Arachnophobia ⇒ Peter Parker

thirty three: needle

     The men entered the dark room. Peter numbly lifted his head. His eyes saw a white silhouette of their bodies. They were approaching - two tall men. He could tell from their reflection that the men were bulky. He shrunk more deeply into his chair. A light flickered on and Peter's eyes widened, through time, as his vision captured the objects that the men were holding.

     Isaac walked back into the room slowly, as if taking his time. He looked at Rose with a deep animosity. His eyes glinted as if they were watching fire dance a wild waltz. He was talking his time, knowing that each second that he delayed was one more second of agony for Rose. He reached forward and took out Rose's earpiece. He picked up a knife from his table of tools and crushed the device bitterly. Rose was officially alone.

     "Boss's orders," The men said as one stepped forward. He reached back his fist and swung forward. The fist collided with Peter's face. The boy let out a piercing scream. The man hit him again, and again, and again. Each time Peter thought that he could take a moment to ease the pain another hit came crashing his way. His voice cracked and he began to vividly sob. Stars ran in zigzagged patterns across his eyes. Was this the end?

     "I hope you don't have a fear of needles, honey. You might not enjoy this as much as I will," He said as he raised a sharp needle in his shaking hand. He was wired on pleasure. Rose was prepared for black ink to stain a tattoo onto her skin, but Isaac's alternative was much more painful and lasted just as long. The tip of Isaac's metal needle pressed up against her flesh, tearing the surface. He was carving a scorpion into her skin.

     "You must've done something really bad kid. I mean, Isaac really told me to lay it down on you. You're young, aren't ya?" The man said as he shook out the tension in his hand. Peter stared blindly at him. Peter took slow blinks and gave a small nod. His gashed lip wouldn't allow words to escape him. He glanced over at his friend with worry. At this point, the worker had his hands placed on his knees as if taking a rest. Through heavy breaths, he asked his friend, "Didn't Isaac say that he wanted us to use the knife too?"

     Rose's frame shook beneath the intense rattles that were produced by her yelling. Her nails dug thick red crescents into her palms. Tears filled Rose's eyes. The pain was unbearable. Her facade had completely collapsed. The needle penetrated her tough skin. It was not so much the physical pain that Rose could not handle, which was in amongst itself unbearable, but rather the fact that she would be branded as one of Isaac's followers forever.

    "It hurts so badly. Please, sir. I can't handle it. It just... Please don't, please don't--" Peter struggled out through choked breath. The man cut a long gash into his shin. The worker was taking his time as if he were handling the cut with caution. The man knew what he was doing, he was prolonging Peter's pain. The thought of hurting children didn't appeal to him, but he was simply following Isaac's orders. After all, everyone else was. He had a check waiting for him after he did Isaac's dirty work.

    "This is exhilarating. I've tortured people my whole life but I've never enjoyed it this much." Isaac cut delicately into Rose's throat. The prospect scared her to near death, but she took one idea from the exchange, he cared for her. She could leverage that on him. In the meantime, however, she only cried out as sizzling pain spread throughout her body.

     "I think we're done here. Didn't Isaac tell us not to kill him? I think he did. No, no, he specifically said to barely keep him alive," The man said, finishing with a nice smile. He reached forward and ruffled Peter's hair, to which Peter flinched. He finished, "No hard feelings. Sometimes you've just gotta do what you gotta do."

     Isaac took a small pod from his pocket and placed it against Rose's throat. His facility had achieved innovation beyond the rest of the world. The wound stopped bleeding and the pain significantly lessened. Rose examined him with a confused expression Was he not able to handle her suffering? Had he let her off the hook? She would soon realize that he was merely healing her for one purpose and one purpose only: so she could look like an accomplice in Peter's capture.

     And all returned to how it was before. The lights flickered off and Peter was left alone in the darkness. He was more terrified than ever before. The pain that spread throughout his body was unbearable and his lungs couldn't seem to take in any air. He struggled. Peter felt as though he could die in that exact spot, as his body had seized performing its basic functions. He slowly was feeling the life drain back into him. He remembered that Rose was probably worried sick about him and Tony was probably on his way right now. They had to be, didn't they?

     And then Rose left the room and it was all over, but her skin ached with a red etching of a scorpion. She was left with a wide battle scar. She was guided over to another hallway and another room. The whole trip lasted a single minute, but the pain still overtook her body every couple of seconds. Her body was adopting, though, and she was feeling the pain less and less. The walk into the interrogation room was the hardest walk Rose had ever taken. She had to finally face the consequences for what she had done.

     Peter's eyes caught someone entering the room. His heart stopped and he couldn't believe his eyes. It was Rose.

     He wanted to jump up and hug her. He wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her. He wanted to feel her soft cheek beneath his thumb. A smile came to his face. But, why was she here? She couldn't possibly be safe in this situation. Soon, Isaac became illuminated behind her. Peter's joy turned to worry. Rose's bronzed skin couldn't hide a pale wash that covered her skin. Her eyes were deep with pain. Her hand grasped at her neck as if covering something.

     "Rose. Rose. I can't believe you're here," Peter managed to gasp out. His voice had raised by an octave and he was evidently more live than he had been minutes before.

     Rose watched him. The boy was on the verge of death. Blood was still oozing from his fresh wounds and bruises littered his arms. She had seen Peter take a hit, but she had never before felt worse. In fact, she felt sick to her stomach. Peter was still having trouble gasping air. Rose knew how much pain he was in. Had she not betrayed Isaac, Peter wouldn't have had to endure the torture that was brought upon him. She was tired of feeling so much pain. She was tired of watching those closest to her suffer. She was done covering for herself.

     The girl lowered her hand and revealed the scorpion carving. She watched Peter tilt his head in confusion and she opened her mouth. She wouldn't speak with hesitance, she would speak with conviction. She remembered how Isaac had advised her to act: pretend like your relationship was some game, and most importantly, feed off his misery. In the next eight words, she would make the biggest mistake of her life.

     "Peter, I'm one of them. I've betrayed you.""