The End of Yardale

Used and Abused

(tw for mentions of extreme abuse in this chapter) 

Flashback: The days after Gregory was "killed". 

Gregory woke up in a room he was completely unfamiliar with. Suffering from severe pain stemming from almost every part of his body, he couldn't focus on remembering what had recently happened or why he was in this strange place. 

There was one thing he vividly remembered, and that was being shot by Leslie. Everything after that was a blur, and it made Gregory wonder if he was currently dead and this was what Hell was like.  He knew he'd never make it to Heaven- he had committed several crimes and was dating Mole, whose second-least favorite person was God himself. 

Gregory was certain that he was in Hell when none other than his father had shown up. 

George Havisham said a lot of things that Gregory didn't process- or simply ignored out of spite- but one thing Gregory did process was the question, "So will you work for me?"

Scoffing, Gregory replied, "Absolutely not." 

Mr. Havisham simply shrugged. "We'll see about that." Gregory wondered what his father meant by this, but he knew for a fact it couldn't imply anything good. 

A while after Mr. Havisham had left Gregory's cell, a person had come in to bring Gregory food. From past experience, Gregory knew that the meal was simply a trick to drug him. Although temped by extreme hunger, he refused to eat the food. His hunger strike went on for several days in attempts to avoid being drugged, and though it was insanely painful and uncomfortable, Gregory swore to himself he would never succumb to the desire to eat. Even when workers sent by his father would come in to either convince him to eat or even force-feed him, Gregory would refuse. 

The starvation went on until Gregory died. He had, of course, starved to death, and despite it being a slow and painful way to die, Gregory was glad. He thought he had avoided his fathers tricks to drug him and manipulate him into doing his work. 

Gregory was glad until he woke up again. 

Confused, he looked around and simply saw the same walls as before. 

Mr. Havisham walked in again and asked, "Did you really think you could get away that easily?" 

Scared, Gregory replied, "Stop. You're not real. You're just some demon in Hell posing as my father in hopes of making my afterlife miserable."

Mr. Havisham laughed. "You have an odd sense of humor, Gregory. You aren't in Hell. You're alive." 

For days, Gregory contemplated what could've been going on. How could he possibly be alive? He knew he had been shot by Leslie, and even if that hadn't killed him, starving definitely did. Why was he still here?

Mr. Havisham continued to come into Gregory's cell and try to talk him into working for him. Gregory always refused, never wanting to do anything in favor of his despicable father, and every time Gregory refused, Mr. Havisham assured him he'd change his mind. 

Gregory was determined to prove his father wrong, even when the true torture had begun. His fathers workers would torment him constantly. They would beat him. They would say horrible things to manipulate him. They would do nearly everything, but Gregory continued to refuse. 

It had gotten to the point where the workers had realized the abuse wasn't enough. Gregory was too strong- he'd never give in. They had decided to take more drastic measures. 

Exhausted, Gregory had found himself falling asleep. He had been doing his best to stay awake in hopes of always being alert, but the lack of sleep had finally gotten to him. When he woke up, he quickly realized he was no longer in his cell. He was, instead, in a dark room, tied up to a chair. 

He sat there scared and alone for a while until someone walked in, holding a knife. There was nothing Gregory could do when he felt the knife pierce his abdomen. 

Just when Gregory was certain he was dead, he found that he had woken up in the same chair he was tied to before. 

Why was this happening?

Gregory wanted it to end. 

The same kept on happening for what felt like ages to Gregory. Someone would walk in with some new method of killing him, and he would have no way of fighting back. He wished he would have time to break free from the ties binding him to the chair, but it was impossible. He would always be killed immediately after waking up, giving him no time at all to free himself. 

The repetition of being brutally killed was making Gregory lose his mind. Each death was becoming more and more torturous, and Gregory could hardly take it anymore. He had tried to stay strong and not let his father win, but he was losing this impossible fight. 

Gregory could no longer count how many times he had been killed. He barely remembered what his life was like before the torture. He tried to think about Mole to stay determined, but he was slowly starting to forget him too. 

For a while, Gregory wanted to be genuinely dead. Now, he couldn't even remember what he wanted. His question to himself was no longer, "Where am I?" or "Why am I here?", but rather, "Who am I?" 

When Mr. Havisham told him he could give him the answer, he readily accepted.