The Monsters' Favorite

A Lesson in Discipline and Self Loathing (The Trapper)

The Trapper's heavy footfalls echoed in the metal walls of the Ironworks. You swayed to and fro, balanced delicately on one of his broad shoulders. You could barely feel your left arm and leg anymore, the bear traps clamped to them felt heavy. You wish he'd remove them already. What if they remained permanently damaged? That seems ridiculous and most likely impossible, but you never know. This entire place is beyond fucked up and nothing would surprise you, anymore. The Trapper began to ascend the metal stairs leading up to the little control room at the top of the building. You were beyond anxious. And tired. So freaking tired...

As your eyes begin to slide shut, the Trapper kicks in a door, the loud noise causing your eyes to snap open and your body to jump. Bad move. Your made painfully aware how fucking heavy the damn traps really were. You yell in surprise, gripping onto his forearm tightly in a bid to reground yourself. He snorts loudly, but says nothing. A hand grabs the waistline of your pants, lifting you up and lowering you onto a round stool. You're plopped down roughly, the trap on your leg making a clunk noise as it made contact with the metal floor. You groan in pain, looking up at the Trapper nervously. Your entire body is leaning to the left slightly. It fucking hurts like hell. You don't know how much longer you can stand this... And the Trapper... You choke on the lump stuck in your throat.

He picks up the trap clamped to your arm, inspecting it. The Trapper turns it this way, then that. "I'm going to remove this. Do not fight me." You blink, anxiety coiling tightly around your stomach.

"W-Wha-?"

With a creak, it's wrenched open, half of the teeth of the trap being ripped from your mangled arm. You wail in agony. You seriously thought it couldn't get any worse. You really should have known better. Choking on your cries, you vomit bile once more. You get it all over your ruined shoes. The Trapper stares at you silently. You can feel his cold gaze boring a hole in the back of your hunched over form.

"Are you finished, yet?" He asks cooly. You slowly look up at him, your entire body shaking violently. Am.. I... what..? Unable to completely understand what he's asking, you just stare at him. You feel like you're going to pass out. Again...

The Trapper grabs your left elbow with a callous hand and yanks it off the remaining teeth of the trap. You barely felt the pain, just blinding heat radiating off your forearm. Your ears rang and black spots invade your vision. You can't breathe. You can't- Can't fucking breathe! I can't! I can't breathe! I can't can't can't-!

"Breathe."

A calm, deep voice breaks through your panicked thoughts, grounding you slightly. You knew you should follow what the voice commanded. You need to follow the order. Gripping onto your knee with what unbroken fingers you had, you suck in, deep and ragged, and then exhale . You hadn't noticed how much your lungs burned . None of this felt real. Felt right. Are you having a nightmare? Surely, you must be! Yes, that must be it! That's why this has been happening! You've just been having horrible, vivid nightmares! All the horrible things happening to you, all the terrible, terrible things you have done, have only been a bad dream! And that voice must be a part of the nightmare, too! But, it helped! If I just follow that voice, everything will be ok! It'll be ok! Ok, ok, ok it'll be ok ok ok-

Something hard is thrown onto your lap, ripping you out of your crisis. You blankly look down, and realize a med-kit was tossed at you. You stare at it, unsure of what to do or what's happening. Where did it come from? Who-

" Hurry up and bind your wounds."

Bind... my... wounds... The voice was right. Your arm is pretty messed up. And hurts. With a trembling hand, you attempt to open the kit. It proves difficult with two broken fingers. As you continue to struggle, a large hand grabs your wrist. You stop your fumbling and look up dumbly. Oh, right. Someone else was here. Much to your surprise, the hand is warm. So warm ...