Apocalypse [Pentatonix AU | Kavi / Scomiche]

Chapter 34 - Persecution

Avi awoke to a pounding headache. He opened his eyes, breathing heavily and trying to ignore the pain coursing throughout his entire body. Frantically he looked around the small room, taking in his surroundings. It was musty, the heavy air smelling like gasoline. Both the walls and floor were hard cement, but above him the ceiling was lined with wooden boards. The room was completely empty with the exception a long table directly in front of him and singular light.

Avi shook his head, taking deep breaths and attempting to stand. It was only then he realized his forearms were duct taped down to the arms of the chair beneath him.

Now panicked, Avi strained his ears, attempting to listen through the white noise. It was completely silent, eerily silent. He wondered if the blow to his head had affected his hearing.

Kirstie had been on his mind the second he'd regained consciousness, and he continued to look for her despite the fact that she clearly wasn't there. If they'd laid a single finger on her, he'd kill all of them. Rage and fear pulsed through him.

Finally, after what felt like hours, Avi finally heard footsteps growing ever louder from behind the door at the other end of the room.

The door clicked once before opening, and in walked a man who must've stood at least six feet tall, his large frame extremely daunting. He was massive, with messy overgrown black hair and the shadow of a beard on his jaw. Through the dim lighting his features were hard to make out, but he clearly wasn't here to make peace. Avi wasn't either.

The man stood in the door frame, looking at Avi with a sinister smile for only a moment before loudly shutting the metal door and pulling a knife from his pocket. Avi sucked in a slow breath.

The dark haired man then slowly made his way toward Avi, dragging his knife across the long wooden table. Avi withheld eye contact, not willing to show any signs of weakness. He wasn't afraid, not yet.

"You don't even know why you're here, do you?" the dark haired man finally scoffed as he approached Avi, leaning down so his face was inches away. His voice was deep, but Avi knew his was lower.

"Where is the woman I was with?" Avi asked, expressing no emotion.

The man laughed, standing upright and toying with his knife. "She's alive, don't worry. Now, if you give me a hard time, we might just have to change that."

"What do you want," Avi said monotonically through clenched teeth.

Once again the man chuckled, patting Avi on the shoulder. Avi considered biting into his hand, kicking him backward, grabbing his knife, driving it into his throat... "Same thing you want! Survival." The man leaned in once again, growing serious. "Where's your group?"

"There's no group," Avi lied skillfully. "It's just us."

"I'm not here to play games, Avi."

"Neither am I." He made sure not to question how the man knew his name.

"Well then just tell me where they are, and we'll let y'all leave."

"Go to hell."

The dark haired man smiled again, crossing back toward Avi.

"I suppose I'm going to need your girlfriend to help me out, then." Avi clenched his fists. "Tell me something. When she's holding you close," the man began to press knife against Avi's cheek, across his jaw. Avi barely flinched. "and her soft lips are touching you, here, and here," he pricked the tip of his blade across Avi's neck. "Feels good, don't it?"

Avi stayed silent while the dark haired man circled behind him, and when his blade appeared again it was pressed longways against Avi's teeth.

"Now, I want to know where your group is," the man said levelly.

Avi stayed silent.

The dark haired man laughed again, removing the knife from Avi's mouth and circling back to his front, crouching down so they were inches apart.

"I said I want to know where your group is."

Overcome with anger and without really thinking, Avi thrust his head forward, hitting his skull violently against the man's forehead. Although he knew it hurt the dark haired man more, still, with his already pounding headache, it wasn't comfortable.

The dark haired man stumbled backward, letting out a shout of pain. He brushed his hand against the gash above his eyebrow, which was already dripping with blood. Carefully he examined the blood that was now on his fingertips, and his furious eyes then made their way back to Avi. There was no trace of humor left in them.

Avi braced himself.

The first the blow was the worst. It came quickly, the fist knocking into the side of Avi's cheekbone, causing his neck to snap painfully in the opposite direction. His head pounded even more furiously as the second, third, fourth blow came, blood now streaming across his face. The dark haired man was shouting at him, but blood filling Avi's ears muffled the words.

"I want to know where your fucking group is, and I want to know NOW!"

Avi expected the torture to be never ending, it felt never ending, but then the final blow was given, hitting him hard in the stomach and knocking the last of his breath out of him. The dark haired man then sat back onto the table, his maniacal smile returning.

Avi spit the blood that was pooling in his mouth, looking at the man through swollen eyes. "It's just a matter of time before they come looking. Before they rip you, limb from limb."

Once again the man gave a hearty laugh, only deepening Avi's raging anger. "Well I guess I'm going to have to plan a welcome party then!" His smile widened. "There ain't nobody coming."