The Protector

XV

I'm sprawled across the glacial floor of the white container I've been confined to, exhausted and sore. There isn't a glimmer of energy left inside of me - not like there's been much for the past three hours. Tears are pent up in my eyes, my body reacting to the searing pain spreading throughout my anatomy.

Four hours apparently drags by when you're rapidly losing the remains of your sanity. Zayn's running commentary has been keeping me up to date on the passing time, his plans shared out loud to try scaring me. He's hoping to head home in the next twenty minutes, maybe leaving me to bleed out on the freezer floor.

He really wasn't kidding when he said about trying to kill me because some of the stuff he got his hands on has been excruciating. I've basically been tortured in the hopes that I'll at some point just drop and he can finish the job. His less creative methods have varied from drowning, choking, and beating with extreme methods. The more unusual ideas would have inspired Jigsaw. The amount of blood and flesh I have shed through the experience could have saved a hundred peoples lives.

I doubt there is a part of my body that isn't bruised. I can feel the tender skin around my eye; the burning ditch across my lip; the bend in the middle of my nose; the trickle of warm liquid dripping from my ears. Not to mention the fiery tingles scattered over my skin. Despite the shattered collar and bone deep rope burn, I'm not going to stop fighting. Several trenches in my limbs and gouged out organs may be enough to tire me out, but it isn't going to stop my heart thumping bravely in my chest.

My left hand is currently clutching at my stomach to prevent the intestines sliding free from the gaping hole caused by a round blade that was brought down on me. The right limb is in my hair, tugging at the strands in my scalp to drive the pain elsewhere - my rationality is falling away as my body begs for mercy.

"Had enough yet, Princess?" And through all of this, I am still unable to give in. "Stop with the ridiculous fucking pet names!" Speaking isn't only painful from the harrowing sensations that follow doing so but because of the tight metal knotted around my throat. When it was originally secured, they were attempting to cut my head off as it had been heated to an impossible temperature - it only resulted in a scorched crater.

"I guess not." Electricity shoots into my wrists, ankles and wire I model. I'm beyond what I thought would be my breaking point, all I want to do is curl up and die in a corner peacefully. I don't think my wolf will allow such an ending, he's keeping me strong.

"Come on, Lucy. Scream for me." A few whimpers are trapped beneath the metal choker. "I'm going to fucking kill you!" The number of promises I've produced about ending him are actually rather amusing.

The voltage increases. My canines sink through my tongue, the copper taste dripping down my throat as the only hydration I've obtained in hours. As I am about to howl, angry and aching, the sparks stop. My head rolls to face him, inquisitive.

"Don't worry, we'll continue in a moment. Your brother is calling. Any suggestions for what I should say?"

"That you're a bastard." My jaw clenches, sniffing up the blood. I have to hold in a hiss when he flicks it back on. The watts are starting to melt through the flesh beneath the silver - a new fact learnt, it is the best conductor for electricity.

Black smoke from my cooking meats keeps filling my lungs. Traces of vomit sit on the base of my tongue. I'm proud I've survived this long and I;m fairly certain that death isn't in the cards for me - it's the will to live that's missing from the deck.

I've been shirtless the whole time and my jeans came off at some point to bandage my upper arms. Meaning, almost all of my skin has been exposed to the lashes I received from an array of tools - I can already see the scars forming. The fast healing is more focused on keeping me alive than my appearance, not that I mind since most wounds are already healed over with simmering anguish beneath.