Chapter 59: The Art of Torture

"You must make a decision that you are going to move on. It won't happen automatically. You will have to rise up and say, 'I don't care how hard this is, I don't care how disappointed I am, I'm not going to let this get the best of me. I'm moving on with my life." —Joel Osteen, Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential

"You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it." —Maya Angelou

"The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough. They're there to stop the other people." —Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

***

The reason why Xenia had his hand propped on the ground was that he picked up a handful of dirt, which he hurled at Arlan to obscure his friend. Arlan's attempt at stabbing Xenia was not a success. Dirt got in his eyes and it hurt him when he tried to open his vision. It obstructed his perception and prevented him from finishing Xenia.

Unaware of Xenia's next actions, Arlan suddenly felt Xenia tackled him down on the ground. Before he knew it, when his vision vaguely got back, Xenia was already on top of him. He had lost the knife, which ended up going back to Xenia's hand once again. He is the original owner of the weapon. It's only natural to take what he owns.

"G-Get off me!" Arlan cursed under his breath, frustrated when he could not shake Xenia off. "How is he so goddamn heavy?! I can't shrug him off me!"

"Pain... Have you ever wondered how much pain a kid like you can endure, Arlan?"

Pack was baffled by the sudden turn of things. The tables have been turned against Arlan. And she was kinda rooting for Xenia, despite knowing the fact that the person she was supporting murdered Arlan's brother. It came out of Xenia's mouth and yet Pack's ears were plugged.

"Huh? What nonsense are you spouting now?!"

Arlan's scream reverberated in Xenia's ringing ear. His friend's voice was so loud after getting stabbed directly in his left chest. It went deeper than what Xenia intended, thus the loud utterance Arlan did.

"Just wait till I escape from this situation, Xenia! Twice the amount of pain I am receiving from you right now will be my payback!"

Every word was filled with grittiness and rageful emotions. He was triggered; eagerly desperate to retaliate, but he could not. And knowing that he does not have the ability to do so at the moment, stir up the frustrations and all the negative emotions together. He was shooting daggers to Xenia but the kid was unfazed as he struck Arlan once again.

"My arms hurt! His knees are preventing me from using my hands! And pushing him off me isn't working either!"

"Through pain, do you think a person will overcome his adversities? Is struggling alone enough to solve a problem?"

"Argh! I, ugh! Swear! I--I will kill, argh, you!"

The one-sided fight was something Pack could not bear to continue watching. She was in denial up until now. That Xenia is innocent and not capable of the atrocities being thrown at him. However, seeing how Xenia was unfazed and nonchalant as he began to torture Arlan, somehow put her in a state of confusion.

"Will you love once again if someone breaks your heart to the point of losing all trust in the opposite sex? What about physical pain, Arlan? Are you having enough now? Do you feel like dying now? Do you still wish to live? Is your wishful desire for vengeance still burning? Does the cinder still hold the flames of revenge, which keep your anger fueled?"

More questions were asked to Arlan as the simultaneous series of pains brought Arlan to exhaustion. His mind was tired too. As the stabbings kept going, continuing for several minutes whilst avoiding Arlan's vitals, Arlan's voice gradually lowered and lost its strength.

"No, Xenia... This is not what I want to see!"

"Shush, Pack. Xenia is currently breaking through Arlan's mental barrier."

Her soft red lips just told Pack to be silent and just resume watching. Lakambini's facial structure was hypnotizing. Everything about her was alluring and seductive. Her red hair glimmer under midnight.

"T-This much pain... is nothing! I'm far... from giving up!"

"Hehe..." Suddenly, Xenia chuckled vehemently. "Is that so? Then, I guess you won't mind if I..."

Over his arm, Arlan looked below where Xenia's limping left hand grabbed. Xenia pinched as hard as he could with his fingers a portion of Arlan's skin.

"Oi, oi, oi! You dumb fuck! What in the world are you planning now?!"

Blood dripped all over his energy-depleted body, wounds were visible across him, and Arlan was starting to feel cold. No wind blows inside the cave, but Arlan felt chilling gusts of wind as his eyes met Xenia's.

"Flaying— or should I say skinning alive? Is perhaps the most painful of all ancient world execution methods because of its slow process."

Just the thought of dying slowly and painfully made Arlan struggle from Xenia's pinning. He would not be able to bear that much torture. It would be too much for a kid like Arlan.

"I swear if you— ahhh!!! Fucking stop! It hurts!"

This was when Pack could not hold it anymore. Her gut turned upside down and she threw up on the ground, although she does not have that much on her stomach except for the food she shared with Xenia in the morning.

~