OUBLIETTE

Tête-à-tête

SVETLANA VLADIMIROVNA MOSKALEV

Светлана Владимировна Москалев

I enter the torture chamber with a glass of water on my dominant hand. I take a glance at subject 9713 who is still chained to the chair. As I walk closer to him, I notice some blood-soaked bandages on his shoulder and around his upper thigh. His fair complexion is ashen and his dirty blond hair is matted with sweat. He keeps his stare focused on me, eyes filled with unmitigated terror. There is a thick white cloth pulled between his teeth and tied firmly behind his head. I take it off.

"You are dehydrated. Drink." I say with a gentle voice as I stand before him. 

He keeps his head tilted down.

I take a deep breath and lean closer to him, "You should know that I'm feeling a deep sense of remorse for contributing to this whole thing, but I've got no choice." After a short silence I continue, "I'm being watched, and I'm not talking about the online viewers."

His eyes are now fixed upon me, "W-what?"

"I'll tell you everything, but you got to have some water first." I say as I bring the glass of water closer to his mouth. And with that, he parts his lips slightly and then takes some big gulps of water.

He takes a deep breath and then proceeds, "I did what you asked, now can you please tell me what the hell is going on?" he asks in a perplexed tone.

I hesitate. Perhaps I should not have told him about it. But what's done cannot be undone; I now owe him an explanation.

"Today is my eighteenth birthday."

"Happy birthday." He says in a sarcastic tone.

After a brief silence I continue, "I'm practically a young woman now, so my father thinks that this is the perfect time for me to finally prove myself."

His expression transforms from perplexed to exasperation, "To kill the innocents for pleasure?"

"To prove myself. You've got to understand that we have been doing this for decades. It's our tradition."

"Are you listening to yourself right now?" he replies grimly.

"I don't expect you to understand. You must be famished, fancy a bite to eat?"

He gives me a cold, long stare. "You tortured me, and now you're offering me food?"

"I understand how confusing this must be to you."

"W-why don't you just kill me now and get this over with, instead of toying with me?"

"That is precisely what I should've done hours ago, but I couldn't, for I cannot bear the sorrow-

"You have got to be joking."

Silence.

He glances at me, "If you're not gonna kill me, they're gonna kill you. It's kill or be killed. And then they're gonna hand me over to another client. I'm gonna die one way or another."

"They will not do such a thing."

"Miss, don't you know about the contract?"

"My goodness, I have never met a subject like you before."

"So you've done this before?"

"Right before I got here. It was a quick and painless death. Shot it in the head. I was going to experiment a new method with you; the slow and painful death. But turned out I couldn't do such a thing."

"Dare I ask why?"

"I don't know. You're different. Special."

After a thick moment of silence, he continues, "So, what happens to me now?"

"Now, you become my rightful property. However, I do not wish to disappoint my father and the viewers any further, so we're gonna need to have some more fun before I can finally take you home with me. The show will commence shortly."

He stares at me with a perplexed and tensed expression, "Your property?! what do you me-

I quickly put the gag back on. I wish I could tell him that I am not the monster he thinks I am. I wish I could tell him that this is the only way to keep him alive.

"I'm sorry, I really am. But this must be done." I say as I turn my camera on.