&& BLOODY BASEMENT [VINCENT][C]

His body was low to the ground, probably in an attempt to make him slightly more comfortable as he slept. He found that he could move a bit more freely in this way, despite the many restrictions. Being able to move was good, it meant he had the slight chance to fight back.

“About time... Stop touching him, Cal. I said you could watch a little not touch...”

Justynn watched as the one named Cal pouted and stood up, but it didn't look like he was moving away any time soon. Then the second voice began to move toward them and Cal moved away just enough to show the violet haired man that swung a rather sharp hunting knife around and around on his long pampered fingers. When the man smiled Tye could feel his insides flip but his expression stayed rather emotionless, serious. He looked up at the two from his knelt position on the ground, his hands high above his head. What did they want? Were they connected to the heist he and Rene had been pulling? The quiet voice of Cal seemed to fit what Rene had told him about his adversary that he'd never seen before, but the second male seemed to be the leader of the two. Perhaps "The Dealer" had never been the top man after all... 

“Morning, starshine. I was starting to feel...Impatient.”

There was a chilling coldness about the way the second man spoke. Those intense blood dripping eyes staring daggers into his soul. He kept his harsh and blank posture, attempting to keep any control he could in the situation he was in. Whatever happened, he could NOT satisfy these men. Although he could feel the slight moisture forming on his hairline, and it certainly wasn't because the room was too warm. In fact the room was rather cool. 

Tye glanced at Cal, thanking whatever deity that may be listening for his mask. He was a nuisance. Good thing he was close enough...

After a few quiet seconds from Tye, using the muscles in his legs he moved into a squatting position and then thrust himself into the air where he grabbed onto the chains and used his own momentum to land a hard kick into Calcifer's stomach. The man doubled over as the air was stolen from his lungs. And as he stood there coughing, trying to gain his breathing back Justynn performed a roundhouse kick to his face causing him to spin backward and roll on the floor toward the door to the black and white tiled room.

When Calcifer was finally able to gain his composure he looked up from his place on the ground, his expression glaring with a deep deep hatred for the prisoner. Touching his lip with his fingers, he pulled away with sappy red liquid that clung and slid down his skin. Tye could even see that he'd achieved in darkening the skin around the man's right eye. Cal was pissed as he stood up. So mad that his entire form was shaking. "Why you little punk! I'm going to--" 

"Thats for everything you put Spade through." Tye said interrupting with a rather satisfied grin as he stood, his arms crossed. "I'm sure he'll find that little gift rather amusing, don'cha think, Dealer?"

The man glanced at an invisible force and said "Shut up!" Then he growled and made his way over to Tye with his fingers twitching to where he held his rather expensive dagger.

He certainly hadn’t forgotten about the second man and even expected something to come from him once the Dealer had been hit. When he held up his hand to stop the Dealer from coming any closer his theories were confirmed. The Dealer wasn’t the one in charge. He was the puppet. And a small grin formed on his face, but faltered as the violet haired man tossed the hunting knife into the air. There was a sharp pain against his cheek, but other than moving with the hand there was no other sound or reaction that came from him. Then the second slap caused him to take a step back, but still he didn’t move to block it. He opened his eyes the moment the hunting knife was caught on his fingers and sliced through his skin.

The leader tossed it up again and caught it’s handle quickly before placing it on his belt. Then he began to speak to him, placing the bloody hand in his face.

“Look what your little stunt caused...I should gouge your eyes out with my bloodied hand! But then again, that would be too easy. Too nice. No no, I have even more things planned for you. Better things… Things that will haunt your precious Rene for the rest of his life when he sees you again…”

Paying very little attention to his words he slyly glanced behind the man to look at what the dealer was doing. For the moment he was walking slowly over to where the “lever” was that would be pulled. But at the same time he was trying to get his lip to stop bleeding. So he wasn’t moving very quickly. Just as it was explained that whatever was going to happen would be to haunt Rene, Tye began to tune the second guy back in. Once again thankful that he had his mask on over his eyes. A slight frown formed on his lips as he heard that.

So this was about Rene… They didn’t want him dead… They wanted him broken. Honestly… Tye didn’t care if he died or not. Currently the only reason he fought so hard to stay alive was because he knew how much it would hurt Rene to see him dead… Rene had no Idea how much Tye knew about their escape from their own family, but he had been warned that they were going to try to use him as a way to get Rene to cooperate, and even though Tye didn’t press for details, there was no doubt that he had also looked closer into it. But they weren’t going to Kill Tye or Rene right away. In fact… They probably wouldn’t ever kill Rene. Simply because the easiest way for them to get rid of him was to kill his motivation and then Rene would probably go and die without them having to do anything to him directly. His guilt would be too deep. Especially after he saw and found out the kind of torture they were going to put him through. Dammit…

SLAAAP! Tye gasped as the hand hit him again, harder this time. And this time he hadn’t been paying attention to it, so he lost his balance and gravity moved against him. Sharp pain once again shot through his hands as the chains broke his fall. With blood having gotten into his mouth he spit onto the floor directly below him. He could feel it smeared across his cheek and jaw. Damn… he hated touching other people’s blood, but he couldn’t let Vincent know that so he spit at his knees again and then looked up. His eyes immediately fell on Cal who was about to pull on the lever, while speaking softly to someone beside him. Tye narrowed his eyes.

“Yes yes little birdie, go pull the lever like a good little igor while the mad scientist gets to steal all the fun away. Of course he’ll drop you when all hell breaks loose. Like. A. Doll.”

Cal paused. Tye could see the man’s head spinning, trying desperately to decide on whether he believed in the voice or not. Whether if it were true that the man he’d looked up to for so long actually would just drop him at the first sight of danger. He’d done it before… Hadn’t he…

Then a dangerous grin slipped onto his lips and he turned to Vincent and Tye. “My my, you’re the smart little bastard aren’t you. And you think I’m going to just fall for your little trick. You want me to try and kill you don’t you? I’m not so stupid as to stand in between Vincent and his next meal.” He leaned forward and waved a finger at Tye. “Foolish little boy. Vincent makes masterpieces. An alive you, would be so much more fun than a dead you. I want to see Rene crumble at my feet just as much as Vincent does. I’m not going to mess this up.”

Standing up straight again Cal moved over to the lever and pulled it up. As he did so the chains began to pull him up as well. Tye never looked away from Vincent as this was happening, however, he didn’t move to attack or struggle either. When the chains stopped he could feel the floor with the tips of his shoeless toes. His breathing became slightly labored, a touch of fear shot through his body and he couldn’t stop the cool chill from slipping down his spine causing his body to shiver. He would not play their game. He would not play their game. He would not play their game… Over and over again he began to mutter the calculations of how to make some of his gadgets. Not important ones of course. Very simple ones.

Then once the hoisting was done Tye noticed that Cal was heading toward the door, probably to leave. Tye said nothing. He’d done what he wanted. Maybe he couldn’t physically hurt these two like normal. But they would not get out of this situation unscarred. By this time though he was panting… and his arms were beginning to burn… Just… a little bit… lower… He begged the ceiling.

As Calcifer left Vincent turned his full attention back onto Tye himself. Tye immediately turned his gaze back onto Vincent. His breathing shifting slightly, becoming longer, discomforted breaths. He couldn’t ignore the situation he was in. That would be entirely impossible. He could feel his wrists bleeding now, not just being rubbed into. The blood was dripping down his arms now, very slowly, but that was the least of his worries. His toes could feel the cold, hard ground, and that was what he wanted. The terrible terrible ground. In an attempt to ignore his surroundings Tye clenched his jaw. He would not give satisfaction. He would not give satisfaction. He would not give satisfaction. He forced himself not to struggle, no matter how much he certainly wanted to. It was important to stay calm and collected. It was important for him to not fall into the tricks and scares the man had in store. Though he had absolutely no doubt that he would be in a whole lot of pain by the time this was over with… He just had to find a way to escape… which was completely unlikely. He’d probably die from bloodloss on the way to Rene, trying to escape was probably useless.

When Vincent began to speak he felt his heart flutter, which was a terrible feeling. He hated that. And once again his face was in the hands of a maniac. He gasped and tried to pull away from the terrible cold hands but couldn’t. The man’s face was so close that Tye had to close his eyes just to not panic. Too close… Too close…

“Hmmph. This mask, it’s cute, it serves a purpose..But it’s so awfully bland. It could use something...Something red.“ The tip of the man’s hunting knife was frighteningly close. Tye could feel his body shaking slightly. Noo… No, what a betrayal… That of his own body… It was to be expected. The cold metal of the knife sitting on his cheek was unnerving. No more reaction. No more reaction. No screaming… No struggling… No fighting… It would all be useless. The damage and the pain was going to happen anyway. There was no stopping it. There was nothing to be done to prevent it. But what point would there be in making the torture even worse than it already was. It would even be so easy for him to kick Vincent so hard that he’d block out. But what point would there be in that, he’d be stuck on the chains until he woke back up. He could of course bite his own tongue, that would kill him quickly from blood loss, but now that he knew they were going to show him off to Rene, there was something he wanted to tell him… Something important.

“Shall we remove it?”

The thing that he hated more than other people’s blood touching him and other people being too close to his face was people other than Rene seeing the truth behind his mask. Of course his eyes were absolutely normal colored. But he always had them covered, even when he wasn’t in uniform he wore darkened sunglasses. Whoever said that the eyes were the windows to the soul, was a freaken genius, because all of Tye’s emotions came through his eyes, and he knew it. No no. No. This whole thing would be so much easier with his mask on. While he said absolutely nothing he couldn’t stop his hands from clenching and unclenching and his teeth from rubbing together slightly. His body was working against him. Damn… Other than those subtle reactions Tye merely stared at the purple haired man with a mix of absolute terror and defiance.

“I’d love to see what yours say about you… Before I make them blank. Lifeless… Like. A. Doll.”

That voice haunted him the entire rest of the session. Over and over again it played in his head. The miracle was his lack of voice through the session. But now he was exhausted. He was so tired that he didn’t even fight when he was taken down from the chains and placed in the chair. He’d expelled way too much energy just trying to stay strong. And now that he was down from the painful experience his head was so foggy that he couldn’t even think. Vague thoughts played in his mind. Mostly just memories of the painful thrashing. He continued to pant even after he’d been belted to the chair. It was as if he’d been stuck in that position for too long and he just couldn’t catch his breath. The belts were very thick and padded with leather. They seemed almost too tight around his chest. It certainly felt like it cause his skin stung and burned insanely.

Without the Mask the night had dragged on forever. Or at least it felt like it. His mask was his protective glass. He could see the people beyond that glass easily, but the people couldn’t see him. It protected him from the world around him and having it ripped off so easily by Vincent had been traumatizing. His tough glass shattered in one simple movement. No longer could he hide behind his darkened glass like a detective watching his prey. Now he had to face the reality of the situation at it’s full force, and it certainly hit him all at once. Reality was a cold cold place.

He couldn’t Force himself to be silent much longer and it was only the first night… Or he only assumed. How long would he be here? How much more of this would he have to endure? Would he be able to? If he ended up exhausted like this every night, He would probably kill himself early and he would never get to tell Rene what he needed to tell him.

It wasn’t until Vincent began walking over to the door that he remembered something very important. “Wait!” He said, more forcefully and hoarse then he had wanted it to be, almost desperate. He hadn’t spoken the entire session and now it was playing harshly on his mind and voice. “You… You don’t have to go yet! You… You should stay here… Or at least… At least Could I have a clock so that I could watch the time?” He asked, his voice shaking and cracking as he spoke. His eyes, however, betrayed his deep fear with their Owl-like appearance. His fear of the dead silence.

At first, it seemed as though it would be impossible for Tye to fall asleep that first night. Even though it only took about ten minutes for his eyes to close, it seemed like forever. The ticking of the clock was very loud compared to the silence in that dark room and the first couple of hours that it chimed Tye would wake in a frenzy, terrified of what was coming. His bloodshot eyes would grow wide and on alert, but his foggy mind couldn’t handle any sort of coherent thought so it wasn’t long before his body completely fell asleep and not even the chimes could wake him up. The ticking sound in the mean time was perfect for helping the boy to sleep. It kept away the silence and for someone as exhausted as him nothing could sound sweeter.

The second night was different. He decided not to waste so much energy in trying to be strong and he just allowed his body and mind to take over. His terror was intense. He whined, and whimpered. Groaned and struggled. His emotions went on lockdown. His mind went on autopilot. There was no sadness, anger, or disgust. Only fear, pain, and a reaction to that pain. But there were tears during Vincent’s sessions. Tears that could only be described as a reaction to a pain much deeper than that of the physical torture. But he was completely unaware of these tears. They just… happened. He didn’t even react to the tears at all.

That night, after Vincent had finally gone to bed, Justynn couldn’t seem to sleep. His mind began to play slight tricks on him. Even with the ticking sound of the clock his eyes were wide wide wide awake. He had watched the clock blankly, listening to it’s tick tick tick… But the ticking began to play a small tune. It was very slight and it was only the tick of the big hand that played as an instrument, but the shadows certainly began to react in time to it. The numbers on the clock began to shift and the shadows around him began to dance across his field of vision, but every time he looked in that direction there was nothing there.

Over the next couple of days the hallucinations got worse. He began mumbling under his breath and watching every teeny tiny movement that passed by. And every little sound he heard started to play in time to the music that the clock was playing. After a while the shadow dancers gained shapes and actually stayed in his general field of vision. He watched as little girls danced with ribbons and women gracefully flew across the dance floor. Once, as Vincent had been walking into the little room, he saw the shadow of a dragon. The moment Vincent had turned the lights on to start his session Tye had ended up thrusting his chair so hard he ended up on the floor because he was terrified that the Dragon would have eaten him if he didn’t. He already had to escape the fire that had been blown toward his chair.

Other than the hallucinations he’d been sleeping very well. He didn’t even have dreams. But each and every day seemed to blend in together after awhile.

This evening was like all the rest. At least it started out that way. He was sitting in his chair, all belted up, staring blankly at the clock. But to him, the clock was now moving. The numbers and two hands danced to the music that the clock played. The shadows on the walls and around the room even danced to the upbeat tune that was livening up the room. But when Vincent unlocked the big lock and opened the door into the room the shadows and the numbers on the clock, all became afraid and ran away to hide in the deeper shadows. Away from the bloody one that would make Tye scream.

The blank faced boy lowered his eyes to the floor, hiding them behind his greasy, clumped up bangs and said. “Look what you did… Now the show’s over. You’ve frightened them all away.”

“They will return, doll~. They always will. The show will go on eventually. But now, there’s a much more important show about to start… And we need to get you even more prepared. A hostage princess has to be beautiful, after all.” The bloody man said in response to Tye's small pout as he shut the enormous door behind him. His voice was kind, almost as if Tye himself was a five year old girl. But he didn't react. Simply gazed at the ground with his eyes from under his locks of hair. 

That is until HE started making his way over to the chair that he sat in, stepping over the clock that had sat perfectly still in the same spot since he had left the room. When he felt the man's finger's drift gently over his forehead as he attempted to move the bangs from his eyes, Tye flinched slightly, a light and obvious fear flashed in his pupils as the touch happened. His calm, steady breathing quickened, and his heart raced. But he didn't move away anymore than a couple centimeters. It was strange. While he hated to be stuck in the middle of another session, he absolutely despised it when he was alone. He missed speaking, touching, laughing. He missed hanging out and going on missions, and studying machines. 

So while he hated Vincent's guts, he absolutely craved his presence. If only for the brief moments when he wasn't being harmful toward the boy's body. This touch that Vincent "so graciously bestowed upon him," while openly feared, was inwardly yearned for. Not so much in an attracted sense, but more in the sense that he was lonely. Lonely and beaten. And a gentle touch was heavenly compared to that of what he'd experienced theses last four days. 

“There’s still so much more work to be done before you’ll be truly ready~. You’ll be show stopping. A masterpiece. A twisted little fantasy and the perfect weapon to use against your little friend.”

He barely registered the threats about Rene anymore. He already knew what Vincent and Calcifer were doing. To listen would be to get upset over something that was indeed going to come to pass. Unless Tye died now, he would see Rene again... one last time. 

As Vincent brushed his own soft finger's down Tye's cheek, he couldn't stop the chill from shooting down his spine, causing his body to shiver. From fear or delight he was entirely unsure. But the second Vincent grabbed his chin once again was the moment any happiness or light-heartedness would disappear from his eyes entirely. Only a blank feeling of acceptance and that awful terrible fear. 

"How shall we start today, doll? Something sharp, something blunt? Maybe hot... Anything you would mind losing? Besides your head of course!"

Vincent's unsettling laugh broke Tye out of the daze that he'd put himself into. His deep blue eyes widened in that familiar cat-like fear. "You aren't going to put me in the lifted chains again are you?" His voice shaking.