The Razor's Edge [[Feitan x Reader]]

39: The Monster

   TW: Blood and torture

   When I awoke the next morning, I was surprised to find the other side of my bed empty.

   Feitan had been spending the past couple nights in my room, holding me while I slept. In just a few days, I'd grown accustomed to waking up beside him. Now, when I stretched my arms out to find him missing, I couldn't help the sudden disappointment I felt.

   I changed before going to knock on his door. When there was no response, I carefully turned the knob and peeked in. He wasn't in there, either. I figured maybe he'd already gone down to breakfast. Then again, I wasn't sure why he wouldn't have woken me?

   He wasn't in the main room, but Phinks and Shalnark were. The two of them were huddled in the corner. Phinks was watching over Shal's shoulder as he played a game on his phone. He looked up as I approached, while Shal's focus remained trained on the game.

   "Hey, y/n, are you feeling better? You looked pale as shit when you left last night."

   "Um, yeah, I'm feeling much better, thanks." I cleared my throat uncomfortably. "Have you seen Feitan?"

   "Oh, yeah, he's in the basement."

   "The basement?" I echoed, but as the words left my mouth I realized what Phinks had meant. Feitan was in the room I'd avoided since joining the troupe, the first room of the base that I'd seen.

   He nodded. "After you two went up to bed, Shal and I went looking for that guy who owns the mansion. We found him in a strip club, got him nice and drunk, and dragged him back here. Man, it was one hell of a night. I really hit it off with this one chick. I think she could be my future wife."

   "They're strippers, Phinks. They were only pretending to like you. It's how they make money," Shalnark said without looking up from his game.

   Phinks glared at him. "It wasn't like that. I had something special with Brandi."

   "Her name was Mandy, and you were clearly too drunk to remember that she ended up throwing you out of the bar."

   "Did she?"

   "Yes."

   "Huh. . . well, that fucking blows."

   "So what happened with this guy?" I asked, trying to get Phinks back on track.

   "Oh, well we wanted to get information on this whole human trafficking operation he's running out of Meteor City—and god knows where else—so when we got back to base this morning we knocked on Fei's door, only he wasn't in his room—"

   "He was in yours," Shal interrupted, briefly looking away from his game to give me a cheeky smirk.

   "Right, anyway, we told him we had this guy and now he's been down there trying to get information from him for the past hour or so."

   When Feitan had tortured me, it couldn't have lasted more than 20 minutes. I hated to imagine when kind of horrors he could accomplish in an hour.

   I swallowed harshly, my throat suddenly dry. "Okay. Thanks, Phinks."

   My feet started carrying me down to the basement, following the path that had been etched into my brain like the scar Feitan had given me that day. I didn't want to revisit that room, but I had to talk to that man. I had to know what he knew.

   The basement was much colder than the rest of the base, and there was a distinct metallic scent in the air that seemed to grow with each step I took toward the little room. It was almost overpowering as I stood outside the door, lightly knocking on the worn wood. With each passing second, my mind swarmed with memories of the day I'd been on the receiving end of Feitan's torture. Was I ready to see that version of him again?