Seduce Me ~ The Path To Forgiveness

Path Two, Step Eleven: An Unconventional Explanation

A scream so blood curdling that panic spikes through me as though I've been struck by lightening wakes me. My eyes fly open, already expecting the warped reality around me though surprised I'm still able to feel the pinch of the metal cuffs in my nearly dead arms, and though my monster blocks the view before me my eyes are drawn to the impossible amount of fresh blood that is spreading across the grey floor.

"Come now, is that the best you can do? It must hurt more than that." He chides, casting me a backwards glance before double-taking as he realizes I'm awake.

"But it's done the trick it seems. Welcome back my pet. It seems you fell back into unconsciousness during your escape attempt. A shame, you were so close." He shakes his head in mock sympathy as he turns to face me. I desperately try to look behind him at the figure softly sobbing, reluctant to see yet needing to know what he possibly could have done to elicit the chillingly painful scream. He notices my desperation and glances behind him with a smile.

"We've been trying our hardest to wake you. It's very selfish of you to sleep when we miss you so much, isn't that right Matthew?" His smile is deranged, more twisted and gleeful then I've ever seen in my years here, and my stomach begins to churn.

I want nothing more than to scream at him, to fight and struggle until one way or another I've escaped this hell, but my body refuses to budge and so I've no choice but to wait as my dread rises with every second that ticks by.

"But of course you didn't come to for me, did you?" He steps aside, his eyes roaming my face as he savors my reaction.

The pool of blood and the metallic scent had been enough to irritate my stomach but the sight of Matthew sends me over the edge as I heave violently, the emptiness in my stomach like daggers as I retch uncontrollably. His left leg has been completely severed, neatly placed aside on the table, and the cut is not clean but vicious and jagged as if it had been removed with a hand saw. A tourniquet has been fastened just above the stump but it seems to be doing little to stem the torrent of blood, a river so wide it seems physically impossible for him to still draw breath. His body is pale, sweat and tears pouring down like a waterfall, and when his clouded eyes meet mine I can see the blame that burns in them, cutting me deeper than a knife through the heart.

"You came at the perfect time actually, perhaps you'd like to help me decide? I could reattach the limb, I'm quite the magician you know, or we could simple seal the wound shut. What'll it be, pet?" He chuckles cruelly at his trick question, well aware that I can force no words from my parched throat. I attempt to plead with my eyes, to appeal to whatever sense of humanity that might linger inside his warped heart, though I know it will make little difference.

"Leaving the decision to me? How kind of you! Well the way I see it he has no use for the limb so why waste the energy putting him back together? Toys are made to be broken after all."

Matthew begins to struggle as our monster makes his way to the roaring fire in the corner, begging and pleading for mercy with wasted breath as he pulls the metal stick from the flames. Unlike the sharp tipped poker that usually resides within the coals this one ends in a round, flat disk, the white metal so hot the air around it shimmers.

I squeeze my eyes shut as my monster prepares for his impromptu operation, the sickness in my stomach intensifying as footsteps echo closer. I plead to wake up, Matthews voice rising to a crecendo in his hysteria, but my silent prayers fall on deaf ears as Matthews screams, a sound of pure agony that greatly out shadows his former cry of pain, drowns out even the voice in my head. The aroma of seared meat fills my nostrils and, much like a raw steak striking a hot pan, the sizzling and popping of his flesh is just barely audible amidst his suffering. The sounds and smells are too much for my delicate mind to handle and I can feel my head spinning, relief washing through me as I feel my consciousness slip away.