FSE

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The Mercenary is the first arc of The Underground series

Chapter 25 of 32

Symphony

The burlap bag was lifted off her head, and her eyes were suddenly flooded with light. It was the only light in the room and it was focused in a beam where she sat. Cold hard metal dug into her skin around her wrists where they were bound and her feet were done in the same fashion.

Jenna slowed her breathing down, even though she was scared out of her mind. The last thing she remembered before the bag was brought down over her head was seeing Alias getting run over by the van. After that she didn't see him at all. She had no idea if he was even still alive. This time there wasn't anyone who was going to save her. She was lost.

A paw gripped her hair in agony, forcing her head back. Jenna yelped in fright and pain. She found herself looking into the disturbing eyes of a grey hare.

" 'Ello, precious." He taunted her, before roughly releasing her hair. "I'm going to ask you a question." He continued walking around her. "I don't get the answer I like, we've got a problem." The rabbit circled all the way around Jenna to where he was facing her. He then got down in her face. "You don't want us to have a problem."

Jenna clenched her jaw tightly together. She fought hard to keep back her tears and fear. She wasn't going to openly show him that she was afraid of him.

"Where's Alias?" The rabbit asked. "The dumb asses who picked you up didn't know who Alias was, but we know he's still out there." The rabbit was now inches away from Jenna's face. She could smell his foul breath as it seemed to overwhelm her. "So I'm going to ask you once before this becomes unpleasant. Where is Alias?"

Jenna paused for a minute. If she told him, was there any chance of walking out of here alive? There was certainly more of a chance than not answering.

The blue vixen finally nodded, ears falling back in shame. "Alright..." She told him. "Get a pen, write this down."

The interrogator walked over a table and grabbed a pen and a piece of paper. He clicked the pen open; ready.

"Write this down." The vixen instructed. "U, O, Y, K, C, U, F. Got that?" She asked.

The rabbit nodded, confused by her instructions.

"Now, reverse it." Jenna told him.

The rabbit began to rewrite the letter in reverse order, then stopped, clicking the pen shut.

Before Jenna could react, the rabbit's paw clenched her indigo hair, jerking her forward out of the metal chair she was in. Jenna fell forward, unable to stop herself as her paws here bound. Jenna could only watch as she fell forward into a tub of water. The world around her went silent as her head submerged in the dark liquid. All of her senses went dead as her head was forced under water. Jenna struggled, kicking and jerking, trying to get her head above the surface. She held her breath tight, trying to hold out and fight the urge to in hale.

Her hair was jerked again, head emerging from the water. The vixen wasted no time releasing all the air in her lungs, pulling in more. But in less than a second her head was dunked back under. This time it was longer. Her lungs burned for release of the carbon dioxide pent up within them. Finally she couldn't handle it any longer. She vented her lungs, bubbles of air rising around her. She vented until she couldn't force anything else out of her lungs. Having nothing left in her lungs, Jenna's urge was to inhale immediately. Clamping her eyes shut, she fought the urge, the need to inhale. It hurt. It hurt so bad. Her mind screamed for air, for oxygen. Suddenly her mouth just opened and she inhaled, bringing water into her lungs, feeling the cool liquid rushing down her windpipe.

Jenna was hardly conscious of her hair being pulled again, as she was removed from the icy water. Her body slammed down on the concrete floor, convulsing and spluttering as water was rejected from her body and oxygen refilled her lungs. As she lay there coughing, her nose caught a scent from the floor. She recognized the pungent smell. It was the smell of dried blood from those who came before.

But her relief was cut short as the rabbit plucked her from the floor, slamming her back into the metal chair. Her face exploded in pain as the rabbit brought his open paw across it. He continued to slap her harder than ever. It made what the rat in the alleyway did to her feel like love taps. Tears ran down her face as she was continuously abused.

"I'm only toying with you, bitch!" The rabbit screamed at her. "Where is he?"

Jenna sank her teeth into her bottom lip, fighting the pain spreading like an acid through her face. The rabbit's fist struck her face, sending a flash of white light inside her closed eyelids.

"Enough."

Jenna's vision blurred and shifted as she heard the strong firm voice behind her. Her face was already beginning to swell from the abuse, and tears flowed freely down her face, however, they were mostly masked from where she had been submerged in water. Her neck hardly worked as she tried to support her head, but after everything, the beatings, the drowning, she hardly had the energy.

A large male horse walked around from behind her. He was dressed in an expensive suit. Grey fur color with the brightest blue mane she had ever seen. Even though she had never seen him before in her life, Jenna knew instinctively that this was Xen Hets, the one who tried to kill Alias.

"Is this any way to treat an esteemed guest?" The horse asked, in a formal tone, of the rabbit. He grabbed a metal chair, and dragged it over in front of her. The chair's metal legs scraped against the concrete floor, making an awful screech. The fur on the back of Jenna's neck stood on end and he sat down adjacent to her. "I am sure you are aware of who I am." His oily voice asked Jenna, who sat there silent in fear. "Come now," Hets said, cocking his head to the side, "no need to be shy. I just want to talk." He offered, but Jenna remained with her muzzle closed. "Well, that is alright. How about you just listen then? You see, I had an employee once." Hets began, leaning over and grabbing a shiny object off a nearby table. Jenna's eyes followed the metallic silver that in the proper light revealed itself as a long razor blade. "He was very well trained. Always completed an assignment, no matter the cost." Jenna watched, feeling her heart squeeze as Hets ran the razor gently over his paw careful not to cut himself. "However, as adequate to the job as he was, his true allegiance was to the money he earned." The razor ran over the top of his paw, metal reflecting light off its surface. "You are an intelligent female, surely you can fill in the blanks from here. I chose to remove him from the equation. You know him as the black fox who has dubbed himself 'Alias.'" Hets then leaned forward where his face was only about six inches away from hers. "You see, Jenna, Alias has information about me that I need to find and make sure he doesn't leak. Yes, it is true I was going to use you to my advantage on other issues. But I am willing to wipe the slate clear," he paused, "give you a fresh start, where we will never bother you again. All that I ask in return is that you tell us everything Alias told you."

Tears fell down Jenna's face in uneven intervals as she thought about her ultimatum. She looked up at the powerful horse who held her life in his very expensive paws. By saying one word, he could potentially end her life. But with another she could walk out of here, and go back to her old life. This nightmare could end, and she would never have to think about this again. It would all be over.

Shutting her eyes, the only image that came to mind was the bloodied carcass of a black fox, bullet holes peppering it. She could see his lifeless eyes in his skull, the look of death frosting them over, mouth hanging open. Jenna lowered her head.

"I can't..." She said in a weak voice, one so delicate it would be easy to shatter.

"Jenna," Hets replied reassuring, "no one is going to blame you. This is not like you are betraying a loved one. This is a desperate fox who is running out of places to hide. It was I who Alias spoke to, negotiating handing you over for his freedom. Come now, Jenna. In all reality, what allegiance do you owe someone who would take advantage of your trust like that?" Hets moved in closer than before. She could feel his hot breath on her ear as he whispered to her. "You think he cares about your wellbeing?" He asked her, then shook his head. "Of course not. Alias is a lone wolf. He will do whatever he has to do to make sure he is safe. He will betray you, and this time he won't be there to save you. Alias is not coming back for you, Jenna. He has probably forgotten all about you."

Jenna violently shook her head in denial. The young vixen couldn't wrap her head around the fact that Alias would leave her here. He wouldn't do that to her. He couldn't... After everything, all that they had gone through, everything they had done for the other, he couldn't...could he?

"Come on, Jenna, you are a smart girl," Hets told her in the same assuring tone, "figure it out. If Alias had any care for you why didn't he stop four lowly hyenas from kidnapping you? We both know what he's capable of, don't we, Jenna?"

Jenna looked up at Hets, blue eyes, reddened by her tears.

"Yes, you have seen him in action before. However, the one time you needed him most, where was your hero?" Hets leaned back in his chair. "He abandoned you."

The emotional distress of everything suddenly came crashing down on Jenna. Her whole body began to shake in distress and fear. She continued to shake her had at Hets, but the questions still lingered as to why Alias hadn't come after her yet. Had he just quit on her? She had been here for what felt like days, where was Alias? Had he truly given up on her?

"Don't take it personally, my dear." Hets continued. "Alias, I am sure, has found another one he can take equal advantage of. You must not blame him though. It is the way he was born, it is in his blood. Alias is who he is, and when faced with the decision of self preservation or risking his fur, well, I think it is quite clear as to what Alias has chosen. So, what will it be, Jenna? Are you willing to suffer more for a fox that only used you for his gain?"

Jenna clamped her eyes shut, hearing his argument. She wanted this to end. She wanted all of this, the interrogation, this stupid war, her whole role in it, she wanted everything to stop. All she had to do was say the words, just speak the words. She already knew them. They were resting on the tip of her tongue, the hardest part was just saying them, but once they were out there everything would be okay.

Jenna raised her head from looking down at the floor to Hets's eyes.

"How about I tell you to go fuck yourself, and quit wasting my time." On the inside of her eyes, Hets noticed the blue becoming ablaze as she spoke. Her words were spoken with the fires of a thousands suns and hit Hets like nails.

Hets sighed. "You disappoint me."

Jenna sat back, still bound, in her chair. She was silent for a second, then a smile broke over her muzzle. Then a small laugh came from her mouth. It built slowly and quietly, until she was laughing hysterically.

Shaking a tear from her eye, Jenna looked back at Hets. "You can't scare me, you cold bladder bastard." The young vixen leaned closer to Hets, eyes narrowed and ears back as if she were in a standoff with a predator. "I'm your worst nightmare. I have nothing to lose."

"You are a beautiful young lady." Hets told her, caressing Jenna's cheek with his paw. The vixen jerked her face away from him in disgust. "Unfortunately, not very bright."

Suddenly Jenna was plucked from her chair and carried over to a table, where the rabbit shoved everything aside with one stroke of his arm. Jenna felt the cuffs on her feet and wrists release, but the rabbit caught her arm, and forced it behind her back in a painfully twisted position. He easily overpowered her, slamming her face down on the table. Her other arm was useless and hung at her side. Her feet were secured around on the table legs, making sure she couldn't run.

Jenna's pulse was pounding as Hets walked over to her. She could only imagine what could happen as she was forced in this degrading position. Jenna also knew they would do it too. Hets took her paw where her palm was upward, and moved it so only her fingers were extended beyond the table.

"You see, Jenna," Het's explained from behind her, "some people take for granted very mundane tasks. It is only after they lose this ability do they realize how essential it was to their daily life." Hets grabbed a mallet from the table. "Like the ability to use all ten digits."

Jenna's eyes widened as Hets lifted the mallet up and in a flash brought the heavy object down on her ring finger.

A pain like no other reverberated throughout Jenna's core. The vixen screamed at the top of her lungs. It was a loud, harsh, animal cry of distress. Her whole body convulsed as her finger jerked out of place, almost freeing her from the rabbit. It felt like her whole bone had snapped and shattered in a million pieces, when in reality it was only out of its socket.

"So you were incorrect. You do have things to lose. Nine more if I am not mistaken." Hets said as the vixen whimpered in a livid white pain, radiating from her paw. "Think about it." Hets said, then turned and walked away.

Before Jenna could even think, the rabbit slapped the handcuffs back on her. However, he left her where she was. Her ears pricked up as she heard a predominate clicking from her side. Jenna moved her head to see what was going on. Blinking tears from her eyes she was met face to face with a stun gun, which was arcing a tiny bold of electricity from its tesla coils.

As Hets walked down the hallway back, heading back to his office, he heard the vixen's screams echoing down the hallway. He heard her cry out in an unimaginable pain that would make most ears bleed. It was the agonizing cry of pain, fear and anger all mixed into one. Hets smiled to himself.

It was such a sweet symphony.