- Joined
- Jul 6, 2008
- Messages
- 11,370
Bedlam (VI)
You state your refusal firmly, leaving no room for ambiguity.
“Oh, is that so. I suppose I can’t make you change your mind, hmm? Thought so. Pity.” John Bull shrugs his wide, rounded shoulders. “Well, well, the clock is a-ticking and I am afraid I am a very, very busy man, so do excuse me. Hm, this is not a method I would like to resort to, but if it needs be done…”
He makes a dramatic show of coughing, and when he speaks next, he sounds exactly like you do.
“Come with me, Elizabeth.”
Liz stirs, barely conscious, and mutters her approval.
John Bull grins, his mouth pulled apart so wide that you can see every sharp tooth. Before you can react, both he and Liz are already vanishing into the mist. A black dagger slices at the both of them, but too late. It does nothing more than disperse their already fading images. The mist disappears, revealing the angry knight. His face red and twisted in a mask of fury, he rushes at you and aims a hard kick at your jaw.
You are instantly floored by the blow, stars bursting behind your eyes. The man straddles you and presses one hand down on your throat, hard. “An acquaintance of the Cannibal Duke, are we?” he hisses, all venom. If you thought him hostile before, he seemed downright murderous now. “I should have known, given that devil’s eye of yours.”
The dagger pierces into your blackened eye with a sickening crack. The blade pulses, as if it was a living thing, and something foul begins pouring into the eye, melting it from inside out. You struggle but in vain, as he clamps down on your throat with his free hand and chokes you into silence. You are unable to even scream from the torturous pain, nothing but a grating rattle escaping your vocal cords.
“Let him go!” Trying to save you, Rain runs at him and earns nothing more than an elbow to her head for her troubles. She tumbles to the ground, unconscious and bleeding from her nose.
“I will purge you.” There is no mercy to be found in that voice. The grip around your throat tightens, the bones of your neck creaking. All strength has left you; there is a sickening poison flowing from where your eye used to be, the remnants of the melted eye.
“Antonio, stop! What are you doing to these children?”
A shout rings out. You can feel his grip loosening, and you gasp for breath.
The man, Antonio, stands up, the dagger dangling in his grip. “Children? They are barely even human, Commander, I had just burnt a devil’s orb out of that boy’s right eye socket. You left the back gates to me, claiming that those who would sneak out the back were the most suspicious. You were right, so let me deal with this. That’s why I am here.”
He is addressing another knight, dressed in what seemed to be a set of golden armor uncharacteristic of this modern day and age. You are unable to see the commander’s face, obscured as it is behind a shining helm. Behind him were half a dozen other knights, though these were dressed more similarly to the one who had taken your eye.
“Barely human is still human,” sighs the commander. “By the Council, we may only purge them on site if they have been fully proven to be inhumans.”
“Well, funny you should mention that, Commander. There was a bloodsucker here just now, and the Cannibal Duke too.”
“John Bull? What in the Tower was he doing all the way here!?”
The man glances at you, his gaze full of scorn and hatred.
“Does the boy know?” asks the commander quickly. “What were you thinking, executing a witness before a proper interrogation has been completed?”
“I doubt he could tell us anything useful,” shrugs Antonio in return. He has calmed down and sounds almost bored right now, his cold fury disappeared as cleanly as John Bull’s mists.
“From his clothes, it seems that he might be employed at this hospital… which means that he might know something about what that man has done.” The commander turns and looks at a stretcher being guarded by his subordinate knights. There is Harold, still breathing, still unconscious, and strapped firmly to the stretcher with no room to move. “Report to me exactly what happened, Antonio. Then I shall decide.”
You feel the tiny stirrings of strength creeping back into your body, bit by bit. It seems that they have underestimated your resilience. While Antonio is talking to his commander, no one is looking at you or Rain, who is still lying out cold on the ground. If you are to attempt an escape, as unlikely as it might be, this is your chance.
***
A. You attempt to escape. This might be the only opportunity you can get, seeing as you don’t think you’ll be able to talk your way out of anything.
1. You try to grab Rain before escaping. You aren’t about to leave her here, in their hands.
2. You try to escape alone. The daunting task of escape would be even more impossible while being burdened with her. You can always try to free her later.
B. You do not try to escape, and let the knights take you into custody. Whether or not they will put you to death, it is too risky to run right now.
You state your refusal firmly, leaving no room for ambiguity.
“Oh, is that so. I suppose I can’t make you change your mind, hmm? Thought so. Pity.” John Bull shrugs his wide, rounded shoulders. “Well, well, the clock is a-ticking and I am afraid I am a very, very busy man, so do excuse me. Hm, this is not a method I would like to resort to, but if it needs be done…”
He makes a dramatic show of coughing, and when he speaks next, he sounds exactly like you do.
“Come with me, Elizabeth.”
Liz stirs, barely conscious, and mutters her approval.
John Bull grins, his mouth pulled apart so wide that you can see every sharp tooth. Before you can react, both he and Liz are already vanishing into the mist. A black dagger slices at the both of them, but too late. It does nothing more than disperse their already fading images. The mist disappears, revealing the angry knight. His face red and twisted in a mask of fury, he rushes at you and aims a hard kick at your jaw.
You are instantly floored by the blow, stars bursting behind your eyes. The man straddles you and presses one hand down on your throat, hard. “An acquaintance of the Cannibal Duke, are we?” he hisses, all venom. If you thought him hostile before, he seemed downright murderous now. “I should have known, given that devil’s eye of yours.”
The dagger pierces into your blackened eye with a sickening crack. The blade pulses, as if it was a living thing, and something foul begins pouring into the eye, melting it from inside out. You struggle but in vain, as he clamps down on your throat with his free hand and chokes you into silence. You are unable to even scream from the torturous pain, nothing but a grating rattle escaping your vocal cords.
“Let him go!” Trying to save you, Rain runs at him and earns nothing more than an elbow to her head for her troubles. She tumbles to the ground, unconscious and bleeding from her nose.
“I will purge you.” There is no mercy to be found in that voice. The grip around your throat tightens, the bones of your neck creaking. All strength has left you; there is a sickening poison flowing from where your eye used to be, the remnants of the melted eye.
“Antonio, stop! What are you doing to these children?”
A shout rings out. You can feel his grip loosening, and you gasp for breath.
The man, Antonio, stands up, the dagger dangling in his grip. “Children? They are barely even human, Commander, I had just burnt a devil’s orb out of that boy’s right eye socket. You left the back gates to me, claiming that those who would sneak out the back were the most suspicious. You were right, so let me deal with this. That’s why I am here.”
He is addressing another knight, dressed in what seemed to be a set of golden armor uncharacteristic of this modern day and age. You are unable to see the commander’s face, obscured as it is behind a shining helm. Behind him were half a dozen other knights, though these were dressed more similarly to the one who had taken your eye.
“Barely human is still human,” sighs the commander. “By the Council, we may only purge them on site if they have been fully proven to be inhumans.”
“Well, funny you should mention that, Commander. There was a bloodsucker here just now, and the Cannibal Duke too.”
“John Bull? What in the Tower was he doing all the way here!?”
The man glances at you, his gaze full of scorn and hatred.
“Does the boy know?” asks the commander quickly. “What were you thinking, executing a witness before a proper interrogation has been completed?”
“I doubt he could tell us anything useful,” shrugs Antonio in return. He has calmed down and sounds almost bored right now, his cold fury disappeared as cleanly as John Bull’s mists.
“From his clothes, it seems that he might be employed at this hospital… which means that he might know something about what that man has done.” The commander turns and looks at a stretcher being guarded by his subordinate knights. There is Harold, still breathing, still unconscious, and strapped firmly to the stretcher with no room to move. “Report to me exactly what happened, Antonio. Then I shall decide.”
You feel the tiny stirrings of strength creeping back into your body, bit by bit. It seems that they have underestimated your resilience. While Antonio is talking to his commander, no one is looking at you or Rain, who is still lying out cold on the ground. If you are to attempt an escape, as unlikely as it might be, this is your chance.
***
A. You attempt to escape. This might be the only opportunity you can get, seeing as you don’t think you’ll be able to talk your way out of anything.
1. You try to grab Rain before escaping. You aren’t about to leave her here, in their hands.
2. You try to escape alone. The daunting task of escape would be even more impossible while being burdened with her. You can always try to free her later.
B. You do not try to escape, and let the knights take you into custody. Whether or not they will put you to death, it is too risky to run right now.
