#beating cw

Whumptober Day 28 -  SUCH WOW. MANY NORMAL. VERY OOPS.

Tagging @mnmlover2002 @cupcakes-and-pain @lave-e @appy-polly-loggies @lovely-little-whump @just-another-whumper let me know if you want to be added/removed!

CW: caning, beating, choking, threats, referenced injuries, referenced past violence/trauma, this one’s kinda rough, let me know if I missed something!

Masterlist // Previous

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Devin lay in bed, listening to the steady sounds of their breathing. All around them was stillness and quiet. Their open eyes stared at the darkness above them.

After the raid, they’d come to this house, further out into the country. It was one only Wildre, Duncan and a handful of his other most trusted men knew about. Much smaller than his city residence, it consisted of a downstairs common area, with a few bedrooms upstairs. Still, it was decorated lavishly and with care.

Slowly, they pulled themself from the comfort and warmth of the blankets, only the slightest pain when they stood. They silently opened their door and padded down the stairs. They shivered slightly in the cool air downstairs, wrapping their arms around themself. 

They didn’t really know why they had come down here, only that they had needed to get out of that room i felt trapped i couldn’t breathe some fresh air. They slipped over to one of the large windows, standing in front of it, staring out on the scene in front of them.

The moon weakly illuminated the tree line a short ways away from the cabin and the high grass that sprung up in front of it. Devin put a light hand atop the glass, feeling the chill sink deep within their skin. They let out a short huff of air, feeling the window warm up slightly before quickly cooling off.

They fingered the latch, debating opening it, their skin prickling in anticipation of the feeling of the cold air sweeping across it. Before they could, however, a voice piped up from behind them, causing them to whirl around, their heart leaping into their throat.

“Trying to escape again, love?” Wildre leaned against the doorway, his tone light.

Devin flinched back before they could help themself, their mind going back to their first escape attempt. Their hand seemed to ache in response, despite the fact that it had all but healed, a bit of raw, pink skin the only sign of their injury. That, and the occasional pain they would have when trying to move it, but they tried not to think about that.

They quickly shook their head, twisting their fingers around the hem of their shirt to hide their shaking. “No, I- I, um, I just wanted some fresh air. That was all. I know- know better now. There’s no escaping.” They gave him a weak smile, but it faded quickly as he crossed the room in slow, measured steps until he was mere inches in front of them. He continued to press closer to them, forcing them to back up until their back hit the wall and then a bit more. 

He stared down at them and only then did Devin see the seething anger radiating from his eyes. Their heartbeat sped up as he brought one too-still hand up to tilt their head until their eyes were forced to meet his. But I haven’t done anything wrong, a small, broken part of themself wanted to cry.

But they forced themself to stay still and silent as his gaze moved slowly over them. Finally he spoke, moving his hand gently to rest on their throat. “It looked a lot to me like you were trying to escape. Awake in the middle of the night, hand on the lock on the window. What else could it be?” As they opened their mouth to explain, his grip tightened slightly in warning. “And remember, love, that I absolutely detest when people lie to me.”

They swallowed, knowing he felt it, and the words fell out of their mouth in a rush. “I- I swear, Wildre, I wasn’t trying to escape. I really, I really did just need a, a quick breath of fresh air. Some- sometimes it feels like I just can’t breathe in here. That’s all, I promise.”

His expression quickly shifted, turning into one of pure rage and all of a sudden, their airway was shut off. They gasped as he pressed tighter, black spots already dancing in the corners of their eyes. They brought their hands up to rest softly on his own, still having enough of their wits about them to not try to pry him off of them. 

Instead, they choked and looked up at him with pleading eyes, their mouth moving in silent apologies. He glared down at them and they felt a sudden thrill of true terror go down their spine. 

“Did I not,” he hissed, his face nearly touching theirs, “just tell you not to lie to me?”

But I didn’t lie! Devin wanted to scream, as they began clawing at his grip in earnest, their survival instincts kicking in. 

Just as they thought they were about to pass out, Wildre didn’t release his grip so much as fling them from him. They tumbled forward, shaky legs causing them to drop down to the ground. 

On their hands and knees, they gasped for air, their bruised throat protesting but their lungs grateful. They didn’t notice Wildre until he was standing right in front of them.

They started to apologize again before noticing the object he held in his hands. “No,” they whispered hoarsely, “No, please, Wildre, no, not that, anything but that.” For in his hands, he held the same cane that had ruined me broken me destroyed me forever hurt them so badly.

He grinned, the grin of the murderous, ruthless criminal he was. “Oh, yes, love. You tried to escape and you lied to me. You need to be punished, else you’ll never learn.”

They backed away slightly, still crawling, tears beginning to leak from their eyes. “Please,” they begged again. “Anything but that. Not that, please, Wildre.” 

He wasn’t backing down this time, though, and as they went to back up more, he reached down to grab one of their ankles, ignoring their small cry of protest, pulling it out. Before they could curl it back towards the rest of their body, the cane was swinging down, hitting them in the shin with a sickening crack. He brought the cane down several more times on their defenseless legs, seemingly deaf to their pleas and cries of pain. The pain was somehow worse than the first time, causing stars to explode across their vision.

Finally, he lifted the cane. “Well? Are you ready to tell the truth?”

Devin whimpered, barely able to form the words through their pain-addled mind. “I am! I was! I- I was just looking! I was- wasn’t escaping!”

Wildre frowned. “Hm, that’s not the answer I was looking for.” He dropped the cane outside of their reach and bent down to drag them up by the front of their shirt.

They stared up at him, eyes already slightly foggy with pain. They didn’t see his fist until it was buried deep in their gut and they were gasping for breath again, their mouth opening and closing like a fish. They couldn’t breathe, they couldn’t breathe. He drew back and struck again and again and again. Tears were freefalling from their eyes and they couldn’t seem to draw enough breath to make any more noise than a few whimpers. 

Yet again, he paused after a few minutes of flying fists. “Have I convinced you to tell the truth yet?” His voice was hard, none of that ever-present humor in it. They opened their mouth but couldn’t force any of the words out. “I guess not.” 

Then they were flying, colliding hard into the wall, as Wildre held them off the floor by their throat. They wheezed and weak fingers scrabbled at his hands, futilely trying to get him to let go. He banged them hard against the wall again, light exploding behind their eyes again.

There was a fury in his eyes that made me think this is it he’s actually going to kill me i’m about to die Devin had never seen before. There was a sudden sense of a calm sweeping over them, an exhaustion that caused them to drop their hands and limply hang from his grip. 

The darkness had almost completely taken over their vision, and they were nearly completely unaware of their surroundings when a rush of cold, sweet air rushed down their throat. Their battered body, covered in welts and bruises, finally gave out as they heard the words, “You’re never escaping me, Devin. Love. I decide when this is over, not you, not anyone else.”

Berkeley, I want to watch you fall apart entirely. I’d love to take you very soon after Wren sends his SOS and chain your arms out as you kneel, just to make sure you can’t hide anything from me. I’ll keep you updated on The League’s status, of course, so you know when they’ll come by to pick you up. In the meantime, I’ll definitely cut you, maybe beat you, and if you get too mouthy I’ll muzzle you since you love that so much. If you’re lucky I’ll stop there, but you have no idea how tempted I am to collar you. You are a dirty slaver, after all. It’s only fair.

He takes a step back with your every word, eyes darting wildly left and right, searching for a way to escape, not wanting to accept that there isn't one. He's cornered, left behind by his subordinates, who were too busy saving themselves to pay any thought to their failure of a leader. He's trembling, imagining the pain that he used to love inflicting, the click accompanying the fastening of a muzzle that used to be music to his ears, and he pales when he hears your plans to collar him, cement his place among the people he has hurt. He wants to say something, anything, but he ends up mouthing incomprehensible nonsense, watching you approach.

anyways fuck neo cortex and fuck his stupid fucking fans i will be mauling u 😁👍 srry for the swearing i'm really angry rn..

- 🚀🫐

Dear stars.