#strangulation whump

In the end, it was his own fault. It always was.

He knew it would catch up to him eventually. He didn't see Pierce for a few months after that incident. Pierce left town, and Eldwin could breathe a sigh of relief.

Until now.

"Hey!" Eldwin knocked on the office door and didn't bother waiting for an answer, swinging it open. "I got the money. That guy was a nightmare, reckon I should g-" he froze, staring at the figure behind the desk that was most certainly not Belyse.

"Bring it here." Pierce gestured lazily, "Shut the door behind you."

For a moment, Eldwin considered throwing the envelope at him and leaving. That would be cowardly. It also wouldn't change anything, in the end. He swallowed, and pushed the door closed. He walked forward, his low heels clicking on the wooden floor. "Sir," he greeted with a respectful nod of his head, his eyes carefully averted. He placed the package on the desk. "You'll find all the money in there. Wruk's debt is cleared." He bowed once more, and turned to leave, focusing on keeping his breathing steady.

"Wait."

He closed his eyes. Of course. He looked back, keeping his voice light. "Yes, sir?"

Pierce stood up, clearing the desk of clutter. He stepped around it, and walked right past Eldwin. He locked the door.

Fuck.

He seemed so… calm. That wasn't right. He should be furious. He should have grabbed Eldwin the moment he got close enough and—

"You've been avoiding me."

"I wonder why that would be." Eldwin's eyes followed Pierce warily as he circled him like he was sizing him up. Which was wholly unnecessary.

A kick to the back of his legs sent him kneeling. A hand in his hair yanked his head back, neck craned uncomfortably to look up at Pierce behind him. His dark eyes were alight with a sadistic glee.

"For someone who makes a such fuss about sex, you do seem to enjoy spending time with that elf. Does he treat you well? Does he make you feel loved?" The word was drawn out, mocking.

"Why, are you jealous?" Eldwin's lips moved before he could think. "At least he can actually get it up. Did you take your pills this ti-"

Pierce threw to him to the floor with a kick to his lower back, and then to his side. He furiously stamped down on him over and over leaving bruises in his wake, and all Eldwin did was instinctively curl up, arms over his head and knees to his chest taking blow after blow. It was a scene that had taken place many times before. Though it was usually with Clyde. Clyde knew when to quit. Eldwin worried Pierce did not have the same foresight. "As much as I enjoy your spark, you need to learn your place in this world."

Pain exploded in his ribs. His fists tightened in his own hair, knuckles white. Not a fucking sound, he vowed to himself, wincing as Pierce unbuckled his belt. At least try and walk away with that dignity.

Each strike was accompanied with a sharp thwack. His thin shirt did nothing to soften the impact. They were erratic, not even caring where they landed. His bruised ribs, his back, his arms, his legs, anywhere the folded belt would reach. Every muscle was pulled taut, trembling with the strain, and he grit his teeth so hard he thought they might break. Eventually though, Pierce shoved the belt in his pocket, his breath heavy. He wrangled Eldwin so that he was lay flat on his stomach with Pierce straddling him. His arms were wrenched behind his back. There was the tell-tale clink of metal, and sure enough his wrists were secured in handcuffs. "I've been waiting for this. I came prepared," Pierce said, and Eldwin didn't need to look to know he was grinning. "No ones here to save you now."

"You're still mad about that? You really can't get me out of your head. Do you think of me when you lay with your wife? Or, oh, does she not let you anymore?"

"Don't try and play cute. It doesn't suit you." Pierce climbed off him, and Eldwin twisted around to watch him root around behind the desk. "I'm tired of that mouth of yours. Let's put it to better use." He marched back over with something in his hand, a familiar black strap and a glint of steel. A spike of fear broke through Eldwin's defences, and his heart sank.

"Hey- come on, at least let me keep my hands free…"

"Mouth open."

Reluctantly, he obeyed, and the metal ring was shoved between his teeth prying his mouth open uncomfortably wide. He was roughly pulled up to his knees, and Pierce unbuttoned his own trousers.

He gagged as Pierce entered his mouth, too much too quickly with no time to prepare. It was worse not having his hands free to compensate. Pierce grabbed his hair to keep him still as he began fucking his throat. Eldwin's eyes watered and he squeezed them shut, tried to focus on the pain of it all, on the constant ache of his flesh that would later be black and blue.

"Open your eyes," Pierce demanded. "I want you to look at me."

Eldwin really didn't want to do that. He opened his eyes but stared up at the ceiling behind him. Don't look at him. Don't focus on him.

The stinging welts that must cover his body, the way his knees dug into the hard floor and anything but the taste of sweat, the coarse hair in his face and the cold leather that looped around his neck and—

Shit.

He thrashed in his hold, desperation taking over. He fruitlessly tried to escape the handcuffs, not even a whimper escaping him as no air could get through. His face began to burn accompanied by a high pitched ringing, he couldn't make a sound, couldn't say I'm sorry and his eyes widened as he desperately, silently pleaded in the way people seemed to adore. Pierce looked down at him impassively, tightening the leather. Would Clyde's anger be enough of a deterrent when Eldwin could be brought back? If he was killed here and now…

Pierce pulled out at the same time as he released the belt. Eldwin's neck throbbed and he doubled over, almost choking on air. Another kick to the ribs sent him crashing to the floor. Flashes of light erupted in his vision as a a blinding agony shot through him. He bit back a cry, merely a strangled noise escaping him. Don't cry. Don't make a sound. Don't give him that satisfaction.

He was then hauled up and slammed into the desk, the edge painfully pressing into his pelvis while Pierce's weight came up behind him. His pants were unceremoniously pulled down, Pierce's hands between his thighs spreading them apart, rough skin brushing against the scars. "Remember these? It's been too long since I've come inside you." He leaned down to whisper, crushing him against the mahogany. "Let's add another to the tally tonight."

Fuck you, Eldwin wanted to say, but the gag rendered him incapable. He tried to stamp Pierce's foot with his heel, but missed, and Pierce's leg efficiently moved to pin his. Eldwin's heart raced, his stomach writhing in knots. He was being stupid. He'd done this so many times. Why did it never get easier?

He managed to resist a whine as a large finger entered his ass, not painful, not exactly, but uncomfortable and intrusive, wrong on so many levels. He hated it, and Pierce knew it and would draw it out as long as possible without making him more comfortable. Any meagre preparation was for Pierce only. Deep breaths. Relax. It'll be easier if you relax.

Or perhaps it was only ever meant to prolong his torment, make Eldwin nervous. It worked.

Eldwin tensed, nails digging into his palms as Pierce got ready with at least some lube -small mercies though Eldwin suspected it wouldn't make much difference- and then positioned himself. He slowly, agonisingly pushed himself inside just enough, and then slammed his hips forward burying himself all at once.

A muffled cry tore from his already raw throat, desperate, despairing. It felt like being torn apart and it always hurt but this was worse, this was revenge, this was putting him in his place, a body for people to use as they see fit with no regard as to how he feels, for the damage they cause - just as it's always been. It was, somehow, more degrading than anything before, defiling, ruining. He'd thought he could handle it. He was wrong.

Pierce thrusted hard, forcing his way through the friction. His sickening gasps and moans were violating in their own right. Eldwin's vision blurred, and a broken sob escaped him. His bruised ribs chafed against the wooden desk with every rock back and forth. Every movement was agony. Every touch a kiss of death. It seared into his skin, another mark that would never go away. Even once it faded from view it would be there, ravaging the surface of his flesh, entwining with his very soul. It was as much apart of him as the aether that rushed through his veins and no matter how he scrubbed and burned, he would never be clean. Never be free.

The pace picked up as he loosened, easier for Pierce to move, but the pain never ceased. A trickling down his legs suggested tearing. That was probably inevitable.

He didn't have it in him to care.

He wasn't even there, not anymore. He'd crawled deep into the dark recesses of his mind. A lake near home, where he met Cass. They used to play there a lot. They were good, then.

"I'm gonna have a ship," Ancassius declared excitedly, kicking a pebble into the water. "Like my dad, and then I'm gonna find him. I will!"

Sunlight bathed him in a warm honeyed glow, hazel eyes sparkling with gold. Eldwin looked at him, and smiled. "You will," she agreed, skipping a stone. One, two, three, four, f- oh. She picked up another in her hand, assessing it with an expert manner. "I believe you."

Ancassius grinned, and for a second he could be the sun himself. "What about you. What're you gonna do?"

Eldwin thought. She threw her stone at the lake. One two three four five six seven. "I want to see the world. I'm going to practice my magic, I'll be stronger than everyone else, and I'll protect everyone."

"Like Aconis."

"Exactly!"

"Maybe you'll become a goddess too."

She laughed, a gentle sound like the flow of a stream. "I don't think so."

The belt was around his neck again. Squeezing too tight, blocking the air that was being knocked from his lungs-

"Where you gonna go?" Eldwin asked, his voice oddly quiet. They were stood on the pier, side by side. Older now, Ancassius towered over him, Eldwin looking like a child at his side despite only a year between them. They overlooked the ocean, glistening under the winters moon, a breeze rustling through their hair. Eldwin took a drag of his cigarette, awaiting his friends answer.

"Everywhere," Ancassius said and he sounded so sure, holding so much conviction. "There's so many wonderful things to see, Elds. I've only seen a fraction. There is so much more to discover." His eyes were wide with childlike wonder, ripples of the water reflected within. "You should come with me. You always wanted to see the world."

A soft smile tugged at Eldwin's lips. "Those days are long gone."

"They don't have to be."

"I'm not cut out for the sailors life, you know that."

"One year. That's all I ask. If you don't like it, you can come back." Ancassius gave him a strange look, his voice indecipherable. "Maybe you'll even settle in another country. Swabar is nice. Or Aswaari, popular with mages."

Eldwin flicked off some ash, watching it drift away in the wind. "Why would I settle in another country when I'll have to move back anyway?"

"You'll still experience a few nice years. When one place is taken, you can go the the next. There's a whole world out there. Is it not worth it?"

Eldwin stared out over the horizon. The Blight was never ending. It would ravage everything in it's path. It took and it took, draining the soul from the earth. He could run forever, but there'd be no point. It would always catch up to him in the end. "No. It isn't."

"Fucking whore," Pierce grunted, cruel fingers digging into Eldwin's hips. "What are you crying for? You must be used to this," He said with a particularly forceful thrust making the whole desk jolt.

Eldwin just sobbed, unable to do anything more. He tried desperately to cling onto those fleeting memories, but they slipped from his grasp. He'd been abandoned, again. Those days were long gone. He was alone, and he only had himself to blame.

Finally, finally, Pierce finished. He pulled out leaving a sticky trail and an empty feeling that made Eldwin's stomach turn every time. But there was still one more part.

Cool steel pressed his inner thigh, over the four lined scars already there. A single slash in a diagonal motion. It should hurt. The scent of burning flesh was a welcome distraction amid all the sweat and filth.

Pierce grabbed his wrists. A second later the metal cuffs fell away.

The moment Pierce stepped back Eldwin crumpled in a heap. His trembling hands rose to his face, and seconds later the gag clattered to the floor. He pretended not to see the pink trailing down his legs, pulling up his clothes as quickly as his sore body could. Only when he'd done so did he tear his gaze from the ground, fixing Pierce with what was supposed to be a glare but instead just looked teary and pitiful.

Pierce stepped over and Eldwin flinched, lowering his head at the same time as Pierce went to force him. "Where's that bravado now, eh? You're pathetic."

"Fuck you." Eldwin sniffled, his voice merely a rasp.

"If you still have some attitude, maybe we should go another round."

"No! No, please, I'm sorry." He sounded robotic. Disgust unfurled within him. How far you've fallen.

"You know you only make this harder on yourself. What do you think is going to happen when you can't handle the harvests anymore? We all know you're already falling apart. How much longer will you last?

"When your brain rots in your skull, and your beating heart exists in a mindless husk, do you think they're just going to kill you? No, there's still money to be made. Your body belongs to us. You live as a whore, and you'll die as one. The sooner you accept that, the easier life will be."

Pierce left the room, closing the door behind him. Eldwin curled up, hugging his knees to his chest despite the pain.

You know you only make this harder for yourself. Words he'd been told many times before, echoing in his head, a warning he'd always ignored. He was so stupid to have ever thought he might be something more. Tears brimmed once more and he wiped them away, just another failure to his name. He'd cried so much lately. He was being pathetic. After all he's endured, this is what makes him cry? A lump swelled in his throat, and he clamped his hand over his mouth, willing himself to stay quiet as to not humiliate himself further. Why, why did this always end up happening to him? Was it because he was getting weaker? Was he not doing enough? Or was it him, the way he looked, the way he acted? You always make this harder for yourself.

His whole body violently shook as though it was cold. He always ended up regretting everything. He always ruined everything. He ruined his own life. He ruined his friendship with Cass. He was ruined, shattered and hopeless, a puppet on strings for people to do as they please.

"Help!" she called out. "Is anyone there? Somebody?"

Creeeeeak

She heard a door open nearby. Above her?

Click, clunk, click, clunk

Someone with heels and a cane, coming down what sounded like wooden stairs. The smell hit her then. A musty sort of stone and dirt smell. Like a… basement maybe?

The person stopped before her. Just as she opened her mouth to speak again, the blindfold was pulled off.

Bella blinked, getting used to the one dim overhead light in the room. She was in a basement and in front of her-

"Mrs. Hunter?"

Her old ballet teacher gave her a cold smile. "Hello, Bella. And you know better than to call me Mrs."

Swallowing hard, she squirmed under the scrutinizing gaze. Only to then re-register her hands were tied up over her head. "W-what's going on?" she stammered, uneasy as Mrs- no, Madame turned away. "Where are-"

"You needn't concern yourself with unnecessary details, girl."

Bella flinched at the harsh tone. "S-sorry, madame."

This made no sense. It was all like a terrible, terrible dream. It had to all be a terrible horrific dream. Because there was no way her beloved teacher was now waking up to her with a large pair of clothing shears.

"Now…" Madame drawled, "are you going to give me any more trouble, or are you going to behave like the goody-two-shoes you pretend to be?

Her mouth went dry as Madame unzipped her jacket. "I- well, Madame-!" She couldn't help but squeal as snip, snip, snip and suddenly her favorite blouse had been cut right up the middle. "What are you doing?!"

Madame pat her cheek before lifting both jacket and shirt edge, cutting them both up the length of Bella's arm. "Giving you a taste of some much needed karma, dear. Seeing as you're doing so well for yourself even after ruining my daughter's life."

What?

"M-madame, that was years ago! And Kim-"

Slap

"Keep her name out of your mouth." Madame snarled. Snipping off the rest of Bella's shirt and jacket, she let the ruined clothing fall to the floor before kneeling down. "Do you have any idea how much therapy she had to go through? How many tears she shed night after night?" Snip snip snip up her pant leg. "All because you dumped her after keeping her your dirty little secret. Because you gave her empty promises and discarded her like trash."

Tears streaming down her face, Bella warbled, "I had to let her go! It wasn't right, madame! In church they said- guh"

Madame's hand seized her throat, squeezing tight. Her once kind and soft eyes only held hatred and disgust. "If you were so concerned about sin, why date her in the first place?" Her hand grew tighter even as Bella's struggles grew weaker. "If you were so concerned about sin, why whore yourself out to every boy to cross your path since?!"

She couldn't answer.

She couldn't breathe.

Spots danced in front of her eyes as she grew limp…

Air rushed back into her lungs as Madame let go.

"Well, girl?" she demanded as Bella hacked and coughed.

"I-" She took a deep breath. "I'm- I'm sorry, I-"

Madame tore off the rest of her pants, leaving Bella to dangle from the ceiling in only her underwear. "Sorry isn't good enough." she snapped. "You broke my daughter's heart."

Bella's chest tightened as Madame left her sight again. "Wh-what are you going to do to me?" she whispered.

There was that familiar cane back in Madame's hand when she came back to face her. "Now," she said, sounding more like the old teacher Bella remembered, even with the coldness in her eyes. "Now I'm going to teach you a lesson. Several of them, in fact." She lifted her cane, using the base to tilt Bella's head up high. "You broke her heart, so I'm going to break you. Break you down into something as worthless as you made her feel." Her grim smile went sinister. "You’re going to be my perfect pet, from now on. My little ballerina in a box." She stepped closer, pressing her cane into Bella's throat. "That seems fair, doesn't it, my dear?" When Bella didn't answer, sbe pressed harder. "Doesn't it?"

Swallowing hard, Bella said weakly, "Yes, Madame."

Madame pat her cheek. "Good girl. Now, we begin."

Even though she saw it coming, nothing could have prepared Bella for the shattering pain as Madame swung the cane at her legs. Over and over. And her ribs. And her back. Hit after hit, like she was nothing more than an oversized piñata.

Pleading and sniffling and crying and screaming did little. If anything, the blows came down harder. Even when she passed out, Bella still felt the cane's beating pain in the darkness of her dreams.

Author's note: I'll be honest, I don't have a whole lot planned for this story yet? Most of the stuff planned to be posted for this is planned for being up at the end of December. Other than that, we'll find out. Until today, despite having this in the back of my mind for a couple months now, I didn't even have an ending planned. So, this'll be interesting, to say the least!

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