#finger amputation

Sore and tired, Marius took a deep breath and began to twist his wrists out of the metal cuffs. It was anything but pleasant, he gritted his teeth and winced as his mangled, bruised hands slowly wormed their way to freedom. It felt agonizingly long, but he knew this was something he couldn't rush, he'd only end up hurting himself. One inch at a time does Marius's wrists slowly come free, allowing the stale air to brush against his lightly burned skin. 

Until finally, one of his chains gives and clatters to the ground. Marius smiled widely and gave a breathy laugh of triumph, "H..ha! Ahaha!" It was about time! 

The vampire lord paused and took this moment to himself, closing his eyes and sighing, one wrist free, one left to go. After cradling his free hand and shifting all the joints back into place one by agonizing one does he raise his remaining chained wrist and begin to work on it. Twisting, tugging, pulling, he even went as far as to use some of his spit to try and make it easier to slip from. Not really elegant but he's getting desperate.

Through one final tug, the chained wrist popped free and a wave of relief washed over Marius. He sat there on the cold, disgusting ground and took in every sensation. The aches from his overworked muscles and hand joints, the stuffy air kissing his bruised and burned wrists, the subtle gnawing deep in his stomach yearning for blood. He was one step closer to really being free, just a little further. Marius looked down at his freely released hand and sighed, putting the joints back in place won't be fun.

Marius started with his pinky, he bit his lip and looked to the ceiling, muttering a quiet plea before giving a swift pull. A soft pop was heard as the joint shifted back into its original spot, the vampire hunched forward and hissed a variety of curses under his breath. One down, four to go.

After fixing up his hands, Marius picked himself up from the floor grimacing, resting on the floor was something he swore never to tell anyone about. He has a reputation to keep, after all. Marius cradled his hands and looked around before spotting a familiar object on the floor, his glasses, right, they flew off his face after Oskar so rudely slapped him. He clicked his tongue as he picked up his glasses and placed them back onto his face, huffing as he realized one of the lens had a crack in them. He should make Oskar pay in blood for ruining his glasses! These were his favorite!

Although angry, Marius shook his head, his glasses is the least of his worries. With renewed determination after his successful escape from the chains, Marius walked towards the staircase that led up to a large metal door. Escape was so close he could taste it! He planted a foot on the first step and almost jumped out of his skin as it creaked loudly, shit! His entire body froze and he in suffocating silence for any sign of movement upstairs, quietly praying that Oskar didn't hear anything. 

Thud

The muffled sound of something moving made Marius stiffen, eyes wide with alarm. Did Oskar hear him? Was he coming? The vampire remained still and strained to listen in, but the sound vanished as quickly as it came. The only thing that surrounded Marius was absolute silence. Thinking the coast is clear, Marius clenched his fists tightly and carefully ascended the staircase, trying not to make any more noise. He can't afford to make any mistakes now, not when he's so close.

Marius made his way to the top of the staircase and examined the metal door in front of him carefully, the door was a shining metal with bolts surrounding the frame. On the door is a keypad the size of a hand and the screen shines a green text that says, 'Input code.' Marius might be old but he knows that without a code he's as good as stuck in this place.

Marius put his head in his hands and groaned, why a fucking keypad?! Marius was hoping for a simple lock, or hell, he would've accepted a paper that said please don't open! Exhausted, Marius pinched the bridge of his nose and rested a hand on the door, only to pull back and hiss, "Fuck!" The vampire looked down his hand, it was turning a bright red and blisters were already beginning to form. Silver. The damn door is pure silver, of course. Why the hell wouldn't it be? This already horrible situation wouldn't be complete if the door wasn't goddamn silver! Marius gritted his teeth, he swears when he gets his hands on Oskar he's going to-

The keypad on the door let out an ear-piercing chime as the screen blinked repeatedly, 'code accepted'. The metal door groaned as it opened slowly, revealing Oskar on the other side with a wooden stake.

Shit.

Oskar stood there with a hand on his hip, his emerald green eyes burning holes through Marius. He doesn't seem all that surprised, "You're good, but not good enough." The hunter raised the wooden stake and pointed it at Marius, "Now, would you kindly go back downstairs, if you do willingly I'll think about going easy on your punishment." Oskar stepped forward but Marius remained grounded, his body refusing to move an inch. The vampire turned his head and scoffed, "You think a stake scares me? I've adapted to your hunter parlor tricks, those toys do nothing now." Marius couldn't help but grin, it's true. Depending on how long you've been alive, a vampire's body can adapt and change over time to endure different things, in this case, stakes. "Instead of a stake maybe you should've brought a gun, maybe then I would take you seriously."

Oskar glanced at the stake resting in his gloved hand, "This little thing? This is just for show, leech." But as Marius was about to ask what he meant by that, Oskar raised a fist and punched Marius in the temple. Disoriented and recoiling from the surprisingly powerful punch, Marius stumbled backward a bit too far before realizing what's about to happen. Marius, eyes wide attempted to reach out for Oskar to catch himself but it was far too late, his body was already tumbling down the wooden staircase, each step giving him a new bruise.

Marius's vision blurred and stirred, enough to make him wish to vomit as his body finally collided with the final step and the cold, unwelcoming stone floor. He winced and curled up instinctively, his entire body ached more than ever before. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration but still. He closed his his eyes and took a sharp breath, he can feel the bruises already starting to form on his porcelain white skin. Marius knew nothing was broken thankfully, all that remained was a pulsating pain flowing through his body and a splitting headache beginning to take form. 

But Marius could barely collect himself before a hand grabbed a fistful of his inky black hair and began dragging him across the floor as if he was nothing but a rag doll. The vampire squirmed and clawed at the arm dragging him, he was so close, he can't get chained up again! Those were unbearable! But his thoughts were abruptly interrupted when a metallic scent invaded his senses, a metallic scent that belonged to something he'd been dying to have again.

Marius pulled his hand back and stared at it, under his nails was a beautiful crimson red, freshly drawn from his frantic scratching. The vampire stuck out his tongue and began to gingerly lick the blood from his fingertips, eyes rolling back in pleasure as the taste coated his tongue.  Delicious.

Perhaps it was because he hadn't had blood in days, or perhaps it was because it came directly from a hunter, but it didn't matter right now; all that mattered was filling this ever-growing pit in his stomach.

Seeing Marius pacified like a kid with a lollipop gave Oskar a moment he wouldn't get easily again. The hunter picked up the chains that Marius slipped out of and sighed, he knew he should've made them tighter, but he refused to make that same mistake again. As Marius hungrily licked the blood from his fingertips in a daze, Oskar reached up and slapped the metal chains around the vampire's wrists again. But this time, he made sure to tighten them, tight enough to be close to cutting off circulation in typical humans. But Marius isn't a typical human, no, he's nothing but a hopeless leech- No, not even a leech, he's a thing. He doesn't deserve to be considered anything more than that, it would be a privilege to be called a leech.

Oskar stood up with a wince, knees cracking. He pulled out a plain handkerchief from his pocket and wrapped it around his bleeding forearm, tying it off to keep it secure. Marius meanwhile finished off his small lunch and blinked slowly, the high clouding his thoughts slowly beginning to wear off and reality starting to sink in. He slowly looked down and saw he was chained up again, but this time the cuffs around his wrists were tighter than before, making escaping again how he did before practically impossible. Marius swallowed hard and kept his gaze locked on his lap, shame and anger rushing through him. How could he let himself get distracted like that? Idiot!

The hunter in front of Marius folded his arms and looked at this pitiful display, Marius is said to be a powerful vampire most feared. But here he is, kneeling and barely able to muster the courage to look up at Oskar. It almost makes Oskar second guess what he's about to do.

Almost.

Oskar turned around and walked upstairs before coming back down again, two new item in his gloved hands. Marius glanced up and his undead heart threatened to break his ribs by how hard it was beating, Oskar was holding poultry shears and a muzzle in all their glory. Instincts take over and Marius shuffled backwards till his back hit the wall, "No- Don't you even think about getting closer with those." He held up a finger and hissed, "I will do more than scratch you, I swear." 

The hunter simply shrugged and stared at Marius with an unamused look, "Well aren't you a mouthy one. I know, that's why I have this muzzle. Stay still and don't fight it, you'll just make things worse." Oskar stepped forward and in turn Marius tried to shuffle back even more, but his back was already against the wall. Marius breathed heavily and tried to squirm away as Oskar brought the metal muzzle closer, "Don't I- Nono, I don't want this, stop, don't do this nO-" Marius was cut off as the muzzle's flat inner mouthpiece was pushed in and prevented him from speaking anything coherent. It all turned into muffled whines as the muzzle's straps were wrapped around his head and secured, leaving no possibility of it slipping off. 

A burning sensation slowly crept up on Marius, who was still digesting the fact that this is even happening. This subtle tingling sensation quickly turned into an unbearable stinging pain, as if Marius had pressed his tongue against searing hot coal and kept it there; the taste is certainly there. Marius squeezed his eyes closed and whimpered, his tongue cried for relief as the smell of burning flesh started to pollute the air. 

Oskar hummed flatly and cupped Marius's face in his hands, "This is only the beginning of your punishment, perhaps after this you'll finally begin to understand that escaping is not an option for you."  Oskar stepped back and grabbed the poultry shears from nearby, causing Marius to whimper and tug at his chains. The hunter stepped forward and traced the shear's blades with a fingertip, "I'm a no-excuse type of guy, I get it from my father. I believe that in order to teach someone something, it has to be through a big and unforgettable gesture, something that will leave an everlasting mark. A constant reminder." Oskar looked at the shears with an almost loving look in his eye.

The hunter knelt down and grabbed Marius's hand, who promptly tried to pull away. But Oskar held on tightly, tight enough to threaten to break Marius's wrist. "The quicker you comply and sit still, the quicker we can get this over with. But if you continue trying to fight back, just remember this is one of the nicer punishments I can give you." The hunter spoke calmly, but underneath Marius could tell he was barely holding back a seething wrath. Marius went still, a mixture of concern and worry clouding his thoughts. He wondered if this was a nicer punishment he wondered what the more sadistic ones were. He'll sit still for now, better not test fate.

"Good leech." The scruffy man parted Marius's fingers and opened the blades of the poultry shears. The tool was obviously one of Oskar's favorites, how he expertly handled it told Marius everything he needed to know. He was fucked. 

Marius's thumb and index finger were pushed between the gap of the blades, in a twisted way it was almost like a guillotine. But the fact that he was about to lose some fingers wasn't the worst part about this, it was the wait. The wait, the dreaded anticipation wrapped around his chest like vines and tightened with every second, squeezing till his ribs threatened to break. A stray tear escaped from his eye and trailed down his cheek, he wanted to yell at his captor just to do it already, that there was no use delaying the inevitable. But Oskar remained as still as a statue, his hands gripping the blade's handle tightly but never closing the blades and doing the deed. 

Instead, he locked eyes with Marius and kept silent, watching his captive squirm and try to break free of Oskar's grasp. What a miserable thing, just looking at him made him disgusted. The end of Oskar's lip twitched slightly in contempt, he'll enjoy making this wretched vampire writhe in pain. Gripping the shears tightly, the blades closed aggressively as Marius watched in horror.

It was a ferocious, biting pain, one that flooded every sense. Marius gasped as the shears clamped down on his fingers, a string of drool clinging to his lips, "Gh-!" His muscles spasmed and twitched as they were sliced by the blade's teeth, each string of flesh shredded until they were nothing but a gorey mush. Oskar gave a grin and commented in his usual gruff voice, "You look good like this, did you know that?" before continuing to butcher the poor thing's hand. 

The first one to go was the thumb. The poultry shears had no issue gliding through the bone as if it was nothing, a swift squeeze and a brief snap was all it took, especially with Oskar's strength. Marius cried out in agony, tears staining his face as his thumb fell to the ground and into the pool of dark, almost black blood that gathered below. In between his gasps and whines, he tried to demand that Oskar stop, to let him go! But with the muzzle's mouthpiece pressing down on his tongue, it was impossible.

Finally, Oskar moved onto Marius's index finger. The once polished shears now bore a bloody smile as its teeth clamped down on his finger and began to eat away at his delicate flesh. With his fingers being sliced up mixed with the silver charring his tongue, Marius was dizzy and lightheaded, he could tell he was on the brink of passing out. But the rippling pain from the shears caused him to stay upright, he just wanted it to be over already, anything but this. 

And as if some higher being heard his wishes, Marius's index finger was amputated with a swift chop. An overwhelming sense of relief washed over him; finally, fucking finally, was it over for now. Marius sighed and flopped onto his side, exhaustion now burrowing itself deep in his bones. His hand twitched mindlessly, blood droplets falling and staining his parts of his clothing a deep red. He couldn't care less at this point, this..this was nothing. Just some two fingers, that's all they were. 

He's fine. 

Marius curled up and kept his eyes closed, trying to distance himself from this awful reality. He knew deep down he wasn't fine but he had to be, even if on the surface it was all but a fragile façade. 

A gloved hand gently caressed Marius cheek, and a rough voice belonging to Oskar cooed, "There, there. It'll be okay, it's over now. I'm done. I'll go put the shears away and that'll be it for today, I promise." Marius tried to pull away from the hand but he gave up as quickly as he started, it didn't matter. He just wanted to be alone right now, he even didn't even care if the muzzle was left on, anything to have Oskar leave the room.

The hand on Marius's cheek shifted and reached behind the vampire's head and started to fumble with the buckle keeping everything in place. Oskar's hands carefully pulled the muzzle off, trying not to cause any more discomfort than they had already. When the muzzle is pulled off, Marius took a deep breath of the stale air and coughed. The smell of his charred tongue made his stomach twist and turn, it was absolutely disgusting. Considering how numb and how burnt his tongue was, he might not be able to speak for a while until his tongue is healed. He swallowed nervously at this acknowledgement, he knew that Oskar might take advantage of that.