Written as a part of @whumperofworlds' WoW's Birthday Whump Event!
Day 14 (my chosen prompts are bolded): Guilt / Chased / "I bought you time, use it!"
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Event page | My event participation masterpost | “We Are TroubleD” Masterpost | First | Previous | Next
Don't worry, you haven't missed the entries for days 6-13! For more info, please see the notes at the bottom of the post.
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Content warnings: Blood (minor), captivity, difficulty breathing, fear (and fear of death), inability to breathe, injuries (bruises, leg, minor cuts), loss of consciousness/passing out, manhandling, physical abuse (kicking, punching, slapping, strangling), potential character death, recapture, restraints, strangulation, struggling, swearing
The escape attempt hadn’t gone well for Darius. While Tristan had been able to slip out and actually get away, Darius… well…
Once his friend left, Darius had managed to make a decent dent in his ankle cuff by focusing on the strap that held the metal loop securing the chain. He had weakened the leather considerably by raking the scissor blades across the spot over and over, and finally, after a lot of yanking and twisting, it had popped open. At last, he was free from the shackle that tethered him to the wall. The cuff itself was still attached to him, but he could work with that.
He hastily stuffed the scissors under his mattress, then bolted into the main area of the basement and scanned around for the window that Tristan had used to escape. There was a chair pushed up to one of the walls, and he figured that was the spot.
His breath caught at the sound of floorboards squeaking above him. Shit, shit shit! His captor was awake! It was do or die now. No time to waste. He scurried up the chair, slid the glass open, hoisted himself up, and stuck his front half out into the world.
Cool morning air filled his lungs, so crisp and refreshing that his heart wanted to sing. He could see the sky again without a windowpane separating him from it. The sun hadn’t quite crested the horizon yet, but it was marching along. And the grass… God, he never thought he’d miss seeing grass.
The image was ripped away far too quickly though. There was no warning, just an instantaneous action– an unseen hand grabbed his ankle and yanked, violently jerking him back through the window frame. In a frenzy he grasped for anything he could find, but there was nothing around him large enough to latch onto.
Darius crashed to the basement floor with a howl of pain as he landed on his right leg. It cushioned him a little bit, but it was not a short distance to fall. He couldn’t even process what had just happened before his captor was behind him seizing his arms and holding them securely behind his back.
“THE FUCK YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING?!” he demanded.
Darius was aghast as he was pulled to his feet.
“Get off of me!” he threw his whole body to try to wriggle free of the man’s grasp, but that only caused him to be drawn in tighter and held against his captor’s chest.
A strong hand wrapped itself around his throat and applied pressure, not enough to choke, but enough to send a warning.
“STOP!” Darius shouted, tossing his head, but he was suddenly quite scared.
“How the fuck did you get free?!” the man squeezed his throat a little tighter and Darius stilled for his own safety, swallowing hard. He pulled in a few shallow gasps as he thought about his answer, his heart pounding.
“Dull tool… sharp wit…” he croaked. A small cocky smile pulled at the edge of his lips. It wasn’t the time for sass, but snark made him feel better.
“Real explanation, boy.” the grip tightened, so much so that Darius could no longer answer him.
Darius strained until the man’s hand loosened, allowing him to suck in deep breaths again. Unfortunately, there was virtually no time to recover before he was pushed toward the storeroom. He planted his feet, but his captor just swiveled him around and dragged him backwards. Darius growled and flailed again.
He was furious, but he wasn’t foolish enough to think this wouldn’t be a possibility. It had taken him a long time after Tristan had left to work through the strap. It truly was just a matter of time before his captor woke up and came to check on them. The odds of Darius being caught were pretty high. Still, he had that stupid little glimmer of hope in his mind once he was free. The second he stuck his front out the window and smelled the dew on the leaves… heard the birds chirping their morning melodies…
Darius grit his teeth, snarling, kicking, and thrashing against the man’s grasp. His intention wasn’t exactly to get away—though he would try to run again if he got the chance—he just wanted to slow the bastard down a bit and make it harder to pull him back into the storeroom… Anything to buy Tristan more time to find help.
Why not poke the hornet’s nest a bit while he was at it, too?
“Mad you got outsmarted?” Darius taunted. “Yeah, I bet so, you piece of shit. I almost got away with it, too. You’re lucky I went for the window and not for your throat. I’ll get through both next time.”
A heavy fist collided with his skull and momentarily stunned him, but he quickly shook off the feeling with a smirk.
“Getting to you, hm? Can dish out taunts, but can’t take them? You’re pathetic.”
He was punched again, harder this time. It took him a little longer to bounce back from that one, but he laughed, a little weaker than before.
“It’s almost over for you and you have no idea. We won, bitch.”
His captor was probably about to indulge him by asking what he was talking about when they reached the storeroom. He took one look over his shoulder to navigate inside, however, and saw that both mattresses were empty. His nails dug into Darius’ arms.
“WHERE IS HE?!” the man bellowed.
Darius lifted his head, staring his captor right in the eyes as he flashed him a smug, shit-eating grin.
“Gone.”
The man roared and ripped something off of the wall- another set of thick leather cuffs. Darius was swung around and thrown to the floor where his wrists were swiftly shackled behind him. Still, he kept up his goading smile.
“Tie me up again, sure. You’re a one-trick pony. It doesn’t matter either way; I’m not scared, and you’re too late. Help’s on its way.”
A sharp kick connected with his ribs and Darius yipped, then groaned out a swear as he curled in on himself. It was the only thing that gave him pause.
“Shut up you fucking brat! Where did he go?!” his captor flipped Darius over to face him, and Darius, battered but still combative, pressed his lips together and shook his head.
He was slapped across the face. Darius might not have been scared in the moment, but the man apparently was.
Darius felt something dribble from the side of his mouth, and he licked at it. Blood. Huh. Imagine that.
“WHERE. DID. HE. GO?” another slap, but Darius stared defiantly back up at him.
“Get fucked.”
He only made a small gasp when the man’s hands were back on his neck, progressively constricting it tighter and tighter.
“You won’t… kill me…” Darius challenged, and he knew it was true. The whole point of his stay here was to be ransomed. His parents would have no reason to pay this asshole if he was dead.
The grip became more intense.
“Last chance, boy. Where. Is. He?”
Darius sputtered and quivered, his body fighting on its own to breathe. His thoughts were growing fuzzy, the need for air slowly beginning to overtake his loyalties.
“I don’t… know… He ran…” he choked out.
But the hands didn’t leave his throat… they only pressed tighter. Panic flashed in Darius’ eyes; He thought he’d be released after giving up some information. It was intentionally vague, but it was the truth. The threat had worked, at least a little bit.
Black dots danced before his eyes, and he gave another desperate shudder, frantically trying to suck in a breath to plead for his life. The links on his cuffs rattled angrily as he struggled and shook. The world was falling away.
No… It couldn’t end like this…
His vision tunneled, darkness encroaching on all sides.
If you're clicking through these and wondering why you just jumped from day 5 to day 14, it's because I decided to post these in the order that made the most sense for my story chronologically. This whole escape scenario kind of blossomed far beyond what I expected it to and wound up becoming its own mini story, so here we are! I couldn't wrestle the prompt days in order to fit the story I wanted to tell, so that's why they're hopping around a bit. Sorry!
Entries for the other days are coming. To see the entries in event prompt day order, please see my event participation masterpost (coming soon, will be linked here when it's up).
If you have any questions, you can always ask me, but hopefully you can find everything I've written for this event in whichever order suits your fancy from the links up above!
