"Play with me." I whispered, almost to myself. "Take my soul."
"You don't have to do this, you know." Andrei's voice was back to normal.
"Please... make me Feel..." Alive, I guess is the word that I couldn't find.
A hint of creepiness appeared again, even though quite subtle. For now.
"Why, Sandy. Why do you keep wanting to get hurt."
"You know why."
My
heart started racing as he drew a knife, let it glimmer before my
eyes, softly letting its edge rest against my throat. "Yes, Sandy." He
was back to his hair-raising murmur. "You like this, don't you? ... You
want yet another test. But one of these days, this is going to get out
of hand and you'll get hurt."
"I'd trust you with my life, Andrei..." I managed to mutter.
He
sighed. He couldn't really be trusted, could he? I got a chill when his
breath hit my neck. "So this is your version of 'let's see what a
bullhead I can be'. Fine. I'll play along. I'll make you stop me."
I
fell to my knees as he freed me from his vice-like hug. I couldn't help
staring at him. He too was soiled with blood. He walked to the girl and
tugged at her, ripping her skin from the hooks, then coldly threw her
aside as if she was a broken doll.
"Get up." He was dead serious now.
I complied, visibly shaking.
He
looked into my eyes, and yet again I saw the Void, but there was
something else. I also saw bitterness. "Stop this, Sandy. Stop it before
you get hurt."
I couldn't help but to smile. Yes, I would get hurt. So what. There was no other way forward. "I won't."
He
sighed again a second before he harshly turned me around, grabbed my
hands behind my back, the too thin rope digging into my wrists. "You
think you're more hard-headed than me, Sandy? ... News flash, you're
not. But, if you want to go through hell, I won't stop you." His voice
was low, almost a whisper, but it was cold as ice, not the usual
grinning murmur. It made my heart skip a beat.
He
brutally dragged me below the hanging hooks. Then untied the big rope,
lowering them. "You're going up. Or, you can stop this now. Your call."
"Do it."
He
circled me, took the knife to my chin so I had to look into his eyes.
The Void, again. His creepy grin, his ghostly murmur. "Ask for it." No
matter how many times he dismissed the idea as silly, I had the feeling that
he was indeed the Devil himself.
"I already told you to do it."
I smiled. The direness of the situation gave me strength. I knew I
couldn't win, but I would put up a good fight. I'd give him that.
"Words, Sandy. Say it."
Shit. He sure knew how to disarm me. "Hook me up." My voice trembled.
He
ripped a hole in the back of my shirt, exposing the skin below so he
could put the hooks in there. "This is going to hurt, Sandy. Ready?" He
didn't wait for an answer.
I felt a sharp pain as the first of the hooks pierced my back - grabbing much more skin than I had grabbed from the girl.
He
noticed the deep breath I had to take, the lowest whimper I didn't
manage to hide. "Told you this was going to be Hell, Sandy." His voice
was now calm, but not without a hint of bitterness just below the
surface. "I'm not gonna repeat myself over and over. You want to stop,
you say it."
I felt his pinch on the other side of my
back. Again, much thicker. I clenched my teeth, getting ready for the
sharp wave of pain. But it didn't come. Not sharp, anyway. I just felt
the tip of a needle, slowly but surely applying more pressure. It soon
hurt, badly. I clenched my jaws tighter, trying not to wince too hard. I had been through worse. Or so I
thought. The pain kept increasing. He was doing this one slowly. Soon I
started whimpering.
Eventually, the hook went through. I was in tears by then. I may or may not have screamed a couple times.
Again, he made me look into his eyes. That grin again. "You ready for this?"
And I knew. I had to. Failing him wasn't an option. "Do it!"
Oh,
boy. He tugged at the rope. In a split second, I was in the air,
suspended only by two huge meat hooks pierced through my skin. Adrenaline
was nowhere to be seen, the pain so overwhelming that I let out a
scream.
The rope still in his hand, he looked at me. "Stop this, Sandy. It will only get worse."
But
I had this. The worst of pain is always the first wave. If you can
stand it... the body soon shuts up. "Show me." My voice was now
completely calm. Yes, I had this. Or so I thought.
"You're
nuts, Sandy." He tied the rope, and violently cut the rest of my
clothes, nicking my flesh on purpose a couple times in the process.
"Come on! Show me your worst!" I said, way too sure of myself.
His
eyes gleamed, full of cruelty. And then, out of the blue, he slapped me
in the face. Hard. Taking all my determination away. His voice was
ice-cold. "You really think you can win at this game, boy?"
He
went to the cabinet without waiting for an answer. I froze when he
turned around and I saw what he had picked up. His grin unfaltering, his
eyes... I can't even describe them anymore. My heart started racing.
But
I didn't knew how bad it was 'till I felt the first lash of the short
whip on my skin, as the metallic blades attached to the tip hacked their way into
my skin. I let out a scream.
"Stop it already, Sandy." His voice was steady as a rock, his grin, his eyes...
I could not fail him. "I won't."
"Your call, then."
Next
lash was to the face, one of the blades almost hitting my eye. I winced
at it, screamed again in pain. And again, and again, over and over as
the lashes kept coming, pain overwhelming my senses, I could only see
his eyes anymore, glistening, deadly, making me realize he would not
hesitate to kill me.
But not today. That day, I mean.
Eventually, he stopped. Ready to move on to the next thing, his eyes
said just that much. "Sandy, stop it already, dammit. You'll get hurt."
Silence.
I couldn't even hear his words anymore, I couldn't answer. I didn't
even realize he had tied my feet too. I just felt his hug. His foot
between mine. And the sharp pain that burned at my back as he climbed
onto me, as the hooks now supported not only all my weight but also his.
It was too much, even for me. And I blacked out.
