Torment

TORMENTeight

Someone is whistling the theme tune of Doctor Who. This person also taps his foot on the floor. Every so often, his breath rippled over my skin.

My nose wrinkles in revulsion to the aftershave he's wearing. Must be a boy then. There's something else to - a hint of something I just can't place.

The whistling stops. "Lou? Are you up? Lou?"

It's him. But this is a change - I don't feel like fighting him. He's killed so much of me. I don't want him to kill any more of my body.

I open my eyes and look around. The same white cell as when that doctor was murdered. Ugh. I don't want to look away from him any longer. The cell is just as bad as him. So I stop resisting. My eyes are forced to look at him.

He has bruised, purple circles under his eyes, making look so much older than he is. Yet he seemed to be quivering with a feverish joy. Hang on - he's much skinnier than before. Something is wrong with this whole situation...

I look back at the walls; the faces of my family peer out expectantly. I don't want to fight. I feel drained. But they whisper secrets into my ears. There are so many about Matt. So many. Too many. They infuriate me. Tess points upward - there seems to be a camera pointing directly at me.

"They want to know whether you're strong," Tess told me. "You have to make them believe that you are strong. After all, you are."

Matt sees me looking at Tess. He shoots a questioning look on his face. He musn't have seen them. A stroke of luck! Thank God, because I needed one. I try to get up. I look down to see a heavy, grey cuff on my ankle. I try to ignore it, but it's tough.

Matt sees me glance at the cuff and silently helps me to my feet. He beams at me then reaches forward to hug me.

No, that's not it. He has his hands in such a way that he could only be trying to strangle me.

That just made me angry. My family didn't need to coax me any more. I knew what to do.

My arms hug him. My hands are doing something else. I rake my nails against the small of his back. His eyes widen in shock before he falls down onto the sterile, white floor.

He tries to hold my fists back but he can't stop me. I am invincible. I punch him in the cheek, then try to gouge his eyes out. In retaliation, he punches me back. He tries. He just isn't trying. Weird.

Just as I've got his thumb deep into his eye socket, a calm courses through me. Just bliss. Nothing but bliss.