Chapter 4

"Well, little girl, it seems the time has come for some real fun to begin!" said Ikaros viciously. His eyes were glinting malevolently, his mouth twisted into a sneer.

"Well! Which one will it be, little girl? Which one will be granted a quicker, less painful death? And which will be... my plaything?" He chuckled, licking his lips, anticipating happy events. He was already approaching my friends, a hungry look in his eyes.

"Please!" I begged once more. It seemed to me that all I had done for the past hours was to beg and plead. Deep down I knew that there was no point to it, but I felt I had to try something. "Please." My voice was faint, still no strength to be found in me. I was weary, and didn't know how to deal with this situation, my mind constantly trying to shut down. "please..." my voice now merely a whisper.

"Now, now, little girl. You know what to do, or I shall have to keep them both for myself. Choose!" He yelled the last word, jolting my mind, forcing me to be attentive once again.

"I can't" I said, my head lowered, tear running silently down my cheeks. "I can't choose one over the other. Please don't make me!"

Ikaros laughed gently. "Very well then, little girl. I shall play with them both. But we'll wake them up now, shall we? And this time, we'll use something more... lasting. We want them awake for all of it this time, don't we?" He laughed again, and moved back to the table, which I was begging to dread almost as much as I dreaded Ikaros himself. He took another vial, slightly larger than the one he had used to cauterize Lizzy's leg, and came to where the twins were seated. He paused, the vial half way to Rox's mouth, apparently rethinking his next action.

He turned back once more to that table, and came back a few seconds later, two pieces of cloth in his hands.

"I have to admit that I am a bit tired of their constant screaming, aren't you? This will make it more enjoyable." He said, as he lifted each of their heads in turn, allowing a single drop to fall from the vial into their mouths, then immediately tying the cloth around them, so as to stifle any sound they might make.

I had been expecting a rapid effect, just like the injection had had. Seconds passed however, and neither of them stirred.

Just as I was beginning to hope that it hadn't worked, Lizzy started moving, then Rox. It was taking longer, but I could tell that something was different about the influence of this vial. It seemed stronger, more powerful. Lizzy and Rox were wailing again, the sound muffled by the cloths tied to their mouths. I could tell however that they seemed more acutely aware of the pain than they had been before. Lizzy's eyes were bulging, and agony was etched out in every line of both their faces. Their bodies were tensed, every muscle taut, their hands so tightly clenched on the arms of their chairs that Rox tore a couple of her nails out of her remaining fingers.

I was about to speak, to call out to them, when Ikaros leaned in, and whispered in my ear: "There's nothing you can do for them, little girl. Choose which one dies, now. This is your last chance. In 30 seconds, the offer expires. Then they will both wish for death to take them swiftly, but it shall not. Choose."

I looked at them both, knowing that my time for stalling had run out. I had to choose. One of my friends would die now, the other after suffering through who knows what unearthly pain.

I closed my eyes. I felt like my heart was going to brake.

"Rox" I whispered.

"What was that, little girl?" Ikaros asked, the eagerness in his voice easily distinguishable.

"Rox" I repeated, a little louder. "Let Rox die a fast death."

"Very well, as you wish, little girl!" He turned to the twins, and said in his cruelest, most sadistic tone yet: "Well, c***s. Your dear friend has decided that one of you is going to die now. She chose you, Rox. But here, lets change the seating arrangements so your sister can watch die as well, shall we?" He smirked, and as he said this he took hold of Lizzy's chair, and turned it in such a way that she was facing Rox.

Her cries doubled, though I hadn't thought it possible. Tears were streaming unrestrained down her face. She was desperately trying to free herself, trying to say something to her sister.

Ikaros watched for a while, enjoying the scene. After a few minutes, when he got bored, he took up a knife larger than the last one, went over to Rox, and slit her stomach, from her groin to her throat.

Her innards spilled out, her guts falling to the floor.

Rox was thrashing, convulsing, a sickening gurgling sound coming from her throat.

Lizzy and I were both screaming, Lizzy's wails muted by the cloth.

"You had promised! You said it would be quick and painless¨" I screeched. I could hardly contain myself, the anger flaring up. I was shrieking, hardly even knowing what I was saying.

"Now, now, little girl. I promised no such thing. " He said viciously. "If you remember, what I said was that it would be faster and less painful than what her sister will go through. And this is a promise I can keep." He added, leering at Lizzy.

Lizzy however, had not heard to what he had said. She was looking at her sister, her twin, her best friend, who was still quivering uncontrollably. Rox hardly even had human form anymore, her eyes hanging from their orbits, several fingers cut, and her abdomen carved wide open. Lizzy wished that she would die faster, but Rox was still holding on, her face contorted in pain.

It lasted a few seconds, perhaps a minute, before Rox was finally silent. Her head fell to her chest, and with one final tremor, was still.

Lizzy and I were crying, but silently now. Our grief at the loss of our friend was great, but the relief was greater. He couldn't hurt her now. Not anymore.

Ikaros turned to me, his wicked eyes showing his satisfaction.

"Well, little girl. I think that's enough for one day, what do you think? I'll fetch someone to take you away."

I turned to Lizzy, wanting, somehow, to relieve her, even just a little. "You hear that, Lizzy? It's over for now." I tried to sound positive, but I realized that my voice sounded dead, no emotion at all being carried by it.

"No, no, little girl. You misunderstand me. I'm having you taken away. Your friend stays with me!" He was cackling madly again, jubilant. He left the room, calling for someone named Iason to take me away.

My heart sank, but I was too numb now, to know what to do, what to say. I knew that begging wasn't going to help, and might make things worse for my friend. So I said the only thing that I felt would matter.

"I love you Lizzy. I'm sorry."

Ikaros came back to the room, followed by a young man, tall and very muscular. My brain didn't register much else, before this Iason untied me, and picked me up roughly by the arm.

"You know where to take her, Iason." Ikaros said to him. "Do not speak to her, and do not let her out of your sight until our Lord has decided what to do with her."

"I know what to do, Ikaros," he spit the name, as if anxious to get it off his tongue. "Do not tell me what I am to do, only our Lord may have the privilege, understood?" His tone was low and threatening. Without waiting for a reply, he turned and half carried me away.

I could hear Ikaros fuming, irritated at the way Iason had spoken to him. I then heard him turn, returning to the table, and angrily rummaging for a tool.

We hadn't gotten very far before Lizzy's screams were heard once again, echoing through the hall.

Iason flinched at the sound, clenching his teeth, the muscle in his jaw working. I could hear a small sound issuing from deep inside him, like some kind of growl.

That is the last thing I registered, before my brain, having threatened it for the last few hours, finally shut down. The sound of my second friend being tortured to death too much for me.

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When I came to, it took me a while to remember where I was, and all that had come to pass since my being brought there. After a few moments though it all came back, and my first feeling was fear. I lay with my eyes shut tight, listening, trying to assess my surroundings. Was I alone, or was somebody in here with me? I couldn't hear a sound, no breathing, no rustling of clothes. But I couldn't shake the feeling that someone was there with me.

I opened my eyes, just a fraction, trying to see something, anything. The room I was in was too dark. I couldn't make out anything other than my eyelashes.

I opened my eyes a little more, slowly. I still couldn't make out anything of interest. All I could see was a wall in front of me, and one on either side. The floor was dirt, just as the hall had been. I was lying on it, my back against a wall. I lifted my head just a little, trying to make something else out.

"Hello, Evelyn."

I froze. I didn't recognize the voice. It wasn't my father, or Ikaros, that much I was sure of.

Then I remembered Iason. Was that him? I hadn't heard his voice enough for it to register. My blood froze, and I flinched away from his voice. What was he going to do to me? Whatever it was, I was sure it was going to be worse than what I had suffered through up until now. That was how torture worked, wasn't it? You start at the bottom, and slowly work your way up so the pain is more and more unbearable?

I sat up and turned towards the voice. It was indeed Iason.

"What are you going to do to me?" I asked, wanting to know. The fear of not knowing is greater then the fear of knowing, after all.

"If you are referring to your father and to Ikaros, then I am not at liberty to discuss the issue with you. If, however, you are referring to me, well, I won't do anything to you." He said, his voice low and gravelly. "Although I am bound to serve my Lord, I do not... agree, with everything they do." His tone was clipped, and he sounded as if he were speaking through a clenched jaw.

I couldn't trust Iason's words. He said he wasn't going to do anything to me, but I felt sure that his was part of my father's plan. Perhaps he wanted me to feel safe for a short time before he assaulted me again. Get me to lower my guard. Then he could break me again, and again.

I wouldn't let that happen. I had no more fight left in me, but I wasn't going to let my father play with me as he chose. I wouldn't let him manipulate me.

No, he could kill me, even torture me first if he chose to, but he wouldn't have the pleasure of toying with my mind. I would resist at least that much.

A low sound penetrated my thoughts. It sounded very far off, yet was strangely intense.

I froze.

I recognized the sound. It was Lizzy. Distress came over me, taking over. I could hardly breath anymore. I had hoped she would be out of her misery by now! How long had Ikaros been torturing her for?

"You've been out for a couple of hours, and her screams haven't stopped since we left them." Iason said quietly, answering my unasked question.

Tears filled my eyes again. "Why are you doing this to her? Do you feel pleasure in watching others suffer?" I asked angrily, the injustice of the situation hitting me again. I should be the one being tortured! I screamed in my head. I felt like throwing up again, sick to my stomach.

"I have nothing to do with any of that." Iason said, his voice hard and rough. "I guard you, and my role in this business stops there." He sounded disgusted, his voice trembling slightly.

Well, my father had chosen the right guard. I could almost believe his words. They sounded so sincere. But most of all, I wanted to believe them. I needed a reprieve from all the horror, I needed to feel that somebody here did not want to kill me, or torment me.

I could feel myself softening, letting my guard down.

Evelyn! I warned myself. You can't let him get to you. Keep your wits about you, d****t!

I knew the worst was yet to come, and whether it came from Iason, Ikaros, or my father was irrelevant. I could trust only myself.

I fell silent, listening to Lizzy's pitiful moans, tears running down my face. What Iason said hit me, the full meaning only now registering in my mind.

They had been torturing her for hours.

They had been torturing her for hours!

I could feel rage burning inside me. How could they! To what avail? It surely couldn't be to punish me anymore. No. It was more than that now. This was pure sadism.

But once Lizzy was dead, they would have no one left to torture me with. No one else mattered to me as much as the twins had. This meant that once she was dead, they wouldn't have as much leverage on me as they did now. Sure, they could still inflict physical pain on me, but there would be no one else to torture in my stead.

With this thought in mind, I resolved to avenge my best friends' deaths. I didn't think I would be able to kill their tormentors, but I would think of something. Something that would make their deaths less trivial, and more meaningful. I wouldn't let their deaths be in vain.

I didn't know how yet, but sitting there, listening to Lizzy's dying cries, I was sure I would find something.