Requiem for a nightmare

[Kyte_]

White hot mind-numbing pain, shot through her body cruel,spasmodic balls of energy, coursing from every nerve ending. Her sympathetic nervous system reminded her heart to beat and her lungs to draw air but she gave up screaming hours before. Her tormentors were murmuring some unintelligible mantra and the old woman would lean in and gaze into her eyes, as if searching for answers to some profound, yet unasked question.

Do you see? the old woman asked.

The girl could not respond verbally, her lips cracked and bleeding from lack of water and several beatings over the past two weeks. Her mind had slipped and the fabric of her own reality had begun to unravel at an alarming rate. She could breathe, but even that had become laborious.

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Gabrielle remembered her abduction. She had lived with her parents in Planet Nevers. She had a good life. An only child, she was attending the Sorbonne, a very prestigious appointment awaited her after graduation. Walking back to the dormitories from the student union, she paused to assist an elderly woman cross the street. She seemed so frail and weak with her rubber tipped cane. She allowed the woman to take her arm and at first was a bit alarmed at the talon like clutch the woman had on her arm. As they passed over the median, a transport, with darkened windows screamed out of nowhere and the cargo door flew open. The old woman, now quite a bit stronger than the girl could have imagined, thrust her into the transport, where two men were waiting with a black, cloth bag. It was all over in an instant. The bag secured over her head and tied with a cord, smelled of oil and soil. Gabrielle thought for a moment of her fathers coveralls, from the refinery where he worked. Her mind screamed that she needed to do something ANYTHING then she felt the sting of a needle in her neck and the world fell away

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She awoke in a cold sterile chamber, shackled with a heavy 3-meter chain that terminated at the floor. There was a steel table and a chair, a metal bucket and nothing else. Twice a day a young woman would come into the chamber and feed her a foul smelling yellow gruel and then would instruct her to squat over the bucket to relieve herself. At first, Gabrielle resisted, but her resistance met with sharp slaps, that threatened to crush her cheekbones. She pleaded with the woman to be set free. The woman had dark hair, tightly tied back and cold piercing dark eyes. There was sadness in them, dispite her cold exterior. The woman spoke very little. She would only tell Gabrielle that all would be clear in time.

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On the third day, the old woman who had tricked her appeared. Her features were harshchiseled and betrayed her cool demeanor. She sat for a time, simply observing the girl studying her. Gabrielle could not meet her gaze. She asked the woman what she wanted with her, to which the woman responded that Gabrielle was to be gifted with a great opportunity

Throughout history, The old woman began, women have proven to be the most consistent gateways to the unknown. They have served as seers or oracles to the ancients, because they are the vessels of the gods. It is widely known that females can endure more pain than their male counter parts and it is in the experience of this pain exquisite pain, that they are able to pass over to the other side, and they can see what ultimately awaits us all.

Gabrielle listened feeling her body begin to shake as this woman continued her insane explanation. Her own belly contracted from the fear licking up and down her spine and her bowels felt like they were beginning to liquefy. She was going to be sick, she knew.

The grand question girl is there a Goda HeavenHell, can be answered if we have the courage to venture into the unknown. It takes a special girl to be able to bridge the gap between life and death, and still have the ability to report what she sees and experiences. A girl such as this is rare and ellusive. When we find such a girl we do as those who came before us did we subject her to all manner of pain, for only through the purification of pain will she be able to transcend this world to give us a glimpse of the next. We use the term Martyr to describe such a girl. However, the definition has become confused over time. The original meaning of the word was simply witness. We need a girl who can convey what she sees and feels at the time of her breaching the border between this existence and the next. Some call it life and death, others the beginning and the end. But a Martyr, can endure the misery and the pain she can transmute it and she can linger in that place between two states for a time. Some lack the internal strength to control their faculties some turn off others go quite insane during the process, but there have been a few that have stayed coherent long enough to show us that the our methods are effective and we are encouraged to proceed. You see we are not seeking to be cruel for crueltys sake, but rather we are resolved in our quest for understanding and our willing to take extraordinary steps to find the answers that have eluded mankind for so long.

The woman paused and a smile found her way to thin lips. She leaned forward and held the frighten girls eyes with her own and she nodded her understanding.

I understand that this is all very frightening and seems quite insane, but I promise you that before this is all over, you will see and you will understand. You have just become the most important soul in the known galaxy. I hope you realize what an honor this is for you

With that the old woman rose and turned to depart the chamber and Gabrielle felt her bowels churn and cried as the bile worked its way up her throatstinging her. Her mind moved from a state of sheer terror and panic to a quiet repose then switched again. This went on until the dark men appeared...

Her screams echoed through the chamber as he approached...

************************************

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[Kyte_]

Without hesitation, the tall bald man, dressed in black seized Gabrielle by her hair and forcibly pulled her up off the steel chair. She gasped her body grew rigid. The bald man then balled his fist and buried into her stomach, sending all the air from her lungs. Gabrielle would have fallen, but he held her fast by her long hair. Her eyes now wide with fear and anger began to well up with stinging tears, which coursed their way down her face. She could taste the salt. He studied her. Peering into her eyes, as Gabrielle recovered her breath. The mans face betrayed no emotion what so ever. His movements were practiced and purposeful. He had done this before. Drawing back his balled fist, the next blow landed upon her cheek, splitting the young taunt flesh that covered her features. Again, the bald man drew back his fist and brought it back down upon her face, three times. The last blow nearly knocked her unconscious, which would have been a piece of mercy, but instead, Gabrielle felt her nose explode in a glut of thick mucus laden blood. She bled freely now sucking in and out of her ruined nose, life-sustaining air there bloody concoction bubbled grotesquely from her flattened nostrils as the bald man allowed her to drop to the floor, utterly broken, straightened his shoulders and walked off without a word.

His eyes are dead, Gabrielles mind screamed.

Yes you see your end in those cold, dead eyes dont you Gabi? a voice from somewhere in the dark recesses of her mind whispered.

The lights flickered for an instant and she could hear the sound of her labored breathing in the echoes of the steel room. It was just her alone with the voices in her head. She tried to console herself by laying down on the cold floor and curling into a fetal position, knees drawn up to her chest, arms wrapped around them. The throbbing of her cheek and nose kept her up, as did the voice, which seemed to delight in her anguish.

Gabrielle looked up and saw the voice that had been whispering to her. She wept.

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[Kyte_]

Minutes became hours, hour became days, weeks all blended together under the artificial light such that Gabrielle had lost her sense of time. Sitting in her corner, arms about her drawn up knees, she rocked herself, which gave her little comfort. Gabrielles keeper would come periodically to feed Gabrielle the putrid, yellow, gruel and then force her to use the steel bucket. Sores were developing upon her skin from the constant exposure to her own urine and fecal matter. She would measure the passing time by the feedings and the visits from the dark man, who came to administer her beatings, which increased in intensity and duration with each successive visit. When she was alone, the voice would return to torture her until she passed out from exhaustion. Time passed.

Gabrielles skin had paled to the point of translucence and she had lost so much weight that her emaciation was evident, the shape of her skeletal frame was clearly visible through her paper thin skin. She no longer screamed during her beatings, nor did she weep. Gabrielle had come to the point of acceptance and when the woman came to feed her, she leaned forward from her kneeling position upon the floor to press her cheek to the womans hand, kissing and adoring her in the only way she could. The woman told her she was nearly at the final stage and that it would all end soon. Gabrielle nodded silently and used the bucket, following her feeding. The heavy chamber door opened and the old woman, the dark man and another man she had never seen before appeared. The old woman approached Gabrielle with slow measured steps, as the two men moved to secure her chains. They pulled her arms apart and attached the links of the chain to extend her arms in an almost sickening display, they removed her rags and she stood naked before them. Her body no longer her own, Gabrielle stood unashamed and unafraid she stood, arms stretched painfully out and yet she did not cry out she did not resist the pain. Her eyes had trouble focusing, but her hearing was still sharp. As her tormentors assessed her reaction to their presence, she could feel their eyes moving over every inch of her body.

She is ready, the Old woman began, cut her hair and get her ready for the final phase, she concluded. Her features were still hard, but her voice was softer as she addressed Gabrielle.

You are ready, girl

The Old woman and Gabrielles keeper turned and went through the chamber door as the two men removed her shackles, dropping them to the floor. They took her by the arms, and gently guided her to chamber door. She offered no resistance but nearly lost her balance. The men conducted through the door, which opened to a circular room. At the center of the room was a metal rack with securing points for the head, wrists, ankles and waist. There was an array of surgical lamps suspended above and a rolling cabinet with surgical supplies beside the rotating rack.

They opened the restraint points and the bald man lifted Gabrielle and placed her into the contraption, while the other man secured her ankles, waist, and wrists. The bald man placed her head upon the metal strap and closed the breach over her forehead. The metal was cool to her skin the sensation brought forth a slight chill and her flesh pebbled involuntarily. The second man, having finished his task, helped the bald man into surgical gown and opened the cabinet, laying out metal trays with various scalpels, knives and surgical scissors. Gabrielle heard a metallic click and felt her body rotate end over end until she was now facing the floor, her body perfectly secured in the metallic contraption.

Gabrielle heard the footsteps of the bald man as he crossed around her and drew the tray table closer and she heard the other mans footfalls as he walked away and the opening and closing of the chamber door. She heard the bald man pick something up from the tray and she felt the cold blade enter her flesh at the nape of her neck as he drew the scalpel down the one side of the entire length of her spine. Gabrielle closed her eyes and again, accepted the pain, which was unspeakable. Aside from her labored breathing, Gabriel did not make a sound while the bald man flayed her peeling her skin, gliding the knife along the as a practiced violinist might draw a bow across taunt strings loosening her flesh, stripping it off her body in large swaths and dropping them onto the floor. Although Gabrielle had no way of marking the time, it took just under three hours for the bald man to remove nearly all of her skin; and while she passed in and out of awareness during the procedure, Gabrielle was conscious for the majority of the time. He left her face intact.
Now her whole body was on fire but it wasnt really heat she was sensing, not charred or burning flesh what she was feeling was cold the air was horrendously cold to her. Her body began to shiver with the cold as the bald man rotated the rack to return her to her previous position, facing the ceiling once more, but Gabrielle was no longer seeing the ceiling. She was no longer seeing anything of this world. Gabrielle was at the nexus. She did not hear or feel the bald man remove her restraints and lift her skinless body off the rack and lay her upon a bed of crushed ice. She did not hear the chamber door open and the footfalls of her tormentors returning to view her. Gabrielle was beyond the pale. She was no longer bound by her captors.
The old woman looked into Gabrielles eyes and leaned in to whisper to the form, that was formally a beautiful expression of humanity. She spoke to the grotesque wretch whos shivering had diminished to a light trembling. Peering into its eyes, the old woman uttered a single question.

Do you see?

The form responded faintly, Yes

The old woman leaned in and listened to its faint whispers as the grotesque relayed to her all that she was experiencing. The grotesque spoke to the old woman for only a few minutes before falling silent. The others remained quiet in the background, their stoic expressions began to change to that of excited anticipation. This girl was sharing the secrets of the universe. They would soon know. They would solve the mystery. They waited until the woman stepped back from the table. Her features were still hard, chiseled, but her eyes betrayed something quite different.

---

[Kyte_]

In a fraction of a moment the old womans head was severed from her neck, and rolled onto Gabrielles chestthen onto the floor the claws still gripping the lower part of her body the old womans face betrayed a complete surprise then her body was thrown at an impossible velocity into the remaining people who were still reacting from the presence of two strangers One very much human the other well something else entirely.

Oh this is going to be fun, the phantom said, his voice almost bouncing with excitement.

The mechanical monstrosity leaped into the air and tackled the dark man removing his left leg at the kneecap and began beating him with the dead limb while his metallic claws made short work of his abdomenvivisection was the order of the day and the creature was adept at this procedure.

Gabrielle watched as the two phantoms ripped and tore their way through her torturers. She did not have any emotion whatsoever, but somewhere inside of her, she felt a sudden surge of energy as her body was splattered with the blood of their victims. The girl felt an almost electrical excitement coursing through her body as she watched the monster hack the limbs off the last male and finally seize the young woman.

Do you see? Valentine asked. His face also splattered with warm human blood as the mechanical monstrosity drew one claw down the womans thorax cutting through her clothing and skin in one precise almost surgical movement laying her openspilling her entrails on the floor.

Oh God! the dead woman exclaimed.

Syn rasped... like a human gargling with rocks... the effect was terrifying.

God? Valentine questioned, Syn dispatch this woman even in death she is ignorant!

Without a moments hesitation, the dead woman was relieved of her head, which rolled onto the floor At which time Syn leaped to the table Gabrielle was on claws at the ready Syn brought the mechanical arm up and prepared to break every bone in Gabrielles body, when Valentine lit him up with a plasma bolt, effectively knocking Syn to the floor unconscious.
Ah well sometimes Syn does get a bit overzealous, Valentine concluded.

The comlink on his power armor chirped once.

Yes Glock We have herYes;No Syn didnt kill her Condition? Well they flayed her. Yes, my thoughts exactly Syns out yes same as last time... plasma bolt, should be down for a few Understood.

Valentine removed Gabrielles restraints and carried her to his awaiting ship. He quickly slipped a translucent garment on her, much like a jumper, with attached hood, then he pressed a sensor and the garment shrunk around her body a body glove. Gabrielle felt warmth almost instantly, her eyes wide and bloodshot she wondered why she was still breathing.

Hello Odium, Val said.

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