Taglist: @darkapatheticwriter
"You've been here for a while," Dezeray mused, circling around Kaiden from where he was curled up on the floor. "I'm curious, do you still think your friends are coming for you?"
Kaiden squeezed his eyes shut against the overwhelming despair that crashed over him. He didn’t want to think about them. He didn’t want to think about the fact that they probably weren’t looking for him, that they probably never even tried. He didn’t want to think about how stupid he had been for ever thinking that they'd actually cared about him...
She clicked her tongue in disapproval when he didn’t answer. "You should know by now not to ignore me." She stomped down on Kaiden’s hand, and he cried out in agony as bones crunched underneath her weight.
"I'll ask you again," Dezeray said, grinding her heel into his palm. "Do you think your friends are coming for you?"
"I, I don't know!" he cried, grasping weakly at her ankle with his other hand. "Please, I don't--"
"Yes or no answer, Kaiden." She dug her heel further into his hand. "Don't make this harder than it has to be. It's a simple question. Do you think you're getting out of here alive?"
"No!" Kaiden sobbed. "Th-they're not coming, no one's coming!"
"And why is that?"
"Because they don't care about me!" he choked out. "Y-you were right, I should’ve known you were right."
She studied him for a few moments, a smile playing at her lips, before bringing her foot away. He cradled his hand close to his chest.
"See?" Dezeray said, amused. "Doesn't it feel better to admit that instead of giving yourself false hope?"
"They're...they're really not coming..."
"Don't act so disappointed," Dezeray said. "You should've known that already. Did you really think they would waste their time trying to get you back? No one in their right mind would ever care about someone like you. All you do is make things worse."
Kaiden nodded slowly. Deep down he knew she was right. She was always right. He wasn't worth saving. He was foolish for ever thinking that he was going to get out of this alive.
"I know," he croaked. "You're right...they don't want me back." He choked back a sob as the realization struck him. I'm going to die here.
Dezeray hummed softly in agreement. "I bet they've already forgotten all about you," she said quietly. "They probably couldn't wait for the chance to get rid of you."
She rested her heel on his bruised throat and pressed down lightly, just enough to make Kaiden’s breathing slow and labored.
"I knew you'd break eventually," Dezeray murmured, almost to herself. "I planned it out for a while, you know. About what I could do to you that would slowly push you past your limit." She pushed down slightly harder on Kaiden’s neck, making his breath catch in his throat.
"I'll admit, you lasted longer than I expected," Dezeray continued, ignoring Kaiden’s choked gasps. "But everyone has a breaking point, even you."
She grinned as she listened to his quiet, hitched breaths and pressed down harder, completely cutting off his air. His hands instinctively shot up to his neck, desperate to push the crushing weight off of his throat.
"Pl-please," Kaiden gasped out. "I, I can’t..."
"Sh-sh-sh, it's okay," Dezeray said softly, voice dripping with mock sympathy. "It won’t take long. I'll let you rest after this."
“Dez...D-Dezeray, please--”
She pushed down harder on his throat, silencing his strangled pleas. His mouth hung open as he tried to drag air into his aching lungs, and his hands scrabbled uselessly at the pressure on his neck.
"Look at you," Dezeray mused. "You should be glad your friends aren't here to see you like this. They would be so ashamed."
Kaiden's mouth opened and closed, silent pleas dying on blue-tinted lips. His chest hitched in its last attempts to get air, and his eyes started to drift close. He saw Dezeray's lips move as she said something else to him, but he could barely hear her over the pounding in his ears.
His eyes rolled back as he gratefully slipped into unconsciousness.