Cynic (Book 1 of Eioneus)

The Torture

"He was a weak man, the sort who needed to crush a woman in order to feel powerful."
~ John Mark Green

a/n I updated the chapter The Interrogation to change their meeting around differently, if this chapter confuses you, please go back to that chapter!

♀ Annabelle ♀

He let these people take me. He let them hurt me. And I didn't know why. I don't know why someone I trusted would do this. I didn't know why Leon wanted to let me be hurt.

I had been in this compound for years. The only way I knew how time was passing was when I got my period. I had been beaten and degraded for 18 months. Every morning, a man would come into my cell to give me some food that the scientists were testing different poisons on. Normally, it would cause me to become nauseous and weaker than I already was, but I had to eat if I had any hope of escaping. Then, after about half an hour, he would return to take the tray and bring me to the experiment room. Where I was beaten, whipped, chained, and left in isolation, which caused my mind to fall into hysteria.

When I was alone in my room, my mind would consume me and I would curl myself into a ball in the corner and rock back and forth for hours on end. I was wearing the same clothes from when I arrived, which were now only bloody rags that kept my body from view of Levi, my main assailant.  I would see him at least once a day, more if I was 'bad'. I knew things were going to be a lot worse if I saw his face more than once in a day. I had become mute from all of his beatings, which first occurred when I fought back and yelled at him. He had gone into a rage and almost killed me that day. Scared of what might happen, I decided to stay silent and obey his every word as to not provoke him.

I let a scream come out of my mouth as the whip comes down upon me again at the same time Levi kicks me in the stomach. I had been here for longer than usual, Levi was mad because his girlfriend broke up with him after she found out his job. He blamed me because I was his only subject, or 'specimen' as he liked to say. I was preparing for the next blow when I hear sirens sound from the hallways, causing red lights to flash, blinding me. Levi and his assistant curse before running out of the room, assuming I'm too beat up to move. Which turned out to be true after I struggled for a few moments as pain flooded my body at any movement.

Yelling sounds from down the hallway as I watch a group of guards race by. After I hear them turn the corner and continue down the long hallway, I hear a single pair of footsteps coming. I begin to panic, thinking it might be Levi coming back to retrieve me. I begin to whimper out of pain and fear as the footsteps get closer. They stop right before my room, before I see a tall man run towards me. He takes in my bleeding form on the floor before coming towards me and cradling my body to his chest. His hands touch the marks that are on my back, and I begin to struggle, believing he was here to hurt me and because he was causing me more pain.

I hear a shout echo down the hallway as someone screams, "I found him! He's in the girl's room!" I become more confused and scared as the man holding me begins to growl. I think he's mad at me for being so annoying with my crying and whimpering so I stop. The only sounds are my tiny sniffles and his low growling. He seems to become more angry and growls out, "Let us go. Now." followed by, "I'll let you know what you want as long as you don't hurt her."

Her? I'm the only girl in this entire facility and I don't know why he would care about me at all. No one ever has. I turn my head to see who he is talking to and recognize a man who tried to rape me before. The man cocks his gun and holds it towards us before saying, "You don't get to make the rules here." I hear a gunshot ring throughout the room and lose sight of the bullet before I feel a terrible pain in my shoulder. The pain from my back, stomach and shoulder become too much and I can't help but sob from the agony.

The man who is holding me tightens his grip as his eyes change from normal to pure black. He sets me on the floor before running forward and attacking the men who tried to take us. He picks one up and slams him into the floor so hard it cracks as he grips another and tosses him into the wall. He picks them out one by one until no one was left standing except for him. He stalks towards me and crouches in front of my cowering form. I think he's going to hurt me and try to scoot back only to meet the wall.

He reaches towards me and I flinch back as much as I can and I see hurt flash through his eyes. "I would never hurt you princess. You are my life now, the only thing I'm living for." He whispers and tries to touch my cheek. I almost let him before I see Levi walk up behind him and my eyes widen in panic. He sees my panic and begins to turn around, but is knocked out by Levi, who then walks towards me and slams my head into the metal wall. The room begins to spin and feel myself lose consciousness.

I wake up to find myself bound to a metal chair in a white room. I try to struggle and get myself out before I still hearing a voice come over the loudspeaker. "Hello there Annabelle. It seems that the new subject has taken a liking to you and we need to get information out of him. So, we decided that the best way to do this is to hurt you if he doesn't answer our questions." His voice fades out as a divider is lifted and I find myself staring at the man who claimed he wouldn't hurt me. When his eyes meet mine he begins to panic as Levi walks into the room with a knife. I see an elderly man walk into his room and his eyes grow more and more angry as the man explains the situation. Tears well in my eyes as Levi holds a knife up to my throat, causing the unnamed man to begin to rage even more. I feel Levi lean over and whisper into my ear, "His name is Tartarus."

I see the elderly man pull out a clipboard and begin to ask Tartarus a question. When he finishes, Tartarus looks into my teary eyes. I shake my head, not wanting him to get anyone into any trouble. His mouth opens and I hear his voice flow in through the speakers. This answer could mean my death, or even something worse.