Bloodguilty // FIVE HARGREEVES

16. The Volunteer

"What have you done?" Elisa whispers—more to herself than Hazel as she watches Diego's blue costume become more red with each second that passes.

Still, Hazel assumes she was talking to him and replies, "I just followed the rules, Elisa. Now, are you ready for another round?" With rage clear in her eyes, her face turns to him quickly. She thinks for a second. Pieter just told her that he's still behind her, as her agent. At least she has one ally in here. But even if he let her go to throw herself at Hazel, more agents would throw themselves at her. And Hazel wouldn't doubt to choose another of the siblings.

"Well, well," Hazel says as he approaches her. "I'll be nice." Elisa stays silent as he kneels in front of her. "I'll make sure a doctor takes care of him."

Elisa her eyes widen, and she wants to scream yes, but she knows how this place works, so she asks, "What's the condition?"

"Just follow the rules, I suppose," he answers, patting her on the shoulder like he actually cares. Then his face comes closer to hers. "Don't fight. Let them do as they wish."

"You want me to let them punch me around?" Elisa would ask why, but she knows the answer to that question. It's the same reason why he started this sick game. He wants the agents to like him.

"I promised them some fun," Hazel says, standing up again. He wipes away some invisible dust off his blue costume, and then he smiles brightly. "Next!"

From then, everything goes fast. Hazel chooses another team to beat Elisa up, and this time, she doesn't look for any of their weapons or weaknesses. She's determined to listen to Hazel and follow his ridiculous rule. It'll get her ass beaten up, yes, but a doctor will see to Diego.

And he needs it. Elisa glances at him, noticing how Allison is putting as much pressure on the wound in his stomach as she can. Vanya holds his hand and squeezes it kindly as she encourages him to keep his eyes open. Luther glares at Elisa, blaming her, of course. And Elisa blames herself, too.

Then she looks at Klaus, who's also holding one of Diego's hands. But he isn't encouraging his brother to stay awake. Instead he is watching Elisa carefully, waiting for the moment her gaze falls on him. He breathes in and out before his brave expression falters. Sadness takes over, and tears threaten to spill. His sad expression reflects on Elisa as he mouths stay strong. There isn't much to answer to that, but Elisa nods, already turning to face the two agents who are ready to ruin her.

There was supposed to be a third, and Hazel insisted it should be Cha Cha, since Elisa stabbed her. But the woman refused—much to Elisa's surprise. Maybe Pieter isn't her only ally in here, after all. Maybe there are more.

"Have fun." Hazel gestures for the man and woman to start whatever they wish to do, and they don't hesitate.

Again, they prove that the Commission's agents are so, so predictable when the woman throws her fist in Elisa's face. It collides with her jaw, and Elisa is thrown backwards. Before she falls on the ground with a smack, she notices a flash of surprise on the woman's face—on everyone's faces, actually. They thought that Elisa would be possessed by rage at the moment. After all, Hazel did the unthinkable thing: hurting one of the siblings. All agents hoped that Elisa would want revenge—throw everything she has inside of her in the upcoming fights. And somewhere, Elisa does feel the need to take that revenge, but for Diego's and the other siblings their sake, she allows the man's foot to brutally kick her in her ribs. There's a crack audible, but Elisa isn't sure where it comes from. She just hopes it isn't her rib breaking.

Even while not fighting back once, the two agents continue their brutal way of showing how much they hated the woman that raised Elisa. They hated the old handler so much that they want to see Elisa, the one who the old handler chose to give her position to, to suffer. They didn't dare to touch the cruel woman, or anyone she cared about when she still breathed, but Elisa murdering the woman didn't ease them enough. They needed more, and now they're finally getting it.

Punch by punch.

Kick by kick.

They can't get enough. Hazel knew that they craved this, of course. The man does have brains somewhere, apparently.

Even when Elisa feels as if all her ribs have been broken and her head is pounding like her brain is ready to explode at any given moment, she stays quiet on the ground, avoiding to look at the siblings at all times. It must be horrifying for the siblings to see her blood smeared all over the ground and her body, Elisa thinks as the woman presses her foot on Elisa's hand that's spread on the ground. Now, Elisa does want to react because if the woman completely ruins her hand, it might never heal properly.

But when she realizes she might not live long anyway, Elisa stays completely still as the woman lifts her foot to then jump right on Elisa's hand, breaking many, many bones. Elisa doesn't even scream or cry. She's used to pain—especially at the Commission. The handler would make her fight adult agents. They'd break bones and give Elisa concussions. They'd torture her until no more screams left her lips. This isn't any different.

Plus, while the agents enjoy watching to see Elisa's body squirm, their eyes don't flicker to any of the siblings. No more siblings get shot or hurt—exactly how Elisa wants all of this to go.

Blood that's now dripping out of her nose makes her lips bloody, and Elisa wipes it away with her unbroken hand. The blood smears her face even more, making the woman smirk, proud of her work. But what she gave were only physical wounds. They're nothing against the other wounds. No, those hurt Elisa, break her more than a broken hand ever could. They destroy her until her soul is nothing but dust.

This is nothing, Elisa repeats again in her head. And it is nothing, she's sure of it. But when Hazel stops the two agents and takes a better look at Elisa's condition, he says, "Who wants to let some steam off now?"

And Elisa fears she can't take it anymore. While it is nothing she hasn't been through before, the pain is close to unbearable. It's as if everything hurts. As if she's burning everywhere. And it has to stop.

That is why Elisa let's out a broken, quiet sob when someone volunteers. "Can I?"

The voice . . . Elisa swears she recognizes it, but at this point, she's too far gone. Her eyes close, and she assumes she has lost a lot of blood. Right now, she doesn't care about the voice—or about the punches she's about to receive. Now, she only cares about getting sleep, because the exhaustion is taking over.

Many murmurs are audible, and Elisa hears all of them, but she doesn't listen. Her eyes close, and finally, she's able to rest. The darkness invites her friendlier than these vipers ever would.