Last Breath - Ben Hargreeves

12 || these people are bad at torture

The man and woman walk away with a sigh after torturing Maggie for hours. As if to only annoy them, she refused to make a single sound, even when they sliced her hand open.

As they walk away, Maggie becomes painfully aware of the throbbing in her hand, and the sticky blood trailing down it.

The man turns to the woman and says, "Maybe you're not hitting them hard enough."

The woman turns to the man and angrily says, "Me? You're the one with the stupid orthopedic bracelet."

"I told you already, it's just for support."

Ben pipes up from beside Maggie, "Withdrawl...it's starting now, isn't it? Must be. Otherwise, who's the dead babushka?"

Klaus sighs, "I don't know" Maggie looks up at him, confused. "but it's driving me crazy. The bitch won't shut up!"

'Hey," The man yells at him, "Watch your mouth. What did I say about eyes front?"

Ben sighs, "Stay calm, Klaus."

Maggie asks Klaus, "Hey, are you okay?" He doesn't seem to hear her. "Klaus?" She sighs, "Shit! Who is it this time?"

The man and woman walk over and grab Klaus's coat off of the ground. He immediately objects, "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait...what are you doing? That's mine. That's my personal stuff."

The woman pulls out an inhaler and tosses it to the ground. Maggie tries to use her foot to reach for it but fails. The man sighs and picks it up off the ground. "I imagine this is yours?" She nods. He pockets it, much to Maggie's annoyance.

At that moment, the woman pulls a baggie out of Klaus's pocket. "Oh! What do we have here?"

The man holds out his hand. "Let me see that."

The woman tosses it, and Klaus promptly objects, "Hey, no, no, no, no. Be- Be careful with that. It's- It's my...asthma medication." Maggie gives him an annoyed look.

The man throws the baggie of drugs onto the ground. "Now we're getting somewhere." He starts stomping on it.

Klaus yells at him, "No, hey! Whoa! No, hey, hold on!" When the man doesn't stop, he screams, "Hold on! We can have a conversation. We're adults."

The man stops and asks him, "Okay, you want more?" He throws another baggie to the ground.

"No! No," Klaus screams as he steps on it. He grabs the chair and starts pounding it up and down. "No, no, no! Stop! Stop! Please, listen. Listen, I can...I can get you cash. Amputee hookers, whatever. Hey, just, please, just listen. Just don't...no...please..."

The woman hands the man a bar of chocolate that Maggie recognizes as being laced with weed. She has to hold back her laughter when the man takes a piece saying, "Chocolate. Mm-mm-mm!" He offers the chocolate to the woman, who happily accepts.

Ben asks Klaus, "You gonna tell him that it's special chocolate?"

Klaus whispers, "Not until they're high as kites."

The woman comes behind Klaus with one of the baggies. "This could all be yours for the low, low price of telling us everything."

"Okay, fine," Klaus mutters.

"No," Maggie yells. The man slaps her across the face to silence her.

Klaus continues, "Okay, I don't...I don't know where Five is. I wasn't lying about that. But I can tell you that he's...hasn't- hasn't been making much sense since he came back."

Maggie screams at him, "Klaus! Shut up!"

The man hits her again, causing her nose to bleed. "Elaborate."

Klaus stammers, looking at Maggie guilty, "I...uh...He's just...he's been acting like a- a- a lunatic. He's been sitting in this van in front of a- a lab or something, and... looking for an owner of an eyeball. One of those fake ones."

The man tells him, "That makes no sense."

The woman interrupts, "Hold on, just hold on. Tell us more about this eye, and why is it so important?"

"Klaus, I swear to god! If you-"Maggie gets cut off by the woman punching her in the jaw. It doesn't dislocate, but it hurts enough to stop her from talking. Instead, she frantically shakes her head.

Klaus continues, "He said it had something to do with the end of times or something."

The man and woman tape their mouths shut, and then force them into the closet. After they shut the door, their footsteps can be heard exiting the room.

In the dark, Maggie can barely make out Klaus's figure that is shaking with terror. He eventually starts screaming. Maggie attempts to move closer to her scared brother, but their chairs are already touching.

Ben says from behind, "Klaus. Klaus. Breathe. You're in the worst of it now. Just try and stay calm."

A vacuum cleaner goes off; Klaus and Maggie lock eyes. At the same time, they both start their muffled screams.

After a while, Ben says, "She can't hear you. You know what the worst part of being dead is? You're stuck. Nowhere to go. Nowhere to change." He looks up at Maggie. "No one to love. That's the real torture if you gotta know. Watching your brother take for granted everything you lost and pissing it all away."

Klaus turns away with a sigh and looks at Maggie sadly. If only she could see what he was able to.