Red String

Found You

TW: Blood, injury, abuse.
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A week had passed. Yancy was certain of it. He couldn't see much of the sky since the windows were boarded up but judging by Actor's absent patterns as his sleep patterns, he could tell a week had passed, and no one had come to help. He wanted- No, begged for help, but his pleas went ignored, even by Actor. For once, he wanted to be free, and he had no one come to save him.

All sense of hope began to drain and flow out of Yancy. The only thing that really comforted him was the other person Actor held captive, Illinois. Though they barely knew one another, bonding over being hurt by Actor came quickly. They really didn't have anyone else but each other, and since they knew they couldn't escape with Actor being able to control them whenever, they seemed fine as long as they had each other.

However, as comforting as their bond was, it came with its downsides. Whenever Illinois misbehaved, Yancy always took the blame as well as the pain. He was okay with being hurt as long as Illinois would remain unharmed, and Actor took note of this.

Instead of threatening to hurt Yancy whenever he misbehaved, Actor made the prisoner watch as he hurt Illinois, and he seemed to enjoy the screams from Illinois and the begs to let him go from Yancy. It was like sweet music to his ears or something with how he acted about it.

And now, here Illinois was, waiting for Yancy to come back as he paced the hallway. Actor decided to let them have a bit of freedom and let them explore the halls, but they were forbidden from going downstairs or to another bedroom, especially when he was with one of them. The adventurer wanted to be calm about this whole thing, but the last time he had Yancy, he came back stumbling and could barely see, and Actor seemed to not even care.

Illinois's worrying and footsteps came to a quick halt when he heard footsteps heading up the stairs. It had to be Yancy. Actor never came upstairs unless he had something to tell the two of them or wanted to "speak" to one of them alone. The adventurer practically spinted to the stairs and glanced, seeing that it was, in fact, Yancy. He was holding the right side of his face, seeming to hide something. "Yancy?"

The prisoner glanced at his friend but spoke no words. He seemed worried and kept his voice down as he spoke, "Illinois, please backup. I don't want Actor hurtin' youse again for lookin' down there again." Illinois backed up, and Yancy reached the top step, still holding the right side of his face.

"What happened," The adventurer questioned.

"Nothin', don't worry about it," Yancy insisted. He attempted to go back to his room, but Illinois got in his way. "Illinois, please-"

"What happened?"

Yancy bit his lip and looked away. "Illy, I like youse, but I can't-"

"Yancy, please look at me. What did he do to you?" Illinois was stubborn as ever. He refused to take any nos for an answer, even from Yancy.

The prisoner took a deep breath and looked at Illinois. Slowly, he loved his hand to reveal a black eye and his lip beginning to bleed. Yancy waited for the adventurer to say something, anything, but he seemed frozen in shock. "I took the blame for youse on knocking over that vase, and he wasn't too happy about it. He then told me that if I tell the truth, I'd be freed from punishment, and when I said no, he-.... At least it can heal, don't worry about it."

Illinois didn't seem remotely phased by the prisoner's words. "Yancy-" He began to scold, like always, but the prisoner cut him off.

"Sorry, I don't know what to say else to get youse to stop worryin' about me," Yancy interrupted. "Listen, it's better me than youse, alright? I can't bare to see youse hurt again."