Operation Opossum

Goodbye Prisoner

         Screams filled the room to the very speck, not one area silent, quiet only but a hopeless thought. Ryan couldn’t help but wince, shivering from the cold coming from inside his head.

         “Uncle Wesley-“ she whispered menacingly. His cries filled the spaces between her words. “It really hurts me to see you this way… But I won’t hold back unless you tell me you’re willing to give me the locations.”

         Her voice was like a chilling hypnotic tone, the kind you knew you should never listen to, but just can’t help yourself when you do, slipping through his mind as she spoke, and he could tell Wesley was going out of his mind.

         Skyler had sliced a nice straight down Wesley’s chest, revealing at least hundreds of scars covering his chest. The scars drew a picture of his pain, and Ryan felt himself step a little closer towards them, as if he wanted to get a closer look, maybe to reach out and poke them, to see if they were even real. He couldn’t believe his eyes, watching as if in a trance as Skyler traced each scar with the very tip of her blade, gently adding more and more pressure in random areas, leaving small poke marks on the ends of the scars’ paths. Little specks of blood would leak out here and there, but never enough to count as more than a nose bleed.

         Wesley’s eyes had been tied shut with a piece of his own shirt she’d ripped off from the edge, making it impossible for Wesley to be able to tell what she was doing to his sensitive and red previous wounds. They looked at least a few years old, colored veins leaning against the skin behind the scabs and marks.

         The poor man was going insane as she tortured him with the thoughts of what she could’ve possibly been capable of with him in such a vulnerable state.

         “Oh, look!” she seemed to squeal. “I remember this one over here. Didn’t Alex give you this one?”

         Wesley froze, his body completely still, no longer shaking uncontrollably like a few seconds ago.

         “No,” he said, barely more than a whisper. “Please don’t.”

         “It is, isn’t it?” She cooed, eyes glinting.  The blade in her hand seemed to glow, as she carefully began slowly tracing one particular scar that ran along his entire chest, curving upwards from the center of the space. Looking closely, Ryan saw that it wasn’t a loop, but the letter ‘A’, in three whole slashes.

         At the top of the ‘A’, Skyler let the tip of the blade sit there, centimeters away from Wesley’s heart.

         “NO!” Wesley began to screech, panicking in his bonds of cloth that’d been tied behind his back. He struggled to break free, screams turning more desperate. But Skyler seemed to be ignoring him, her eyes trained intently on the blade in her hands. She clenched her teeth, fists gripping the handle of the knife.

         Was she really going to do it?

         No way- she couldn’t! He was her uncle…wasn’t he?

         He could tell at that moment, that in fact, she was about to kill her own uncle.

         For once, since they’d first gotten there, Ryan chose that moment to speak up. It was too much to have to watch.

         “Stop!”

         Skyler didn’t move, eyes snapping up to meet his. She was shaking, weak in the knees.

         “Ryan?”

It was as if she’d been confused, like she’d forgotten he was still there. The blade shook in her hands, and she quickly hid it away from sight, somewhere in her back.

“W-why’d you…” Her eyes became clear, and then began to harden. Ryan straightened his back, showing how tall he was compared to her. “You…you stopped me?”

“I’ll tell you!”

Both their heads whipped back towards Wesley, eyes wide. Skyler was the first to recover.

“Very good,” she said, lips curling into a sudden smile, posture completely transformed into one of complete innocence, her hand behind her back, her face bright, and shoulders relaxed. It scared Ryan how fast she could change.

Wesley looked down at his chest, relief washing over him, as he collapsed against the bars.

“They only had about seven,” he said, trembling. Skyler merely nodded, eyes staring blankly at his head, smile still in tact, eyes so large- as if like a doe. That’s it- doe eyes little Skyler.

Ryan snorted, more like a baby carnivore…A wolf cub? He couldn’t decide, Skyler was too much of a different species of animal all together. Definitely not completely human.

“…might be harder to find on the coast…”

Ryan blinked, breaking out of his thoughts as Skyler nodded once more, then stepped closer to her Uncle. Wesley finally looked up, meeting her eyes with his own maddened gaze, as Skyler brought her hands to the bars.

“Do you want to leave this place, Uncle Wes?” She asked, both hands gripping the bars on either side of his face. He leaned back, away from her, as she spoke.

“What?” he responded, eyes widening. “Are you- is this?....You’re…” His face became hopeful, crawling from his knees closer to the bars. “Are you giving me the chance?”

“You and I both know you could’ve left whenever you pleased,” she said, voice matter-of-fact. “The only reason you stayed is because you knew what I would do when I found out. But since you were so cooperative….” Wesley shivered. “I’m willing to give you a little break, Unc.”

Wesley’ face lifted, expression completely ecstatic.

“Thank y-“

“But remember who you answer to as you get back into those nasty habit of yours, yes?”

Wesley looked back at Ryan then to Skyler.

“Yes.”

Skyler turned, not bothering to wait for Ryan.

“Goodbye Uncle Wesley.”

Ryan glanced back at the man before quickly following Skyler back downstairs.

“Goodbye, Skyler…”