Moonstruck ; Tomtord

Still His

"Tell me, Thomas. What's it been like at the red army while I was gone?" Edd questioned, twirling a pencil between his pale fingers.

Tom looked up, breaking his gaze that was previously focused on his lap. He didn't want to talk about all of that. He'd just gotten out, why would he want to relive all those horrible memories? So he just decided to dodge the question, trying to put it off for as long as he could.

"Can I ask you a question?" He couldn't help but notice Edd's grip on the pencil becoming tighter, a forced smile making its way to his face.

"What kind of question?"

"I just want to know how all of... this happened." For some reason, Tom couldn't help but feel guilty. Like he was bothering the man in green, although he had the right to know.

Edd sighed, leaning back in his green office chair. Tom couldn't help but notice how similar it was to Tord's, just smaller.

He didn't want to think about that.

"Well, Paul has ties with the rebellion. They needed a new leader and were short on soldiers, so we came here after the whole incident. Originally the new leader was supposed to be Paul, but they liked me and here we are."

Tom nodded, his gaze flickering over to Paul once again. This time he did look back, but only smiled and shook his head. He was so glad that he wasn't here alone.

"Anyway, back to what I was saying. Tell me all you know about the red army." Edd's voice was stern. Tom knew better than to think this wasn't a command.

And although he hated every moment of it, he told Edd what ever he wanted to know. Tord's eating habits, how the red army soldiers trained, what happened to those captured soldiers. All of it.

Paul got up and left half way through. Tom would never forget the look of guilt on his face as he went to the door, and the way Edd rolled his eyes when he did. Something was going on that he didn't understand, he could see. But it couldn't be much worse than what went on in the red army, could it? He didn't have much time to think about that, since finally this was over.

Edd smiled in his new unsettling way, "Thank you for the information. You'll be taken to your room now. Dinner's at  6:00."

Out of no where, some scruffy looking soldiers Tom had never seen before burst into the room. Then again, he barely knew anyone here. They slipped their arms under his armpits, attempting to drag him roughly out of the room before he had the chance to protest. But Edd did, just not in the way he'd hoped, "Put him down. He's still of value."

"Wha-"

Tom was tossed out of the soldiers arms and onto the floor, the doors to Edd's office closing as he was left alone with these strangers in the hallway. He shakily stood up, eyes widening with fear. They shoved what looked to be a map in his hands and left.

"Wow, so helpful." Tom muttered sarcastically to himself. He followed the poorly drawn directions as well as he could, which led him to an unfamiliar area that was different from the rest of the base. While most of it was spotless and professional looking, this part wasn't.

Soldiers were running about, some with such badly ripped or dirty uniforms that they could barely be considered clothes anymore. Those horrid looking 'uniforms' exposed parts of their bodies that Tom didn't want to see. But what concerned him the most were the cigarette burns, cuts, and bruises covering each and every one of the soldiers bodies. The entire hallway reeked of piss and cigarettes, along with another drug like scent that he couldn't identify. Satanic graffiti along with other disturbing images were plastered on the bloody, peeling paint having walls. So many different doors lined every possible inch of the hallway. The carpet beneath his feet was also completely drenched in blood and ripped up, the dirty floor beneath it showing.

And Tom thought the red army treated their soldiers badly.

Tom took a step forward as he glanced around, trying to figure out which door had the same number as the one written on his shitty map. As he looked, he failed to notice the person coming up behind him. They tapped his shoulder, which made him jump with fear...

"Ah-! Oh, it's just you. Jesus Matt, you scared me." He looked up at the ginger, who seemed just as scared as him if not more.

"I'm so sorry- So sorry. I didn't mean to scare you! Please don't tell green leader!" Matt cried, his terrified eyes becoming glossy with fresh tears.

Tom tilted his head in confusion for a moment, "Huh? Why would I tell him?" To which he gave no response, "Plus, its fine. You just startled me."

Matt gave a sigh of relief, pressing his hand to his heart, "Well... I came to help show you to your room, since you looked kind of lost."

"I'd appreciate that since, y'know, I have no idea where I am."

"Alright, come with me."

Matt took Tom by the wrist, walking with him until they reached a certain door. Door #68. He made a mental note of this as they stepped inside.

What awaited him was a crowded, only slightly larger than a closet sized room. There was a small bed which took up most of the space in the room, even though it didn't look big enough for a toddler. Tom couldn't help but gag slightly at the smell of it, which was booze and something like a decaying body, although he covered his mouth with his hand in attempt to not be rude. He was lucky enough to be taken away from the red army, he shouldn't be complaining. But it made him genuinely wonder if there was a dead body hidden somewhere in the room. Or multiple. He tried not to think about that, but the only other thing his brain would allow him to think about was Tord and that wasn't much help.

So he just gave Matt a weak smile, "Thank you. I appreciate it." He said as genuinely as he possibly could, trying to let him know how grateful he truly was.

Matt gave him a half smile in return, "It's no problem. I'll be back later to remind you when dinner is. You should get some rest, apparently green leader is planning something for the morning."

Tom nodded and watched him walk away, kind of wishing that he wouldn't leave. He didn't exactly want to be alone there, but he figured he might as well get used to it. He climbed into the toddler sized bed, curling up into a tight ball so he at least somewhat fit on it. He pulled the single sheet provided over him, sighing as he looked up at the ceiling. At least this wasn't the red army, and that's all that mattered to Tom.

As he tried to get to sleep that evening, Tom couldn't help but notice that something under his pillow was making this process extremely difficult. At first he didn't look, not really wanting to know what it was. But curiosity and discomfort got the better of him, so he slowly put the pillow down. He was surprised to find an old sort of voice recorder, which seemed to be unscathed unlike the other few items in the room. Tom slowly turned the device over in his hands, inspecting it. He paused momentarily, but ultimately ended up pressing play.

An accented voice filled the room.

"It's been far too long, Thomas dear. I've missed you. But don't worry, I'm coming to get you soon. Very soon. I'll make Edd regret ever taking you away from me."

There was a pause.

"I love you. So stop running from me, you know I would never do anything to harm you. All I want to do is keep you safe."

Tom fell asleep with the voice recorder clutched tightly in his hand, the message playing on repeat.