Imprisoned and Betrayed

/13\

Scarlett groaned softly, then dragged herself off of the ground. She scooted over to Drayce, "I'm so sorry." She whispered, tears shimmering slightly in her eyes.

Drayce looked at her, his expression dull and void as he remained silent.

"He would have done much, much worse if I hadn't done that." Scarlett persisted.

Still silent, Drayce drew his gaze off of Scarlett and towards the wall. Blood leaked sluggishly from his ear and nose and trickled down his body. His bullet wound was still holding together, but had begun to turn a nasty shade of yellow and red. And his arms were covered in blood that created a puddle beneath them on the cement floor. Overall, he was quite the pitiful sight.

Scarlett dragged herself off the ground and managed to get over to Drayce, assessing his injuries. His blank stare remained as he hung from the ceiling limply.

Scarlett looked around the room, trying to find anything that might alleviate Drayce's suffering. Unfortunately, the room was absolutely bare. Not a single thing broke the monotony of the grey walls.

"I'm so sorry, Drayce." Scarlett choked out, covering her face with her hands. He blinked once, but his gaze remained the same. Scarlett drew her knees up and rested her forehead against her knees, tears running down her face.

'Why did I do this all for him?' she pondered.

After a moment, she felt a sense of clarity settle over herself, 'I care for him.' She realized.

Taking a deep breath to settle her sobs, she lifted her head up and looked at Drayce, "Drayce," she started, "you need to come out of this. We can make it out of here."

This time, Drayce responded with a single word. "How?" He croaked.

Scarlett managed a small smile, "We have you. You're more powerful than you know."

"I can't get us...out of here." He said, his voice dry and cracking.

"Yes, you can!" Scarlett insisted, "I know you can, you just have to try!"

He shook his head adamantly, causing some blood droplets to splatter on the ground.

Scarlett furrowed her brow, "You have to try."

"I'm not gonna last much longer." He muttered, his head dipping down again.

"You're just going to give up?!" Scarlett demanded, "You have to try."

Drayce opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Instead, he began to cough fiercely until splatters of blood came up as well.

Scarlett ripped the extra fabric at the bottom of her shirt, leaving enough for her to be modest, as she stood up tiredly. Gently, she pressed it against Drayce's arm that she guessed needed it more, trying to slow the blood flow.

Drayce jerked at her touch and cried out. Every single part of his body hurt exceedingly.

"Try to stay still." Scarlett soothed and pressed the piece of fabric against the arm again.

"It hurts...so...bad..." He gritted out, his fists clenching, his body desperately trying to control the pain shooting through him.

Scarlett sighed quietly, "Close your eyes and focus on a pleasant image. Imagine yourself in that place—or situation." She gave a small smile, "Pretend you are in that situation. Imagine the sights, the sounds, the smells."

His eyelids fluttered closed as he tried to do as Scarlett said. After a moment, his body relaxed.

Scarlett smiled, and as gently as she could, tied the scrap from her shirt around his arm. She stepped back for a second, then went to examine his ear. Softly, she touched it, wincing at the damage Clev had done, the soft tissue mangled beyond repair.

At her light touch, Drayce flinched and his foggy eyes opened to look at her.

She averted her eyes, biting her lip. Coming to a painful knowledge that his eardrum was permanently ruined, Scarlett put her hand down, going over to a nearby wall and leaning against it.

Drayce's gaze followed her movements until he spoke. His throat felt like sandpaper and he struggled to speak, "What...h-happened to you..."

"What do you mean?"

"What made...you c-change."

"You did."

Drayce licked his split lips. "M-me? I don't understand."

"I... I was horrible to you." Scarlett sighed, "And I've finally realized it."

"Oh." was all he said and his head dipped down once again.

After a moment of silence, Scarlett asked, "Is there anything I can do to make you feel more comfortable?"

"What do you think?" He asked, his voice full of sarcasm. His face would have been twisted into his signature expression had he not been in so much pain.

"Sorry." Scarlett mumbled, sighing quietly.

Drayce didn't acknowledge that he even heard what she said. He kept his gaze blank even though Scarlett could tell he was in immense pain.

A/N

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it ;)

Ithildae and Evara

Scarlett - Evara
Drayce - Ithildae
Clev - Ithildae