Cell 9

Third Person POV
After the Luna ceremony it doesn’t take life very long to settle into a routine.

Sam, Barlas and Rosie move into the Beta’s apartment, and once a week Peter and Emma babysit little Rosie.

Peter spends his night worshiping the body of his Luna. Emma spends hers accepting his offering and giving her praise of his devotions.

Everyday Peter works long hours, sometimes on pack business, but as often on the hunt for the missing pups. He visits the familiar in the dungeon daily, trying to extract something useful from the man he captured in Brigadoon, but each day the man’s sanity slips further away.

First cutlery is removed from his meals when he stabs himself repeatedly. Paper plates are needed when he breaks a plastic one and attempts to cut his own throat. They chain him to the wall when he starts hitting himself off the walls until they were painted red with his blood. Everyday he sits and rocks, mumbling to himself, eating when food is put to his mouth, cleaned of urine and faeces by his warders.

Emma has visited him twice, but the sight of the man hurts her soul, both because of what was done to her, and because of what he is becoming.

Emma takes to the work of the Luna quickly, her maternal instincts and natural compassion, have won over the majority of the doubters. The punishment meted out to Saffron is seen as firm but fair; Saffron herself is finding peace in service to those she felt beneath her. The omegas show her more consideration than she had ever shown them.
…
Emma wakes before dawn from a nightmare. She recalls the whine of the missing pups, although they are hidden in darkness; she feels the ache of her shoulders and a cold that seeped all the way into her bones; she remembers the flash of teeth, the flow of blood, the burning pain and pleasure. She knows she will not sleep again tonight.

Peter shifts in his slumber, but doesn’t wake, so she carefully slides out of bed. Dressing in joggers and a t-shirt she pads downstairs to the kitchen. She takes her freshly brewed coffee, and sits on a stool at the counter, scrolling through her emails; looking for anything that can be dealt with before the sunrises.

A quick sort allows her to discard a quarter of them as junk. Slowly she starts to work through the remaining ones. The fourth missive is from the cells. The prisoner in cell nine has injured himself again, and they are requesting the Alpha or Luna to review him.

Emma sighs, she doesn’t really want to see Hare again, but it would fill her time until breakfast. Decision made she finishes her coffee, grabs some work boots, and slides silently out of the front door. She pauses in the hallway to put on her footwear, and trudges towards the cellars.

The packhouse is very quiet, with the night staff still on duty for another hour or so, and the morning shift yet to make an appearance. She passes the occasional omega who bows as she passes. When she gets to the ground floor she decides to go via the kitchen and grab some cookies for the wolves on duty downstairs.

Carefully carrying the sweet treats, she makes her way to the storage cellars, and then through the labyrinth of tunnels that lead to the cell block.
At least stones don’t flicker, she thinks to herself, feeling slightly claustrophobic. The recurring dream has her chained in a windowless room, with flickering torches, and a monster which threatens if the light goes out.

She steps out into the area used as a guard post. Plate of offerings held before her.

‘Hi Jerf, Daniel, Scott’ she greets the guards.

‘Luna,’ they bow.

‘Here have these cookies, and I believe the prisoner in 9 is causing problems?’

‘Thank you, Luna,’ Jerf says. ‘Do you want to see the prisoner?’

‘Not really,’ she sighs. ‘But I suppose I should.’

She follows him as he walks to a key box on the wall and grabs a large iron key with a 9 on the fob. Then onwards into the main dungeon and finally he leads the way to cell nine.

‘He is chained for his own safety, so you are safe enough… but would you like me or one of the others to stay with you?’ he asks her.

‘Carry on, I don’t think I need you for this,’ she smiles her dismissal, taking the key from him and placing it in the lock.

She turns to watch the young guard leave, then with another sigh she steels herself and turns the key.

The heavy silver lined door swings open, revealing her ginger-haired tormentor. Except the man is a shadow of the one who haunts her nightmares, less than he was when she last saw him, a wraith, not much more.

Looking round she spots a stool nearby and snags it, carrying it with her into the cell. The unlocked door swings shut behind her with a clang. Her heart rate accelerates for a moment. Using her breathing she settles her pulse, and seats herself across from the prisoner.

The cell is surprisingly clean and warm, while the floor is stone, heating has been installed beneath it. The white walls gave the area a light feel; there was a curtained cot in one corner, and a small bathroom at the end.

If it weren’t for Brian, sitting chained by his wrists to the wall in front of her, you could argue that the cell was more than acceptable. The chains were iron not silver, designed to hold and not harm a supernatural creature.

Emma looked at him and shook her head, the fear she had felt has faded. Now she feels pity for the shell in front of her.

‘Brian,’ she says gently to him. ‘Brian look at me.’

He shakes his head, mumbling.

‘Brian,’ she continues, ‘what am I to do with you? I hear you have hurt yourself again.’

‘It’s all her fault master,’ he mumbles. ‘She should have succumbed’

‘Whose fault is it Brian, what did they do?’ she probes.

His muttering in lower, she moves closer.

‘It hurts mother,’ he says suddenly, holding out his arm for her to inspect. ‘It hurts so much’

She moves closer still, to inspect the familiar’s wound. There is a chunk of his flesh missing between the wrist and the cuff. She reaches out and touches the edge of it, feeling for roughness or sharp edges and finding none.

‘Oh Goddess,’ she exclaims, ‘what has happened to you? How has this happened?’

His hand swivels round and grabs her fingers. She goes to pull them away.

‘Don’t leave me mother,’ he begs, ‘I’ll be a good boy, I will behave… don’t let him hurt me mama.’

The plea of the broken man in front of her touches her heart. She reaches out and pats his hair as if he is a child, trying to comfort him.

‘There, there,’ she soothes. ‘No one here wants to hurt you.’

‘But you do, you do…’ he responded.

‘What, I don’t want to hurt anyone?’

His eyes become lucid and the loose grip on her has tightened… suddenly he puts his other hand across her mouth, stifling the scream building in her chest. How is he free? she wonders. Not realising that his hand is sticky with his own blood; the mark she looked at is matched on the other hand where he has gnawed at his own flesh until it could slip free of the shackles.

‘But you did bitch slut, you hurt me by not coming quietly. My Master Jorge, punished us, a pound of flesh for our failure. You hurt me by not dying in the woods. If you had died you wouldn’t have seen Josh. You hurt me by setting the mutts on Josh, who led them to me. You hurt me by letting them imprison me in silver… so I can’t even feel my Master.

But it’s funny really… I get the last laugh. He has them, you know, all the little puppy dogs… That’s why you were meant to go… to stop the Alpha dog looking… to keep the pack pathetic and weak like it is now.

It’s nearly time… they will collect their offering at przesilenie and my master will be paid for his endeavours with a fae virgin for his collection….’

Emma is appalled and petrified. Even in his weakened state the man is stronger than she is, his lunacy giving him strength. He smashes her head into the wall, darkness engulfs her, blood flows from the gash in her head, matting her hair; her face stained in his blood where his hand kept her silent. He looks down at her unconscious form, satisfied for now

Giggling to himself he gnaws a little more flesh before sliding his other hand free. A push opens the unlocked door. A look in each direction, then he walks deep into the dungeon area, back to ancient tunnels, disappearing from sight.