Faith opened her eyes weakly. It was still dark, wherever she was. All she could remember was patrolling and being knocked out again. From behind. Her first thought had been of Angelus. He'd found her again. And judging by the fact she felt like she was tied up, she'd say her assumption was right. He'd gotten her again, and she was in for more torture.
"Morning sleepy-head!" Angelus chirped.
He knelt down in front of her, into her line of vision, and slapped her cheeks gently.
"Wake up! Come on, it's a glorious day for some torture."
"What do you want?" Faith asked quietly.
"To kill you. But since I'm in no hurry for another Slayer to be called, then I guess I'll have to make this as long and painful as I can."
"Why bother? I can just call Willow to get me out of here.�
"I think you'll find if you'd done the homework, you'd realise she's unable to come to the phone right now. A little poison... a little... taking of the powers."
Angelus pointed to the jar that sat on the other side of the room, faintly glowing with the magic trapped within it.
"You son of a - "
"Language! Faithy!"
Angelus backhanded her and grabbed her hair and pulled her head back roughly.
"And no one can get into this place. I'm undetected. So we can have some private time, can't we?"
He pulled a long strip of material from his pocket and gagged Faith's mouth. She struggled against him, but the chains were too tight, and she was still light headed.
Faith struggled against her restraints to no avail.
An evil glint shimmered in Angelus's eyes as he lit a few candles, giving the place some light. He caressed her foot before pulling a knife out and cutting into the sole. She screamed against her gag as Angelus dipped his finger through the blood and brought it up to his mouth, letting her blood linger on his tongue, relishing the taste.
He took hold of her toes and broke them one by one, grinning evilly
and reciting a poem as he did so.
"This little piggy went to the market."
SNAP!
"This little piggy stayed home."
SNAP!
"This little piggy had roast beef."
SNAP!
"This little piggy had none."
SNAP!
"And this little piggy went wee, wee, wee, all the way home!"
SNAP!
Faith's eyes rolled back in her head as he started the same process on her other foot. He cut it, more savagely than he had the last one, and using his hand, he cupped her toes and scrunched his hand up, breaking all of her toes at once.
"Mmm, I love that sound, don't you?"
Angelus chuckled as he stepped around Faith, one hand on his hip, one at his mouth, as he pondered what to do. He knelt down near her hands and stroked them.
"Hands... hands can say a lot about a person. You've got lovely hands, Faithy."
He lifted one of them and rotated her wrist, finally bending it back, relishing the loud crack that sounded. He lifted her other hand and bent her hand back and
listened for the crack. He then lifted his knife, stuck it through the fire until the blade was burning hot, and then brought it down and half burnt, half cut patterns into the palm of her hand. The skin sizzled as it split apart. Angelus took in the smell of burning flesh mixed with blood. His tongue darted out as he tasted the blood.
"Mmm, cooked meat."
Faith's head turned weakly to the side, her eyes rolling around in her head, unable to focus.
"Mmmmph mmmph hmmph!"
"Don't talk when you have something in your mouth. Didn't your mother teach you manners?" Angelus mocked.
He lifted the knife and cut similar patterns into her other hand.
"I like things to be symmetrical," he commented. Angelus took her fingers into his hand and bent them back, one by one, slowly breaking each one.
He stepped back and admired his handy work.
"Hmm, what next? Oh, I know."
Angelus untied Faith from the chair and dragged her over to the wall, where he chained her to the ceiling by her hands, her arms above her head, and then clamped her feet down onto the ground, so she was standing on her cut feet. She let out muffled screams.
Angelus indicated over to the fireplace in the corner of the room. He walked over and pulled a poker from the fire, then slowly walked back over to her. He twirled it in his hands then stabbed through her thigh.
"MMMMMMMMMMMMMMPPHGH!" Faith's muffled scream sounded.
Angelus pulled the gag roughly from her mouth and she spat in his eyes. He slapped her, hard across her cheeks, then brought the knife up and cut gashes in each cheek.
"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Faith screamed. Her head hung limply once Angelus had let go of it. Angelus tsked and lifted his knife, cutting little lines where her lips ended.
"Now, now, Faithy... that's not very nice. Now, we're going to play a little game. Any ideas on what it can be?"
"We switch places and I kick your ass?" Faith asked, wincing in pain with each word she spoke.
"Not quite. We're going to see how far I can take you to the brink of death. Isn't that what you've always wanted?"
"No," Faith said through clenched teeth, closing her eyes in pain as Angelus took hold of the poker through her thigh and twisted it around slightly.
"Well then what do you want?"
Angelus cocked his head, backing over to the fire and retrieving another poker.
"A house in the country... a pair of good running shoes that you can also wear out to dinner." Faith spat the blood out of her mouth onto the ground.
Angelus shook his head and shoved the second poker through her other thigh.
"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH FUUUUUUUUUU-"
Angelus roughly put the gag back into her mouth.
"LANGUAGE FAITHY! I can't stress the importance of polite language! And for that, you'll have to be punished, I think."
He looked around and spotted the lemon juice he'd brought in. He stuck his finger in the cup, and put it into his mouth, wincing slightly.
"Ooh, sour."
He dipped his finger in again and flicked the lemon juice onto Faith's cuts. She let out a loud groan of pain. He grinned evilly, and set the cup down again.
He smiled as her snapped her arms back and broke them, then casually roundhouse kicked at her elbows, dislodging them from their place. Her arms begged to be released, as they struggled to fall limply to her sides, but couldn't.
"Right... now what?"
Angelus feigned disinterest as he picked up his mallet and casually sauntered over to her. He raised the mallet over his head and brought it down onto her left knee with a sickening thud, as her kneecap was dislodged. He chuckled evilly, and lifted the mallet up again, and broke her other knee. Her legs tried to collapse, without her knees, she wasn't able to stand up properly. But the restraints holding her wrists up, kept her in an upright position.
Faith's eyes weakly focused on Angelus as he pondered what to do next. Ooh, ankles. Angelus knelt down and smashed the side of her ankles breaking them both, one at a time. Faith was now unable to stand, but she was unable to fall down, because she was held up by her wrists. She was covered in sweat and blood.
Angelus frowned and pulled the two pokers from her thighs and tossed them back into the fire. He lifted his knife and cut his name into her stomach.
"It's like your mine... I have a little pet."
"Mmmphhh. . ." Faith moaned weakly.
Angelus unfastened her from the roof and the ground and carried her to the bath of ice. He dumped her in roughly, and tied her down with more chains. She started to shiver violently. He left her in there for a few minutes, then pulled her out and chained her to a metal cot, with one hard, broken mattress to lie on. He chained her torso with a long chain around the cot, and chained her wrists to the head of the cot and her feet to the end. Then, he put a large, woollen, itchy blanket over her, tucking it in roughly and tightly.
"Sleep tight, Faithy." Angelus grinned down at her, before bending down and kissing her head softly, pulling out her gag, and pausing to lick at her tears and her blood. He got up then, and left, blowing out the candles, leaving Faith alone in the dimly lit room.
"Oh... my... God. . ." Faith moaned painfully.
Even if she wasn't tied to the bed, she couldn't move. Not in this condition. He had her right where he wanted her.
The brink of death.
Part Two � Emotionally Tortured
Somehow, being left alone was worse than having Angelus there with her. Now that she was alone, she was trying as hard as she could to sleep. Sleep would solve everything. She tried to block out the sounds of the music Angelus had left on to �soothe� her with. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she relived the memories of Angelus hurting her, torturing her, making her a toy.
Faith felt more hot tears pricking at her eyes. He didn�t care about her anymore, but she still hoped for him, she needed Angel back so much it was physically hurting. Her broken bones, the cuts and bruises, they were nothing but a dull thud, in comparison to the pain she was feeling with the loss of the one person who had ever truly supported and cared about her. Angel.
�Faithy?� Angelus�s voice drew her out of her thoughts and she was almost relieved. After all, talking to anyone was better than going insane inside her own mind.
Faith turned her head to see him, just as he turned the CD off. She almost breathed a sigh of relief.
�Guess what!� Angelus said in excitement.
�I don�t know, what?� Faith replied softly, playing along to his game. Whatever it was.
�Guess who I just killed?�
�I don�t know.�
�Well that�s not a guess. Ok... who has short brown hair?�
�That could be anyone on this half of North America,� Faith said dryly.
�Brown eyes and brown hair?� Angelus pressed.
�My answer still stands,� Faith replied.
�Has one eye and is a founding member of the Scoobies?�
Faith drew in a short, sharp gasp. No...
�Was, up until this morning, helping Buffy and, what did you call them? Ah, that�s
right, the Super friends. Well, he was having a fine old time... that is, until I ripped his heart out, of course.� And on that, Angelus held up a heart. It wasn�t Xander�s, but she didn�t know that. This news, of course, would break her spirit.
�YOU SON OF A BITCH!� Faith screamed, trying to struggle against her restraints, broken bones forgotten.
Angelus grabbed Faith�s shoulders roughly and slapped her cheeks a few times. Faith fell silent and stopped moving. He held the heart up and pointed to a little tear he�d made in it. �See, you did break his heart.�
�I hate you,� was Faith�s answer, as she turned her head away from him.
�He was very brave, if that makes you feel better. He didn�t scream... at first. And I�m sure he died thinking about you.�
�Leave me alone,� Faith said through clenched teeth.
�Naw, can�t do that, Faithy. Besides, I thought you might like to have a reminder of Xander... always. So here�s his heart, take it, he doesn�t need it anymore. . .� Angelus set the heart on the stool beside her bed, chuckling evilly.
�Go away, just go away!�
�I�ll be back later, Faithy. But first. . .� Angelus switched the CD back on. �Have a good day. . .�
Part Three � Getting Free
Angelus waltzed back into the room and smashed the jar of Willow's powers, snapping Faith out of her daydreams. It was getting too easy to pretend she wasn't here. Too easy to pretend that none of it had ever happened.
Too easy to just give up.
He bent down near her bed, perching himself comfortably on the stool.
"How are you feeling today?" he asked, playfully grinning at her. He lifted the blanket off her slightly to see most of her bruises healed and the cuts disappearing. "You've gotta love Slayer strength, don't you?"
He poked at her broken bones, some of them already healed. She'd managed, somehow, to crack her knees back into place. It didn't really matter, he was going to eventually send her on her way. But not before he drove her insane.
"So... what do you feel like doing today, Faithy?"
Silence.
"Well, I feel like doing you."
Silence.
Faith turned her head away. This was not going to happen.
Angelus unbuckled his pants and pulled the blanket off her, climbing on top and smiling down evilly. "Just pretend I'm Robin."
Faith turned her head and closed her eyes as Angelus did what he wanted to do, then climbed off.
"That was great, kid. Really, a pro." Angelus waved and grinned as he pulled the keys to her chains out of his pocket. He dangled them in front of her face, then set them carefully on the stool next to her bed. "I'm giving you a chance to escape. Don't let me down, Faithy. I know you can do it."
"What is he playing at?" Faith thought miserably. "Oh I don't care. Why bother escaping when I don't have anyone to go back to? Why don't I just let him kill me? Maybe then I can see Xander."
Angelus grinned as he left the room. "I'm giving you 24 hours to get the hell out of here. Then the real fun begins."
Faith felt dirty, and tired and sore. He knew what he was doing. He'd broken her spirit. She no longer had the inclination to run, he'd killed Xander, and was most likely going to keep killing the Scoobies. One thing that could break her spirit. But now... wait a minute. There was no certainty that he had killed Xander. So he'd showed her a heart, that could be anyone's heart and if she knew Angelus, which she did, he'd kill Xander in front of her. He loved to make a show. And get reactions. And that would be the best show of all.
Xander wasn't dead.
And she wasn't going to die either.
Faith moved her arms weakly and cracked them back into place. It was a skill she'd perfected earlier on in the Slayer gig. Healing bones. It was just a cover job, they were still hurting, and probably broken, but Willow could help her with that later. Oh, Willow. Faith looked over at the broken jar on the ground. At least she had her powers back. But that still didn't help her. She couldn't get into this place, so Faith was going to have to rely on her own strength and skill to get out.
"Ok... well... let's try. . ." Faith wriggled into a half sitting up position and leant over and managed to pick the keys up with her mouth. "What now?"
She jolted her head up suddenly, letting go of the keys and catching them in her twisted hands. "Whoa, I'm lucky." She managed to unlock her hands and brought her hands in front of her face. Wow, her fingers looked gross. She cracked them all, one by one into place. Hoping they'd stay there while she was escaping. There was no time for thinking though.
With her hands free, she unlocked her torso, loosening the chains and then sitting up fully to unlock her feet. She cracked her toes carefully, then slid out from under the chains. The cuts on her feet ached, but they were basically closed now. Walking on them, would split them open, probably, but that didn't matter. Her eyes darted around madly, looking for her shoes. She spotted them in the corner, and crawled her way over, shoving her feet roughly into the sneakers, wincing in pain, but then shrugging it off. With a final look at the room she'd been trapped in, she headed out the door, not stopping to look where Angelus was.
As she broke out of the warehouse, she squinted in the fading sun. Sunlight, no matter how dull, it was something she hadn't seen for awhile. She looked around, with no clue of where she was, and she was tired. But adrenaline kicked in, and she headed away from the warehouse, hobbling slightly on her still sore body.
She needed help. And fast.
Part Four � Broken
Faith sat in the corner of the shower, her knees tucked up under her chin, the water cascading down like scalding hot needles, prickling at her skin. She scrubbed viciously at her arms and legs again, trying to erase the dirty feel from them. No matter what, she couldn't get clean again. She was dirty, so very dirty.
"Just pretend I'm Robin. . ." Angelus's cruel smirk, his teasing tone of voice, the evil glint in his eyes, the way he smiled and relished her screams of pain.
"Faithy. . ." The way his lips curled in disgust when he said her name, the way he gently licked her blood from her cheeks, the way he'd delighted in cutting his name into her stomach, branding her as his forever.
She looked down at her body. The marks were gone now, all gone, but the dirt was still there. Dirty, so very dirty.
Every single time Faith fell asleep, she'd panic the moment she'd wake up, in fear that it had all been a dream. Maybe she hadn't been rescued, maybe she was still there, waiting for Angelus to come back and finish her off. Decide he still wanted to play with his toy, and damage her some more. And she couldn't fight back. All the years of training, the years of fighting experience... nothing. Nothing could be done. She just let him hurt her, and she let him know how much he could hurt her.
And then there were the dreams. Dreams that she was still there, still living through the torture, unable to stop him, and almost unwilling. Giving up, because giving into the pain was easier than fighting it. Easier. Because that was all that mattered... making things easier. She didn't want them complicated, because complicated meant more pain. Fighting Angelus meant pain, more pain than she could stand.
Then she would wake up in a cold sweat, hoping none of it had happened, but realising it had. Wanting so badly just to forget, but unable to. Wanting to feel anything but her pain. She could still feel it, the way he cut into her body, the way he broke her, and laughed, actually laughed as he heard the snapping of her bones. The way he didn't care... he didn't care that he was breaking her for life, because it was part of his game.
The way she had wanted to beg for him to kill her. How she wanted it to end so badly, she had actually considered begging him to kill her. The way her world crumbled again when he told her he'd killed Xander. The way she had believed Xander had died without knowing what was happening. But he was ok. Thank God, he was ok.
But maybe she deserved it. Maybe after all she'd said and done in her lifetime, after the killing, the torturing, the maiming... it was all coming back to her now. After all she'd done, maybe she did deserve her punishment. All the pain she'd ever caused, it was coming back to her, and she couldn't stop it. And almost didn't want to stop it.
The water stung as it hit her skin. Faith weakly stood up and tried once more to clean herself off. She was still dirty, so very dirty. No matter how much she scrubbed, she was still going to be dirty. She reached out slowly and turned the water off, shivering in the sudden cold.
As she reached for her towel, her eyes stared blankly at her reflection. Her beautiful eyes, so bright and lively before, now only a one sided mirror of pain that not even she could begin to fathom. Nothing felt right, sounded right, looked right or tasted right. She knew she'd lost a lot of weight already. She was withering before everyone's eyes, but she was powerless to stop it. Or maybe she didn't even really care.
Bruises fade but the pain remains the same, and I still remember how you kept me so afraid...
Faith dried herself off carefully, and put her pyjamas on. It seemed like she was living in them, these days. She'd burnt her other clothes, the clothes that he had ruined. She was completely detached. From her friends and even from her own body. It was like her mind was somewhere else, but her body was making the basic functions by itself. Sooner or later, she knew, she'd have to face everything.
They were already trying to make her talk. She'd given a basic rundown to Willow about what he did to her. But somehow, when she'd told her, it was like Faith hadn't even been there. She told the story without emotion, without expression, nothing. Because it was easier that way, it was easier to pretend it didn't happen to her. Easier to tell it as though it was something she'd watched in a movie, or something she'd read in a book... but not something she'd lived.
Angelus had succeeded in his game.
She was completely broken.