It didn't stop. The screams kept going. It filled that endless dark void I was used to.

I wasn't sure how long I was out but I knew those screams had been part of my darkness for a long time. I never opened my eyes, I was too afraid to. I didn't want to know who was screaming or what was happening to them.

There came a bone shattering sound then a curdling shriek afterwards. My body subconsciously cringes. I fought back my own scream that would've been layered in fear.

There was sharp pain radiating in my shoulder. And I couldn't ignore it any longer. It's as if someone has a strong a grip on my shoulder and began squeezing and twisting the spot with all their sadistic might.

It hurt—badly. I thought my arm would fall any moment. I decided I couldn't take it anymore. Couldn't take the screams, being in the unknown about where I was, and the endless searing pain.

I had to open my eyes to at least understand where I was. My vision was foggy at first and squinted at the unusual dimness surrounding me. A couple torches that hang on the walls to my left and right had provided minimal light.

The floor was made of stone and so were the walls. I swallow thickly, was I in something of old cellar? Another bone shattering sound was made and somehow this one was louder than before.

Even the scream had placed a shivering chill down my spine. I look before me to see what was truly happening. Three men stood before a helpless being.

Their arms shackled to the wall behind them. They kneeled on the floor, their shoulders rising and falling rapidly. Their head hung loose while a pool of blood surrounded the being.

I couldn't see their face but knew the person was a woman. Their clothes were in rags covered in dirt and blood but when I saw their prominent chest I knew this was a female. And there was only one female who would be in such a state.

"Nat." I'd mustered all my strength to breathe out that name. And even though it wasn't loud those three men stopped their torturing.

Edward, Arron, and Booker turn their attentions to me. Their pleasure on inflicting pain on Nat had disappeared. The tools in their hands go limp.

But I didn't care and didn't spare them a glance. I stare at Nat's helpless form as I was sure she was close to being half-dead. Her left arm was bent in an odd way while many cuts and bruises layering her body. She doesn't bother looking up, she possibly lost conscious considering the hell they're putting her in.

"Well now, look who's finally awake." Edward purrs and it sounded all so wrong to me.

I tried to move when I hear them make their way towards me. But like Nat I was shackled to the wall behind me. It placed my arm and shoulder in a painful position and I couldn't help but groan at the burning sensation.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Edward swiftly kicks me in the gut allowing the air to be knocked out of me. I gasp at the pain, doubling over and cough harshly.

I hear Arron and Booker snicker. None said a word as they watched my pathetic form gasping for air. Saliva trickled down my chin as I felt my insides crinkle at the sudden physical abuse.

I do my best to swallow down the pain, I won't let them get the satisfaction of hurting me. I look up with an exhausted smirk but still place all my remaining courage into my gaze. Arron and Booker seemed surprised by it.

"Is that—all you got?" The words were breathless when they left my lips. Truly, I sounded exhausted and worn out. Edward did take notice and found himself smirking back at me.

"Oh, you have no idea what's in store for you, Em." With another swift kick I found myself gasping loudly. My head hung low with tears stinging the corners of my eyes. I don't let them fall. Instead I grit my teeth and force myself to endure the pain. "But I got some unfinished business to attend to."

I listen to his footsteps before slowly raising my head. He stalks towards Nat's unconscious form, a wild smirk spreads across his face. He flips a pair of pliers in his hands before grabbing her hand.

Something feral awakes inside me and my eyes widen in anger. My lips pull back into a snarl as I try to break free from my shackles.

"Edward, don't!" I yell. "Don't touch her!"

He merely chuckles at my worthless demands. "I must say, it's amusing to see you get angry like that," he muses. "Especially when you try to act like you care about your subordinates."

With that he roughly yanks off one of Nat's fingernails. She awakes to the pain and shrieks like a wounded animal. Her sobs were like daggers to my chest and her painful shrieks brought anxiety to my core.

My breathing turned ragged and try all my might to break out of these shackles. I stopped caring about the burning pain in my shoulder and how my wrists started to turn raw with the all the pulling I've been doing.

"Edward! I'm going to kill you!" He looks over his shoulder, feigning a devastated look. Oh, how I hated that he became this—this monster.

He took pleasure in other's pain. He seemed thrive off of Nat's weeping. And yet when he stares at me there was nothing amusing about it. Cold-stone hate brewed there and it brought my heart to a thundering stop.

"I would like to see you try." He turns back placing the pliers between one of Nat's nails. He lets her beg and scream, all while his grin to widen even more. "Tell me, in what ways do you think of killing me? Does one of them involve—being led to your death by your leader?"

I cringe to sound of something ripping then wither to Nat's bloody-murder shrieks. I screamed with her but not in just pain but in anger. Angry at Edward for doing this.

But mostly at myself who can't seem to save another one of her subordinates. Edward tosses one of Nat's bloody fingernails to my knees. I stare at in despair, tears brimming my eyes. Why—why was he doing this?

"Edward—I beg you, stop. You're hurting her."

"And I'll continue to do so," he replies sharply. "Until you start talking."

"Talking? What the hell do I need to talk about?" An airless scoff escapes me. I land my deadly glare upon Edward, he doesn't turn around.

Suddenly the cellar begins to fill with unnatural silence. Nat has abruptly stopped screaming and wept silently before her captor. The torches upon the walls even stopped flickering.

The flames standing still as if time was stopped. I even noticed how Arron and Booker stood stiff on my left and right. Their gazes were on Edward and matched one another.

Fear. Fear had coated their ugly gazes and they swallowed thickly when they hear an airless chuckle come out of Edward. I turn back to him to see how his shoulders shook, his head hung low between his shoulders.

"Don't," he breathes. "DON'T YOU DARE LIE!"

Another scream emerged from Nat but, it wasn't from her nail being yanked out of her. It was because Edward had shoved a knife through her shoulder blade. Her blood stains her dirtied shirt, her tears shining underneath the torchlight.

"You're such an idiot! How can you not understand what I mean?!" He sends me a wild glare over his shoulder. It didn't fail to make my body stiff. "You're the one who found out about my motive! You're the one who realized it's you that was being targeted all along and you have the audacity to say you don't know?!"

Yanking the knife out of Nat, he drops the bloodied blade. I watch it stain the stone floor, I was beginning to remember. This was for my actions against those twenty Scouts I killed on that mission.

He said so in his letter but--why? Why him? Why has he fixated on my terrible actions long ago?

"So it's true then, you did all this just because of my past." I shake my head, fighting back every ounce of anxiety I faced. I glare up at Edward who seemed unfazed by it all. "Why? You weren't there--you're not affected by it. Why go through all this trouble for something you didn't witness or know the whole truth about."

"Oh, I know the whole truth," Edward assures. "You told me back at the cabin, remember? But you forgot to mention the one thing I wanted to hear. To see if you truly feel guilty for your actions."

He storms over to me while dropping the pliers in the process. I couldn't fight back, no matter how much I wanted to. I could only kneel before him like some sort of chained animal.

I tried to ignore the restless beating of my heart and how my body starts to tremble as he approached. I concealed my raw fear with a threatening snarl. It didn't stop him. He grabs my collar, yanking me to my feet.

"You killed all those innocent people, Emma!" Edward screams. "Killed them all because of your damn selfish desires!"

I squirm under his grasp, the chains clinking together as I try to pry off his grip.

"Stop acting as you know me!" I explode. "You want to talk about selfish desires then let's talk about you! You're blaming me for the lives you took during your killing spree but it's your fault, not mine! You did this because you're a psychopath! You wanted to kill because you like it! You thrive off of people's pain!"

I land my fury glare upon him, allowing all my anger and my hate to shine through. I let him see how disappointed I was in him and how much I wanted to hurt him. With a swift kick in the gut Edward grunts in pain and drops me.

I scamper to my feet ignoring the raw pain of my wrists being yanked by the chains. Arron and Booker rush towards me hands ready to immobilize me. I duck under Booker's arms and round kick him to the ground.

My mind became a sudden blur. My thoughts no longer alluded me. I allowed my body to move on its free will, kicking where I could.

If it weren't for these cursed chains then I would've knocked both Booker and Arron out by now. Instead, I landed a hard kick in Booker's knees before being grabbed by the hair.

"Stop resisting," he seethes darkly. "You're only making this worse for yourself!"

"Fuck you," I snarl. "Fuck all of you."

"Awe, those aren't nice words, Em," Edward tuts. "I don't believe you ever said that to me before."

He had regained his stature, his unpleasant frown taking over. I throw my legs in the air hoping to land either foot square in his face. It only caused Booker to hold down my legs.

Hearing the nickname he gave me no longer brought a warm sensation over my heart or comforting assurance. Instead it sent my blood into a boiling rage.

"Don't call me that," I growl as he approaches. "Don't ever call me that!" He merely shrugs before stopping before me.

I still struggled earning a rough pull of my hair from Arron. I hissed at the sensation stopping my moves all at once. He could probably rip off my hair at any moment.

"Tell me—Emma—does the name Chris Downfall ring a bell?"

I swore, my heart has stopped at the sound of his name. It was like a taboo. My eyes widen while the color in my cheeks slowly fade.

How does he know about him? The question meant little to me. Hearing his name, the man I first loved brought unbearable pain.

Brought all those hideous memories back making me wish they were back in that dark, lonely corner of my mind like they always were. I turn my head refusing to meet his eyes.

"I don't know who you're talking about," I reply stiffly. Edward doesn't reply. I could feel calculated stare resting upon me.

I chew my inner lip as I try my best to push away all my memories of Chris. I couldn't think about him. Refused to.

"You don't? Well, I guess I have to jog your memory then." I hear Edward swiftly turn his heel. I take a glance to seem him reproaching Nat.

Desperation hit me in the gut. "Edward, what are you—"

"That's fine if you won't admit it," he cuts in casually. "I'll just pull every nail Nat has till you do. And if you still don't then—well, I guess slicing her up before she does isn't such a bad idea."

He picks up the pliers while ignoring Nat's desperate begging. The sound of harsh yanking and terrible screams fill the cellar once more. I had to turn away the mere sight of her in pain made my stomach churn.

Edward sticks to his word, yanking the nails on Nat's right hand. I fought back a sob, I'm such a coward. Not only am I betraying my fellow solider but I refuse to remember Chris for my well-being.

I knew how Nat's life hung in the balance but it didn't sway me. I kept my mouth shut wishing everything would stop. I couldn't talk about Chris.

All those wonderful memories I had with him threatened to rush back. And then there was that mission where it got him killed. I got him killed.

Not talking about it or even thinking about it made my life somewhat easier. I didn't have to always relieve those nightmares nor did I have to go through hell. But—Nat's endanger.

Glancing back at her I see her nails littering the floor before her. Blood stained Edward's shirt and Nat's face. My heart thudded rapidly.

I made a promise to myself to save her. It may mean nothing to all the lives lost because of me but at least, she would be alive. I swallow thickly, falling limp to Booker and Arron's hold.

"I'll talk!" I shout. "I'll talk about Chris! Just stop—stop torturing her, please."

The sound of nail being pulled from skin suddenly stops. It allowed Nat a small breather despite the wordless sobs that escaped her. I was breathing heavily as if I were the one just tortured.

And in truth, I was. I was being tortured by a person I didn't want to remember.

"Very well," Edward breathes. He turns around gesturing his head to Booker and Arron. "Take Nat away."

It was all they needed to hear to drop me like a sack of flour and release Nat from her binds. I kneel worthlessly before Edward waiting till the sound of a door closing. I could sense him assessing me, hear him fiddle around with some tools he has.

I don't bother looking, I found it difficult to keep my sanity together than worry over what Edward's going to do to me.

"You know, inflicting pain on someone allows me to channel my anger." His footsteps near. I kept my head turned as he crouched before me. Cool metal meets my skin as Edward places a knife underneath my chin. "Nat left so that leaves you to take her place. Are you willing?"

I had no choice but to nod. I was already allowing unforgettable anxiety and wishful thinking that it was me who died two years ago wash over me. Nothing like Edward's torture to beat the endless beatings in my mind. I could sense a feral grin washing over Edward's face.

"Now why don't you start from the beginning? I'll be the judge if you deserve punishment or not."

I knew he already picked the latter but, that didn't sway me. I opened my mouth and allowed myself to be consumed my wretched memories.

/\/\/\/\/\

Y'all I'm sorry this is really late! I wanted to make this chapter enticing and full of interest but, I don't think I've achieved that🥲

Hope you still enjoyed it and can't wait to read more!

What are your thoughts on Emma's position? Do you think she's completely haunted by Chris's death?

Lemme know in the comments!!❤️

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