Maximum Ride Fan Fiction / Maximum Ride Fan Fiction ❯ If I Asked You To, Would You Kill Me? ❯ Torturous Interlude ( Chapter 26 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Irene Sharda
Even more trouble is brewing as Batchelder siblings collaborate, and it seems that Ari's sadistic fun must come to an end...

Non Anime: Maximum Ride Fan Fiction / Maximum Ride Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Suspense / Sci-fi / Romance / Adventure / Action | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 08.25.2008 | Updated On: 11.13.2008 | Pages: 6 | Words: 13.6K | Visits: 213 | Status: Work In Progress

Chapter 26
Dr. George W. Batchelder was going over some research samples in his office, when his phone suddenly rang. He looked at it for a second, knowing that it was the wee hours of the morning, before picking up the receiver. “This is Batchelder.”
An amused voice came on the line, “How's my favorite brother?”
George laughed as he instantly recognized the speaker. “Well fine, considering I'm your only brother. What's happening, Jeb? Life in the southwest treating you well?”
Jeb sighed, “We have a little bit of a situation here that's running me ragged, but other that that, everything's fine. Anne sends her love.”
“Give my sister-in-law a hug for me. So, Jeb, what can I help you with?”
“I need your help in a little experiment of mine. You're the expert in DNA recombination, and I needed to ask you some advice.”
George sat back in his chair and relaxed, “Ask away.”
Jeb laughed lightly, “Well, I can't ask you over the phone…matter of national security, you know the drill.”
“Aww, you're working for the Feds again? That's gotta suck.”
“We never stopped working for the Feds, but let's just say that this time I want to keep it between us, okay? I'll see you in three or four days.”
George almost fell over off his chair. “What are you talking about? You're coming here?!”
“Well, how else am I going to ask you my questions, big bro? Don't worry, I'm giving you a heads up so that you can have time to hide any of your pet projects away by the time I get there.” The other doctor stated with amusement.
The older Batchelder ran a hand through his hair and gave an unsteady chuckle. “Well okay, I guess. Do you need anything set up for you?”
“A small standard lab will do fine; I'll only be staying for a week or so. I need to confirm some things with you, that's all.”
George began to write down all the things he need to do to get ready for his brother's arrival. “All right, I'll be waiting for you. Call me when you have further plans as to when you'll going to arrive.”
“You got it, take care George.” Jeb said with finality.
“You too, little brother.”
As George hung up the phone, he quickly began dialing other numbers. While he loved his brother and would share anything with him, he knew his employers wouldn't be too happy about a doctor from a rival organization studying their experiments.
He was already talking with another member of the staff, seeing if they could clear out some of the extra supplies in the west wing, when his doors suddenly burst open, revealing one of his lab techs. “Dr. Batchelder!”
George looked up at him in annoyance, “What is it? I'm on the phone here.”
The young man pointed outside the door, “Specimen M4308 is on a rampage again, we can't keep it sedated!”
The doctor stood up in annoyance and anger before stalking out of the room, trailed by the flustered technician. That's it! This was the third time this week, and he had had about enough out of the little…thing! M4308 was going to learn the rules of his facility. He was not going to have all these problems that his younger brother seemed to frequenting lately.
Bursting into the observation room, he beheld a familiar sight. His orderlies and techies, as well as a few security agents were stacked on top of the struggling creature, trying to avoid its gnashing jaws and flying fists. In fact the beings true form could no longer be seen under all the bodies. All that was now visible of M4308 was a single golden eye, filled with pure hatred…
He rolled his eyes at the obvious disdain, and picked up a vial from a nearby shelf. While he hurriedly prepared the correct dosage into a hypodermic, he irately berated his staff. “All of you are pathetic! It takes six of you to control him?!”
However, the men and women were too busy holding down the test subject to pay close attention to his words. George sighed and moved in between the people, and jabbing the needle none too gently into the M4308's hindquarters.
The subject growled with outrage as it felt the drugs being shot into its bloodstream and felt the affects of the tranquilizer immediately. Becoming almost totally paralyzed, the techs and security could now slowly begin to get off the test subject, letting M4308 lay there unmoving upon the cold tile floor.
Putting down the hypo, Batchelder shifted a hand through his hair and ordered everyone out of the lab and to check on other projects, only telling two orderlies to stand outside the door and wait for his call. When everyone had left the room, he slowly approached the creature on the floor, squatting down to look at it straight in the eye.
“Now, you know this is unacceptable. You can't keep on in this manner; you're giving both me and my men headaches.”
M4308 looked up at him, its voice coated in venom and his razor sharp teeth gnashing. “I can solve that problem easily for you—how about I remove your heads completely?”
George smiled down at it and shook his head in amusement, before kicking the creature solidly in the face, sending him flying across the floor and into the wall!
Walking over nonchalantly, he picked the unfortunate subject up by its neck collar, ignoring the bloodied face and piercing golden orbs. “I will not be having anymore of these outbursts from you, M4. You will do what I tell you, when I tell you to do it. Do you understand me?”
M4308, or just M4 for short, hissed in anger, before spitting in the man's face. That was being nice. If he wasn't paralyzed, he would have put his hands around the head doctor's neck and squeezed until there was no tomorrow.
Taking a hand to his face, George simply wiped the offensive liquid off with his coat sleeve. He looked up at the young creature who had been making trouble for him since day one, before cocking a slight smile.
“I guess that's a no…”
Before M4 could blink, his head cracked to the side, as George slapped him hard across the face! His brain felt as if it were bouncing on the back of his skull…
He was suddenly thrust up against the wall, his bruised arm twisted cruelly behind his back as the doctor sneered in his ear. “You know, we've been through this before and I've tried to be nice, but you've stretched the limit of my patience and my mercy…”
With a sharp wrench, George snapped M4's arm in half causing him to cry out in pain. However, the outcry only lasted for a second as he simply sucked in his breath, trying to brace himself against the agony, determined to not let the doctor see his tears. He had promised himself when he had first been brought to this place, that he would not let any of these bastards ever see him cry. Even after all the horrible things that had been done to him—after they had stuck him with so many needles, he'd swear he was a pincushion, or when they gave him blood transfusions ten and fifteen times a day so that he probably didn't have any original blood left in his body, or even after the excruciating transformations that his body went through, that were against man and nature—even after all that, he would not give into the butchers. He would never give in.
However, he wasn't prepared or what the Angel of Death had in store for him today…
George let go of his broken arm, but kept a tight grip on his good one while he whispered in his ear, his tone of voice like he was making some routine house call. “Here is what I'll do, M4. If you're good and play nice with everyone—I'll let you see M5 for a few minutes.”
The young test subject who had once had name and a life, one which was now all but stripped from him, let a sharp gasp escape from his lungs. His voice was no bigger than a murmur, “You'll…let me see him?”
George went on as if he hadn't heard anything, “He's been quite lonely without you. He's always calling out for you. He cries all the time…”
M4 felt his hand curl up into a tight fist, the feeling beginning to return to his body. “Leave him alone, Batchelder…you can do anything you want to me, just don't touch him.”
“Using threats is not a good way to ask a person with total control for a favor, M4. Yet, you really do care for him, don't you? I understand, I have a younger brother myself you know.”
The dark-haired doctor smiled, deciding to use M4's real name to get his point across, “Dusk…I'm sure you want to see your brother, as much as he wants to see you. However, if you keep acting this way, I'm afraid that I cannot allow you two to interact. I cannot have your disrespectful and unruly behavior to taint him. Now, I'll only give you this offer once. If you reject it, not only will I have to keep the two of you apart, but for every time you misbehave, since it makes no sense to punish you, I will punish him instead. Do you understand now, Dusk?”
As feeling began to return to him, M4308, the young man who used to carry the name Dusk De La Vega, felt his body begin to tremble all over in both fear and anger. Thoughts of his little brother and the suffering he must be facing crowded his mind, not allowing him to even think straight. But all he could think of, was how the doctors had mutilated and experimented on the small boy's body, like they had done to his own. Pride refused to let him give in to the satanic mad scientist's demands; however his pride was quickly overshadowed by the demands and duties of his heart.
“How…how do I know if…if you'll keep your promise?” he asked through gritted teeth.
George seemed to have to think about that, “Oh I don't know, I guess you'll just have to trust me, won't you?”
His fist became even tighter till it began to draw blood. “I'll never trust you….”
The man blinked at him in interest, “Trust is not the issue here. Will you start acting correctly, or will you make your brother suffer?”
The teen turned away, his face becoming stoic. “You…won't be having any trouble from me. I swear it…”
George felt the boy's body grow slack once again, even though the drug had probably fully worn off by now. Capturing the M4's jaw with one hand, he turned the kid's face around in order to look straight into those golden, almost inhuman, eyes of his—eyes that now betrayed the huge war between his principles and his feelings and duty to his brother, raging within his soul.
He smiled.
“I'm glad you decided to do the right thing, M4. I would have hated to have done something…drastic. Now, I want you to lie down quietly on that lab table while I have someone take your blood and dress your arm, ok? I don't want to have to be called back in here, because if I do, I'm going to give custody of your brother to a certain doctor friend of mine…and well, I think you know who I'm talking about, don't you….”
M4's eyes instantly flew open in horror, as his entire body began to tremble in fear and terror. All former anger at Batchelder drained from out of him, and was soon replaced by a total visage of pleading placation.
“Please! I'll do whatever you ask! Just please don't let Him near my brother! I swear, you can do whatever you want to me, and I won't say a word. Just don't let Him have Dawn, I beg of you!”
“That outcome is all up to you, M4. It's up to you to protect your little brother. It's always been that way for us older siblings hasn't it? I've had to protect my little brother when he gets in trouble too. I understand what you're going through. Now, lie down on that table like I told you and I'm going to send the nurse and orderlies in, okay?”
He saw the alarm in the boy's eyes had lessened some, as he gave a sharp nod by way of answer. Letting go of his experiment's body, the teen flopped to the floor with a sense of desolation surrounding him. He looked up at him for a minute, a small spark of that characteristic rage and resistance still lit from within the back of those saffron spheres. However, it was a spark that was quickly snuffed out once he put his hand suggestively on the cell phone clipped to his waist.
He watched in silence as M4 turned away knowing he was beaten, and slowly crawled with his one good hand, to the stainless steel table in the center of the room and lifting himself up onto it. Lying flat on his back, the teen didn't even flinch as he snapped closed the shackles that fastened him to the cold metal surface.
Smiling triumphantly, George patted the despondent child's cheek in the same vein as a parent reassuring their child. However of course, the effects of the two separate situations were totally opposite.
After leaving M4308 to his underlings to make sure his wishes were realized, George Batchelder moved down through the halls of his compound, checking with certain departments to make sure that everything would be ready for Jeb's arrival.
As he walked through one darkened hall, he swore angrily, reminding himself to get a janitor to fix the stupid lights down on this level. He continued walking in the darkness however, knowing the place like the back of his own hand.
That is, until he heard a voice, that despite its distinct pleasantness, made the blood in his veins feel like it was made of ice water.
“It's a shame really. Specimen M5475 is quite a work of art. There are many things I could imagine doing with him…”
George turned to the source of the voice, the mysterious doctor's cigarette glowing in the shadows that engulfed him and masked his identity. But the head doctor didn't need to see his face in order to know who he was. His mouth fell into a grim line as he turned to the man who had been a guest at his facility for the last three weeks.
“You were listening?”
The man's voice never changed from its normal sweet tone, “Naturally… I have to say that I enjoyed how you dealt with M4308. Broke his spirit in under twenty minutes, not totally mind you, but well enough to be able to control him for awhile.”
His eyes narrowed at the amused figure, “And I'm sure you could have done better?”
Soft laughter filled the hallway, “Of course…”
George shook his head as a grin came to his face, “I only let you be alone with him for fifteen minutes last week, and now M4 is terrified of you. I don't know how you do it.”
Taking a long drag on his cigarette, the doctor responded, “I didn't really do much, he's almost too old for me to educate properly. Standard procedure was enough to find out what I wanted from him. You can do what you want to him for all I care. However, M5 is still quite trainable. I've never had a chance to be alone with him, but looking over his file and observing him and his abilities, I find him quite interesting. I'll take him on if you want.”
Batchelder shook his head after a second, even though his smirk got wider, “No, I'll give M4 a chance to shape up, but the second he starts rebelling again, you can have a crack at the brother. However, right now I have to finish getting ready for my own brother's arrival early next week. How long do you expect to be staying yourself?”
The cultured voice answered once again in that characteristic way of sounding ordinary yet condescending at the same time. It made George's stomach turn, but he reminded himself that that was just his long-time colleague's usual way of speaking. He probably wasn't even aware of it. Or else he simply didn't care…
“For another week maybe, until the government decides to call me back into action again.” A sigh escaped from his lips, “How I do yearn for the good old days when I still had my first little ones under my wing. But alas…”
George cocked an eyebrow at him before turning to leave, “You are a strange one sometimes… Well, catch you later.”
As the quiet guest continued to smoke while watching his host leave into the darkness of the other halls, he let his mind drift back to thoughts of his first little ones. Especially his favorite lost boy who had left him without permission, more than three years ago…
Oh my, my, I have heard so many stories about you, and all the trouble you've gotten yourself into, little one…wasting all my training like that… One day, we shall meet again my child, and I'll make sure you stay right where you belong…my dearest Derringer…

Max looked up as she heard the door open once again, her eyes were dull as she observed her captor walking toward her, his arms folded behind his back as he observed his prize.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. I hope you are comfortable, Max. I want you to feel at home.”
The winged teenage girl didn't even look up as Ari spoke to her, instead choosing to stare at some invisible spot on the surrounding walls.
Noticing her despondency, the Eraser went closer to her and ran his hand lightly down the side of her neck. Though her body didn't move visibly in response to the contact, he could still feel the increase of tension within her. He smiled, liking the fact of the fear that he could raise from out of her.
Maximum herself, tried her best to ignore her jailer and instead recollect all the shattered pieces of her broken soul. She had had no idea that anything could feel so empty and forlorn as her spirit did right now.
Normally, she would have found something in which to say, something to counter Ari's words, but as of this moment, she found nothing for which to fight with. Not even thoughts of the flock could awaken her. All she could think of was how she had failed them and how she didn't deserve them as family. She had cracked under pressure, and the precious strength that she had prided herself in day after day to get her past the worst of trials, had been stripped away from her, leaving her unprotected and defenseless before her greatest enemy.
Ari noticed her melancholy producing shadows all over her form and it made him frown, “Are you not happy here with me?”
When she didn't answer, the teen snarled in anger. He was trying to be sensitive to her feelings, and she wasn't even going to speak to him? Drawing his hand back, he struck her full across the face, “Answer me!”
She looked up at him without enthusiasm, “What do you want me to say, Ari? I can say anything you want to hear, but you would still know the truth.”
He looked at her and cracked a smile, a light laugh issuing from his lips, “There is one truth I do know, and I'm going to be quite frank with you, now that we belong to each other.”
She looked up at him incredulously, “`Each other'?”
He shrugged before he caressed her cheek tenderly, “You belong to me, and I'm willing to be only with you. That's no big sacrifice on my part.”
“I feel so privileged…” the girl answered dully.
Shaking his head in amusement, he sighed. “I don't like it when you're so monotonous, Max. You need to lighten up. Is there anything that I can do to make your life here more enjoyable?”
Normally, she would have said something along the lines of that, he could serve her his head (preferably roasted and barbequed) on a silver platter. However, at this point, she simply looked away from him and kept her mouth firmly closed.
He looked up in thought, a hand underneath his chin in concentration, “Maybe you would feel better if I brought in some familiar faces to cheer you up? How about I bring Angel and Nudge here for you? I mean, I don't mind if my woman has a couple ladies-in-waiting.”
Max issued a small gasp as the names of her two sisters hung out to air, almost as tangible as the people to which they were connected to. The thought of having all the pain that she had just went through, be visited upon other who were so close to her heart, sent a familiar spark up from the bowels of her soul and throughout her entire body in a flash until it reached her outermost extremities.
Ari didn't miss that spark as it showed itself within her dark eyes. He simply smiled and continued, “Maybe I'll bring in Iggy and Gasman and let them be my own personal slaves, too. I can't let them get close to one another though. You know how dangerous those two can be when they're close to one another…”
He then noticed the winged girl's mouth move, her hair shadowing her face as she spoke to him, her voice soft and quiet as a butterfly's wings, “Don't—touch them.”
He looked at her with mock surprise, “A silent threat is it? Well, it seems you still do have a bit of that temper that I love so much down in there. I know you so well, I think I know you better than anyone, even my dear dad and you flock.”
He held her face up by her chin and smiled at the lightly gritted teeth that her mouth had become, along with the reignited ember within her eyes. “You don't know how much…my heart…and my body, have yearned for yours…”
The absolute genuineness and desire she heard within his statement made her look upon him with surprise. “What kind of trick are you trying to pull here, Ari?”
Looking away from her, he let go of her head and turned his back to her, putting his hands in his pockets. “I told you earlier, Max. We're being frank with each other now. No more lies, no more tricks, no more taunts when it comes down to the serious stuff. The truth is that I've been attracted to you for quite some time now, and it's been tearing me up inside that you never even took the time to notice me as anything but your foe. However, I think that now that we're together for the long haul now, I'm hoping you might see me differently.”
She looked at him with bizarre fascination. After all that Ari had done to her and the flock…hunting them down like animals…torturing her to her breaking point, and laughing as if he had some serious case of schadenfreude…touching her as if he owned every inch of skin on her body…why was he suddenly showing such a benevolent side?
“Ari…after all that happened to us, after what you did to me—”
“I only did it so that you would understand!” the male shouted back at her.
Turning towards her again, she was surprised to see traces of tears welling in his eyes! In all her years and in all their encounters, she had never seen him once shed a single drop of moisture until this moment…
As much as she wanted to hate him, her feminine heart began to leak through her stubborn veneer. “Ari…”
Coming closer to her, he pushed a lose strand of her hair behind her ear. “Can't you see, Max? I wanted you to know to what lengths I would go to procure your attentions; to prove myself to you. I can't let you go Maximum—my heart won't allow it…”
Without warning, he embraced her tightly, and held on like she was the only thing keeping him afloat in a huge deep ocean! The shocks just didn't seem to stop coming, as she felt her sworn enemy's heart thump against her chest at the racing speed of their mutant kind. His chin rested on her left shoulder and his arms were clasped tightly around her torso as he whispered softly into her ear, “You'll stay with me right, Max?”
It was often said that one often caught more flies with honey than vinegar, and while she knew for certain that she would be leaving this hellhole as soon as ably possible, her abductor's jumbled emotions had put a stop to her sharp words. Instead, she tried another approach, speaking softly with understanding.
“I'll stay with you, Ari.”
She felt his lips curl into a smile against her skin, “You don't know how good it is to hear you say that—”
Max suddenly felt a heavy tug on her back as well as a sharp pain lance through her body, in her wings in particular. She was about to ask the Eraser what the heck he had done to her. However, the pain was quickly forgotten when Ari next spoke, his voice sickly-sweet yet icy at the same time, that she knew that something had gone terribly wrong.
“—even if it is a bold-faced lie.”
He lifted himself and stared into her eyes with his own, so cold and dead like that of a shark. “I told you I know you like no other. However, I can take your words for face value as well, if you want. You'll be staying with me either way.”
That's it. He is defiantly either bi-polar, has multiple personality disorder, or just plain insane. She knew that to lie to him was probably not the best approach, but it had been the only one she knew of that wouldn't send him over the edge. Ari probably did know her well enough to call her on her falsehood so fast; denying it would only prolong the inevitable.
However, she tried her best to not lace her words with wrath, “Of course what I said was a lie, Ari. You know there is no way you can keep me here forever. However, I am also willing to come to some kind of truce with you Ari, but only if you let me go.”
He smiled at her, before leaning forward a bit and kissing her lightly, “It doesn't matter anymore, darlin'. You can't leave even if I wanted to release you.”
Taking a step away from her, his hands were now visible. One hand held a keen, blood-stained hunter's knife, the point shining sleek and deadly in the candlelight.
The other hand however, held eight objects…eight very large, white and tan-speckled feathers was held with his grip, drops of blood and small pieces of bone dripping from the roughly cut apexes.
She looked at the feathers in absolute terror and trepidation; the wolf-hybrid retained his insane smirk as he watched the horrific emotions dance across the face of his captured prey.
He watched as she tried to move her wings toward the front of her as if in disbelief, only to wince in pain. When she was finally able to see the tips of her wings, the already pasty nature of her skin, palled even more, making her almost as white as a sheet.
Even though her vocal cords were already raw from screaming during Ari's mind torture, a sudden scream of horror issued from her throat.
“AHHHHH! ARI! YOU BASTARD!!”
He laughed as he threw the precious feathers to the ground, “What did you expect, Maximum. I told you that I would never let you go.”
Max gritted her teeth together as a string of swear words issued from her throat. How could she not have noticed him cutting away her treasured feathers as he held her in his embrace? She looked down as the floor, and then back up at her wing tips. Of her total twenty primary feathers, the four largest feathers on the outermost points had been ruthlessly cut off at the quick, eight in all. The bone could be seen, blood falling from the scourging wounds.
She looked up at him in rage, “How…how could you? Y-You…”
He nodded, “I cut away your pinion feathers in their entirety. Without them, a normal bird would only be crippled, and could soar to small heights before fluttering back to the earth again. However, you're much bigger than any bird, without your pinion feathers you won't be able to get enough thrust to lift yourself two inches off the ground.”
Before she could even stop herself, she felt moisture upon her cheek, as unchecked tears slid in rivulets down her face. She thought that that…that monster…had broken her spirit before. But it was nothing like what she felt at this moment. Her ability to fly was who she was; her wings gave her life. To take that away from her was more painful…more agonizing…than the worst possible torture.
“H-How could y-y-you, Ari?” She asked again, the tears causing her words to become muffled and choked, but no less livid.
He looked at her in concern and came closer, “Oh, don't cry, baby. It was only for your own good. Come on, you know I can't stand it when you look so pained. It makes me want to cheer you up.”
The look in his eyes this time as he came ever closer to her, along with the blade that stayed steady in his hand, stole any bravado she had procured straight from out her heart, and sent chills down her spine. “What are you doing?”
She shuddered for what felt like the millionth time that day as he silently wiped the tears from her face. Using the bloody edge of the knife, Ari lightly made invisible doodles along her skin, dancing the dangerous point along her face. “Even though I don't like seeing you so unhappy, the breathless look it leaves you with, is quite attractive.”
With one swift downward swipe, the knife's blade fell along her chest! Closing her eyes in order to stave off the pain, Max held her breath in anticipation of the attack. Only the fiery sting of punctured skin didn't come…
CLACK.
Opening her eyes, she looked down to see the first button of her shirt clattering to the ground, with a tone of finality that drove a stake of panic deep within her body. She clinched her hands into tense fists, even though it only caused more blood to run from her abraded wrists. The gaze of her enemy's eyes was getting more crazed by the minute.
“Ari—”
CLACK.
Another button fell, as the Eraser once again attacked with the knife. Every time he came at her with the stainless steel weapon, he seemed as if he was about to drive it deep into her flesh, only to soften his strike at the last minute and only skim it along the cloth of her shirt, taking a single button along with it.
CLACK. CLICK. CLACK.
After only a minute, every button had been removed and her shirt hung open leaving her body exposed to his dark eyes. She shivered with fear, as her wings automatically came around to shield her from his gaze, even though it hurt to move them after their recent mutilation.
“Ari…s-stop this, it's not you…:”
He frowned at her, a shadow passing over his form. With one swift movement, he grabbed the feathered appendages by the joints and pulled them back viciously.
Yelling out in pain, Max pulled her wings back before he sprained them, damaging them further. “Stop it, Ari! Get away from me!”
He smiled in amusement at her suffering, “I told you before, and you admitted to it by your own free will. You belong to me, Max; to do with as I will. I do not know why you are being so shy, darlin'? You've never been so timid before…”
As he laid his hands upon the flesh of her neck, soon accompanied by the searing heat of his mouth and tongue on her skin, she then wished she could simply stop feeling altogether. The hurt, the shame, the pain...feeling anything at all became more than she could bear. Will I ever escape this hell? She felt dirty, disgusting, and lower than gutter trash as she lay at the mercy of her worst enemy. Every caress, every touch, every scratch made by his knife, stained her more. When would this night end? Would it ever? Or would it just be one night that continued on and on, in a never-ending vicious cycle for eternity?
She cried out in anguish as his transformed fangs sunk into the soft tissue of her chest, causing blood to come pouring out, joining the other crimson streams that were making their way down her body to the claret puddle on the stone floor.
Ari leaned up and looked into her face, licking his canines clean. “You taste delicious, baby. I expected this fiery part of you, but there is this sweet cool mint there as well. I like it, Max.”
However, when he went back down to lap at her pulsing wound, she pushed herself away, using her body weight as leverage, even though this action caused severe agony by jolting her broken leg and ribs.
She had made up her mind that she would not let this go any further. She had been caught by surprise, but she had her bearings around her now, and her soul and spirit would simply not tolerate any such treatment.
Her voice was matter-of-fact and nonchalant as she spoke, as if she was simply talking about the weather.
“If this is the way it must be Ari, then—kill me now, for I would rather die now…then live as the object of your pleasure. If you do not kill me…then know that I will take my own life if necessary. Release me, or kill me—those are your only options.”
He blinked at her stalwart statement, “You won't do something that drastic, Maximum. It's not like you to take the easy road out.”
She had to smile at that, “Ari…you do know nothing. If you knew anything about me, then you would know that you have taken away everything that has given my life meaning. My flock, my wings, my freedom, my independence, you are even now trying to conquer my body and take away the one gift that I can never get back and would never willingly give to you—ever. I have nothing left to live for, Ari. And even if you don't kill me as I have asked, and even if I never have a chance to take my own life, know that if you take my body this night, all you will hold captive in this prison of yours will be but a corpse. Whatever you do to this body, it will not matter, because it will not be me.”
Ari knew that the young woman was telling the truth, however, he was never really truly concerned. He shrugged in response, “My father only gave me two orders to obey, Max: to keep you here, and to not kill you. He said anything else outside of that was allowed. I have no discrepancy with any of the orders he has given for this assignment and so therefore I will obey them to the letter. I will not kill you nor release you, and personally speaking…you have no room to bargain here. Anything that you do to thwart me, I will do to your sisters and brothers twice over. You know I am making no blind threat and you will think twice about trying my patience.”
She snarled, “I will not be your slave Ari! You may threaten my flock however you may like; they will stand up for themselves. If you think that threatening them will stop me this time, you don't know me as well as you think you do.”
Her injured, bloody, and tattered wings, snapped back around her uncovered body, in a gesture of a self-protective defiance. She would not let this be taken any farther, she had been stricken with fear and panic the first time, but no more…
His eyes narrowed as he glanced at her visible determination. While he liked her spark and ferocity (in fact it was one of the things that made him so infatuated with her), her stubbornness he could quite do without.
Max watched as Ari turned away from her and walked away to the table in the corner. She slowly let out the breath she had been holding for what felt like forever. Never had she been so fearful in all her life.
No, she had never really feared death. Her life meant very little to her in the long run. Her true fear at this point was of what her enemy could do to her, before she could find a way to enter Death's comforting embrace. Ari was not the Ari she knew anymore. Sure, there were parts of him still in there somewhere, but somehow the twisting and turning emotions that made up the tense turning point in a boy's life, namely puberty, had taken a darker turn in the already disturbed Eraser. He was too sporadic, difficult to pin down, and very, very dangerous. He was more treacherous then he had ever been, in all the years that he had hunted them all over the States.
However, she had very little options open to her. He leg was broken, so there was no way she could walk out of her, even if she could hold her own against the pain of the other injuries. Ari had effectively clipped her wings, so she was not able to fly out of here either. Her only option, if she should ever be able to get free, would be to crawl and she doubted she would be able to distract the Eraser enough for that. And even then, she had absolutely no idea of where the heck she was…
She had practically given up hope for rescue some time ago. Angel, if she was ok after the fight, was probably not even close enough to hear her mental call. And Fang, he could communicate mentally now, but…
She watched as her keeper kept his back to her while he sipped at another drink; probably one to take his fractured mind off edge after she'd just snubbed him.
Looking down at her injured wings and ravaged body, she solemnly realized that she didn't really have much else to lose. I can try…
Closing her eyes and using her mind, she called out into the night, hoping against the odds that someone would be able hear her mental plea.
`Angel…Angel, can you hear me?'
She was answered only by silence, but that didn't put her off in the least. She would call out till her proverbial throat became raw.
`Angel, if you can hear me, please answer.'
“She'll never be able to hear you from this distance. You're wasting your time.”
Her eyes snapped open as she looked toward the man who had interrupted her. “What are you talking about?”
Ari just shrugged his shoulders as he leaned against the wall. “You forget that I now have psychic powers as well. I can hear the thoughts and rustling going on in your brain as easily as if you said them out loud.”
She gritted her teeth in frustration. So she had made a mistake, she wouldn't admit that to him. “I didn't forget. I just didn't care.”
“You're lying…”
“Shut up! I'm trying to ignore you.”
Ari laughed at his pet's show of opposition. He might as well let her get it all out of her system, since it would only hinder their relationship later on. Or, at least that had been the general idea…until he heard her next thought.
`Fang…I know you talked to me before. If you can hear me, please respond. I need you!'
Max suddenly yanked open her eyes once again to the sound of a loud crash resounding within the prison's walls, but almost yelped in sudden fear of the man who stood raging in fury before her.
The Eraser's eyes had gone completely bestial; his fangs were extended and gnashing, shining with saliva. He stalked toward her in rage.
“I will NOT hear his name in my presence!”
He grabbed her by her throat, before striking her square in the face! Max could feel her ears begin to ring as her captor shook her so soundly, she was on the verge of getting whiplash.
Ari had definitely gone over the edge, “You wretched girl! I am the only one for you! Why do you plead for others to save you? You will only lead them to their deaths, for I will kill anyone who tries to aid you! I will surely wipe that look of hope from your face, even if I have to beat until you are only black and blue.”
The female bird child could hardly breathe, much less speak, so she only looked at him in rebellion, making sure he understood that she would never back down. She had almost lost her resolve before, but she wasn't going to lose it ever again. She would fight this monster till there was free, or there was no breath left in her body.
The Eraser knew utter defiance when he saw it, and it only enraged him further. “You think because I crave you, that I shall not discipline you, then you are gravely mistaken. I can read you like a book: You hope for either a chance for escape or for rescue by your comrades. You hope that I will die a grotesque and slow death. You hope that because of your human blood, your feathers will have a chance of growing back and that you will one day fly again.”
Ari smiled viciously as he watched the surprise appear on his woman's face. She kept forgetting that he could pick up on her most secret thoughts if it so pleased him.
Coming closer to her, his clawed hand once again around the knife handle, he walked steadily toward her. “You cannot escape me, and I already told you what would happen if someone tries to rescue you. I'm afraid I will not die in the near future, and I have a very simple answer as to whether or not your feathers will re-grow…”
Circling her, he leaned slightly over her shoulder and whispered directly into her ear, his tone like that of an aroused lover. “…feathers can't re-grow if—there is no wingfor them to grow back on.”
With swift rapidness, he grabbed the base of her left wing and put his blade against the hard surface, preparing to hack through feather, blood, and bone alike!
Terror and petrifaction racked her body as she felt the cold metal against her wing, and suddenly all of her defiance and bravado ran from out her body like water from a leaking cup. Flying was everything to her, her wings as important to her as breathing. It had crushed her when he had cut off her feather, but to cut off her wings…that would simply and utterly—kill her.
“Ari, Ari don't do this. Stop Ari, you can't do this. You can't! Ari, let me go! Ari! ARI! ARIII!”
She cried out his name over and over, pleading with him to her upmost ability. At this point, if she could, she would have even gotten on her knees before him and begged to release her wings. Cut her anywhere he wished, beat her, kick her, but don't take away my precious wings, you murderous bastard!
The Eraser simply reveled in her appeals, knowing that he was still in control of her, that once he destroyed the symbol of her freedom, she would crumble and become all his. Honestly, he hadn't wanted to hurt her like this…but she had left him with no choice.
“If you don't fidget, it won't hurt as much, baby. It'll be over before you know it.” His voice was annoyingly sweet, as if he was placating a child that was getting his first shot.
Her screams became riddled with shuddering sobs as she realized with despair that he was—very certainly—going to sever her wings from off her body.
However, the minute he was about to plunge the knife into flesh and bone, the door to the chamber burst open!
An unbidden frosted wind swirled through the room the empty doorway, slamming and opening the heavy door, while chilling both surprised inhabitants to the bone. In the resulting stillness, an equally chilling, incorporeal voice spoke stridently throughout the room.
“I do believe that the lady is begging for you to release her. No, nolady should have to beg, and least of all, from the likes of somethinglike you.”
Max looked around adamantly for the voice's source with her tear-stained eyes, begging that she was not delirious. She could place that voice anywhere, and she was unduly grateful for its timely interruption and its southern caress.
Unfortunately, Ari recognized the voice too, his hackles bristling as his face contorted to one of rage and indignation. How dare that, that—rodent come into his inner hideaway and attempt to tell him what to do? If he was planning on stealing his Maximum away from him, he would be sorely sorry that he had even made the attempt. He wasn't going to let Max go…not now, not ever.
Coming from behind his lovely captive, his body coiled tightly and ready to pounce at any moment. His grip was tight on the knife as he lifted his nose to the air in order to smell for the intruder. “Where are you swamp rat? I can smell your stench from here.”
Max watched as her captor geared for battle, knowing from the look on his face that this night, he was taking no more prisoners. “Derrin, watch out! Ari's not himself!”
The Eraser in question, spun around and struck her soundly in the head, adding yet another bruise to her already throbbing corpse. How dare she take sides with that Cajun trash!
Without warning, the flames that had lit the dungeon-like chamber, were snuffed out simultaneously. The one light bulb in the ceiling actually exploded, sending glass shards in every direction!
All light was quickly and effectively extinguished, leaving the room in total, pitch black darkness…
While her night vision was usually flawless even Max had trouble seeing in the inky blackness. Using the distraction to her advantage, she quickly folded her wings back into the slits in her back, gasping a little in pain as they protested the sudden rough treatment. She looked to Ari, but he still hadn't moved an inch. In fact his leering grin had gotten wider.
“You can't hide in the darkness for long, coward. I will find you eventually. The smell of you has changed slightly though, swamp rat. Is that the smell of your fear affecting you? If so, I welcome it.”
A cold breeze swirled around Max's body, and before she could even blink, Ari was sent flying backward as if by some unseen force! He was effectively thrown against the wall behind her, that she had to twist around to see that the same invisible force was fighting gravity, and keeping him trapped against the brick and mortar.
She blinked in surprise, not knowing what was going on! Was this really Derringer's power?
As if on cue, a figure suddenly shimmered into materiality before her, standing as if he had always been there.
And maybe he had…
She recalled hearing no footsteps, she had never seen Derrin actually enter the room, and yet—here he was before her…or so it seemed.
There was something different about the man who stood there in front of her, as if he was, yet was not, the same guy she had grown to love as a brother.
More power and authority seemed to radiate from the redhead's body, than she had ever felt in all her young life. He stood straight and tall, his unclenched hands sported long, curved claws on each finger tip. Even with his clothes ripped and torn, an ethereal glow seemed to come from inside of him, making him like a beacon within the dark room. Aberrant air currents swirled and whipped around his body as if in subservience to his beck and call, the wind itself was saturated and crackled with electric charge, so that any sudden movement would cause a scattershot of every type of lightning to shoot forth throughout the room's confines.
As he began to walk toward her, she noted that his visage seemed to betray not a single emotion. His eyes glowed a fierce, piercing gold; his long unbound crimson hair, now seemingly streaked with gold as well, shifted and flowed languidly, as if it had a life of its own. His every step was graceful and sure, he moved assuredly with a feline's strength and agility, yet each step also held so much more.
Max inhaled sharply as he moved passed her, only a slight flicker within his eyes signaling he was even aware of her presence. A millisecond later, the tiniest lift to the corner of his mouth appeared; a ghost of the charming grin she was used to. But as fast as it appeared, it was gone. His attention fully fixed on his prey, those illuminant orbs intensifying with ardor.
In that instant, she was not completely sure, but for a single second her heart seemed to literally—stop beating. The look in those impassive eyes had chilled her very blood, but that hint of a smile had filled her with hope and conviction.
She knew then, that this was the Derringer she knew.
Yet she also concurrently realized, that this was most definitely not the Derringer she remembered.
She couldn't quite explain it, but even though her teammate and sibling was there, there was something else walking with him as well. Something…mysterious, and commanding…something she couldn't quite put a name to. Yet, while it was Derrin's mind and intent, something else was guiding his actions. Something that her captor would soon have to contend with…
She watched in silence as Derringer approached the ensnared Ari, the Eraser snarling and struggling to free himself from the potent male's telekinetic (and since when does the Cajun have telekinesis!?) grip. Max could have sworn the wolf boy was starting to foam at the mouth.
The entire time as he walked, the redhead had not made a sound, his footsteps so light on the ground; he might as well have been gliding. As he came face to face with his enemy, without a word, his hand lifted and the restraint on Ari tightened even more.
When Derrin finally spoke, the voice that now came from his lips stunned her. When he opened his mouth, a slight echo came to his words as if it were two people speaking instead of one. His tone was calm and even, almost bored. His normal accent was gone, and in its place a slight lyrical yet aristocratic brogue emerged. However, it was the way he said things that had surprised her the most, sounding as if he were a knight who had emerged out of a medieval tale; a feudal lord who carried absolute and supreme authority…
“Thee was warned: Do…not…touch. Yet, thy hath explicitly disobeyed the command which was given you. Thus, for defiling that which does not belong to thee, I shall pass swift judgment upon thy soul, and thou—” The room suddenly became icier then a blizzard in the middle of January, reflecting the new tone of his voice as he concluded his statement.
“Thou shalt die…”