Back To Darkness

Chapter 9: Punishment

When Yuki saw them he faltered. Glinting menacingly, they hung from the wall. They seemed to smile down, promising sweet pain and an end to freedom. Manacles. He cringed, feeling the dark waves washing over him. Akito pressed a hand to the small of his back, forcing him forwards.

"They are fabulous aren't they my sweet? Hmm? Brand new and shiny, just for you." Akito was practically humming with excited energy. Light on his feet, he drifted along, his hands constantly twisting and dancing.

"Imagine me getting a present just for you my dear. You should be very grateful. You worthless, insolent piece of scum." He smiled widely, taking a deep, shuddering breath.

Yuki wanted to run. Every one of his atoms screamed at him to run. But he didn't. He couldn't. His God wanted him to do something, so he did it. A pebble in the face of a tsunami. Powerless.

Akito indicated a large wooden box and with a sinking feeling, Yuki stepped onto it. Akito joined him, pressing his slender body uncomfortably close to Yuki's. He gently pulled Yuki's arms above his head, one by one. When the cuffs clicked closed Yuki knew he was utterly trapped. Akito nuzzled his nose against his. Yuki could not suppress his shudder and Akito tilted his neck to the side, eyes as always, unblinking.

"Yuki," he whispered, and his breath tickled Yuki's cheek. "What have you done?" As with earlier, Yuki found he couldn't answer. What could he say?

"You know I love you Yuki. More than you deserve." The voice came softly as a lover's.

Ever so gently, he bit down on Yuki's nose. Yuki closed his eyes, and did nothing.

Akito continued to gaze at him as he gracefully stepped down from the box. He looked thoughtful.

Slowly, deliberately, he pushed the box away.

Yuki struggled for a moment, his feet desperately scrabbling for hold, before it was hopeless.

Instantly he felt searing pain in his wrists. The cold metal dug into his tender flesh, pressing painfully against his prominent veins. He gasped, and Akito smiled.

Akito whispered to himself as he walked away. Yuki frantically tried to find some purchase on the wall behind him, twisting and contorting his legs, hoping for a rough patch or an indent, anything that could support him. There was none. The wall was unyieldingly, fruitlessly smooth.

"I'll be back my sweet," Akito muttered, more to himself than to Yuki. "Don't you go anywhere now" he sang gleefully over his shoulder as he left the room.

Yuki gasped as the door closed. His arms were stretched far apart above his head. The muscles in them stood taunt and strained as his feeble wrists supported his entire weight. The web of veins stood blue and bold, a patchwork of rivers on his shaking arms. His wrists continued to burn, and he was aware of a dull ache blooming in his shoulders.

He watched the chunky candle beneath his dangling feet flicker. He wanted to live in the light; the sun and the beach. This wasn't fair. He couldn't survive in this prison of darkness. A dry, desperate sob escaped him.
It was a wretched sound, for a wretched place.

By the time Akito returned, Yuki's wrists were numb. Shooting pains caressed his thumbs and tugged at his shoulder blades. His biceps burnt and ached. He watched Akito through eyes bleary with pain. He tried to focus. Akito advanced. He heaved the wooden box over and stepped onto it. Yuki gratefully rested his feet on it. They were eye-to-eye now. Slowly, and without removing his eyes from Yuki's, Akito undid Yuki's trousers. Yuki felt them slide to his ankles, helpless to do anything. Akito stepped down. He left Yuki's boxers in place. He pulled the box away and dropped Yuki's trousers on the floor. Yuki trembled. He was laid bare. Unprotected. He felt sick.