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Post by Val on Jan 1, 2020 23:20:37 GMT
Several days had passed since Wolfgang had been imprisoned for the wedding massacre. During those days, he'd remained unconscious as his body recovered from the brutal wounds the werewolf had endured. He had received minimal medical attention, rather the inner wolf had taken it upon himself to heal it's host. Wolfgang endured many nightmares during his healing slumber, recalling the horrifying slaughter of innocent people that his inner demon had caused. The memory of his younger brother's horrified face flashed in his mind before he suddenly awoke, bolting upright and gasping for air.
He groaned in agony, his body still feeling the pain of his injuries. Slowly, he took in his surroundings: a dark, damp cell. He sat up slowly on the uncomfortable cot he lay upon and looked down at the ragged clothes that he'd been dressed in, along with the heavy chains that bound his ankles. He could hardly tell if this was just another nightmare, "Hello?" his voice was hoarse and he coughed. Standing up, he shuffled weakly to the cell door and gripped the bars, peering out into the darkness. He needed to know what happened. Who was dead and who was safe? "Hello!" he yelled again, feeling the uncharacteristic swell of panic rise in his chest. His worst fears had come to life.
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Post by starrea on Jan 2, 2020 0:10:15 GMT
For the first time in a long time, something happened. Lacey didn’t know how long ago - it was impossible to tell time in always-dimly-lit-dungeon - but they brought a man down.
The whole situation had been overwhelming. For someone who had virtually no human contact in years, the sight of several guardsmen shouting and banging on the cells overwhelmed her senses and sent her cowering towards the back of her cell.
One of them approached her bars, careful to remain out of her reach - should she try to reach for him. He pointed to the chain at the back of her cell, the one they only made her wear when they needed to open her cell or put someone in the adjacent cell next to her. The cell next to hers was only separated by bars and the shackle and chain prevented her from going near either the front or side of her cell. Unfortunately, that meant she also couldn’t reach her cot.
“Put it on!” He barked when he saw her hesitate. It didn’t make her move. Only when he pulled over a bucket of water, a silent threat to soak her, did she hurriedly snap the shackle on around her ankle.
Once she was secured, they dragged the unconscious man into the cell next to her, deposited him on the bed, and left. He didn’t move. Curiosity got the better of her and she walked to the end of her chain, trying to get a better look at the new prisoner, but it was too dark to see much.
She didn’t know how much time passed, but Lacey was pretty sure people weren’t supposed to sleep this long. She wondered if he were dead, but she saw him twitch a couple of times. She thought about trying to call out to him, but every time she thought about it, she chickened out.
The first time she heard his voice, she was in the back corner of her cell on the floor, leaning against the wall. Now that she couldn’t reach her cot, she was forced to sleep on the floor.
She heard him move and chains rustle. So, he was chained too. He must have done something very bad to end up in the cell next to her.
It took her a few minutes to force the words out of her mouth. It had been a long time since she shared her space with someone else. “I’m here,” She said softly but didn’t move from her spot. “But no one else is.”
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Post by Val on Jan 2, 2020 2:25:17 GMT
Wolfgang's heart skipped a beat from the unexpected sound of a voice nearby. He blinked rapidly, trying to get his eyes to adjust to the darkness as he shuffled away from the front of his cell and toward the cell adjacent to his, "Who are you?" he questioned, cursing when he reached the end of his chain and was jerked to a halt. "My name is Wolfgang Van Dam. I need you to tell me how long I've been in here. How can I speak to someone? A guard? This is very important," he insisted.
The way he spoke made it obvious that he was no man accustomed to captivity. Quite the opposite, actually. He was a socialite of great privilege, money, and education. Never once had he been chained up against his will, let alone imprisoned in some dank cell. He desperately needed to speak with the king, or anyone in charge for that matter. He deserved that at least, right?
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Post by starrea on Jan 2, 2020 2:40:37 GMT
Lacey watched him move, staying rooted in her spot. Now that he was closer to the bars, she got a better look at him. He didn’t look that dangerous, she noted. But then again, neither did she.
His desperation brought up unwelcome memories of when she had first been thrown down here. Unlike him, there has been no one else down here. She tried to push those memories back, but it was too late. She anxiously fiddled with the chain. Unlike her cell mate, she was too nervous to come closer to the bars that divided them.
“I don’t know how long you’ve been down here, it’s hard to tell time. I think you’ve been asleep for awhile, though, longer than normal,” Lacey knew that answer wouldn’t satiate him, but it was all she had to offer.
“No one is coming to talk to you.” Lacey realized how harsh that sounded, and added “at least, not for awhile.” But even she could hear how unconvincing that last part sounded.
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Post by Val on Jan 2, 2020 3:43:47 GMT
Wolfgang sighed heavily and rubbed his temples, realizing he was getting nowhere with this traumatized girl. He sat down on the floor as far toward her cell as the chain allowed and began to inspect his wounds in the dim lighting. It seemed the wolf had done it's job- his wounds were scarring over, which meant at least a few days had passed. Someone would be down here soon. They had to have questions for him, and boy did he have questions for them.
Deciding to take a different approach with his companion, he gazed in her direction once more, "What is your name?" he asked gently, "Why don't you come closer so that I may see you? I won't hurt you, no matter what you may think of these circumstances..." he trailed off, needing conversation to distract himself from falling into a pit of dismay. He couldn't lose himself now- not yet, anyway. He could still hang on to hope, he always had.
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Post by starrea on Jan 2, 2020 13:03:28 GMT
Lacey stayed silent as she watched his growing frustration. She remembered feeling that, as well. She didn’t take it personally - it’s hard not be frustrated in their kind of situation. Now that he was in the dim lighting, she could see the extent of his injuries. They looked mostly healed, but they marred most of his skin. She wondered what had happened to him, but she didn’t ask.
When he invited over towards him, she only waited a second before hesitantly moving forward. The idea of companionship was too tantalizing to ignore, despite her wariness. She had learned that the kind of people she met down here, few as that they may be, were usually bad news.
The chain rustled loudly as it scraped along the concrete floor and when she reached the end of it, she sat down so she was facing him. Compared him, she looked frail. Her skin hadn’t seen the sun in years and was pale white, making her dark hair and eyes stand out all the more.
Lacey cracked a small smile, “I’m not worried about you hurting me. In fact, the reason they made me put this chain is so I don’t hurt you. Oh, my name is Lacey.”
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Post by Val on Jan 3, 2020 2:02:40 GMT
Wolfgang watched attentively as she moved into view, feeling his gut wrench with pity at the sight of her. It was obvious that she had been mistreated and malnourished for some time. Even now, in his worst circumstances, he appeared lean, healthy, and well-fed. But if he were to remain down here, it was only a matter of time before he would begin to resemble a shell of himself. The thought made him shudder.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lacey," he replied, squinting his eyes as he studied her, "Hurt me? I'm doubtful that you could do too much damage. I should be dead by now from what I've endured. And yet..." he exhaled heavily, reeling over the gravity of his situation. He didn't deserve to live after what he had done, but the wolf kept him strong.
"Why are you imprisoned, dear?" he asked to distract himself, leaning forward until the chain was taut and allowed him no further freedom.
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Post by starrea on Jan 3, 2020 2:18:33 GMT
Lacey was used to people underestimating her. It was fine, nothing personal, because she knew she didn’t look threatening. She shrugged her shoulders, letting him think what he wanted to think.
“I kill people,” She answered vaguely, using the present tense of the word ‘kill’. “Or they think I’m going to kill people. And I don’t know if I am,” She rambled a little, her thoughts jumbled. She cut off speaking abruptly - it was clear she wasn’t used to social interaction.
Based on his title, she assumed he was some sort of nobleman and she wondered if he had heard of her. Lacey knew that they had swept her case under the rug and forfeited the trial and as far most knew, Lacey just vanished. She wondered in anyone remembered at all.
“What did you do?” This was the first question she asked the stranger.
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Post by Val on Jan 3, 2020 3:27:33 GMT
Wolfgang frowned at her admission, realizing that all the time he'd spent obsessing over his own affliction, he'd disregarded the fact that there were probably many people like him, cursed with unimaginable and unwanted power. People that he could have helped and that could have helped him in return, if he hadn't been so selfish.
"I killed many people," he replied quietly. Admitting it out loud suddenly made it very real. And for the first time in a long time, he felt a lump build in his throat and tears threaten to spill over, "I'm not sure who or how many, but they all know what I am now. They've seen the monster I've kept hidden for so long. I don't know how it happened...I lost control," he shook his head and stopped speaking as silent tears trickled down his face. He stared down at the ground in a trance, recalling the last time he'd truly cried at his mother's deathbed as a boy.
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Post by starrea on Jan 3, 2020 13:10:12 GMT
Watching Wolfgang’s reaction caused a tidal wave of shame to wash over here. Down here in the dungeon, the lines between what happened and what didn’t and what was real and what wasn’t blurred. Memories started to distort and the only thing that became real was her desperation and loneliness. She hadn’t killed anyone while she was down here, but she had killed many rats, and there were moments that given the chance, she probably would have killed a person. The need for human contact, the need to feel anything other than cold and lonely, became larger than life.
The face of the boy she killed flashed in her mind. It was something she hadn’t thought about in a very long time, something she actively tried not to think about, but she couldn’t push him out of her head now. She could see the way his face contorted in pain, his mouth open as he silently cried out. The rush of indescribable pleasure that washed over her. The knowledge that she was hurting him but the hesitation in letting him go. Then afterwards, his stillness. His eyes were still open, looking at her.
Silent tears slid down her cheeks as she relived the memory. Silence hung between them as they both sat in their own respective pain, but for once, she didn’t feel alone.
“I can’t control it either,” She said after a long moment. “At least you don’t remember it.” She wasn’t sure if he did or not, but from the way he spoke she was guessing he didn’t. In that regard, he was lucky. She would never forget that boy’s face.
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Post by Val on Jan 4, 2020 22:19:53 GMT
Wolfgang's tears had dried and left him feeling pathetic as he sat there on the stone cold floor. He was a grown ass, privileged man wallowing in self pity. Meanwhile, this young girl appeared to have been locked down here for a very long time, alone. He looked up as she spoke again and sighed, "The memories come to me in nightmares," he replied quietly. Terrified faces, blood, screams, pain. But he couldn't imagine remembering every moment.
"You remember it all," he murmured. It wasn't a question- she had made that pretty clear. He leaned forward again, frustrated when the chain restricted him from getting any closer, "How does it happen? What can't you control?" he wondered, mind reeling with the various studies he'd done on afflictions similar to his own. Perhaps this girl would become the next step in his discovery of a cure. He wasn't about to give up.
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Post by starrea on Jan 6, 2020 1:29:14 GMT
As selfish as it was, it felt so good to share her pain with someone. Someone else who was a monster, someone who hated themselves for it but couldn’t do anything about it. For the first time ever, sitting in this dimly lit prison, chained to a wall, Lacey didn’t feel alone.
All at once, Lacey felt the urge to share her story with him. If he was like her, down here in this prison, then he could be trusted. Because he was a monster, too.
“Everything I touch... dies. I don’t know how it happens, or why. But when I touch someone, I get this...” She trailed off. She couldn’t remember ever telling anyone about the inexplicable bliss that shot through her when she touched someone, on account that it felt shameful to enjoy someone’s pain, but that’s how it was. “It feels good. But it hurts people, and if I don’t pull away, it’ll kill them.”
Lacey kept her eyes down as she told him. Anxiety restricted her chest and she fought to breathe.
“So they put me down here because it’s so easy to accidentally touch someone. And down here, I can’t hurt anyone anymore.”
Lacey finally looked up, big brown eyes meeting his.
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Post by Val on Jan 6, 2020 4:11:06 GMT
Wolfgang stared at her as she spoke, his eyes alight with interest. Some might call it morbid curiosity, but he was an intellectual who spent a large portion of his life researching such anomalies in his hunt for a cure. In fact, her explanation caused a sudden realization to dawn on him, "You're the girl who..." he trailed off as he gazed into her round eyes. He didn't have the heart to bring up her trauma. The case of the murdered boy was from many years ago...no wonder she appeared so fragile from being hidden away for so long.
He stood up and hit the end of the chain, again, causing him to curse in frustration and pace back and forth a few times like a caged animal. He'd never had his freedom restricted like this. Perhaps he should have been glad that they were separated. Instead, he wanted nothing more than to take her hand and experience the power himself.
Finally, he stopped and looked at her apologetically, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what you've endured. No one has ever stood up for you, but that will change. I will not let them make us disappear," he promised. Maybe he was an outcast now- a criminal. But he still held power throughout the kingdoms. People knew his name, he had connections, power, and knowledge. He would not be silenced.
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Post by starrea on Jan 7, 2020 0:26:06 GMT
His words were like a slap to the face and she physically flinched as he put the pieces together and figured out who she was. So he had heard of her.
“Yeah. That was... I was ten, and I think I’m 17 now. Either way, I don’t think they could justify killing a ten year old who didn’t mean to hurt anymore. But I’m almost 18, if I’m not 18 already, so I figure that they’ll execute me soon.” She said with a casual shrug, her words void of emotion.
Honestly, even if death was every bit as painful as the death her curse caused, the idea of an end to everything was comforting to Lacey. Before Lacey had been scared of death, but now the idea of dying one day often soothed to her sleep.
Before Lacey had been scared of a lot of things. Before Lacey entered this dungeon as a child, and had to grow up into a young woman in isolation and chains. Before Lacey was stupid and selfish and unappreciative, but Before Lacey paid for it. And now Lacey wasn’t scared like she used to be.
The sound of Wolfgang’s rattling chain snapped her out of her thoughts. After spending so much time alone, it was hard for her to keep her focus. There usually wasn’t much to keep her focus on, and now she found her thoughts scattered and wandering. It was hard to think linearly.
Again, she shrugged when he mentioned that he wouldn’t let her be forgotten. She already had been. She had accepted her reality long ago of being the girl in the dungeon. That was just how it was. She wondered if he would be down here long enough to become as jaded as her. Probably not - no one ever stayed as long as she did.
“What’s your curse?” He knew her secret, and now she wanted to know his.
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Post by Val on Jan 7, 2020 3:44:10 GMT
Her defeated shrug put a damper on Wolfgang's impassioned oath, but he knew that the girl had probably lost all hope long ago. She had no reason to believe him or trust him, but he was determined to prove her wrong.
He stilled in response to her question and ran a hand over his face, noticing for the first time that his beard had begun to grow in. He usually kept himself clean shaven, so it only reaffirmed that he'd been unconscious for several days. That meant he was several days closer to a full moon. But did his careful tracking of time mean anything anymore? The wolf had revealed itself unexpectedly in broad daylight, long before the moon had reached the end of its cycle. As far as he knew, no time was safe anymore.
"Lycanthropy," he paused, realizing a person who'd had the general education and exposure of a ten year old might not know the term, "I'm a werewolf. I shape shift into a...wolf," he stated the word with distaste. He didn't generally like to refer to the beast as such. It was more evil than a wolf. And, unfortunately, much smarter.
It still felt strange to share his secret so openly, but...it was no longer a secret. Despite being in chains, the realization felt incredibly freeing.
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