Witch of the Wild Woods

Chapter 22 - Poor Places

Chapter 22 - Poor Places

Brad spat out a mouth full of blood. He struggled before even opening his eyes. He continued to struggle, as one would if they were tied to a chair.

    "Wouldn't recommend that," Lane said evenly, "The drop wouldn't kill you, but the impact won't be pleasant."

    Surprisingly, Brad sighed and relaxed. He opened his eyes to see his chair sitting precariously close to the edge of a table stacked upon another table. The blonde buzz-cut kid licked his lips and nodded, "Fun. I would have gone for more of a pinata situation, but this is fine too if you're afraid of a real fight: man on man."

    "He fought you, one on one," Luna stated dryly, "He handed your ass back to you." Glancing over to her brother, she crinkled her face as if to quietly ask, 'Is that the correct expression?' Lane subtly gestured with his fingers to drop it. Not important.

"Sure, sure he did," Brad continued, "So what now? How would you like to spend your final moments?"

"Enough with the coy bullshit," Lane barked, "First, you're gonna tell us who is running the show, then where they're at."

Brad laughed, "No."

Lane and Luna waited. They let the silence thicken, and the tension boil.

"I see no reason why I should have to cooperate with you," Brad added with a smug, bloody smile, "What are you planning on doing? Torturing me? Punishing me? You really think there's anything you could possibly offer me?" Brad laughed at the two stone faced Twins.

"How about another victory?" Luna suggested.

Brad scoffed, "You gonna untie me and let me beat the shit out of your brother? Sure, but I can't guarantee I'll be any more talkative. How about you let me bang you, Nina, Franki, especially Jordan, Gracie and whoever else you got tagging along with you. Yeah. One last send off orgy and maybe I'll clue you in--"

"No," Lane interrupted, "You get one chance to be the ultimate victor." Lane waited for Brad's attention and his one unswollen eye to focus on him. "Let's say we believe you're telling the truth. There's some doomsday, end of the world event happening, soon. In this scenario, you're not the guy in charge. You're an errand boy protecting whoever's really in power. Let's say you stay silent. You don't tell us who or where and the world ends. You'll die... In second place: the underling of someone who's smarter, stronger, and more powerful than you."

To the average observer, Brad seemed to let this news wash over him to no effect. Luna however, had studied Brad, intimately. She'd seen him experience pleasure by her hand no less. She'd seen how he reacted as his peers, his friends abandoned him on the field. She saw how truly vulnerable he was, begging for a sense of completion. If there was one defining trait, the quantum of who Brad was at his very being, he needed to be victorious.

The subtle clench of the jock's jaw. His thumbs twitching to grasp the rope tighter. Just as he had in the final round of Tiki Tiki Firedrum, the idea that Brad's life would be extinguished without feeling a sense of completion, without victory had burrowed into his mind. When he played his next move, his next words, The Twins knew, they had him: "No. I call bullshit. I'm on the winning team. You're the suckers that came too late to the party: I win."

Denial,  Lane thought as he smiled. He checked his watch, "Somewhere in the back of your mind, you probably had to autocorrect to, 'We Win'. right?"

"Sure," Luna continued, "Your Team may have won, but you're still the pawn the real genius sacrificed so They could win. You really think pawns get to party with the king?" She cackled. "I mean, you're here? You're practically on our team now. The losing team."