"Breaking Point" - Part 2

Chapter 3

MFRTrap grinned ear-to-ear before letting out a low chuckle, "It's so nice when one shows up on time, when they're called, wouldn't you all agree? At least one member of your disgusting band of morons understands that,".

    Very few members of the group were paying the young woman much attention, too busy deciding whether or not to run to their older friend or let them come over on their own terms.

    "Red, is that you?!" Alis exclaimed, hurriedly getting to their feet, "What happened, man, are you ok?! We need to get out of here, come on!". Alis grabbed their hand, trying to ignore how cold it was, and tried to pull them towards the others; but Red barely moved. Due to the force of the pull, they started to fall forward, catching themselves in a step or two and coming right into the light of the room. Several members of the group let out an uncontrollable gasp and confused, concerned whispers began to arise.

    "Come on, Red, what are you waiting for?! What's the...problem...?".

    Alis had turned around to see why Red wasn't moving, assuming they had an injured leg, but they were met with a much more gruesome, unsettling sight. MFRTrap let out a small snicker, but it was mere background noise. The group was preoccupied with wondering how the hell Red was standing on their own two feet, breathing, and not in complete agony. They were white as a sheet, making them look sickly, especially in the face; their legs and body in general looked weak, likely as a result of a lack of food and water. There were slight dark circles beneath their heavy eyelids, a consequence of little to no sleep (at least, sleep that was not painfully induced by MFRTrap or a result of injury). Their hair was still braided, but it was noticeably tangled, and their black, red, and gray clothing were mildly disheveled and bloodied from wounds the group couldn't pinpoint at the present time. Red had a variety of colorful bruises on their fingers, wrists, arms, neck, and head that stuck out in the worst way against their pale complexion, as well as some red-raw, irritated skin; the others made the assumption this was all from the multitude of restraints that covered that wooden chair. In the crook of their right arm was an irritated vein and its resulting wound. On the top of the left side of their head was a small red stump of bone where their horn had previously been, and the condition of said stump certainly explained the smell of charred flesh in the room. The blood that clearly seeped out of the dismembered bone got caught in the surrounding hair before it poured in rivers downwards from there. The whole left side of Red's face and ear was coated in a thick layer of semi-dried, crimson-colored blood, and the right side had some small splatters as well. The red substance was only broken up by very thin, glistening tear streaks stemming from each eye and running down the length of the corresponding cheek. They were missing their black face mask, revealing a very busted lower lip; of all their injuries, this one looked the freshest. Their eyelids looked like rocks as Red seemed barely able to keep them half open.

    Alis dropped their hand in shock, slowly backing away after making eye contact with the half-demon.

    Their traditional grayish-blue irises had been replaced with a toxic purple color that mirrored MFRTrap's, not to mention their scalaras were incredibly bloodshot.

    "Red...oh, buddy, how...what happened...?". Alis eventually backed right back up into Apple and Seth, uncertainty and fear written across their features. Red looked like a ticking time-bomb that was either going to explode on the group or knock on Death's door; they did little else but stare at the group with little to no emotion behind their eyes. MFRTrap strutted right over to the heavy metal door, closing with a hard clang and locking it immediately, then proceeded to plant herself at Red's side with a smile that never left her face. Despite already being uncomfortably close, she reached out and placed a hand on their shoulder, seeming to squeeze it.