Trigger Warnings for sexual abuse, sadism and torture in the first section.
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The clock outside Alana's room had struck noon ten minutes ago and she knew what that meant. Every other Tuesday at 12:15 exactly Charles Panzram would march into her room to inflict his savagery upon her. According to Price, Panzram had been a regular at the House since long before he'd been dragged into working there and hopped between victims. He never fucked them, just inflicted as much pain as possible in the time he'd paid for and satisfied himself that way. After experiencing it every other week, Alana had started to think a lot of his rage boiled down to impotence but she'd never risk saying the word aloud.
She closed her eyes and took a calming breath as her last few minutes waned in an attempt to mentally prepare herself. How Beverly and Brian had endured this evil for years but retained a sense of humor and ability to hope, Alana didn't know. Then there was Abigail, the girl had only just turned fourteen and been there since she'd presented.
Heavy footsteps jolted her out of her thoughts then, only Panzram walked that loudly. She'd been strong once, she'd stood up for other omegas and encouraged them to make something of their lives. Omegas had made great strides in the last hundred years, they could vote and have real careers, but people like Charles Panzram saw omegas as nothing but a toy, something less than human. Instead of standing up for herself now she cowered and prayed he'd lost interest in her. Of course he'd not lost interest, those heavy footsteps stopped outside her door and one of the beta guards let the sadistic alpha inside. In his hand was his trademark case, the box of savagery he wasn't ever without.
Alana squeezed her eyes shut as though it would somehow shield her, but Panzram busted right through her childish defences with a violent slap to her face, a slap so hard Alana honestly thought she'd lost a tooth for a second.
"Open your eyes." He commanded with a hiss of venom and no room for argument. When they instinctively screwed up tighter, he slammed her head into the wall beside her bed with such force Beverly likely heard it through the wall. "Open your fuckin' eyes!"
They did so just in time to see him grab her by the ankles and haul her flat on the bed then flip her over onto her stomach. He chuckled at the way she coughed from the air being forced from her lungs. Panzram sat on her back so he could open his case and fish about inside; things popped that shouldn't have, pain surged up her spine into her skull and breathing grew increasingly difficult like breathing through a wet cloth.
"That's a good little bitch." He mused as he pulled out a length of old rope from the case. Rope. He could have used handcuffs or any number of other things but Panzram always tied her to the bed by her wrists and ankles with that accursed rope just to see the burns form, to enjoy the way it ripped into any flesh it found. "Hope you been practising them screams for me. You always make the best ones."
Bound and at the mercy of a man incapable of mercy, Alana could do nothing to stop her attacker yanking her panties down and shoving up the pink tank top she wore. Totally exposed to him, she could do little but wait. He'd taken any chance she had to fight and begging was exactly what he wanted to hear. Alana had spent the majority of her life proving that being an omega didn't make her incapable, then Mason had stolen her from her home and alphas like Panzram had forced her to be a victim. 'Maybe omegas are weak after all' her mind pondered sorrowfully.
From that damn case came a riding crop of black and blue, new and clearly bought specifically with Alana in mind. She'd not seen it, had her face buried in the mattress, but she could hear the swishes of air from his practice swings; a taunt for what was to come. He abruptly stood then, the release of pressure on her back almost more painful than when he'd first sat. Alana wheezed and gasped, air burning her lungs despite how much she needed it; a cruel mercy. Before the pain in her lungs or back could even begin to think of easing, that riding crop came down on Alana's pale legs with a snap that echoed sadistically off the walls. She yelped as tears began to well in her eyes. Delighted by the red welt, Panzram struck her again and again and again on her thighs until those tears fell and screams were muffled by nothing but the mattress.
"Say you like it!" He ordered with another blow, this time to that sensitive place between her legs. "Admit it, whore! Say it!"
She didn't! She didn't like it, she didn't want it, she didn't consent to it. Panzram couldn't have cared less though, for he couldn't have cared less if Alana did enjoy the abuse or not, he simply wanted to control her in every way he could. When Alana bit her tongue and tried to retain some semblance of control over her own thoughts and feelings, Panzram grabbed her by her hair and yanked her head back so far that her spine arched into a painful crescent off the bed; rope dug into her wrists with an even more brutal bite.
"I-"
"All omegas are disgustin' lil bitches. I'm gettin' you off! You should be fuckin' thankin' me! Admit you want it!"
Refusing was pointless, it would only make the torture worse, so Alana gave in knowing she truly had no control over her own life any longer.
"I like -" The riding crop came down again causing her to scream. "I like it. D- do it again."
"Try bein' fuckin' polite!"
Alana sobbed through the pain; back, thighs, backside and most intimate place bruised by his spite and violence. She tried to tell him what he wanted to hear, stopped worrying about retaining a right to herself and instead focused on getting through it as quickly as possible. Eventually something inside Alana drifted away into a numbness, she knew what was happening but no longer felt part of it, her mind dissociated as a last-ditch effort to protect her. Repeatedly she told him she enjoyed what he was doing, an action made by auto-pilot while Alana's consciousness drifted away as best it could.
~X~
Gathered in Hannibal's study in the early hours of the morning were Price and the alpha himself. They'd been meeting sporadically over the last couple of days to prepare as best they could for infiltrating the House. There wouldn't be any sirens or police, everything would be down to the them themselves. Hannibal would do what had to be done – Price preferred not to get any more details on that – while he and Barney would manage everything on the inside. Other than them and the omegas, everyone was fair game to Hannibal. Though he knew he was helping to plan the deaths of numerous people, the alphas were all savages and the beta guards were all as bad as Gideon; they just wanted paying and spared no real thought to the omegas even if they didn't actively harm them.
"The main door has a buzzer and can only be opened from the reception desk which is always manned. Us guards used to have keys to open it but after Will escaped only Jack has a master key. My keys open the rooms on the floor I'm responsible for and the security gates on the stairs. I can't get into the basement where Gideon's so-called doctor's office is or up to Jack's office. With Mason and Cordell gone it's easier to get to the reception desk without looking suspicious but it won't be easy. There's no other way in, the House is like a fortress."
"Getting me into the building is the main thing. I'll have to deal with the alphas outside first so you just go about your routine as usual until I've finished."
The study door opened then and Will entered looking tired and mildly annoyed. Hannibal instantly showed concern by taking Will into his arms and kissing him softly while Price kept his eyes on the map he'd managed to make.
"Is something wrong, Will?"
"Don't suppose you moved Buckley or know where he is?" Buckley was the stag toy Will had bought for Claude shortly after they'd brought the pups home, a toy Claude had rather taken to. "Claude is demanding him and is crying because I can't find him."
Hannibal shook his head. "I'm sorry, Will, I've not seen the stag. Have you tried the living room? Is Claude all right?"
"He's fine, just loud."
"Well, that is most rude."
Will breathed out a laugh. "I told him that but he doesn't seem to realize it's one of Papa's no-nos just yet. I'll look in the living room, maybe Winston wandered off with it again. I love you." They shared a kiss then Will made for the door. "Sorry to interrupt, Jimmy."
Hannibal watched the door close before he turned his attention back to Price and the things set out on his desk.
"I still can't get over how grown up he looks now, or that you have twins. I mean, I remember him staring off at walls blankly, and now he's so animated and happy. I want Brian to be like that."
"The sooner we complete our plans, the sooner you can help him heal."
That got a nod from the beta, they were running out of time after all. Price saw how dangerous Hannibal really was, but Will trusted him whole-heartedly so he would as well.
"This library you have listed on your map," began Hannibal with a gesture. Sure, the map was nothing compared to anything Hannibal would have drawn, but Price had done his best and it was more than Hannibal had before. "Are there any cameras in there?"
"None. The cameras are only in the stairwell and they're purposely placed just to keep track of how many people are on which floor. If there were cameras recording everybody's face Jack would have gone out of business years ago. Security may look light to the casual observer, but it's a hierarchy; the betas keep the omegas in and the alphas keep the betas from getting any ideas, then Jack sits at the top making no secret of the fact he'll kill anyone who puts a foot out of line."
"And Mason Verger?"
"He's been away collecting new omegas for Jack's business partner, he has been randomly popping in though. I think it's to remind us none of us are safe. Barney says he'll cover the cameras, he takes food around to some of the other guards sometimes so it shouldn't be too hard to convince whoever is on the cameras to take a break."
"How many beta guards are there?"
"Including me and Barney, I'd say about twenty-five. Most of those are on the main floor, the rest rotate. Gideon doesn't often leave his basement but he's a violent one when he wants to be.
Hannibal nodded. "Where is the power generator?"
"In the basement behind a locked gate only Jack and Gideon have keys to. In my opinion it's a waste of time trying to shut that down."
"I agree, it would also alert all the guards. If your friend is watching the cameras then we can remain undetected longer. I simply wished to know if they could use a power cut to attempt trapping me."
"With the way the security gates are set up, cutting the power would probably trap them as much as you."
Hannibal hummed and collected all the notes and map into a neat stack which he slipped into his desk drawer before he turned to a slightly confused Price.
"It's time you returned home and got some sleep, Jimmy. You are clearly tired and need to be well-rested for what we are going to do. Should harm come to you Will would never forgive me. I must also check on my pups." He gestured to the study door. "I'll escort you out."
"That's the nicest dismissal I've ever had." Price chuckled. "Are you sure we shouldn't talk about this more?"
Hannibal didn't slow his movements through the house as he led Price to the front door. "Not tonight. You need rest as I said and it is quite a drive home still."
With a nod, Price obeyed and left to find his own bed while Hannibal locked the front door, turned off all the lights and made his way upstairs to see if the stag had been found.
