[Jaykobell]

It was not the horrid stench of blood that woke her up; it was not the cold stone pavement that stirred her awake; rather, it was the pain that was slowly burning within her wrists, the pain forged by the tight, rusty shackles that were keeping her arms linked to the wall. Her eyes opened slowly, as if they wished not to see what was awaiting them.

A dark room, similar to a jail, with weapons of various sorts -- swords, maces, spears, guns, and so many more -- hanging on the dirty brick walls. A few lamps were hanging from the ceiling, rocking back and forth slowly, illuminating the room weakly. And the dirt on the walls, the weapons, and the floor, was not mud, despite its brownish color. It was dried blood, blood from the others that had come and gone in this room. The smell, would one not be used to the powerful stench, would most likely drive anyone sick to the point of vomiting. But the woman, the prisoner, being used to the sight and smell of the crimson liquid, was not phased by its presence.

However, something played in the woman's favor. As she looked at herself, she noticed that her clothes -- kaki military clothes covered in mud and sand and who knew what else -- were still intact, and that no one had tried to take the off. She also had her boots, but her gloves seemed to be missing. Despite the fact she was still covered, the female couldn't help but have a bad feeling about this whole thing. If she could remember what had happened prior to this room, maybe she would be relieved... or maybe she would be even more scared.

Clunk, clink clink clink...

A tiny stone came stepping down the stairs, leaving a tiny song behind it. The woman turned her head around to stare at the stairs that lead to the floor above. While she was afraid to know if someone was coming in the room or not, she had but one wish: That the human in question would be here to help her. She deemed the chance of that happening to be slim, but she hoped nonetheless... She saw the figure walking down the stairs, heading for her.

From the looks of the man she was seeing, she had the very bad and distressing feeling that her life was soon going to end.

[Jaykobell]

The man walked down the stairs casually. In his mind, this was but another day's work. He had been given a young victim not so long ago, a beautiful gift from the military. They had given him a strange 'order', but the man didn't quite care about it. "Take whatever you want from her, then make sure to kill her. And good," they had told him with the coldest voice he had ever heard from humans. The victim was young as well. A small woman who could be no more than twenty-two years old.

The last step. He inhaled the stench of blood that was polluting the air. Ah, sweet, sour, warm, iron-tinted liquid of dear life. How good was it for Akakios to smell it every time he would come downstairs in the basement. It would always make him feel warm inside. It brought forth dangerous instincts, instincts he used to get his job done. "Kill her before she gets the chance to make your head blow," they had added before leaving the victim to him. Oh, silly humans. Were they not aware that he could not die? He would die when he would have to die. And no one was going to tell him otherwise.

He could feel the woman's stare. Imitating her, one could say, he looked at the woman and held eye-contact with her. He stared into her dark hazel eyes, trying to uncover her current state of mind. Panic. Fear. Distress. He could read those feelings through her eyes. The thought of these feelings made him grin softly as he continued to stare through his glasses, the golden rim adorned with dark brown stripes. He, in fact, never let go of this link between their eyes, staring and staring continuously at her, all the while getting closer to her.

He eventually settled down right in front of her, his eyes refusing to look elsewhere. He bent down on one knee, crippling both hands together as he observed his victim. A young, beautiful woman from the military. He slipped a finger under her chin and lifted her head ever so slightly, his eyes quite literally glued to her own. "An unusual victim... You're certainly the first military woman I've had to execute..." He paused. "By the way... I'm your executioner from now. Cooperate, and it won't hurt, yes...?"

[Jaykobell]

The constant staring of the man was very distressing. The military woman gripped her vest, clenching her fist tightly to avoid losing control.

As the two maintained eye-contact, she tried to read his feelings; but through these cold, blood-red eyes, there was nothing. Nothing but emptiness. A void, a black hole. There was nothing to read from this emotionless stare. But she kept on staring at him nonetheless. Even though these eyes were filled with absolutely nothing, she stared. Eventually, eventually, she would see something.

She swallowed nervously when he touched her chin. While the touch was gentle and seemed harmless, it still felt like the man in front of her was readying something. She couldn't imagine what it was that he had in stock for her. And then he spoke...

She listened to his cold and empty voice. He seemed so... so... uninterested in this conversation, in this interaction. And yet, this grin that was plastered on her face, these eyes that had suddenly become an open door, quite literally, expressed insanity. The psychotic look that she could perceive from him gave her goosebumps, but she did her best to hide this quickly-growing fear. Not only did he look insane, but his speech... He said he was going to be her executioner, didn't he?

... Had the military been so desperate that they had resorted to such a method to get rid of her? But this was no time for her to think of this. If she wanted to live, she would have to hold him off, for as long as she could... "I... What are you... going to do?"

[Jaykobell]

He observed her eyes. The fear, that was so hard to distinguish just a few minutes earlier, was now drowning the woman in front of him. His grin grew bigger as he realized how distressed the woman was.

He slid his finger upwards so it would touch her lips, barely applying any pressure upon them. He then craned his neck, his lips, his forehead, his nose, almost touching with the face of the other. "Shh... Cooperate, and everything will be fine..." he replied to her, avoiding her question altogether. However, he didn't leave her in the dark too much. "I won't execute you right now, no..." He tilted his head and grinned more, narrowing his eyes slightly. "Such a pretty face... Let's see what time will do to your pretty features."

He let go of his prisoner and got up, his movements slow and nonchalant. He turned his back to her as he headed for the stairs, but before leaving the basement, he looked over his shoulder at the woman. "I'll let you live for a few days... a few days only..." He grinned at her before heading upstairs, the large steel door to the basement closing with a loud screech.

[Jaykobell]

~*~

A few days had soon been extended to a few weeks. For days, weeks, and maybe even months, the military woman was confronted with this challenge of pulling through this psychological torture. She had received no physical punishment, and the man had never raised his voice at her, nor had he ever said something unpleasant to her. No; instead, he simply kept her food rations low, and the hygiene condition less than desirable, but as horrible as one would imagine. Luckily for her, who had been trained rigorously as a soldier, this was but a new challenge to test her limits. She was subconsciously happy that her training was finally paying off.

He happened to come downstairs one day, with a smile on his face. His arms were hidden behind his back, but his shoulders were relaxed, hinting that he was probably not here to torture her. He approached her nonchalantly and stopped right in front of her, just as he would always do. He then revealed his hands and crippled them together, his gesture almost hinting happiness. "My, my... How long has it been? And yet you are still here... Perhaps I did, in fact, underestimate the training the army has given you..." He then bent down and stared directly into her eyes, his own just as empty as they always were. "Perhaps... it is time to dispose of you..."

[Jaykobell]

In the blink of an eye, the woman gripped her dog tags. She had held on for months, with the hope of getting away from this place, only to be told that she was going to be silenced. She held her dog tags tightly. While they weren't alive, while they had no significance for strangers, they meant everything to her. They were her insurance, of sorts, would something happen to her. Her name, forever engraved in them, would be enough to identify her would something happen. 'Navisidor'. Her name, each letter shaped with care, was enough to make her feel like she was someone. That she had an identity.

Akakios cared not whether Navi was holding something or not. He simply unlocked the shackles that had been holding her wrists for so long, picking her up so he could put her down on his 'operation table', as he liked to call it. So many people had died on this very table. There was no reason for this woman to die any differently. If his usual method wouldn't be enough to get rid of this female, then he would have to take whatever he needed from her. After which, he would, of course, kill her. But before getting rid of her, he would make sure to inspect every vital organs and limbs to see if any of them would be suitable for some profit. He couldn't let such a pretty woman go to waste, after all.

[Jaykobell]

The feeling of the shackles letting her go was, quite simply, fantastic. While her wrists were still sore from their tight hold, Navi felt like freedom was just a few feet away from her.

But the feeling of being carried to that frightening and dirty table by her 'executioner' was simply horrifying. He wasn't kidding: He was truly going to dispose of her. How he would do, she didn't know. For months, ever since the very first day of her stay in this basement, she had tried to make him talk, to get something out of this man. However, every question would either end up being ignored, or they would get some side-tracked answer that had absolutely nothing to do with the original question. She had learned nothing about what was going to happen to her.

While Navi was busy adjusting to the table, Akakios was busy organizing his knives and markers. Considering Navisidor was a pretty specimen, he would be careful around her. He didn't want to needlessly cut some of her abdomen or chest or legs or arms for no important reason. No, he would observe her body carefully and choose which areas would be the best for a nice experimentation. While he had never taken any major organs from his victims, such as the heart and the brain, the other organs, if in good shape and preservation, could be worth a little fortune in the eyes of a few desperate surgeons.

Akakios picked one of his markers and uncapped it. "All right, now stay calm... Remember, cooperate, and it won't hurt, dear..."

[Jaykobell]

His gentleness was unexpected. Gingerly, Akakios gripped Navi's vest and pulled it up, so as to reveal her stomach. He ignored the moans coming from his victim, and he also paid no attention to the fact Navi had started shaking. Every prisoner had done that. They were afraid, that's all. She'd stop shaking  soon enough.

Before marking on Navi's stomach the areas he would examine, he ran his hand over her abdomen, his touch as soft and as gentle as silk. He stared at this small portion of skin, intrigued. "Such a soft, soft skin..." he murmured almost to himself, yet loud enough for Navi to hear. "Such a waste..."

His movement stopped as he felt Navi shaking more and more by the minute. He glanced at her, subconsciously wondering what was wrong. While he had experienced operations with shaky 'patients', this was a completely different case. Not only was Navi shaking uncontrollably, but she seemed to be quite literally on the verge of tears.

The touch, no matter how harmless it had felt, had brought back memories from Navi's subconscious; memories she did not want to remember. While this man would probably never understand her situation about this matter, she would at least try to make him understand she couldn't cope with someone touching her. "Please... Do anything... but d-don't... touch me..." she whispered as loudly as she could, her words choked from the fear of her old, painful memories.

[Jaykobell]

The unsettling fear coming from his victim made him... uncomfortable. Despite his sadistic and unstable personality, seeing someone in such a distressing state wasn't all that pretty. He could only endure and face a certain level of fear and anxiety from his patients, or else he couldn't think or move properly, since his victims would just wiggled and cry and scream do whatever else, and that would mess his calculations, and he wouldn't cut at the right spots, and... Dear lord, this just wasn't the right conditions to open someone up to collect their organs against their consent. Absolutely not.

Akakios let go of Navi's stomach, in hopes that she would stop freaking out like a kid. Seeing her in such a defenseless state, he wondered how she had made it through the military training schedule. She looked more like a wimp than a soldier right now. "All right, then..." He raised his arm and spun the marker around using his fingers. "Where should I start..."

Gingerly, he started tracing various forms onto Navi's abdomen, from circles to triangles to squares to ellipses, with a black marker. Once the basic areas were traced, he switched colors to red and blue and traced lines, either continuous or tiny, hyphen-looking lines. Some would connect the forms together, others wouldn't. All in all, Navi's stomach had become a real drawing board.

But the drawing board idea wasn't as bad as getting her stomach petted by a psychotic murderer. So maybe the guy wasn't a murderer; but if someone would look at this room, at the walls splattered with weapons of every sorts, and the oh-so-appealing decorations, they would think the very same thing: This guy isn't sane. There were quite a few bolts missing from his head. If only she could understand his way of thinking, if only she could discover what would make him stop this madness, she could perhaps get away. But that was the problem: She couldn't understand him, at all. Using normal psychology was completely useless, since the guy wasn't normal to begin with. "I... Thank you..." she whispered to him as he continued to doodle on her stomach, this time with a green marker. He'd respected her request to keep his hands away from her, and she was grateful, even though the guy was probably to cut her into puzzle pieces in a few minutes. A favor is a favor.

[Jaykobell]

Ugh. She had not just said 'Thank you'.... She had not just said that... He thought he'd heard 'Thank you' coming from his victim, but she actually hadn't said that. No. He was imagining things. Humans don't know what 'thank you' means, so surely the military hasn't taught her what 'thank you' means. Grotesque.

The reply to such words was a stare. A simple, empty stare from him. She had told him empty words, he would reply with an empty stare. Yes. That's how things work. So instead of formulating words from his mouth, he simply put his markers aside, his blueprint done, and revealed a small operating knife, the little blade dirty with dried blood and small remnants of skin from previous victims. In Akakios's eyes, it was just fine...

... In Navi's eyes, this thing was absolutely disgusting. "You're... not going to use this... are you?" she asked with wide eyes, staring at the sullied blade. "This... this..." She couldn't find the proper word to describe how nauseating this scalpel looked like. Skin... of other people... touching hers... and her insides... Just... There was no words...

Again, Akakios stared. "Yes, I'm going to use this," he confirmed with a nonchalant voice, seeing nothing wrong with this one scalpel. "Why? Is there a problem?" In fact, wasn't it just that pretty, with all the blood adorning it? Wasn't it, wasn't it?

Navi blinked and stared with dismay. "But who... who knows who was cut with this... couldn't I get infections from this knife? It... it has obviously not been sanitized..."

"That is the point, yes, for you to get an infection. So then there's a possibility that you will die faster once I'm done," Akakios explained, again with the same tone of voice. He then readied the knife and pointed the small tip towards Navi's stomach. "Cooperate, and it won't hurt... much..."

The scalpel slowly came down, the blade touching Navi's soft skin...

And then the woman couldn't help but scream, "Wait! Please wait! I have... one last request!" with her eyes tightly shut, hoping the pain wouldn't last too long had she been too late to interrupt him, or he would be unwilling to listen.

[Jaykobell]

The pain didn't come. The scalpel stopped in its tracks, the hand wielding it simply keeping it there, still.

Akakios looked down at Navi, his expression the same always: Nonchalant. "Make haste, make haste..." he replied, poking the tip of his pointer finger against the scalpel in a rhythmic pattern as he waited for the woman's answer.

"I... I would like to ask you something, before you start... opening me up," she replied, watching him as his finger started prodding the knife, and as his eyes remained focused on her. This was her last chance to try and resonate with him. Would she fail to grab his attention for long enough, she'd get that scalpel in her stomach. What she would do after distracting him, she didn't know. She would think of a plan as things would come along.

If she had managed to realize one thing from these painful months under his care, was that Akakios seemed -- and sounded -- very... lonely. He was obviously lacking in social skills. He had never mentioned his family, his friends... He would only mention his clients, those who had asked for his 'skills', and his victims, those who had fallen prey to his hands. And in truth... Navi didn't know his name. For months, it had never occurred to her to ask him his name. Perhaps starting at the very first step of the ladder would be enough to distract him from his 'duty'. "I... I would like to know... Your name... What is your name?"

Silence persisted. And then the scalpel fell to the ground with a loud clinking noise as the executioner stared at his victim with sheer disbelief.

[Jaykobell]

His name. She had asked for his name. No one, not a single person, not a single victim, not a single client, had ever asked for his name. 'You're the executioner, right?', 'Get this done by next week, and you're getting the pay.', 'T'was interesting doing business with you. Good job.' Never, ever. Never had someone stopped for a single moment to ask for his name. No one seemed to care enough about his identity to ask for his name. The only thing they wanted from him was his skills to cut people into pieces without fazing. That was the only thing they wanted. They had never asked for his name... never... But this victim, this military woman... she had. Just like that, she had asked for his name. He was this close to cutting her open, and the one request she made was to hear his name. From his psychotic, completely disconnected state of mind, Akakios had turned into a defenseless man whom didn't really know what was going on anymore. "A... ka... kios..." he replied as he stared at the ground. "Akakios..." he repeated.

The question had worked... finally, she had his attention, his full attention. Whether it would be enough to get away from here or not was another issue, but right now, she would focus on trying to gain his trust. Finally, after months and months of seemingly endless torture... she had his attention. What else could she ask him? Asking his name had given amazing results... His character. She had to keep on asking about him and his personality. "Akakios... that's a wonderful name," she replied, realizing, quite suddenly, that nothing was bidding her down on the operation table. She used this opportunity to sit up on the table, and reluctantly, Navi reached a hand for Akakios's shoulder. "It's really a wonderful name..." What else could she ask him? She'd asked his name... now what else? She had to start slowly, or else he would probably get defensive... "What brought you to this place?" was her next question. It was vague enough to be harmless, but depending on his answer, she would probably be capable of learning something about this place, and why he was doing such horrible things in here...

[Jaykobell]

The feeling of Navi's hand touching his shoulder seemed... seemed... Was there a word? He who hated to be touched was now letting this complete stranger, his victim, touch him freely. This feeling was the complete opposite of those negative emotions he would constantly feel and express. This feeling of... security and... and this feeling that he wasn't alone. Yet, despite the the warmth that was slowly setting in, Akakios pushed Navi's hand away. Never, never could he withstand the touch of a woman, be it a child or a teenager or an adult. This touch, both sweet and merciless, had shown Akakios more terror than love.

He stepped back slowly towards the nearest wall, his stare now focused on Navi, his green eyes void. He waited until his back had reached the wall. Once he was certain his back was pushed against the stone wall, Akakios let himself slide along the wall and sat down, bending his knees and dragging them close to his chest and chin, much like a scared child. The only striking difference was that the man was not scared, but rather confused. His head was trying to make heads or tails out of this puzzling situation. "Me... myself..." he murmured, closing his eyes and resting his head on his knees, seemingly tired. His long blonde hair dangled from the side of his head, the tips scattered over the rocky blood-stained floor. "Peace... That's all I want..." He angled his head differently so his forehead would be the one resting on his knees. "I can't... let anyone find them... I can't..."

[Jaykobell]

Navi watched as Akakios pushed her hand away and settled beside the wall, looking confusing, tired and lost. She watched with much attention, trying her best to understand what he was saying, considering his voice was barely above that of a whisper. He wished to have peace for myself, and he couldn't let anyone find "them"... Who were "them?" Did he have a family? Did he have pets? Either way, there was something -- or rather, some people -- that Akakios had to protect. Now that he was in such a state, Navi had the upper hand. She wouldn't trick him, but she would use his confusion to help him.

She got down from the table as gently as she could, imagining Akakios as a wild animal. She had no make no brusque movements, and she had to remain quiet and slow. She had to approach him without scaring him. She figured that touching him wasn't a possibility. He would most likely slap her hand away again, and Navi guessed that, if she were to push her luck too much, he would eventually grow frustrated and leave, which would be quite inconvenient for Navi. But words seemed to be enough to communicate with Akakios.

She did the same maneuver as he did earlier, sliding along the wall and bending her knees. She craned her neck and tilted her head to one side, adopting a questioning position. "Who do you mean by 'them?'" she asked him, keeping her voice low, but above his tone of voice. "I can help you. I'll help you..." Even though she wished she could hold his hand to show him how much she'd meant her words, Navi tried not to give in. She had to adapt to him, and she had to be patient with him.

[Jaykobell]

Something, there was a little something, that was telling Akakios that he could trust Navi, that he could trust this young stranger and tell her what his problem was. And yet, something else, something much, much bigger, was telling him to keep quiet, it was telling him to keep Navi in the dark. And then... and then, there was another tiny little thing that told him to go to bed. To sleep. To take a nap. To close his eyes. He was not sane right now, he was now in a good state of mind. He was in no condition to talk, not right now. And yet, he was in no condition to sleep, either, because of them. He couldn't leave them alone, but he couldn't tell Navi, either. His mind repeated the very same things over and over again. Every time, he hoped he would reach a conclusion, but it was never so. In the end, he opted for a diversion. "I... I need to... sleep," he whispered, gripping his head with a hand. The tiredness was slowly creating this horrible headache. He had to go to sleep, one way or another.

Navi stared and blinked as she heard Akakios's reply. He had to... sleep? He had to sleep. Looking at him, Navi could see how frail he looked. The way he spoke was unnatural, and Navi was certain that, deep within his voice, she could hear tiredness. The poor man was probably awake on a few hours of sleep right now. While Navi doubted she could link his lack of sleep with his behavior, she knew that, right now, he wanted to sleep, and that he, in fact, had to sleep.

Navi slipped her hand in one of her blouse's pockets. She was someone with quite a few sleeping problems, after all, hence why she was in possession of a certain bottle of pills. Hopefully, she hadn't lost the bottle to the army men or to Akakios himself. She didn't mind the latter, since she could most likely just ask him to tell her where the bottle was; but luck was with her as she felt the roundish shape of the bottle in her pocket. She took it out and shook it, the pills inside creating this ringing noise as they were shaken against the walls of the bottle. "These pills are for people who tend to be seasick. They help with your stomach, and they make you go to sleep." She popped the cap off the bottle and shook it until two pink hard-looking pills came out. She held her hand towards Akakios. "Swallow these. They'll make you sleep." She stretched her arm a little more. "I can help. Swallow them," she promised before repeating what she had just said.