Chapter Six - Served Cold

I struggled, kicking my feet wildly, hands reaching for my daggers as my face was ground into the brick wall. Drudge laughed low in his throat in an entirely unpleasant way. I felt myself being lifted into the air higher before being slammed downward. I landed hard enough on the wooden floor to crack and shatter two planks. I gasped and writhed in panic as the breath was knocked from my lungs. I was strong, but not even in the same league as the hulking torturer.

“Haha!” Drudge laughed as I gasped and struggled. “This is going to be fun.” He lifted me once more into the air and slammed me back against the wall. Once more the world exploded in a shower of sparks in front of my eyes, and my consciousness began fraying on the edges. “It’s been so long since I’ve been able to play like this.” He pulled me by the neck and slammed me against one of the wooden pillars supporting the center of the room. My ribs snapped in my chest, and I gasped in agony. My struggles lessened as a chasm of darkness yawned before me. He let go of my neck and I dropped to the ground like a stone.

“It’s almost unfair,” Drudge chuckled as he stepped back a pace and removed his greasy, stained shirt. “I thought for a second you might have the guts to try to kill me. I was hoping you’d try, actually. I lay there for a good two hours waiting for you. You were late, by the way. Fortunately, I’m not much of a stickler for punctuality.” I shook my head gingerly, pulling myself back from the edge of the abyss.

“Course, I didn’t know it was you coming,” Drudge shrugged as he unbuckled his breeches and let them fall to the ground. “You can’t even imagine how happy I was when I saw that silver hair of yours as you were slinking off. After all, we were so rudely interrupted last time.”

“Unh,” I grunted, my breathing ragged and painful.

“I’ll tell you what, rat,” Drudge stepped out of his breeches. “If you beg me on your knees to fuck you, I’ll kill you quick when I’m done.” I managed to pull myself into a kneeling position, my breathing labored, my head swimming. “Now…beg for my cock you mongrel.”

“Pl-please,” I managed to gasp. “Pl-please go outside and play hide a-and go f-fuck yourself, you piece of shit.”

“Ahahaha!” Drudge roared in laughter. “That’s what I like to hear! No quarter given or taken! It makes it more fun! So much better than all those other blubbering meat bags. We’re going to have us some fun, rat. And I’m gonna make this hurt!” He closed quickly and dragged me upright by the hair. I gritted my teeth in pain as I was pulled off my feet. His gaze slid over my chest and exposed belly and he licked his thick lips. “I like ‘em small. They make so much noise when you break ‘em.” He drew his face directly in front of mine. “What noises will you make, mongrel? Different than you made before? I wonder.”

My grasping fingers brushed against the hilt of one of my daggers and, with the practiced movement of an expert, the dagger leapt into my hand and buried itself in Drudge’s forearm. The big man’s eyes opened wide in surprise. He let out a grunt of pain and dropped me to the ground. I staggered backward as quickly as I could, drawing the dagger back to my hand with the chain out of reflex and unsheathing the other.

“You’ve still got a little fight in you, I see,” Drudge grinned, blood dripping from his arm. “I guess I shoulda disarmed you, first. I like it, though. It’ll be that much sweeter when I crush you.” He stalked forward surprisingly fast for a man of his size, causing me to skitter away from his grasp as I tried to mentally dull the ache from my broken ribs. I was still gasping for breath and looking for a way to escape when he hefted a giant hammer nearly as tall as I was. “I’m going to crush every bone in your body. But I’ll make it slow.”

“B-Big words for someone who can’t beat someone a quarter your size, y-you fat fuck,” I gasped, dodging nimbly to the left as he rushed forward, hammer slamming into the floor where I’d been a moment earlier with a crunch of broken wood. My dagger flashed out again as I danced past him and away from the wall, opening another cut on the big man’s arm. He laughed again as he hefted the hammer once more and circled toward me.

This is bad, I thought, eyes following his movements carefully. I could feel my body mending itself, the bones grinding and the torn muscles twisting as they merged back together in a creepy unnatural dance. I was certainly no clawed mutant, though, and the process was far too slow. My energy was draining quickly, and Drudge wasn’t even winded. I glanced toward the window and possible escape, but the most likely outcome was jumping and breaking both my legs 10 meters below on the street and laying there waiting for Drudge to collect me.

Once more I dodged as the hammer crashed down, the wind of its descent brushing against my exposed thighs. If that hits me, I am more than done. My lungs burned like they were on fire and the blood from my head had dripped into my eyes, half blinding me. I was running out of time. My eyes searched for anything to use to turn the tide, but nothing presented itself. My attention wandered too far from Drudge and before I could react, he was on me, hammer whistling through the air. My body acted on its own and deflected the hammer slightly, causing the heaving metal head to slam into my shoulder, dislocating it. I screamed in pain and the dagger fell from my nerveless fingers to clatter on the ground.

Before I could recover, he had grabbed the front of my leather jerkin and lifted me up, slamming me face down onto a heavy wooden table. I heard the cracked ribs snap and I coughed, a spray of blood erupting from my mouth. I lay dazed for a split second before Drudge thrust my discarded dagger through my injured shoulder and into the table, pinning me. I screamed again in agony.

“That’s the sound I’ve missed hearing,” he chuckled into my ear, leaning close. He threw his hammer aside and pulled my dark leather panties down, exposing me. “You haven’t screamed like that since I broke all of your fingers when you were no more than six years old. I’ve broken a lot of girls in my time, rat, but none were as fun as you.” He yanked my head back by the hair and licked my cheek. He pulled back for a second and chuckled. “That’s the same doll you had back then, too. It’s like a trip through the past.” He pulled the doll I’d found earlier and secured to my belt free and flung it aside. “Now, let’s have some fun.”

I felt him getting into position behind me, but my brain shut down. My consciousness faded to a pinpoint of white-hot rage. What kind of monster could do any of the things he had done? Ghosts of memories which weren’t mine slipped through my peripheral vision. A young, frightened Ashvallen arrested for selling flowers without a permit. Screams of agony as bones snapped. Other girls sobbing brokenly, their agony and despair a physical weight pressing down on her small body and fragile mind. All at the hands of the monster preparing to rape me.

No.

No!

“What the hell?” Drudge yelped in pain, his grip on me loosening for a split second. My mind released its hold on Ashvallen’s body and, like finally realizing you’d been driving a car with the emergency brake engaged, the Ferrari that was Ashvallen leapt into action. My leg snapped up and back, catching Drudge between his legs with a sickening crunch. The big man let loose a pained grunt, but I didn’t hesitate. I reached with my good arm and pulled the dagger free from my shoulder.

Drudge had recovered slightly and was moving forward but far too slowly. I reached behind me and pulled free a handful of powder from one of the pouches on my belt, flinging it in an arc toward him. The powder burst into heatless light as I closed my eyes. Drudge staggered as he was momentarily blinded. A moment was all I needed.

Ignoring the agony coursing through my body I lunged forward, driving one of the daggers home in the big man’s stomach as I raced past. Using my momentum, I catapulted myself off one of the poles and back toward Drudge, ripping the other dagger through the soft tissue of his bicep as I landed deftly beyond him. Without pause I flicked the chains attached to my wrists and tore the dagger in his fat stomach free, returning it to my hand. Drudge howled in pain as I spun, growling like an animal, and launched myself at him.

His fist caught me across the face, shattering my cheek but I barely noticed as I closed within his grasp and ripped with my daggers, shredding flesh and muscle. He staggered backward as I drove into him, my daggers tearing into him over and over. Drudge took another step backward and stumbled over the handle of his forgotten hammer. I sensed him falling and pushed forward with my legs, burying the daggers to their hilt in his exposed throat.

I rolled over as he landed hard on his back, grabbing the hammer as I did. A moment later I stood over him, my arms quivering from the weight of the hammer. I glowered down at him as he clawed uselessly at the daggers jutting through his face. I sneered, seeing the fear in his eyes. The same fear he’d visited on dozens, or hundreds of other people.

“You’re going to scream for me,” I snarled. As I brought the hammer down over and over, he did. Even after his screams stopped and only the wet crunch of the hammer disturbed the silence, I continued to swing the iron head down again and again. My knees finally gave way, and I sank to the floor beside what had been Drudge. I stared blankly at a spot on the floor in front of me, arms hanging limply by my sides.

I blinked to try to clear my vision as tears blinded me. Finally, giving way to pain and anguish I collapsed onto my side. I wasn’t sure how long I lay there before someone took me up in their arms, lifting me like I was weightless. I opened my eyes and found Sayuri’s bright heterochromatic orbs staring at me.

“I k-k-killed him,” I sobbed, flinging my good arm around her neck, sobs wracking my body.

“Yes,” Sayuri replied, petting my hair to comfort me. “Let’s go get pudding.”