Insane? Says who?

Chapter Three:

Allen jerked with all his might against his captors, to no avail. No matter how much he struggled, how hard he pulled, their grip was always stronger. His mind was clouded with desperation, fear and panic. A voice pierced through his haze and brought him back to reality.

"Allen! Use Crown Clown!"

He gasped with realization, not having noticed that option yet. He closed his eyes and called out Crown Clown's name. A glow enveloped his left shoulder, the cross on his hand glowing as well. The chains around his wrists were shattered by its power. Allen felt Crown Clown's cloak rest on his shoulders and felt the metal mask slip over his face. He managed to break free from his shocked captors, using that slight lull to dash away.

Not even seconds later, he heard the Finders chase after him, shouting and stomping. Allen powered all of his energy into his feet, trying to go faster. He dashed in and out of hallways, he himself not even realizing where he was going. Finally, minutes later, he heard their footsteps slowly fade away. He ran for a minute or two longer, giving himself as much of a lead as he could. He eventually stopped and collapsed against the wall, gasping for breath.

"Allen, you need to keep moving." Crown Clown murmured.

"I know, just...give me a moment to rest."

Even as Crown Clown shouted in his head, Allen felt blackness envelop his vision. His head was pounding viciously along with his heartbeat and all the pain from his ribs had returned. A pained whine left his lips as he leaned heavily against the wall. His silver eyes were squinched shut and contorted with pain. His head hurt so much, dulling the panic he should've felt when footsteps and shouts became closer.

-0-

Allen woke once more with a groan. He cracked his sleep-crusted eyes opened, whining and closing them again as harsh light blinded him. He felt himself lying down on the floor and quickly sat up. His hands and feet were chained once again. Once his eyes got used to the light, he opened them once more and looked around his environment. He was in a white room, with white walls, a white ceiling, white everything. He felt a burn to change something from the stark whiteness of the room.

Suddenly, he heard the creak of a door. A spot he hadn't noticed before opened up and two people walked in. They both wore suits and gasmasks over ther faces, so he couldn't tell who they were. The last one wheeled in a metal table, though Allen couldn't see what was on it. Even so, the table sent shivers of dread through him.

The one without the table walked briskly over to him and yanked Allen up by his hair. The albino yelped in pain as he was harshly dragged to the center of the room. The pair hooked his wrists up to pure white chains (just like that whole damn room) that extended from the walls. One of them squatted down in front of him until they were face-to-face. Allen could feel the other one's prescence behind him along with the crinkling of some bag. As the albino looked into the man's emotionless mask, he felt crushing dread surge through him.

"We'll give you this chance now, Noah." The man's voice was warped and odd. "Tell us everything you know about the Earl and his clan and we'll let you go."

"I don't know anything," Allen sighed. "And I'm not a Noah."

The man in front of him motioned to the one behind him. Allen gasped out harshly as pain exploded across his back. He heard a snap behind him and realized that the guy behind him hand a whip. Whatever it was, it wasn't your normal one. He could feel the burning sting, blood dripping down his torso to the floor. He breathed in rapidly, trying to regain his breath as the man stared at him coldly.

"I'll ask you once more: Tell us what you know."

"I said," Allen stopped to draw in a breath. "I don't know."

That breath was knocked right back out of him as the whip slapped against his back once more. Allen couldn't help but let out a yelp of pain. The man in front of him grabbed his chin and yanked his head up to face him.

"This is your last chance, Noah."

"I don't know anything!"

He heard a small sigh from the man, who then released his chin and stood. He waved to the other man and walked to the door. Allen watched with pleading eyes as he opened the door and stepped out. Just before he closed it, he turned to the man.

"Bring out the water. Tell me if he says anything more."

Allen heard a non-committal grunt from behind him, and with that the man left. He cried out as the whip exploded against his back once more. He heard the man shuffle away and grab something, then drag it back. The albino could barely hear over his panting. Suddenly, something splashed against his back. A strangled scream left his mouth as the already intense stinging was then multiplied by what seemed thousands.

"I'm going to have fun with this, Noah scum." Allen's face paled as he heard the grin in the man's voice.

And with that, the torture continued.

-0-

Weeks went by like that. He'd sit in the freezing white room, having nothing to look at but that damned white. Even the blood spilled by his torture was quickly cleaned. They'd leave him, simmering and poorly bandaged, waiting for even days on end for when the pair would come back. It would always be the same questions. 'What do you know about the Earl?', 'What are the Noah's plans' or 'Where are the Noah located?'

Everytime he failed to answer they'd punish him. To make the torture even worse, there was never a set order the tools were used in. One day the whip, where they'd douse him in freezing saltwater to elongate the pain. The next day simply solitude, leaving him in tense wait of when the next session would be. Sometimes over a couple days they would randomly set people in who would kick and beat him for up to hours on end. Other times they'd set impossible challenges, torture if he did it, torture if he didn't.

He could tell the wear it was putting on him, not just physically.

It was getting to the point where not even Crown Clown or Nea could help ease the solitude. He'd sit in the corner, long since having abandoned his bed, listening to them talk and talk, desperately trying to get something out of him. He had nothing to pass his time, and the hours felt like days. The only thing that brought him any happiness was that he could feel his life slipping away.

The food wasn't nearly enough to supplement his Innocence. Crown Clown tried not to draw on him too much, but even that was detrimental to Allen. He was slowly getting thinner and paler from the lack of nutrients, his hair color even dulling. He didn't have anything to tie him to his life.

He remembered earlier, at the beginning, at how he tried to fool himself into believing his friends actually cared. He remembered the hours spent in agony when he came to the crushing realization. If they cared, then where were they? Why didn't they try to save him? Why didn't they rescue him from this absolute hell?

So he'd become numb. He shut himself off to his old friendships, not allowing them to cause him any pain. Strangely, he almost faltered with Lavi. He brushed it off as him being one of his closest friends, though Crown Clown and Nea stayed oddly quiet.

His last thought before he shut them off was, Maybe...

it's...better like this...