It's Always Worth the Price. (2022)
Chapter 1: Broken, and Battered.
Load Full Story Next ChapterI was left hanging off the ceiling by ropes entwined around my wrists, floating just an inch off the ground. I tried to grasp my bearings, so I took a look around the room with what little vision I had left. The room was dark, lit only by a singular candle hanging from the roof much like myself. The tile flooring was stained by my blood as it clung to the floor, calm and still. I looked ahead and saw a large metal table in the middle of the room, but with my head spinning and my blurred vision; it was all I could make out.
The pain was starting to get to me. The headaches were becoming more, and more frequent with each passing day. My back was covered in scratches, scars, burn marks, and stitches that matched the rest of my body. I tried to get a better view of myself from the reflection in the blood pool beneath me, but to no avail. My left eye had been cut out, and nothing was left in my eye socket but dried blood. Losing my eye was a small price; compared to what I could lose.
The large iron door to the room slammed open, and a blinding white light shone through. I winced at the sudden rush of blindness, and tried to focus once again. Standing in the middle of the light stood the figure of a woman. She took her approach, and closed the door behind her.
“Things could be easier you know; all you have to tell me is where they are.” The figure called out from the other end of the room as the door 'clacked' behind her. “Are you even sure they're worth all this?”
Anger took hold on me as I clenched my teeth together. “Do...not talk about...my children in such a manner. I would deem it...most unwise.” I threw my body forward and tried to stand on my feet, but was rejected as I couldn’t even reach the floor.
She scoffed at my remark,“Unwise you say...and who is going to teach me?” She left my small field of vision, and vanished into the shadows on the far side of the room. “Certainly you don't mean yourself, do you?” She began to cackle as she stepped back into view with a chair in her hand, and sat it at the table.
After she sat down, she reached into her pocket to retrieve a cigarette. Reaching into her other pocket, she pulled out a lighter. She lit the cigarette and took a long, deep inhale. After taking a long drag, she exhaled the smoke and blew it into my face. I shook my head in an attempt to dispel the smoke. “Oh pardon me, would you care for a smoke? Consider it a reward for lasting this long. You’ve managed to last much longer than all the others."
She quickly chuckled for a moment thinking on the past,“I remember this guy in Canterlot. His thoughts all set on sex, while mine were set on the information he withheld.” She took another puff of her cigarette and spoke,“That poor bastard probably shouldn't have followed me back, and he probably misses that thumb of his.” She stood up from the chair, trotted up to me and put the already lit cigarette to my mouth. She left it sitting on the tip of my lips.
“Personally...I don't smoke. But if I'm going to die here...I doubt it'll be from one of these.” I accepted the cigarette and took a good, long drag too. I let the cigarette hang on the edge of my lips, letting the smoke gradually build up inside my lungs. Its smoke grew into an overpowering muster inside my chest. I had planned to black out with the growing pressure, and drift into death peacefully but she quickly saw through my plan.
“You’re not going down that easily.” She slammed a powerful punch to the side of my ribs, and knocked the wind out of me. I shot out the smoke, and gasped for air. “As the Guardian of the mystical lands of Equestria, I thought that you'd at least tough it out till the bitter end. Fighting.” She began to frown, and looked to me with mournful eyes,“You’re not dying from something so meaningless, such as that. You’re not ending yourself this way. It's supposed to be different..." My captor trailed off, letting a singular tear slide down her cheek.
“And just...how is it supposed to end?” My anger started to rise with each passing moment, “I'm flesh, and blood...as any man, or woman. I feel pain. Whether it's physical, mental, or...emotional.” My voice was barely operating, but my thoughts yelled powerfully reciting my words. I felt it was echoing throughout the room. I swore I could feel the very room shake. “My kids...are all I have left in this world, and if my death ensures their safety. Then, so be it.” The look upon her face looked as one filled with shock, and awe.
“There it is...This is the person I've been waiting to meet for the longest time. The man who would be willing to stare death right in the face, and laugh.” She stepped closer, and wrapped a hug around my bare chest. "This is for Tosla's tavern. This is for everything. I don't know what I could have done, without it.” A small smile crept across her face, as she nuzzled into my chest.
‘Tosla's tavern? What's she talking about?’ I thought to myself. I don't know what I did, but apparently it helped. My thoughts were quickly interrupted by her breaking away from the one sided hug, and placing a knife on the top left corner of my chest.
“Enough with the hugging. I have a job to do, and I intend to finish it walking away with my money. One last chance John! Where are the prince and princess?" She was taking the blade and sharpening it on the concrete floor. I continued to hold my silence, and she began pushing it into my skin slowly. Blood soon began to draw. The pain was festering inside my mind, but I had been through this very situation numerous times since I first arrived to this living nightmare.
“Do...as you will, soon I'll be dead...and your job is over. Have fun with your bits...” I said through painful grunts.
“I promise you'll give in before you die. Once I get my money, I can finally leave this whole experience behind me.” She turned away, and brushed something away from her eyes.
‘Is she crying? Why?’ I thought to myself once more. My mind was teeming with these questions, but were quickly silenced by the image of her with red eyes and tears streaming down her face. She drove the blade deep into my skin for a second, and brought it back out. She then took the knife, and started tearing away at my flesh leaving a jagged wound.
First, she lifted it towards my shoulder, then began to drag it across to its opposite. Next, she started curving down towards my left hip. The pain was excruciating, and upon further inspection through watering eyes, the wound took shape of a ridged number seven.
“Where are they! Tell me, Old Man. Tell Me!” She screamed at me, her voice grew into one that could scare away a timberwolf. “Do you think I like doing this? Do you think that this is a game to me? If it's a game, then I play for keeps!” She sheathed the knife, and placed her hand on top of my flesh wound. The pain from the ropes digging into my wrists began to disappear, and the room started to spin. I tried to focus on the cut again, but did notice that I was losing a large amount of blood.
At this rate, I'd bleed out and be nothing but a lifeless husk. I turned my attention back to her, and seen that she had stepped back into the darkness in the other side of the room. Suddenly, I heard a loud hissing noise as something seemed to open then close. During the noise, I could only see a bright red flash. The flash faded, but it started to creep forward making the room warmer. She returned into the light again, and in her gloved right hand, she held a burning piece of scrap metal. I knew that it was pointless to try and wiggle away, so I simply hung there and tightly held my only eye shut.
“You're losing quite a lot of blood, you might die soon. I can fix that.” A devilish smile overtook her face, as she mended my wound with the burning metal. The pain shot everywhere around my body; she drug it along the giant gash across my chest, and cauterized it. As I held my fists clenched, I screamed. Upon hearing my cries of pain, she threw the metal away as soon as she was done. The room grew darker as I lost consciousness, the sensation of pain was slowly dissipating. Everything in vision had faded into darkness, as it consumed me.
When I awoke, I was staring at the blood covered floor. I tried to look around the room, and saw no trace of my executioner. The door began to open, and two changling guards entered. They untied me from the restraints that held me to the ceiling, and I fell onto the cold, wet floor. They picked me up off of the ground, and set me on top of the large metal table close to the opposite side of the door in the next room. I was too weak to fight them off, and figured that it would be wise to just let them do the usual. The guards started cleaning out my cuts, and began stitching me back up with the medical equipment in this infirmary.
“How in Celestia's name does this guy last? I get a few times, but this long? That's insane.” One of the guards exclaimed.
“I'll tell you what, I'm sure glad I'm not this guy. We may have to stand in this hallway everyday, hearing inmates screaming all the time, and get paid close to nothing...but still.” The other told his comrade. The guard smiled, and started to laugh.
His friend looked to him and said,“What's so funny?”
“Nothing is. It's just that pretty soon this guy’s gonna fall apart. Like some kind of ruined teddy bear.”
“I hear ya, and what was up with Moon Shadow running out crying? She usually just comes in, does her thing, then leaves.”
“I don't really know. Did she know the guy beforehand?” He asked, and his comrade responded with a shrug. “She’s never reacted this way with anyone else, so I don't know what to tell ya man.”
Soon they finally finished up, and wrapped the bandages tightly around the stitches covering my chest. They edged me down from the table, and took a hold of me. One of them placed my left arm over their shoulder, and the other did the same to the other. They began to drag me back to my room. My cell.