My Strongest Weakness

With hardship comes misfortune

König couldn't breathe.

Feeling a heavy gaze on its body, the slave stood stiff behind Colonel Williams, wide eyes glued on its worn boots, chest constricting and heart thundering in its chest. Everything had zoned out save for the harsh feeling of that gaze that hadn't left it and the weaker its knees grew as König stood.

"Something wrong, lieutenant?"

The heavy feeling slowly eased, but König kept its head bowed in fear of being reprimanded. A seeming eternity stretched on as the slave stood stick straight, heart thumping in its chest as it waited for its next command. Slowly the meeting came to a close, and the sudden shift of Colonel Williams made König's shoulders bunch to its ears as it sunk its head lower and lower. Williams snatches the chain connected to König's collar, yanking it forward and nearly ramming it the Colonel. Williams shoots König a glare, the slave dipping its head down and following close behind Colonel Williams. Seeing the man's rigid posture, the slave shudders as a seemingly endless amount of scenarios played through its mind, sending tremors up its spine and leaving the slave shaking so much that even the chain had begun to rattle.

Slowly Williams and the Vultures traversed the halls, König gripping its pants tightly when a loud creak from the door to Colonel Williams' barracks opened. It gets shoved in, collapsing onto its knees with wide eyes when a boot makes contact with its back. König hunched over, arms covering its head with eyes scrunched closed waiting for the inevitable pain to start. "That damn Captain." König holds back a cry of pain with a rough kick to the side ignites old wounds made by the same hands of the handlers surrounding it, the sharp pains pummeling the slave's body growing increasingly worse by the second. A kick against the wound in its leg made the slave cry out in pain, tears soaking into the already bloody mask. Its eyes focused on a spot on the ground, teeth grinding as it curled further inward. Red hot pain ran over its spine, each nerve feeling like it was on fire. Time seemed to stretch into an eternity as König stayed curled in a ball, even after the heavy blows from its handlers had ceased.

A rough hand grabbed at the slave's jaw, forcing its head up and blood to rush from its head and down into its body. The sudden dizzy spell nearly sent the slave tumbling onto the ground had the Colonel's grounding grip loosened in the slightest. His cold eyes softened with a smile, but the venom never left the dark brown eyes. "You know why we do this, right?"

An odd question from the man, however it wasn't new to König. The slave had heard it thousands of times, eyes glassy as it slowly processed the words in its clouded mind. Everything was getting hazier by the second.

The bed behind Williams was blurred.

The duffels piled next to the door began to melt together, greens mixing and creating a new ugly color.

Even Williams' face had morphed into something seeming otherworldly, despite the fact that he was breathing in König's face; the scent of cigarettes and cheap whiskey filling its nose and making the slave want to puke.

"It's because we care about ya. No one could ever treat you better than we do."

König could only give a slow nod, gaze turning black before the slave slumped forward and a feeling of uneasy peace washed over it. The twisted grin from Williams spiraled inward, scrunched eyes drooping as his perfect teeth curled around and around in circles before disappearing in a mass of black that seemed to only grow.

"Would you look at that? It seems our little toy is tired. Martinez, grab the spare in my bag."

König tensed at the mention of the spare, but the attempt to stay awake was all in vain as König slumped forward with its head nearly resting on Colonel Williams' boot. It was only inevitable at that point. Nothing could help König as Sergeant Martinez handed over a long metal strip with metal poking out in random spots, jagged and crusted with old blood. König gives a weak whimper at the sight of the device now in Colonel Williams' grasp, attempting to wriggle away only for its weak body to flop on its side with its knees to its chest and arms feebly in front of its face.