Ashi

Chapter 7

I trudge back to Oliver, slumping to the floor in the corner of the cell, laying down. He shuffles near me, eyes wide as I smile crookedly.

"Donnie? Donnie, what happened!"

"I'll be fine, don't worry, Oli," I cough dryly, "I won't let them hurt you."

He growls, quickly grabbing the only thin blanket in the cell and folding it up, placing it under my head. "So those demons did this to you, huh? Why I outta-"

"No!" I weakly whisper, wrapping my limp fingers around his wrist. "Please, don't do anything."

"But Donnie, you can barely move your hands, let alone talk! There's got to be something I can do." He hangs his head low, then it quickly pops back up. "I got it!"

He rises, dashing to the front of the cell and bang his hands. "Hey, you stupid, psycho creatures!" he yells. He continues to call out for them until Hew, our jailer or something, comes along, yelling back at Oliver.

"What do you want? Just shut up already!" He glares at Oliver, but when he spots me, he smirks.

"Don't you look at Donnie, got it? Now, hurry up and fetch me a bucket of water and a rag."

Hew rolls his eyes, swirling the key ring around his finger. "You should learn your place, boy. I can do whatever I like to you two and no one will be there to save you." He hums, his smirk growing while he unlocks the cell, closing it behind him. "In fact, I could kill you precious little Donnie right now. How would you like that?"

He pulls out a knife, flashing its blade at my bruised neck. I swallow the knot in my throat.

Oliver stiffens. "D-Don't. You can't hurt him."

"No? Why not? It would be so easy to do it though. It's so tempting. Give me a good reason not to I'll let him go. And with this limited time offer, I'll go get the bucket and rag for you." His eyes glimmer cruelly as he stares Oliver down.

I know what he's doing and I won't let him. He's not going to break Oliver, not when he's been piecing back together. However, he catches me off guard when he lifts me up by the collar of my shirt roughly. My breath hitches, but almost instantly after I go into a coughing fit. I can't seem to catch my breath.

"Let him go! You're hurting him," Oliver pleads.

"Sure."

I drop to the floor with a yelp, wincing as I try to hold myself together.

"Ah!" Oliver's eyes widen, biting his lower lip momentarily, but then he darkens. His growl returns, his eyes thin, fists clenching at his sides, and frown set deep on his lips. "You demon, get away from him right now or else."

"Or else what?" he muses.

"I'll kill you."

Hew laughs with amusement. "You? Kill me? I'd like to see you try. You probably wouldn't be able to even scratch me."

Oliver lunges at him, knocking the knife out of his hand and restraining Hew's arms easily. I never knew that he was so strong. Yet, the smirk on his face never leaves.

"You've got some spunk in you, don't you? Not quite as fiery as your friend here, but still, I misjudged you. It might just be fun to break you too-"

"Shut up!" I yell with as much strength as I can muster.

He hums. "I knew you wouldn't break after one time through. But really, this? You can be such a turn on. Now I want to try to break you again. I was going to wait until tomorrow to do what we did today again, but I want to try something different right now? How about it?"

I don't say anything, forcing my lips to stay shut no matter how much I want to scream at him.

"Nothing? Oh, that's to bad. Maybe this will get something out of you." He quickly unfolds his arms out of the lock, grabs the knife back that I took as a precaution, and pulls Oliver back with him to the other side of the cell. His smirk only grows when he ties Oliver up with thin, but strong pieces of rope onto the metal bars of the cell. Then he holds up the knife.

"Don't. Touch. Him."

"Ooh, I have shivers! This is much more like it." He hums. "But you can't do anything about this, can you? You can't even stand anymore after what I put you through."

But I do stand. Shakily, but still.

"My, my, my. You really are full of surprises. But you're not the only one. I still have a few toys from earlier." He pulls out the whip.

And thwap! I fall right back down to the ground, my chest stinging angrily at me.

Thwap!

Thwap! Thwap! Thwap!

My wounds reopen and I can't move anymore. I can't do anything to save Oliver. I hate this! I hate being so useless!

Then he strikes again, my vision blurring against the concrete, fading to black.

"D-Don't hurt him..." I manage to save before I pass out.

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When I wake up, Oliver's back at my side. My vision only comes back to be slowly though. The first thing I notice is his swollen wrists. The next is his bruised cheek. Bandaged arms. Limping-likely due to the red bandaging on his left leg. Wincing. Small smiles.

He wrings out the cloth from the bucket, wiping all the blood from the wounds on my torso. It's then that I notice that my arms and legs are already bandaged. My back is numb, but it doesn't feel as nearly as bad as it used to be.

After putting the rag back in the bucket, he grabs a half empty bottle filled with some sort of green slime and pours it on his hands, then using it to cover my wounds. I wince at first, but soon I relax into the feeling, the pain subsiding. All the while he keeps whispering, "You're going to be okay, Donnie. Don't worry, you're going to be okay." The more I listen to him, the more I realize that he's saying it more for himself rather than me.

Oliver's starting to break again and it's all my fault.

So, when he's done and I'm all bandaged, I cry for all I'm worth. I cry for him, for me, for all my frustration, and our seemingly hopeless situation. Pretty soon I'm shaking and trembling against his chest as he grips the back of my shirt.

"I'm sorry, Oli. I'm so, so sorry. I said I would protect you, but I couldn't. I didn't! I...I'm sorry." I find myself repeating my apologies over and over again, while every now and then Oliver would whisper a "It's okay," or "It's not your fault."

But it is! It is my fault. I was the only one who could have saved him and I didn't.

"We'll still get out of this, Donnie. We have to. So, cry it all out now. That way, you will be able to show them what you're really made of. I still believe in you and I know you'll figure something out. And when you're down again, I'll pick you back. So, don't worry about me, Donnie, because I know we're going to get out of this."

I look up at him. He has a faint smile, but it's not like the one before. It's brighter. And his eyes, they look much more alive.

My own smile erupts on my face. I can't help it. I hide my face in my hands, mumbling, "Thank you, Oli, thank you so much!" And I cry all over again, but this time, for a better reason.