Interrogation with a Twist (part 1)
The fog curled about the boat as it drifted upon the water, silent in the dismal, overcast sea. Slowly, aimlessly the tide drew it closer and closer to shore, the only other power behind it the rowing of several small, underpaid and overworked passengers. Among those, a cloaked, small form rowed, unnoticed amongst the many. As the boat cut through the foggy water, a cry went out, and ropes were thrown to and fro in an attempt to prepare the vessel for docking. With a wrenching, sudden stop, the vessel knocked against the docks, its crew tossing ropes to those on the pier to moor the ship with as the waves rocked it.
The ship was secured with a series of tugs, and soon the paying passengers began to embark. One by one they stepped off the gangplank, their baggage handed to them by the crew, all being nice and polite in an effort to perhaps secure a generous tip. Only when the last of those passengers stepped off onto the docks, did the crew even begin to turn their eyes towards the rowers. The captain stepped forth, screaming at them, "All right, ya scabs. Get yer sorry carcasses off my ship," he said with a glare, pointing towards the gangway. One by one these unfortunate souls sat up, standing for the first time after their long voyage across the channel and made their way up to the plank, where their belongings were shoved into them and they were given a push, stumbling down the plank and onto the docks below.
The hooded figure staggered onto the docks, his legs a bit unsteady after the long passage, his stomach empty, and his prospects bleak as he surveyed the waterfront of the small island he now occupied. As he looked around, eyes searching for any sign of where he should go next, his eyes set upon a curious sight. Not several feet away, a large husky whose dress could only be interpreted as that of a nobleman, was talking, even laughing, with a very young girl, a wolf or fox of some sort by her coloration, whose tattered robes he recognized from the voyage across.
His hackles rose as he approached them, passing them by as he made his way onto ground not support by mere wooden struts and beams. "The nerve of the nobles here," he thought to himself as he drew closer, "they abuse and abuse us, the poor unfortunate souls who are flung here. Forced to work our way over, then forced to prostitute our bodies to survive." His footsteps brought him closer, intentionally bumping the young husky as his paws shot out, intent on using the distraction to procure him money for the night's lodging. He had just seized upon the money-pouch, when the husky's hand shot out, faster than lightning, catching his arm. The figure looked up to see the husky's eyes, one bright green, the other bright blue, staring at him with slight amusement.
The husky turned to the girl, twisting the hooded figure's arm in a painful manner, forcing him to his knees, "You see, my dear," he said with a friendly manner, "This island is no place for those young of flesh. Hoodlums roam the streets, and I fear you would find yourself taken advantage of before the night was out," he looked down, "Wouldn't you agree, my dear hoodlum." The pain of his grip increased until the hooded figure nodded. The husky held firm, handing the thief's target to the girl, "Take this, and secure yourself passage home, young one. Go, find your mother, and give her what's left. A gift for the two of you from Old Alexxi." He smiled and shooed her on her way, "Ah, it warms the heart to help the young like that." His smiles faded as his eyes turned to the figure, a hand reaching up, and pulling back the hood with a sudden jerking motion, "Now now, don't be shy. Old Alexxi won't hurt you, he just wishes to know..." the husky stopped short when he peered down at what the hood had covered.
Amber eyes stared up at him from a defiant looking muzzle, grimaced in pain from the position of its owner's wrist. A rather handsome face accompanied the muzzle and eyes, its leonine form curled in a snarl, "Let me go! I didn't do anything!" His eyes widened as the husky tightened his grip. "I'm sure that was what you were thinking when you tried to pick my pocket, little thief. Now let Old Alexxi take a look at you," the husky's eyes widened as he studied the lion's features. "You!" He exclaimed, tightening his grip to the point that tears welled up in the lion's eyes, "They told me you might come to my shores, but never did I suspect..." The husky's other arm fell on the lion with a sharp crack, and darkness was all he knew.
Alexxi reached inside his robe, pulling out a small length of cord and binding the lion's arms and legs before throwing him over his shoulder, glancing at all the onlookers. As a pier guard approached him, Alexxi turned, producing a small sack, "My apologies for the trouble. Please take this," he said, offering the pouch to the guard, "as a compensation. For damages, of course." He smiled as the guard accepted the pouch and nodded silently, moving aside to allow the old husky to take his prisoner off the docks.
***
Nicholas groaned, the world spinning around him as he tried to stand. His legs twitched, barely moving as he quickly realized they were bound. "Wha-where am I?" he gasped as he tried to open his eyes, realizing with a start that he was blinded, and he started to search his memories for an answer to why he occupied his current position. "A-Alexxi? Are y-you there?" His answer was a stony silence. He struggled to a semi-sitting position, his ears perking up as he turned his head from side to side as he used every sense at his disposal to gather information from his surroundings.
His answer came in a swift blow to his unprepared muzzle, knocking him back onto his back, "Yes Doctor," the words rang through the room loudly and clearly, sarcasm and bile dripping from every inflection, "Old Alexxi, he is here. The curious thing to me is, why are you?" The lion felt a sharp tugging at his neck, and he again struggled to his knees, crawling towards the feeling of the tugging, realizing that a collar had been buckled around his neck while he slept. Nicholas' blindfold began to show stains of the tears he started to shed, the feelings of humiliation and fear welling up inside him, "D-doctor?" His voice was filled with fear and confusion, "B-but I'm no d-doc--" his words were cut off as the husky's forearm again outstretched, smacking the lion backwards until he rolled as far as the leash would allow.
"Do not insult my intelligence, Doctor. You and I both know who you are, and you shall pay for what you did to those children." Beneath the blindfold, Nicholas' eyes widened. "Children?" He thought, "Why would he think..." His thoughts were again interrupted by a rough tug. Stumbling forward, he felt a hand seize him roughly by the throat, ripping his blindfold off, bringing the lion and the husky face to face, eye to eye. As Nicholas looked up at Alexxi, he could not help but notice that the husky's eyes, one green and one blue, were full of anger and unfulfilled rage. The lion's eyes widened again, in fear, as he realized with a sob, that this husky had mistaken him for someone else...someone who had hurt the husky through those he loved. He broke eye contact, his head bowing down low as he screwed his eyes shut, trying to shut out the abuses of his body by will alone.
"I'm not your doctor, I'm not your doctor!" he mumbled to himself again and again as Alexxi struck him sharply and repeatedly, the husky's eye's growing colder and more furious with each strike. "LIAR!" he barked, "LIAR! LIAR! LIAR!" the blows rang through the air, the husky's paws bloody now, the husky himself gasping for breath, his old body not quite capable of the onslaught he had just unleashed upon the young lion, who now hung limply on his knees, a small trail of blood flowing freely from the corner of his jaw onto his raggedy clothes.
Alexxi composed himself after a moment, the rage and hate subsiding to a low boil, "Get up." The lion rose with no small amount of difficulty, his head clearly still spinning from his beating a minute before. He fixed his most defiant gaze at Alexxi, spitting a little as if to clear his mouth of the blood and spit, "What now? More torture?" The husky responded by yanking hard on the lion's leash, tugging him along slowly out of the room, and through the husky's small abode, to another door. Alexxi reached inside his pocket, producing a small ring of keys that he then proceeded to try one after the other, keeping his back to the lion all the while. Nicholas wondered what made the husky seem so cocky, then realized with a start, the small device along the husky's hip that bore a remarkable resemblance to some of the firearms he had seen among one or two of the guards, and decided, wisely, not to try and ambush Alexxi from behind. The door swung open with a low creak and Alexxi took a step inside, "You're a lucky one, you know that Doctor? Old Alexxi hasn't had to use this dungeon in a long while," He chuckled low and deep, sending a shiver of fear down the lion's spine, "Lucky indeed..." The husky took up the leash again and tugged the lion down into the darkness.
***
As Nicholas' eyes adjusted to his new surroundings, he let out a soft gasp of fear and terror as the dark room he now resided in expanded into view. A dungeon was the best way to describe what now lay before him. The walls looked to be part of the foundation of Alexxi's abode and at regular intervals had metal loops imbedded in them; by the look of it, one might be able to chain several poor, hapless individuals to the walls. Dead center in the room sat a large wooden X-shaped post with a solid metal base to which it appeared to be bolted to. Alexxi pulled him roughly into the center of the room, producing a knife in one hand with a flourish, "Strip. Now," he ordered, his voice still cold and stern, "Or I will do it for you." Nicholas' eye's widened a little, and hurriedly removed his shirt and pants, shivering as he stood in the cold dungeon, naked as the day he was born. Instinctively, his hands and tail tucked to cover that which hung between his legs, but Alexxi took hold of them, tugging the tail away with a sharp jerk and slapping the lion's hands as he forced him to lay them to his sides.
Nicholas screwed his eyes shut again, tears of pain and humiliation again pouring down his cheek as he felt the husky's orbs roving over every inch of his body, probing for weaknesses to exploit. He shivered a bit more before Alexxi's voice rang out, echoing against the stone walls, "Over here. Now, kitten." Nicholas opened his eyes, looking to where the husky was pointing, and slowly padded over there, now standing perilously close to the X. The husky wandered into the darkness, further than the lion's eye's could currently make out, and returned a moment later bearing two pairs of iron shackles which he tossed nonchalantly at the lion. "Put those on," he ordered, smiling coldly as the lion helped himself further into his clutches. "Now, my good doctor, why don't you lock your feet onto those hooks on the Cross," he said, indicated the lower pegs on the X. He ignored the lion's quiet whimpering, slapping him harshly across the cheek, "Do it now, kitten, or I'll cut these off," he shouted, grabbing the lion's sheath and balls.
The lion nodded, ears flat as he reached down and locked his legs to the cross with a loud "Click" that resonated in the stone room. He looked up at the husky, "Why," he whimpered, "are you doing this? What did I ever do to you?" he cried, his voice beginning to crack and go hoarse from his constant whimpering and shouting. "Why, Doctor? Do you not remember what you did to Old Alexxi's family?" the husky roared, smacking the lion and grabbing one of his paws, clicking it securely to the X, leaving only one of the lion's paws free as he trotted off again into the darkness. An eerie creaking filled the dungeon as the husky wheeled out a small metal table, covered with a blue cloth. The husky pulled the cloth away gently to reveal an assortment of very mean, sharp looking utensils. Among them, a syringe filled with some yellowish liquid caught the lion's eyes, widening them further in fear. Alexxi noticed this, and smiled, picking up the syringe and holding it up, looking at it through the small bits of light that filtered into the room. "Ah, so the doctor does not like medicine?" he chuckled to himself, "Perhaps this will help with your...memory problems," he grinned as he grabbed the lion's free arm. Nicholas struggled as much as he could, but the husky's grip combined with the rest of his arms being locked in place held him firm enough for Alexxi to jab the needle into an exposed vein.
A burning sensation crept up Nicholas' arm as Alexxi counted silently to himself for a second or two, pushing the syringe's plunger all the way in, then pulling the empty syringe out and placing it with care back on the table. He turned, grinning ear to ear at the lion, "We'll give that a few minutes to work, yes.." he murmured to himself, "then perhaps, you'll tell me why you hurt my family---Arrggghh!" His smile fell away sharply as he began clutching his chest, his hands starting to shake. His moaning continued to increase as he reached into his vest and pulled out a small medicinal inhaler. Trembling, he tried to put the inhaler to his muzzle, but his hands slipped and the vial dropped to the floor with a metallic clang. Alexxi dropped to his knees. This time it was his turn for darkness to embrace his vision and he slumped to the floor, unconscious.
***
Nicholas groaned, his vision blurring as the drug worked its way into his system, filling his insides and mind with a rather pleasant, warm sensation. As Alexxi collapsed in front of him, the lion forced his mind to panic, a rather daunting task considering his current state of inebriation. He looked about for some way to free himself from his bonds, and a solid minute passed before his mind registered that one hand was still free, and another couple of minutes passed as the lion clumsily freed himself from the St. Andrew's cross. Unsteadily he stood, trying futilely to remain on two feet, and finally tripping over some small, metallic object. He turned about, the world spinning as his vision fixed on the small inhaler. Without a second thought, one of his paws reached out, gripping the small container. He looked at it for a moment, wrapping his fogged mind around the method of delivery for such a device, crawling all the while closer to Alexxi's prone form. Flipping the husky over, he pressed the inhaler to Alexxi's muzzle and squeezed, sending a jolt of airborne medicine into his lungs. A moment later, the husky coughed and gasped, taking the inhaler from the lion and squeezing it a second time, blinking as he regained his full composure. Nicholas moaned, finally succumbing to the warm feeling, letting it pull him into a light, serene sleep, uncaring that he had just saved the life of the very being that had placed him in such a humiliated state.
Alexxi sat up with a start, his mind reeling as he paused to gather his thoughts, recollecting the past couple of minutes...the doctor...the memories of his family...his fainting spell...and the doctor's saving his life. He looked about, panicked, searching for any whereabouts of the doctor. It was only a moment before he realized his prisoner's head lay sleeping serenely in his lap. Alexxi looked down at the creature that he had planned to torture not a few minutes ago, who had just saved his life. "Why would he do this?" He shook his head as he thought to himself, "This is not in the doctor's character. He's a murderer, a madman!" He looked down at the lion and cleared his throat with a low growl. The lion's eye's opened slightly and Alexxi looked back into them, noting that they were now quite dilated, one of the drug's many effects. "Why did you save me?" He asked softly, yet commandingly, maintaining the façade of authority his mentor's had taught him during his interrogation training.
The lion giggled as his mind searched his memories for the answer, "To..." he started, slowly, his voice drawled, "prove...I'm not...the doctor...person..." Alexxi blinked, the realization of what he had just learned sinking in.
"But, why not run? You could have left me here to die?" Tears began forming in his eyes as he waited for the lion's reply.
"That...would be...wrong..." the lion murmured, a broad smile still on his face, "I couldn't...live with..myself...if I...did that." The lion sighed softly, his eyes closing as he drifted off, the effort of speaking now simply more than he could bear.
Alexxi blinked again, terrified and shocked at everything he had done to the youth because of a simple case of mistaken identity. He tried to speak, but his voice caught in his throat, "Please lad," he chocked out, cradling the lion's head in his lap, "forgive Old Alexxi for what he's done, and rest. Alexxi will take care of you now," he smiled that same warm smile he had shown the young lass earlier that day again and rose slowly, carrying the lion's limp form up and out of the dungeon.
To Be Continued....