A/N: As usual, I would recommend putting the video on loop.

Standing against the far wall, opposite the door, she watched him set the bag by the sink. It was a singular bathroom since it was meant for one of the maintenance crew. Where they were wasn't accessible to patrons of the subway system unless there was an emergency. With that in mind, there just was the sink and toilet. Both still operated and had running water. Despite her gratitude for the water, she hated the room, and she couldn't help but tremble against the old white tiles of the space.

A dusty light fixture, which had dead bugs on the inside of it, glowed above, and it cast a sickly blue hue over the room. Somehow, it also made her tormentor's skin look more deathly white and his bored expression all the more sadistic. His optics met hers before they scanned over her form. "It's not that bad," he commented in a voice that wasn't reassuring in the slightest. "And, the longer you huddle over there, the longer this is going to take."

"... It's going to take a long time either way," she muttered more to herself than to him, but he overheard her regardless. He shrugged before he faced her fully, which caused her to press her back up against the wall more. "Sorry!" she quickly apologized as she noted him standing up to his full height of about six feet and four inches. His casual steps towards her made her close her eyes out of fear as her back slid down the wall. She curled up and held her arms over her face, and her fingers brushed over many scars and bruises, but she didn't wince. Her heart was beating too fast, and fear was overtaking her.

She shouldn't have said anything; she knew better. He hated hearing her voice, any human's voice for that matter. Sometimes, she wouldn't speak for so long that she wondered if she could talk anymore. In the past, she had protested more, but that got her the same result if not worse since he became annoyed more easily. Unlike Ether, he wouldn't control his frustration, and he would lash out at her, yelling about how much Ether had spoiled her.

His feet stopped right in front of her, and his right foot tapped her on her left calf. "Apologizing isn't going to get you anywhere. Do you think that I'm just going to let you sit there now?" She visibly winced, and he sighed in slight irritation. "We've been over this before. Get up and take those off." Her fingers tightened around her upper arms, and when she didn't move fast enough, his right hand shot forward and gripped both of her forearms.

With little effort, he ripped her up from the floor and practically dangled her in front of him. A scream nearly left her, but his left hand covered her mouth. His pinky nail was dangerously close to the base of her left eye. "Not right now. That can be for later." Her eyes widened, and she was tempted to shake her head, especially when a malicious grin greeted his lips. "See." He released her and dropped her to the floor, where she supported herself up on her hands. "You should've listened. Now, am I going to have to ask you again?"

Silently, she shook her head, and she resisted the urge to clench her fists. He'd notice it and punish her more. "Then, get up." Slowly, she pushed herself to her feet and hugged her arms over her chest. Her tormentor rolled his eyes. "I don't know why you're still embarrassed about that. You're a human; you disgust me." She didn't move her arms, and he rubbed the bridge of his nose, but he didn't look away. (F/n) understood why; he wanted to humiliate her and take away any form of privacy she had. To him, she was just the pet of another one of his kind, and he could punish that pet however much he desired all so that Ether would learn not to play around with vile humans.

When his eyes met her (e/c) ones again, she jumped a little and hesitantly lowered her arms. Even though turning her back to him was foolish, she still did so every time; she couldn't remove her clothes with him just looking at her. The thought of doing so ate at her in all of the wrong ways. With shaky hands, she reached behind her and undid the clasp of the dirty, white bra she was wearing. It fell to the floor soon after with a soft thump. She could feel his eyes burning into her back, and she wanted to grab her bra back and race off into the hallway in some futile escape attempt.

Looking down, (f/n) stared to the only remaining article of clothing on her. She didn't want to take it off at all; she never did. Behind her, though, she heard his threatening step. If she didn't act soon, he would, and it would be less pleasant. Like usual, she felt tears form in the corners of her eyes. They always did when she got to the present point. Barely, she was able to hold onto any dignity, and it was hard not to sniffle from a potential runny nose. Currently, she probably looked pathetic, but she didn't care; she simply hated it so much, but she couldn't do a thing about it. Fighting him only would make things worse, and he'd probably take longer to ... to ...

Another threatening step broke through her thoughts, and she forced her hands to grab the hem of her underwear. She bit her bottom lip to contain a sob as she slipped them off of her legs. Her feet stepped out of them, and the steps instantly sounded. His right hand grabbed the back of (h/c) hair and dragged her forward. A cry of pain parted from her as she barely could get a proper step in. He tossed her forward, and her hands gripped the sink hard. The mirror in front of her was covered in grime from some unknown source, but she still could view her reflection.

(H/c) locks were in disarray, (e/c) eyes lacked vibrancy, lips were chapped and cracked and her skin was a collection of various wounds. Even Haley still had life in her eyes when she was going through Ether's treatment. Then again, she hadn't been submitted to torture for as long as she had. Nearly, she sobbed in anger from the fact that Haley probably was laughing at her from beyond the grave. In fact, hallucinations of that had greeted her in the darkness, and (f/n) almost heard a laugh in the bathroom.

Metal creaked and water turned on. His right hand grabbed her hair again and shoved it under the icy water. Her body jolted at the sudden cold even though the air itself was cold, but her body, thankfully, had adjusted to that detail within a few weeks. She sputtered water out of her mouth as he violently washed her hair. There was no shampoo or conditioner, just water and the rough scrubbing of his fingers against her scalp. Bruises probably littered her head.

Once her head finally was pulled up, she coughed up water and blinked it out of her eyes while her head at last could relax since he had removed his grip on it. Before she could recover from the violent treatment, he shoved a bar of soap into her chest, which nearly caused her to fall in the process. Her right hand gripped the edge of the sink to stabilize herself. "Wash yourself."

Drawing his hand back, she grabbed the soap. Like in the past, it was scratchy and felt like sandpaper. Against her wounds, it caused even more agony as it seared into her cuts and stung like the fierceness of a deadly scorpion. "You have two minutes. Otherwise, I help you." His tone was serious and threatening, and there was a thin veil of ill amusement.

Quickly, she shoved the soap under the water before she scrubbed herself with the item. At that point, tears did fall down her face since the soap tore open some of her healing wounds. Blood mixed in with the suds, and her whole body stung from the contact. She tossed the soap onto the back of the sink, and it nearly slid off onto the filthy floor tiles. Just as swiftly, she began splashing herself with water from the sink. All the while, the door to the bathroom was wide open.

Never was it closed. Despite them being the only two in the abandoned subway, leaving the door open was just as concerning. In the hallway, it was nearly pitch black. Shadows swarmed the edges of the light from the bathroom and stared into the room with harsh, unforgiving eyes. It was as though all of her hallucinations were watching her and laughing, singing about how she deserved the treatment she was receiving. Her tormentor would agree with them.

Dripping wet, she wiped water from her eyes, and she saw a bag dangling in front of her face. "Put them on." Her hands gripped the bag before she pulled out the contents: clean, pale pink underwear. The color instantly reminded her of Ether, and she met his eyes. "All I could find. The woman only had that hue." A scratchy chuckle left him. "Maybe, Ether would like her. I wonder if he moved on to leave you down here with me." His lips curled upwards into a grin, and her stomach clenched. "That certainly would be terrible for you. For me," he thought over it for a moment, "it might be awful too. But, I can think of more ways to punish you. A subway does give tons of options."

Switching his attention away from her, he walked out into the hall. Drops of water fell from her and hit the floor as they became the only sound, besides breathing, in the place. Each drop splashed against the tile, and her mind thought of what horrible hours awaited her. The water, gradually, seemed like it was blood, and she was painting the room again. Almost, she dropped the clothing items until she noted the pink color again ... Ether. Was he coming after her, or had he given up? Were her parents actually dead, and she just was living with a false hope? Such questions began to fill her mind, and she almost didn't hear her tormentor call out, "You're taking too long today."

Standing up fully and wincing in the process, she speedily put the clothes on, glad to have some coverage again, before she entered the hall with him. "You miss him, don't you?" he questioned as he started to walk to the right of the bathroom. She looked up to the back of his head, but he didn't stare over his shoulder to meet her gaze. "You want him back. You want his love again."

"... I ..."

"It'll be lies." He sighed as though her voice was nails on a chalkboard. "You won't answer truthfully. Even after all of this, you're still in denial. You still won't accept the truth" Her lips formed a frown, but her voice was lost. If she argued back, he would attack her, but she did hear a voice laughing.