Chapter 73: The Chair
Walking to my side, she loomed over me, gazing down at me with filthy, disgusted eyes.
"Lady Alora, it's time." Her words were laced with disdain.
"Understood." But I didn't give her the satisfaction of an emotionally fueled response; I kept my response cool, calm, and collected.
Standing on my painful soles, I followed the Maiden out of the bedroom and straight into a new room.
An empty room.
...Empty for all but a small chair prepared with straps for each limb in the centre of the room.
"Sit."
"Yes."
Following her instructions, I hopped onto the chair and observed as the Maiden strapped me in limb by limb.
By the end, I was all tied up, ready for anything to be thrown my way.
I already knew what would come first-
Swish.
-the Maiden removed my mask and carelessly tossed it aside.
"Tell me, Lady Alora..."
Her fingers traced my cheek and landed on my chin. She lifted my head, pushing my face towards hers.
"...what sin have you committed?"
"..."
I paused for a moment.
I regulated my breathing.
Then, the emotion in my eyes retreated.
"I allowed Hilda to witness me."
Alas, the Maiden shook her head, "Incorrect. Now, again, what sin have you committed?"
Once again, robotically, stiffly, I repeated the answer that she wanted; the answer that I had repeated over and over again these past 6 months:
"I existed."
My mouth moved.
"I breathed."
My eyes were unflinching.
"I lived."
Staring into the Maiden's soulless eyes:
"That is my sin."
And, she smiled.
A pretty smile; a lifeless smile; a deadly smile; a smile that combined all that should not be compatible.
"Good girl."
The finger resting on my chin slithered down my neck, over my collarbones, and down to my chest.
It hovered on my chest, trailing and tickling my skin, before-
CRACK!!!
...She shoved it through my dress; through my skin; through my flesh;
Ba-dump.
The tip of her finger traced my heart.
It wriggled in the depths of my chest, brushing my ribs and lungs; it rested on my heart, sensing every heartbeat.
Her finger swam in my ocean of Curses.
Ba-dump.
And I, as usual, opened my mouth;
My tear ducts began working overtime;
...Flowing Curses dripped from my eyes.
...Ear-bursting screams echoed from my throat, bursting and cracking my vocal cords.
Yet.
I did not move.
I was not allowed to move.
For if I moved, my heart would be pierced.
My punishment would worsen.
Each beat of my screaming heart brushed her finger. Every heartbeat drew out another crashing wave of tearing pain; this was true agony, not a quick death, not a quick whip, not a tearing but quick pain;
This was a slow, prolonged, and borderline insane punishment.
It bordered on the level of agony brought about by punishments that set me in silent rooms and forced me to face the endless voices and the boredom of nothingness.
Both held a unique variant of pain.
However, this was certainly one of the worst.
Oh.
You might be wondering, how am I thinking rationally at the moment?
How are these thoughts possibly flowing through me whilst releasing the most horrible of screams; whilst crying burning tears of Curses?
My lips curled up, allowing the trickle of sizzling, salty liquid to drip into my mouth. The taste of it was pungent, filled to the brim with the cries of thousands of voices;
How?
Well.
It's simple.
My smile edged to the ends of my face, reaching up to my ears;
It's not enough anymore.
This level of pain; this level of punishment, it's no longer enough to leave me incapacitated.
I may cry, I may wail, but I won't pass out.
Beautiful, right?
Perfect, right?
...Wrong.
It's not enough.
This punishment is not enough.
My eyes stared forwards, onwards, into the distant view of chestnut and blue.
There, I saw it.
I witnessed her mouth opening.
And:
[Sacrifice.]
It's not enough.
More, for Esme, I must sacrifice more; I must sacrifice everything, anything; my life, my well-being, everything and anything I ever cared for;
My wide smile parted, revealing the teeth behind it.
Then, with my teeth chittering and clattering from the abhorrent pain grinding my body apart, I responded;
Mechanically;
Robotically;
With zero hesitation;
"Yes, mother."
Drip.
Cursed blood began draining from my mouth, spilling down my chin and onto my clothing.
"For this Perfect Cursed Doll, I shall."
The image of Hilda's Ascension flashed through my mind, and, in her place, I imagined Esme. My lovely sister. I imagined her Ascension, her beauty, her pretty face; and, in turn, I imagined the horror of her Ascension if I failed.
If my Perfection was not furthered.
I could imagine it vividly.
Her demise.
...Nonononono.
That can't happen.
Gritting my teeth-
Squelch.
-I pressed my body forward.
The Maiden's slender finger pierced right through my heart.
Curses blossomed from the depths of my chest; they rapidly encapsulated and stitched the folds of my heart muscles together with the Maiden's finger. The gaps between her finger and the muscle were closed, preventing any blood from leaking out with each heartbeat.
Then, a new pathway formed around her finger.
A pathway from the right atrium to the right ventricle, precisely the location that her finger was blocking.
Every process was painful; every action tore me apart.
And I-
I-
...I passed out by the end.
---
...I woke up hours later to the Maiden's face. Her eyelids drooped downwards with boredom whilst she still held her finger inside my heart; I felt the shaft of her finger caress my ribcage and other precious organs.
I felt my blood course around her finger every time my heart decided to beat.
It wasn't a pleasant sensation.
Clicking her teeth, "Tch, you little thing, you're still alive?"
Sweeping her hair with her free hand, the Maiden leaned her face close to mine with a nice, wide smile, "Say, you monster, how does it feel to have your innards stirred like this every other day? Does it feel good? Because you sure do smile a lot."
"Yes, Maiden."
Hearing my robotic response, "...Pathetic creature."
Squelch!
Pulling her finger out of my chest, I was given mere seconds to rapidly reconstruct my insides by properly stitching them all back together.
First, my heart.
I instantly pushed everything back into order, pulling and almost peeling the weak muscles into their original state.
Then, I had to plug the hole in my chest and limit the internal bleeding created from having my insides shredded by the invasive finger.
It wasn't easy, nor was it pretty.
But I did it.
...And as soon as I did so, my body collapsed like a fish on a cutting board. If not for the straps holding me down, I'd have slammed right to the floor.
I had jelly for feet, the numb, weak little limbs pulled me deeper into this damned chair.
It felt identical to drowning.
Don't ask me how I know what that feels like.
My fingers, my toes, my feet, my hands, my legs, my arms; everything was weak.
Everything was frail.
I was limp and useless.
Slip. Slip.
While I lay there attempting to keep this body from falling apart from the damage done to its heart, the Maiden was unbuckling the multitude of restraints keeping me tied to the chair.
After a few seconds-
Oh.
-my unrestrained body toppled to the ground, it slammed knee first, and then my head followed through and almost cracked in half on the ground. Flailing helplessly on the ground, I groaned and gurgled on a spewing mixture of blood and Curses rushing out of my throat.
"Urgh!"
Vomiting the mixture, I hurriedly took deep, blood-stained breaths.
With this weakness in my veins, I tossed and turned as I tried to get to my feet-
Thud.
-my arms rattled while my hands slipped on the blood, sending me back into the pool of filth.
Oh well.
Understanding my current fragility, I pushed my elbows forward, curled my legs, and, like a worm, I crawled onwards.
With a trail of black and red behind me, I crawled.
With a trail of salty, Cursed liquid flowing endlessly, I crawled.
I have to get back to bed.
One hand forward.
Bend the crunchy elbows.
Push with the agonisingly torn ankles.
...One move after the next.
Cycle through the movements; repeat, over, and over-
"..."
...Oh yeah...
Now that I think about it...
Today was Hilda's day...
I should prepare a gift for her...
"..."
Actually, it might be the next day already...
That dummy won't mind, right...
Many thoughts lingered in my mind as I trudged onwards.
It may have been a few minutes, an hour, or many hours, but eventually, I crawled through the open door and miraculously appeared in my bedroom.
It was dark with faint rays of light drifting through the windows.
The room was warm, and so was the floor.
...Maybe I should sleep on the floor today.
My exhausted eyes blinked sluggishly as I struggled to take in this environment; the act of thinking was also too tiring.
Sighing, the scent of my fluids stung my nose once more.
I was a mess.
A babbling, toddler-esque mess.
...Ah, but I'm still basically a baby, aren't I...?
Giggling inwardly at that ludicrous thought, I relaxed my limbs.
...So be it, I'll sleep here...
And, as I was tenderly drifting into a state of sleep, I missed it.
I missed the sound of my bed rustling.
The sound of footsteps walking around my bed.
And the sound of a person standing over me.
However, inevitably, I felt it; I sensed their presence.
Sluggishly, painfully, resentfully, I lifted my leaded head.
And-
Smother.
Warm, mutton-esque arms wrapped my head, pulling me into a soft, large chest. Slender fingers ran through my hair and scalp, as-
Chu.
-a moist, steaming kiss landed on my forehead.
"...I'm here, little dummy."
...Hehe.
An endearing smile rose from my lips as I let myself drift into comfortable sleep via a nice dosage of Curses to the brain.
Thank you.