Ravenwings (Imaged + Completed) [1st in Trilogy]

Part III: Chapter 43

I tried to focus on the cleaning itself, rather than what exactly I was cleaning. After a sweep to take care of the plucked, mangled feathers, and layer of dust that had been built over years of trampling around, I was scrubbing the walls before I even started on the floor. The water kept getting dirty and rust-colored, needing to be changed out constantly.

Ben was long gone from watching as soon as my cleaning proved to be largely uneventful. As my hopelessness faded into an all-encompassing numbness, I scrubbed the walls with a blank, beak expression, just wanting to be done with it. 

To my anxiety, Woodman continuously came and went, repeatedly leaving me alone with the remaining, drunk, dangerous men; sadist Craig and pervert Percy.

They drank and talked for hours sitting on the steps, their words slurring more as the night went on, their laughs getting louder, and their comments more obscene.

"Hey, sweetheart," Percy called to me, scratching at his facial bristle, "I'll give you some food if you dump that bucket all over yourself."

That was never going to happen, so just like with every other comment, I tried to give him as minimal of a reaction as possible, ignoring him and trying to finish so I wouldn't be trapped down there with them any longer than I had to be. The sooner I finished, the better.

Craig and Percy got into their 'fond memories' of the dungeon, and went through gory stories as they remembered the highlights of their years torturing Raven. I did my best not to wince as I had no choice but to listen, at one point pretending to be busy and hovering over the mop bucket to catch my tears and hide that I was crying. I couldn't help it; I knew the visions I'd been struck with would return to me in horrible dreams. How does Raven sleep at night? Well...he doesn't, unless he slept next to me.

"You know, the last time Birdsh*t talked was right before a session with me, four years ago," Craig said drunkenly, "so technically that whole not-talking thing was all me."

"No, no, no, it was right after Boss got it to say 'I'm the offspring of a demon shapeshifter and deserve to be punished.' It conveniently stopped talking after that."

"Really? Cause I remember that being weeks before. He started saying that shit like a broken record."

"Nah, Boss was the one who shut it up for good," Percy insisted. "I can't believe how often I broke the little sh*t's bones and they just healed back up like nothing happened."

"Well it is part demon. Even looks demonic," Craig said, shaking his head furiously. "That bird is some nightmare-level sh*t."

"Dude, you're nightmare-level sh*t. Don't be such a pussy."

As I finally finished the walls after hours, I moved onto the most time-consuming part; the floors. I sighed, poured some murky, soapy water onto the cement, and scrubbed starting from one of the corners.

"Back that up a little more, will ya?" Percy catcalled me. Startled, and busy cleaning on my hands and knees, I furrowed my eyebrows in resentment as I tried to show my least-appealing angle.

"Man, she's never going to let you bang that," Craig told Percy as if he were breaking news. "Why even bother teasing her?"

"You don't get it," Percy said, still staring at my behind. "Who's your celebrity crush–?"

"Ryan Reynolds," Craig burst instantly without a smidgeon of hesitation.

"Okay, so imagine Ryan Reynolds was on his knees, scrubbing that floor."

"Ooh." Craig nodded and leaned back. "Yep. I see it now."

Percy's eyes followed me like a hawk, and he finally stood up and approached me, carrying his beer. Sh*t sh*t sh*t... I gulped, sitting up and edging away from him as he picked up the bucket of dirty mop water.

I jumped to my feet and scrambled away from him with a squeal, but there was only so far I could go. Trapped and cornered, he closed in on me, poised to soak me with the bucket.

"Alright hun, either get that shirt off, or I'll get it wet to see right through," he threatened me.

"Percival!" Woodman's voice boomed from the top of the stairs.

Drunken Percy was so startled that he dropped the bucket, spilling it all over the floor. Woodman sighed in disappointment and shook his head as the big, lurching man froze in shame.

"Dinner's ready. I came to check on our busy little servant before sitting down," Woodman said. "Is all the blood coming out well?"

Earnest appeared behind him. "Dinner's ready," he repeated without realizing it.

Woodman sighed again. "They know, but thank you. Melody, dear, what you've done so far...that just will not do. I want every particle of that demon blood out of my house." He stormed down the steps to give the ground a closer look, pointing furiously. "All along this crack, and every other crack in this floor! And I can still see the rusty hue on everything. Who on Earth taught you how to clean?"

I trembled. "Nancy," I answered the rhetorical question. "It's just...do you have any cleaners I can use? Or even just a mop?"

Woodman stared me down, narrowing his eyes and curling his lips. Scared what would happen to me for not living up to his standards, my eyes darted submissively to the floor, to the sight of which he gave a huff of triumph.

"We can bring down some bleach later, but only while we can watch you," Woodman offered. 

What...'watch me,' why? Is he worried I'll drink it? He he was worried I would kill myself? It was unsettling in the least, as it made me wonder if that meant it was a better idea. Better then being used as bait for the one I love in a really twisted, f*cked up trap. Better than spending a lifetime locked up and possibly tortured. Raven had told me that he was better dead than in their hands, and I could only hope that wouldn't hold true for me too.

Percy and Craig had already filed upstairs, so Woodman followed them off to dinner, after locking the basement door. The scent of leftover venison made my stomach rumble, but I'd already known I wasn't getting dinner. I was just relieved to find solace in being locked in a dungeon alone.

And, without anyone watching me, I found my chance to grab the set of keys I'd had my eyes on. They were just cage keys, not house keys that would get me anywhere, but they could still come in handy. They hung on the wall in one of the corners away from the two cage cells; my heart pounding, I snatched them off their nail and hid them in my bra, since my leggings, now patchy with holes and rips in the knees, had no pockets.

I decided to keep cleaning as I had been, and that I'd go back over it later if I really had to. I got quite a bit done when I didn't have to worry about what angle of me Percy was getting. Though my knees ached and my arms felt heavy and sore, I scrubbed furiously to get as much done as possible before they finished their dinner. They'll all start drinking now, won't they?

I jumped as eventually the door at the top of the stairs was opened back up, and Woodman's voice echoed into the cement cavern, "Miss Melody, I'm here to check your progress."