumm-Ra, please let her go! She's just a cub, she's completely innocent!"

He smirks at the pleading tone of my voice, looking extremely proud of himself for having been able to kidnap my daughter from her school trip.

"I don't think that letting this fine prize go will be a very good choice. She'd go running straight to her Mother and spill where we are to your friends. No. She knows far too much for me to just let her go."

With Lola's voice still in my head, I hear mechanical clunking and feel the table beginning to lift under me and, before long, I'm bolt upright and I see where I am; the dungeon is dimly lit with burning torches on the walls that are overgrown with sprawling vines and cobwebs. The light of the torches flickers as the flames burn an orangey red, and I can just about see Lola almost directly in front of me. She too is restrained by thick iron shackles around her wrists and ankles, the light dancing across her young adolescent features which allows me to see that she has been beaten; dried blood mats her mane and fur with a fresh trickle running from her nose and mouth, with tears streaming down her cheeks as she looks at me with pure terror set into her eyes – her golden eyes that are just like her Mother's.

And I can do nothing to help her. To help myself.

"I'm going to kill you Mumm-ra," I growl, struggling to keep the anger from edging into my voice, "Even if it's the last thing I do, you will pay the price for what you've done here."

Mumm-ra chuckles, regarding me with such glee on his face before composing himself again.

"I doubt that very much, Lord of the Thundercats. You see, you're going to tell us what we want to know, or Lola will die a slow, agonising death in front of your very eyes. It's your choice, whelp."

My roar of anger is deafening to behold, reverberating around the entire dungeon and shaking dust from the ancient, elaborately carved stone work.

"Gag him. I'm tired of listening to his incessant mewing."

A stone gag is forced into my mouth, breaking one of my fangs as tears spring to my eyes. The pain and taste of fresh blood drives me insane, but I can't do much except attempt to growl and grunt in anger against the stone which feels like it's going to slip into the back of my throat and choke me at any moment. My head feels light and a slight weakness drains my strength, making me feel even more uncomfortable.

"Yes," Mumm-ra observes as he notices the rapid decline in my struggles to free myself, "That gag has Thundrainium in it, in case you were wondering. So much for the big, powerful Lord Lion-O - you're nothing but a feeble coward who can't even save his cub..."

I struggle with what little strength that remains as Mumm-ra approaches Slithe who is tending to a small fire directly in front of me; various torture devices lay around the floor, the most alarming of them being a long rod that narrows out into a worryingly sharp point, perfect for stabbing into flesh.

"Slithe," Mumm-ra rasps as he paces back and forth in front of me, staring at me as he does so, "Heat up the pokers on that fire. Make sure that they're white-hot – nothing else will do."

I watch with horror as Slithe selects a few of the pokers from the floor but to my relief, completely forgoes the sharpened rod of metal as the reptile places the ends into the heart of the fire.

"So, we begin."

The knife is sharp as it cuts deep across my right shoulder, making me grunt with the nagging pain as I feel the sticky wetness of my blood run down my chest. The sensation of the knife against my ribs is awful and the smell of the horrible fluid assaults my senses and I can't help but retch as Mumm-Ra smears my blood on my face.

"Slithe, the poker please."

Slithe presses the white-hot poker against the wound, and I scream as best as I can when the excruciating pain erupts over my chest like the hottest fire that I've ever felt. I can feel nothing else other than that torturous sensation as I smell my flesh and fur burning and hear the crackle of my skin being fused closed. The last thing that I hear is Lola's ear-piercing screaming as I pass out, eyes rolling as my body tries in vain to protect me from the indescribable agony…

-(BORDER)-

"There's no questioning otherwise, he has to be at the Black Pyramid. I mean, where else would he have gone?"

"I agree. After what happened to Leo, I wouldn't be at all surprised if he went to fight Mumm-Ra but the only thing that doesn't make sense to me is the fact that he left the Sword of Omens here. It's still here and I don't know whether to take that as good news or bad."

I can barely take part in the conversation as I perch on my seat, trying desperately to not let my fear be shown. This has never happened before and I'd always prayed that if anything like this ever did, then Lion-O would take the Sword to protect him. But the fact that he didn't and hasn't called it combined with the fact that Katz can't locate him and my sixth sense won't do so either is really terrifying me.

"If that's true then why don't we just go to rescue him? Heaven knows what they're doing to him!"

I feel the hot tears streaming down my cheeks as my friends look at me following my outburst but I know that they understand how I feel. They all know how close a bond myself and Lion-O share and that we'd do anything for each other. They know that I'd die for my mate and vice-versa.

"We can't just go rushing in without fully understanding the situation, Cheetara. I know that you want Lion-O safe but Mumm-Ra is most likely expecting us to turn up with intention to save our King and so he'd have prepared for it. We need to devise a strategic plan to-"

"Tygra, for every moment that we wait, my mate of almost twenty years is probably being tormented within an inch of his life! I don't understand how you can expect me to just sit around!"

"Cheetara, please calm down. We'll figure this out and we'll get him back safe, I promise. We just have to figure out how to do it."

I have to fight to keep my anger in check. I'm so worried about my husband that I feel like I'm bound to go crazy from it. Katzeran tries as hard as he can to keep me calm but I can tell that he's every single bit as worried and frightened as I am myself.

"Mum, don't worry. We're going to save Dad, I swear on it."

(BORDER)

Pain. Pure tortuous agony coursing across my chest. It's the only thing that I can feel when I regain consciousness and as tears sting my eyes, I look down to see mystic runes carved into my bare flesh. Remembering Lola's scream, I force myself to glance over at where the young cub is hanging and what I see makes me sick to my stomach as it feels like my blood boils in my veins from my pure rage; Lola's limp body is completely identical to my own, bearing the exact same cut, burn, and the same runes. They're torturing her, just like me and it's not fair, she's just a cub. I feel the tears hot on my cheeks as my emotions burst to the surface, overwhelming me as I fight to keep my composure.

Mumm-ra's laugh comes from behind me, startling me and bringing me out of my dazed confusion as I look up at him.

"I see you like my art work. It didn't take me long but it's by far my best piece, the way it stirs your emotion, wouldn't you agree?"

He stands beside my limp daughter, eyeing her limp form in a way that makes me want to throw up, the sadistic son of a bitch. But I can't say anything to him in retaliation thanks to the gag which is so tightly jammed into in my mouth to the point that I feel like it's going to choke me any moment. Deep down I know I will kill this bastard. I don't know how, but I'm vowing to myself now that I'm going to escape this hell and save my daughter. But that's when I notice Slythe approaching far too late for me to prepare myself.

I scream as much as I can as pain erupts down the length of my chest, hot blood running freely down my body as Mumm-ra slices me from chest to waist. Slithe appears again holding a bucket of steaming liquid, and I scream again until it feels like my lungs are going to rupture as he soaks my cut with some kind of boiling fluid that clings to my fur and skin. The burning is unlike anything that I've ever felt before, and Mumm-ra laughs hysterically as he stands back and enjoys the show. The boiling hot fluid has completely covered my chest and runs down my legs, and it literally feels like my skin is melting from the sheer heat.

"Slithe, that's enough for now. Leave him."

My body is taught in agony, and the veins on my arms straining and bulging against my skin with the torturous sensation of my pain as I struggle to catch my breath.

"So, Lion-O," Mumm-ra snarls as he approaches me "Are you ready to tell us what we want to know?"

The gag is removed from my mouth and I can feel my strength returning as the Thundrainium is taken far away from my exhausted body.

I spit at Mumm-Ra, blood soaking into his bandaged face as his face contorts into a mask of pure rage while I scream at him, anger overwhelming me.

"Go screw yourself, you fucking bastard!"

"Fine," Mumm-Ra snarls as he turns to face at my unconscious cub "Have it your way. I'll get what I want anyway; I always do. You'll see – I have my ways."

He walks over to Lola and slaps her around the face. "Time to wake up, cub! Do as I say, girl!"

Mumm-Ra roughly pulls a handful of her glossy blood-red mane, and Lola whimpers as the sting of the slap rouses her from whatever stupor she was in.

"Wha..." she groans in confusion, babbling until she can find her tongue, "Daddy, what's happening?"

"Don't worry," Mumm-Ra snarls with a touch of pure malice and hatred on his tongue, "You've got your daddy to thank for this."

I watch with pure disbelief and rage as the Ancient Demon Priest removes the dagger from inside his robes and plunges it deep into Lola's thigh; my cub's scream of agony is piercing and echoes throughout the Throne Room and just the sound of it is enough to make me want to die. The pain I feel is unbearable at her agony.

"Daddy!" my daughter cries, tears flowing down her cheeks as her ears lay back and her tail curls "What did you do?"

I feel her pain and fear in the pit of my stomach, the helpless of the situation crushing me inside and I roar with anger and hatred as Mumm-ra stabs my daughter in her other leg before repeating on both sides with increasing force. Each wound makes her scream more and I can't do anything but watch with horror as the blood pours from the wounds, streaming down her legs and pooling at her feet.

"Ok!" I roar out of pure anger, my throat hoarse from my earlier roar, "Leave her! I'll talk! I'll tell you what you need to know!"

"I thought that might get your attention, cub!"

"It's hidden in a cave, four miles east of here."

I lie through my teeth to the Demon as I look at the floor, fresh tears stinging my eyes as I think about my poor young daughter barely ten feet away from me. My poor baby can't stop crying and I'm not at all surprised – the dagger was viciously serrated and caused her immense pain.

"Thank you," Mumm-ra taunts as he paces back and forth before me, "I knew that you were going to relent sometime soon. But just to ensure that you are telling me the truth…"

He turns to face Lola.

"Your daddy's weakness has always been his family and his weak little children; I don't care for either family or children much myself. Children are like a disease that takes over your whole being and…well... all diseases have to be...purged from the body."

She screams in agony as the dagger is plunged into her throat and up through the bottom of her skull into her brain, blood spurting from the wound and her mouth and nose, killing her within seconds, and the scream that tears from my throat is so powerful that it feels like my windpipe will rupture at any moment.

"LOLA! OH SHIT NO! YOU FUCKING BASTARD! I SWEAR TO THE ANCIENT GODS, I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!"

Mumm-ra cackles wildly in reaction to my roars and screams, only driving me further and further into my state of pure rage and fury upon seeing him murdering my precious little cub. Scalding tears of pure, murderous fury stream down my cheeks as my youngest child hangs limp and lifeless; the shackles are the only thing holding her upright.

"Now that that's over, I can finally go and retrieve my new sword! ANCIENT SPIRITS OF EVIL! TRANSFORM THIS DECAYED FORM TO MUMM-RA, THE EVERLIVING!"Mumm-ra roars, and he starts his grotesque transformation into his alter-ego before flying out of the opening in the roof of the pyramid.

(BORDER)

"Katzeran?"

I turn around when I hear my Mother's voice from behind me, seeing her stood close to me with her arms crossed over her abdomen. She looks very tired and worried, but I'm not surprised because she's not been able to sleep one single bit since Dad left and it's been two days already.

"Mum, what are you still doing up? You're exhausted…"

"I should ask you the same question. But to be honest, I was trying to find your Father again but my Sixth Sense won't locate him. I can't check on Lola either and it worries me because she's not here where I can protect her and I-I-I-I-"

I immediately go to her and hug her as she hyperventilates, trying my very hardest to get her to calm down.

"Mum, everything is going to be okay, I promise. This is just a small little issue and we'll find him. I guarantee that Mumm-Ra has him."

"I hope you're right in the way of everything being fine…Your Father could be in absolute horrific danger right now and we wouldn't know. Anyway, you go and get yourself into bed, we leave at first light to find him."

"Only if you do the same."

(BORDER)

Meanwhile

I hang by my wrists, staring at my daughter's lifeless body, the pure disbelief and shock coursing through my entire being trying to force me to the edge of insanity itself. I knew Mumm-ra was evil, but I didn't know he was heartless enough to kill a young kitten in front of their own Father. He's never gone this far before and I hate myself with my whole heart. I can remember her birth, the fun we'd have and walks we'd go on. My grief overwhelms me and all I want to do in this very moment is to die; to have my coronary issues cause a fatal internal wound, but I know that I'll never get that lucky..

"Pity," he spits as he walks towards me "You could've sssaved her. You're weak, Lion-O, and that weaknesss will be your downfall!"

He then douses me with the fresh bucket of the scalding liquid, this time throwing it all over me. My skin starts to burn and sting like hell, but I couldn't care less about the pain that feels like it's eating away at my insides. Because my poor, innocent daughter is dead and it should've been me who was killed.

"I'll make sure that you all pay for what you've done! My daughter's death won't go unpunished!" I roar at Slithe, and he just stands there as he laughs, thoroughly enjoying torturing me.

"I doubt that, Thundercat. You'll be joining your ssstupid little kitten sssoon enough."

He approaches me and I start to struggle, and the relief that washes over me when the chains around my legs break is a pleasant change. I growl at Slithe as he stops to look at what's going on, and I manage to muster up enough strength to get my legs around his reptilian neck. I grip him with all my remaining strength and twist to my left as much as I can, feeling the reptile squirming and clawing me as I tighten my grip as hard as I can.

"What's wrong Slithe? Can't breathe? What a pity…"

He slumps to the ground with a thud when I release him once his struggles stop, and I realise that the acid has eaten away at my shackles. I manage to break the chains binding my wrists and race over to my daughter, my heart in my chest as I try to keep myself from slipping in the copious amounts of blood that covers the floor. I let her down from the shackles and cradle her in my arms, falling to the floor as my legs give out and all I can do in that moment is cry, in pain, rage and heartbreak

But as I hold her to my chest, she slowly crumples into ashes and only then do I realise it was nothing but one of Mumm-ra's cruel illusions, and immediately feel sick at having been manipulated so easily. Of course, how could Mumm-ra have captured her? She was safe at the lair, in bed asleep, believing that her Father will be there when she woke up on the night that I left, and she'd be at the coastal resort with her school.

The rage building inside reaches a boiling point and the screaming roar that tears from my throat shakes dust and debris loose from the ceiling, the purely animalistic instincts telling me to escape while I can, and I take my opportunity to flee while I can. I need to escape, to see my family again. The adrenaline flooding through my body pushes me into overdrive, and I manage to push the huge granite door to the dungeon open, feeling the cold breeze of decay hitting me. This is my chance.

It's now or nothing.

To Be Continued…