King of Stars Volume 1 (An interstellar ATEEZ Hongjoong fanfiction)

Part Eight Point Five: In Which Nothing Happens to 10-24

"Master Commander Arcturus," The soldier addressed his superior. He gave a swift salute and stood at attention. The two of them stood alone outside of a high security cell. It was arranged this way but he still didn't have much time. He could feel the voices growing restless and there was only one way to make them go quiet. Arcturus waved his hand dismissively, no time for formalities, and peered through the one way glass at the prisoner shackled within.

Dark hair was plastered in front of his eyes hiding his features from view but the commander knew his face well. The military database was filled with countless reports of him and the other seven thugs he had run wild with. The ships they had seized, the valuables they plundered, and the people they wronged were all well documented. But clues to any of the crew member's pasts remained shrouded in mystery. Especially that of the notorious Star King.

This fact pained the commander to no end.

Any time he grew closer to the answers he so desperately sought they disappeared like smoke through his hands. The voices that kept Arcturus company hated that too.

But in the short time this mysterious prisoner had been under his his watch he had gotten to know him better.

Well at least the sounds of his screams.

Arcturus had begun to look forward to their time together. In fact, it was becoming the most enjoyable part of his day. The order to surrender his ship came with no explanation and from high above him. The more he thought about how he had given his ship to that rotten bastard Hongjoong and his lackeys the worse the headaches became.

The prisoner in front of him was young, a boy really, but proven to be a formidable fighter. He took nearly ten soldiers out before they were able to subdue him, and that only happened because they discovered his weakness by accident.

Water.

Master Commander Arcturus had a hard time maintaining his composure when he thought of the pleasure this revelation had brought him. He put this knowledge to good use in his attempts to squeeze him for information.

That's right, Arcturus thought. I'm just doing my duty interrogating him nothing more.

"I'm growing really bored of your silence," Arcturus said sitting in a chair in front of the glass. "and you know what happens when I get bored don't you?" He crossed his legs and leaned back. He winced as that familiar pain reared it's vicious head. "Let's pick up from where we left off last time..."

The prisoner gritted his teeth and looked up into the glass, much like a caged animal baring it's fangs at it's captor.

"Eat shit." He spat. The chains binding his arms behind his back and his feet to the floor rattled ever so slightly.

There, Arcturus thought his face stretched into a grin. You put on a brave face but even you can't stop yourself from shaking.

"When Hongjoong finds me and I get out of here—"

           "If." Arcturus corrected. The voices were now raging with impatience. "If you are ever found."

"When I'm found you're going to wish you killed me, you're going to beg me to make it stop," The prisoner sat up straighter, no longer shaking. "But I'll take my time and only when you've experienced as much pain as you could possibly bear," He whispered dangerously. "That's when I'll end you."

       Arcturus glared at the prisoner. The voices were now screaming inside to make him suffer. Arcturus rubbed his temples his brain now ringing raw.

What kind of Master Commander hands over his ship to pirates?

He made you look like a fool.

No one fears you because you are weak.

I bet the Star King is somewhere laughing over your ineptitude.

          He growled and stood up knocking the chair he was sitting in over. If he couldn't have the Star King then he would make the prisoner suffer in his place. He whirled to face the guard his face ruddy with anger."Spray him down!" He ordered spittle covering his lips. 

        The prisoner's facade slipped for a moment and feared flitted across his features. His eyes flew to the torture devices that surrounded him. The soldier obediently grabbed the wheel and cranked open the flow. Overhead pipes groaned as water coursed through them into the firehoses that lined the ceiling and walls of the cell. Water erupted from the hose heads and sprayed him mercilessly.

           Instantly the prisoner tumbled to the ground hitting the tiles with a smack. He bit down on his lip to stifle the screams that threatened to claw their way out of his throat. Convulsing violently on the floor, body straining against the chains.

                     "Do you like this scalding hot water better? Or would you prefer the ice bath?" The commander had both of his hands pressed against the glass now relishing in the torture. The voices went quiet silently observing the scene. 

            The prisoner quivered but held back his tears, the pain was agonizing and unrelenting. Every single drop of hot water felt like boiling oil as it pelted his skin and, for the first time in his short life, he prayed for death. But even through the fog of torture one thought entered his mind.

 There was no way in hell he would give Arcturus the satisfaction. 

He couldn't lift his head but stared at the glass with as much hate as he could muster. "I fucking love it..." He rasped.

             Acrturus roared and turned the crank to full power. Then he mustered his strength and brought his heavy boot down on the wheel again and again until it snapped off. It clanged to the floor and Arcturus wiped his brow. His heart was hammering in his rib cage and he pointed a finger at the glass.

"If you love it then you can live, eat, sleep and shit in it!" Then the master commander stormed from the room slamming the door shut behind him.

As soon as it closed the prisoner began weeping and the sound was not unlike that of an animal dying. Soon enough his body was so weak he couldn't even tremble. Everything left in him slowly slipping away along with the water down the drain.

Anybody...Save me... He thought before falling unconscious.

A red light blinked in the darkness of the cell.

Unbeknownst to him someone in the shadows had been silently watching everything unfold.