Mercy Me

Dark

IMPORTANT TRIGGER WARNING FOR DARK THEMES AND TORTURE AHEAD.

"Number Five, where is he?" Cha-Cha demanded, choking Klaus.

Kat wasn't even worried about it at that point. Klaus seemed to be enjoying it...a little too much honestly.

"Don't.... stop I'm.... al....most................there." Klaus managed to say.

"Is that a ?" Cha-Cha asked in disgust.

"Yep." Hazel and Kat replied in unison.

Klaus coughed harshly as Cha-Cha released him. "Oh! Ah, there's nothin' like a little stranglin' to get the blood flowin', am I right?" He groaned, then laughed.

"What is so funny, you asshole?" Hazel asked, smacking him on the back of the head.

"Ow! Well, for one you spent the last ten hours beating me senseless, and you've learned absolutely nothing. I mean, nobody tells me shit. The truth is, I'm the one person in that house nobody will even notice is gone. You assholes kidnapped the wrong guy!" Klaus laughed, earning him another hit. "Ow! I'm sorry, okay?"

"Please make him stop talking." Hazel groaned.

"Let's waterboard him." Cha-Cha suggested.

"No!" Kat finally spoke up, worried for her brother.

She only relaxed when Klaus began to gargle and suck water off the towel, further irritating their captors. "Ah! Oh, I needed that."

"Come on!" Hazel complained.

"I was so parched. Thank you. Thank you." He laughed.

"Oh, God, this is brutal." Hazel said as he and Cha-Cha convened in the bathroom.

"Oh! What the hell is wrong with that guy?" Cha-Cha snapped. As the door shut.

Kat looked at Klaus with a frown. "You can't keep this up forever. Seriously, quit egging them on. I'll heal." She pleaded.

"Yeah, but at what point will your body say enough and you won't heal? I can't let them hurt you, Kat. I can't risk that." He said, looking at her with pain filled eyes.

She took a deep breath and shook her head. "I can't heal you from over here, and I've been useless the past ten hours. Please let me do this. Just for a while." She begged.

Klaus was about to reply when the bathroom door opened. Cha-Cha came out first. "New tactic. You're gonna watch while we play with your little girlfriend here. She somehow miraculously healed from when I shot the shit outta her shoulder, so I wanna see just what else she can heal from."

"First of all, not his girlfriend. Second- bring it, bitch." Kat said, nodding at Klaus to let him know that she would be okay.
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"What the hell? Who'd you piss off this time?" Patch asked as she walked out her front door to see Diego lying on her porch.

"I gave it as good as I got."

"You didn't answer my question." She offered Diego her coffee, to which he replied, "Oh, yes."

"How's all that paperwork coming along?" He asked.

"It's a real page-turner. I've got two guys in children's masks, rare bullet casings, a random fingerprint from a 1930s cold case, and I just learned that the tow truck driver from the doughnut shop didn't have any family."

"The boy."

"Not his, apparently. Kid's our only possible witness and he's a complete mystery." She stopped for a mi ute and looked at him, seeing how exhausted and stressed he looked. "Okay, what's going on?"

"What?"

"You could have called me for an update. So why are you really here?"

Diego sighed and sat in silence for a moment. He contemplated telling her about Grace dying, but it felt... wrong. Like something he only wanted to mourn with Kat by his side. Instead, he got to the more pressing and important matter. "Katherine's missing. She's been missing since last night, and I've looked everywhere for her. I just I don't- I don't know how to- to."

"Hey. Hey. Tell me what's going on. Who did this?" Patch asked, motioning to his face and the injuries there.

"Let's just say I didn't get a good look at their faces."

"You went after the guys in the masks, didn't you?"

"I didn't go after them. And one's a woman by the way, so stop being so sexist."

"I specifically told you not to follow them."

"No, they came to my house, looking for my brother. They tried to kill my family. And I'm pretty damn sure they took the one person that I can't live without." He said, heartbreak evident on his fave and in his voice.

"Why?"

"I don't know. They've both been missing since yesterday. I need to find them."

"Diego, you need to let me handle this. You're not equipped."

"Oh, you've always loved tellin' me what I can and can't do. You know, maybe, for once, just try things my way."

"I can't. I'm sorry about Katherine, Diego. Really, I am. I'll see what I can do to help track her down, but that's all I can promise. Just take care of yourself so when she comes home, you're there to help her. God knows she would do that and more for you "

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Snap. Muffled scream. Crunch. Sob. Slice. Gasp.

Common sounds coming from the motel room where Klaus sat, watching the masked monsters torture his sister. She sat hunched over in her chair, blood and tears streaming down her face as the newest slice on her cheek healed itself very slowly.

They had put a tarp down to keep the blood off the floor, but no one expected just how much blood it would catch. Klaus was right, her body couldn't keep up with the amount of abuse it was recieving, and she was beginning to heal far too slowly.

She shakily lifted her head, making eye contact with Klaus. Her mouth was gagged and taped once again, so all she could do was wink to let him know she was going to be okay. He sniffed, tears streaming down his face, wishing he could give her words of encouragement and hope. But his mouth had been taped shut barely an hour into the torture when he let out a rather nasty string of words at Hazel and Cha-Cha. Instead he nodded his head, hoping she would understand that it meant he was there for her.

"Wanna tell us what we wanna know now?" Cha-Cha asked, twirling the bloody knife in her hand.

Kat fixed Klaus with as stern of a look as she could muster and shook her head no. He mirrored the movement, shaking his head.

Cha-Cha just scoffed, handing the knife to Hazel. "Have it your way." The man said before plunging the knife deep into her thigh. Her scream was weak and muffled. Not only due to the obstructions, but because her voice was broken. Just like her body. Her mind. Her soul.