Hawksnest565

The Two Sides

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Ptelea looks at her hand and sniffles. She could barely feel her fingers, her entire hand throbbing painfully. She looks back to watch the old man. She whimpers and flinches as he clips the alligator clips to her fingers. She tries to move, even a little bit, but cries out in pain. She sobs softly and looks at the old man. "P...please don't." She cries. "I..I can shift! I can do it if you want! I'll even...I can say I hate Rosey, just stop please!" She stammers, watching him sadly. "Please...it hurts..." she whimpsers.

Ambrose nods and runs that way, listening for his sister. "Ptelea!" He calls out, hoping she could hear him...

@Fionraella

"What is speaking without meaning? Your words of hate will mean nothing if they're not true, Ptelea." The Boss shakes his head as he pulls out the large box to make operating it easier on him. "But you're wrong. I do not want you to hate him. I just want you to see that he's the one doing this to you. That, no Ptelea, he does not love you. His is a voice filled with tantalising lies like the song of a siren. Why else would he leave you to a home where you were beaten everyday? Did he write home? Did he come for you ever?" His fingers strokes the 'ON' button. "Or is he only concerned with his own self-interest?"

The security guard throws open the door of The Dark Room for Ambrose to enter.

The Two Sides

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Ptelea cries a bit as he squeezes one of the cuts. Tears begin streaming down her cheeks as he tightens the wires. She whimpers, her ankles hurting more now. She tries to pull her hand away from him, crying a bit louder now. "Please stop!" She sobs, shaking her head painfully. She then begins screaming again as he slams the scalpel into her hand. She wails loudly, trying not to look. "Rosey..." She sobs, shaking painfully. She squeezes her eyes shut, crying still.

Ambrose groans. "Slowest elevator ever!" He begins pacing he small space, kicking at the side of the elevator, counting the seconds in his head.

@Fionraella

"But it's not enough for dear Rosey, is it?" The Boss's grip slips from the scalpel. It remains standing upright, glinting in the dim light. Its presence keeps most of the blood in the wound but a little bit still dribbles out. "Where is he, Ptelea? Has he not seen you suffer enough?" He touches a finger to the blood welling out and holds a spot of the liquid up to his eyes. "Clearly I need to step up my game." He spins around to the trolley. At the bottom of it was a large box. A battery. He pulls out cords that are attached to it with alligator clips on the end. He playfully snaps the mouths of the clips open in front of her. "Do you know what the most painful process a shifter can go through is? It's called forced transformation." He pushes one of the clips onto the index finger of her trapped hand. "Shifting, as it happens naturally, is an entirely painless and in some cases even a soothing act. However, I have been told that being forced to shift by outside factors is akin to having your body turned inside out. I came across the idea on an island in the tropics. There was a group of shifters who, in thunderstorms, would stand a top of hills and wait for lightning to strike them, and then they would shift. It was some proof that they were the strongest. First I laughed, but then I saw the event actually occur. It worked! Shifting without input from the shifter." He attaches an alligator clip to her reddened and bruising hand. "Of course, we lack lightning bolts in a common scenario. It's a good thing my scientists found electrocution to be a suitable replacement."

The elevator made its calm ding once again and then opened its doors. The guard runs out and points in the direction that they're going.

The Two Sides

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Ptelea whimpers softly at his words, shivering at the cold metal on her cheek. Doubt crosses her eyes and she flinches at the cut on her cheek. A few more tears roll down her cheeks. She looks at the old man and bites her lip, sniffling. "He..."She frowns, trying to justify her brother's actions. Her lip trembles. "Rosey's a good person..." She says uncertainly, before looking away, confused. "But..Rosey didn't stop you from hurting me..." She closes her eyes, shaking her head. "Rosey loves me, right?" She looks at the old man worriedly. "Rosey loves me lots..."

Ambrose paces outside the elevator, his heart racing as he thinks of all the torture his sister must be going through. He groans and kicks a wall angrily.

@Fionraella

"Does he love you? Does he?" The Boss gently cuts her other cheek. "If he loves you, then how could he let this all happen to you!" He squeezes one of the cuts. "Why is this here?" He pulls at the wires, tightening them slightly. "Why are you losing your ability to walk with every passing second?" He then squeezes her injured wrist. "Why does it hurt when I do this?!" In a manner of seconds he slams the scalpel he's holding right in the middle of her uninjured hand. The force is so great the instrument goes cleanly through her hand to the other side. "Why did you have to feel that?"

The elevator gives a peaceful ding and slides open. The guard grabs Ambrose by the arm and pulls him in quickly, hitting one of the buttons for a higher floor.

The Two Sides

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Ptelea hesitantly spits the candy into his hand. She sniffs and swallows, grimacing at the taste of blood in her mouth, the taste of lemon lingering as well. She hesitates, trying to figure out which answer wouldn't cause him to hurt her anymore. "Mad?" She whimpers, then looks away, unable to look him in the eye any longer. She sniffles. "I want Rosey.." She whispers softly.

Ambrose shivers at that thought. He nods and follows the guard trembling slightly.

@Fionraella

The Boss nods slowly, "Good! Good, you should feel that way. See, when you're mad you can push away the people who are hurting you. It makes you stronger, you know?" He picks up the scalpel from before and taps the blunt end on her cheek. "But there you go, crying out for help from the very cause of your pain." He leans down as to hide his words from the camera. "You see, your dear Rosey is going to break at some point. He knows it too! He knows that at one point I'll take it a step too far and he will confess to me the information I require." He taps the cheek again, this time cutting a thin line on her cheek not dissimilar to Ambrose's burn. "But if he knew that this whole time, why not save you from the very beginning? What kind of brother chose the imperfect safety of others over the wellbeing of his sister?"

The guard sets a mean pace down the halls to an elevator which he clicks the button for several times after scanning his ID.

The Two Sides

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Ptelea cries loudly as he cuts her tongue. Tears roll down her cheeks as she struggles to pull away. But I am a child! She thinks, whimpering. She then begins screaming as he pushes the candy onto the cut. She tries to pull her face away, or at least spit the candy out. Tears keep falling down her cheeks, as her screams turn into sobs.

Ambrose nods and runs from the room, but not before hearing his sister's screams. His face pales and he looks back and gasps, seeing the blood well from her tongue. He bites his lip fearfully. "He better not kill her between now and when we get to them." He warns the guard. "I might not want to talk if he hurts her too bad." He snaps, waiting for the guard to lead.

@Fionraella

The Boss pushes his fingers to her tears, wiping them up as quickly as they came. "Such waterworks! What's all this little one?" He bends down and looks into her eyes. "Are they sad tears? Or are they mad tears?" He holds out his hand for her to spit the candy into. "You see Ptelea, an old man like me knows plenty about life and what works. Being sad gets nothing done! But if you're mad, you've got a fire burning to keep you going." He cocks his head. "Well, which would you say you are? Sad or mad?"

The guard shakes his head, "The Boss is just getting started."
She'll make it." He didn't mention what shape Ptelea would be in when they found her. The guard leaves the room and heads down a long hallway.

The Two Sides

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Ptelea cries at the wire around her ankles. She whimpers and clamps her mouth shut at the mention of her tongue. She tries to pull her face away, shaking her head, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Ambrose jumps to his feet. "The hell?! I just agreed to tell you everything and you can't even help my sister stop suffering?!" He snaps, turning back to the monitor. He growls and grabs the guards shirt. "We have to go there now and stop him!"

@Fionraella

"My dear, quit acting like a child," The Boss chides at Ptelea's struggles. He wrenches her mouth open by pulling her chin down with one hand and quickly grabbing at her tongue. Once it's in his hand he cuts a slit in the middle. The wound is small but deepened from the way the old man's hand shook as it cut her. Blood began to well out into her mouth. "That looks like it hurt a little!" He drops the scalpel and pulls something out from his pocket. It's a lemon sherbet, already unwrapped. "Your big brother wasn't accepting of the comfort of a lolly. I'm sure you'll be much more grateful than him." He pushes the acidic candy on to the cut.

The guard carefully pried Ambrose's fingers from his shirt. "Okay, I get it! Don't worry, we'll go to her now!" He opens up the door.

The Two Sides

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Ptelea tries to pull her feet away as he squeezes her ankles. She whimpers, tears rolling down her cheeks. She sniffles and looks at her wrist and begins crying. "R...Rosey..." She sobs, shaking fearfully as she watches the old man. Nothing made sense...Rosey was supposed to help her, save her from this evil man hurting her. But Ptelea felt betrayed..Ambrose wasn't there. Ambrose had let that man hurt her hand. Would Ambrose help her now...? She looks at the old man. "P...please." She whimpers. "please stop!"

Ambrose pales at seeing the wire. "Oh shit.." He whispers, shivering. He gulps, then bites his lip nervously. He hesitates before hanging his head in shame. He thought of his groupmates back in the forest. How could he give them up to this man, who would do unknown horrors to his friends? But then he thought of his sister, who looked up to him, who by sitting her watching her suffer, was doing nothing to stop her pain. He gulps, and looks at the guard as much as it pained him to do so. "You're right...I'...I've let this go on long enough..." He whispers, looking away and squeezing his eyes shut for a moment before looking up at the guard once again with as much strength as he can manage. "I'll tell the old man everything I can...I can't watch my sister suffer anymore..." His stomach churns as he thought of how he could save his sister and not betray his groupmates. He could figure that out when he came to talk to the old man about whatever he wished to know...right now he just had to help his sister.

@Fionraella

The Boss winds the wire about Ptelea's ankles, just tightly enough to make blood flow a slight problem. "Don't worry, Ptelea," he coos to her, "this won't take away your feet straight away. We'll come back to it, you know? It might just be slightly uncomfortable for the time being." He glances over at his notebook. "A cut to the tongue next, isn't it?" He takes a scalpel from his pile of tools and then clamps his hand on her chin. "Open wide, my dear. The dentist just wants to see your pearly whites!"

The guard let out a sigh of relief and went to grab his radio. "I think you've made the right choice, mate." He clicks a few buttons on the radio. Then his face goes pale. "Oh. Oh no." He desperately clicks the buttons harder. "How could I... How could I forget to charge this?!" He looks to the screen and Ptelea's struggles.

The Two Sides

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Ptelea cries out at the stinging and burning that radiates from her wrist from the slam. She sobs and tries to pull away, whimpering painfully as her wrist throbs. "Rosey!" She hiccups.

Ambrose digs his nails into his palms as he turns away from the monitor. His heart races angrily. "My sister is nine." He mutters, then shakes slowly. "I...I couldn't betray them like this.." He looks confused. "I can't decide..." He whispers to himself. He looks at the guard. "Please, what do I do??"

@Fionraella

The Boss waves Geoffrey away. "That's a good boy. What a nice warm up, hmm?" He gives the man a hearty pat on the shoulder. "I think I'll take over from here. Can't have you do all my dirty work now! Why don't you go grab yourself a coffee or something? I'll give you a buzz should I need you."

With his dismissal, Geoffrey gives a short nod and then lumbers out the door.

The Boss's hands fling to Ptelea's ankles and he squeezes them. "Such strong bones you have, little one!" He removes his grip and turned to his pile of gadgets. "But you know, the body functions so poorly with a lack of circulation." He picked up a spool of thin wire. "How about we have those precious feet of yours cut off from the blood line whilst we deal with the rest of today? I can't wait to see the outcome. Does a parrot need its feet to fly?"

The guard goes to pat Ambrose's shoulder but stops himself before making contact, as if remembering some terms given to him. He points to the monitor,
particularly referencing the beaten wrist of Ptelea. "It ain't my choice kid, but if I were you I'd give everything to make sure that little girl was safe, even if it meant throwing my friends under the bus.

The Two Sides

Geoffrey grabs the red wrist and slams it down onto the wooden board with a large amount of force.

The Boss watches calmly.

The guard winces at the sound of the wrist hitting the board. "I dunno, mate. You see, The Boss has taken a few of your kind before and really pushed the limit. They survived but, well, they were older. Your sister's what, eight? Nine? I'm sure your friends would fair better."

The Two Sides

Geoffrey continues to twist until The Boss holds his hand up to tell him to stop.

The Boss suddenly pulls out a wooden board from the trolley and hands it to Geoffrey. "And... Throw it down on this."

The guard shakes his head. "That's cold, mate. I don't know if you've noticed this, but your friends aren't the ones in trouble right now. Your sister is." He stares at the screen. "There ain't anything I wouldn't do for my family."