Re: Chapter 4: Abyss
No one answered her pleas. The beating continued. They rained blow after blow after blow, and slowly the floor, walls, and white clothing of both William and the bouncers were dotted and slashed with red.
William had been beaten before, but not like this. This went on and on. Methodical. Precise. The pain was breathtaking, crushing. Every time he got close to passing out, they would stop and wait. Sometimes shake and slap and pinch him until he was awake again. He was never quite able to lose consciousness completely. One of his eyes was swelling shut. The taste of blood in his mouth was overpowering. And every time he caught a glimpse of Susan, enduring suffering of a different kind, alone, he felt like he was going to explode with anger. A few times it gave him strength enough to successfully fight back, block a blow, sometimes manage a hit of his own. He felt particularly proud of one good, strong punch he landed on one of their jaws. He knew he would pay for it in pain, but he didn't care.
Once, he would have just taken it. He would have snarked at them if his mouth was free, but then surrender to whatever test they were running on him, hoping that this time, it would kill him. He hadn't fought with his body, but with his mind. His decisions. When they had offered him a choice of leniency or luxury versus pain, he'd chosen pain. Every time.
But now he wasn't alone. Things were very different-- no longer run of the mill experiments and torture. He knew this wouldn't result in his death. He could tell they were being careful. Staying away from his spine. Not breaking any bones. He had no intention of trying to make them kill him this time, either. But just taking it... while Susan was watching? He couldn't. She was right there. She gave him strength. She had to see him fight back.
She had changed him. She was the pulse of life in his veins, the only reason he had to fight. So he did. He wished he could tell her it was all right, to be strong. He was with her, even if they were apart.
Each time the orderlies had to stop and wait and try to keep William from losing consciousness, it took longer and longer for him to come back. At the fifth such break, when after all the shaking and slapping had failed to open William's fluttering eyes, the opaque circles popped open. Only about an inch, but suddenly sound from both sides of the divide could be heard.