Chapter 2: Breaking His Soul

It had been 12 hours since David last saw anyone, the bread still laid on the floor where it was thrown to him. While his anger had not subsided, he had regained some composure. So instead of punishing himself by sitting in the corner of the cold room, he instead laid on top of the straw bed to offer himself some kind of comfort. His stomach growled at him for going so long without food and for pushing his body so far. It didn't help that he was drained of so much blood earlier. But he was resolute, he refused to live as a slave. So, if the only form of resistance he could muster was to not eat, he would do it. Still it didn't help that his stomach was screaming for attention every single second, his only saving grace was the fact that he knew that if he went long enough without eating, he wouldn't get hungry anymore.

He didn't know why it happened to him that way, but in his first semester of college, to prepare for finals he spent 3 days non stop studying in preparation, his sleep was minimal, and he barely ate anything, by the third day he wasn't eating anything at all. It wasn't until after his first final that he even realized what he had done and decided to binge on food. This was David's only hope, he needed to outlast his captors. He didn't want to die, but he wanted some kind of concession, even if he had to work for these monsters as long as he was treated fairly, he would learn to live with it. That was his goal, that was his mission. 

It wasn't until the 12th hour of isolation that he realized how hard this would be, the maid from earlier returned, with more moldy bread, upon seeing that he hadn't touched the bread from earlier she turned to get the guard. David was too tired and hungry to pay attention to what they were saying to each other, it wasn't until the guard came over to his cell, opened it, and proceeded to beat him for not eating that he understood what kind of crazy place he was in. 

The beating lasted no more than ten minutes, however to David it felt like an eternity. After the guard left David was only half conscious, the pain was immense but since he could hardly move, he eventually managed to fall asleep again. 

The next day David managed to sleep through most of the day before being rudely woken up to more beatings, the same as yesterday he refused to eat the food they had given him. It hurt more the second time because they hit him in the same spots they had hit him yesterday. After the beating David found it extremely painful to use his left arm fully, he found he had a hard time moving it well. He cried for hours due to the pain but eventually fell asleep again due to exhaustion. 

Another day came and once again the beatings came, David was too weak and tired to fight back, and he barely had enough strength to defend himself. But even after the beating occurred his first thought was not the pain or even the hunger, by now his desire for water had trumped everything else, it was to the point that had David been offered a glass of water, even muddy gross water, he probably wouldn't be able to hold himself back. But despite his protests against food, they had not once even brought him water. Perhaps that was another form of torture, or perhaps they didn't even know he needed it. 

David strongly considered calling out for the guard to bring him water but found himself too beaten, battered, and weakened to call out effectively. Even his arms somehow seemed more shriveled than he remembered, it didn't make sense he had only been down here for 2 days? 3 days? He wasn't exactly sure anymore. But he was sure that he rate of deterioration was far too fast, maybe it had something to do with losing so much blood prior to going on hunger strike, maybe it had to do with being in a dungeon with no sun, perhaps it was his imagination, but one thing was for sure, he was dying, slowly, but he was dying. All David could do now was sleep. So, sleep he did.

Possibly the next day, possibly later the same day, David was no longer sure, but eventually the maid came down but this time instead of carrying moldy bread she carried a brass dinner tray with real food on it, as she put it down in front of him a spread of food was reflected in his eyes, steak, bread, real soup! It was an actual meal, but the only thing David truly saw on that platter was a mug, a mug of liquid, ale? Beer? Muddy water? It didn't matter, he only cared about getting a drink.

The maid left the room and David slowly crawled over to the platter. He grabbed the mug with both his hands and saw just how violently his hand shook as he picked it up, by the time the liquid had reached his mouth less than half of the contents were still inside it. Even when he tried to drink it only half of that made it into his mouth. The rest either remained splattered on his worn clothes or dribbled down his face. It wasn't much but even that little bit of liquid was something, the only problem is that it made him crave more, but he was still too weak to call for help so he succumbed and passed out. He was awoken to the sound of the cell door opening, two guards this time have brought a chair with buckles on the arms and legs, they sit him down in the chair and strap him in. David's mind, still groggy, didn't understand what they were doing until they started shoving food into his mouth. He tries his best to struggle, to protest but he is firmly strapped in and too weak to put up a fight. As they force him to chew, they massage his throat to help the food go down, the way you help a dog take medicine.

David was having a hard time coming to terms with this and by the time they finished feeding him and got him out of the chair, David had just turned off his mind. He wanted to just lay on the floor forever, so he continued to lay there until he passed out. 

The next feeding time came shortly after his daily beatings, this time they were more focused on his ribs then hitting him randomly. He couldn't tell if his ribs had been bruised, broken, fractured, or just hurt, but he knew he was in pain. The forced feeding came shortly afterwards. The next beating was isolated from his feeding so the guard had more time to enjoy himself, David noted that this was a different guard from normal as this more seemed to be laughing while he beat him, he also hit David on the head a lot. Even before his beating was over David passed out. He was only awoken later when they came to feed him, they have learned it's easier to feed him soup or liquid foods rather than hard foods so they don't have to force him to chew. David no longer struggled when he was force fed, he just sat there, motionless while they forced food down his throat. 

The next beating was short because Maria came to visit today, so before her visit, the guard had to wrap things up. Maria only stayed for a very short time, her eyes had a troubled look to them, maybe pity? Maybe disgust? David wasn't sure, he didn't even know why she came, was it to suck his blood but he looked too weak? Was it to mock him for falling so low? He didn't know, nor did he care; he just wanted to sleep. But it was hard to get sleep that night with all the yelling, it seemed like the whole household was up in arms or something, or maybe it was just one person, David had long since stopped caring for such things. Eventually rest found him.

The next several days? Weeks? Months? David had no longer a concept of time at all, he once tracked it by the number of times they beat him since they used to do it about once a day, but now sometimes they will do it multiple times a day and sometimes not at all. Still though, at some point they throw one piece of moldy bread into his cell, which David does not eat. David couldn't think clearly, his mind was already far too muddled to think well at all, he hardly noticed the bread that they threw into the cage with him. There was one odd visit from Maria when she came down to drink his blood, the whole encounter lasted a very short time, she seemed to not drink so much that he passed out, but what he found the most odd was how little he felt it. The feeling of the teeth puncturing his skin was like watching someone else get pricked with a needle, and the sense of euphoria he got from last time was nonexistent. 

After the visit from Maria a strange thing happened, he no longer felt it when he was hit. Or to be more precise when the beatings came it was more like an echo of a beating. He knew he was being hit, he knew it should hurt, but he didn't really feel like anything. Like watching someone else get beat in a movie. It was strange. It was also harder for David to move his body, like there was a delay in the things he wanted to do and when he did them. He was getting better, his body was filling out a bit, and his complexion had returned but this delay was really puzzling to him, but it's not like he had anywhere to go so he just ignored it. 

More time passed and more beatings occurred, it became a routine for David he no longer cared where he was, he no longer cared why they were beating him, he no longer cared that he was being beaten. He had completely lost all sense of reason, this was his life, this was all he knew, he no longer cared about anything else. Then one day, a different maid came and brought some bread, it was not moldy, burnt or trampled, it was a regular loaf of bread. Perhaps it was because it was a real piece of bread and not the normal one, or perhaps because it was a different maid, or perhaps because David had long since stopped caring about his life, or perhaps for all these reasons, David ate the bread. David didn't realize it yet but by eating the bread he had saved himself from this endless cycle.

After David ate the bread, he fell asleep, he slept for what seemed like a long time before being awoken to the sound of keys jingling, he knew what this meant, it was time for a beating, but David didn't care, he no longer felt the beatings, watching them from afar like they were someone else's doing. But to his surprise, he noticed two small gentle hands were placed gingerly on his arms, he looked over to see the young maid from earlier or yesterday or whenever it was that he ate the bread. She helped him up and led him towards the cell exit, the guard standing by the jail door holding it open. David doesn't understand what's going on, why is he being led out of here? What's the purpose? When is he going to be beat? How are they going to feed him if he isn't down there? Is there even food up those stairs?

Led by the young maid, they went up the stairs and through the corridor once again. The images of the corridor slowly sparked some memories from within him about where he was and what was going on. But he still felt too distant from the events happening to question it. He was led to a large room with marble floors and a large square indent in the floor with water in it. A tub. The maid sheepishly let go of David and backed off, gesturing that he enter the tub. David understands what she meant so he just entered the tub with his clothes still on. The maid seems flustered for a while but eventually composes herself and bowed out of the room. David just sat there in the hot water, for what seems like ages, he can tell the water is doing something to his body but he can't tell what, is he soaking the water in, or is the water sucking something out? There is a lot of black water that is forming around him, but he just figures that someone would have told him what to do if they wanted him to do something, so he just sits there.

After a while the young maid comes back in and sees David still just sitting in the tub where she left him. She quickly runs over to him, looks at him troubled and then rushes to pull him out. David doesn't understand what the urgency is after all it's just water, more water than he ever remembers seeing while he was in the dark, but it's just water, but upon further inspection of himself he sees his complexion is noticeably redder. 

"Oh, I remember." David thought to himself "I was sitting in hot water too long, that's why it's a problem." Still, despite his noticeably red skin he doesn't feel hurt, or even hot, in fact David doesn't feel anything at all, he found it weird that he can't feel the heat of the tub, he didn't even notice it was hot until now, only now that he is looking does he see the steam rising off of the water.

The maid then set out a pair of fresh clothing for him, the outfit looks like a black suit but significantly less well tailored, not that he cared, upon seeing the fresh clothes laid out for him he immediately goes about removing his clothes. The maid, once again flustered, quickly turned around and covered her eyes. David can't understand what her problem is, she is the one that laid out his clothes, why is the fact that he is going to wear them a problem? It doesn't matter, despite the delay between his thoughts and actions he is able to rather easily put on the new set of clothes, leaving the old ones laying on the floor. The maid peeked between her fingers as she turned around to see David dressed in his new clothes, however several things on his outfit are not buttoned, tightened, or straightened. She immediately set out to fix his clothing, even going so far as to straighten his hair, and pick a few pieces of fluff off of his clothes.

After she is done she takes a few steps back and admires her handiwork, she smiled to herself and then led David along with her down the corridor, past several rooms, past the grand double staircase at the entrance, down another hall back into the throne room where David first appeared. There, on the throne sat Maria's father. There were several other people present as well though David did not process who they were. The Duke looked upon David and spoke calmly.

"Kneel." David didn't mind, compared to laying on the cold brick this wooden floor was much more comfortable, besides he has already done much more walking than he has done in a very long time, so kneeling seemed easy. 

There was only a one second pause before David slowly kneeled before him. A smug grin came over his face. He reveled in the moment for several seconds before standing and speaking. 

"Here me, from this day forth, this human is a servant in this house, he will be at the bottom rung of the servants and be at the beck and call of my daughter, Maria." David wasn't exactly sure what he meant, does this mean that he was now working for them? Does this mean he has to do what they say? He already does so what's the difference? He was still very confused when he was told to once again stand, which he did immediately.

"You may leave, go see the head butler for your duties." Maria's father said to David. He nodded and then walked off to find the head butler. Behind him he could still hear people talking but it didn't matter to him what they were saying. At the end of the corridor he saw the door that he once looked at from afar when he first arrived, the door that he tried to run to in order to gain freedom. But that seems like such a long time ago, he barely remembers why he was trying to escape in the first place. He opened the door and on the other side the head butler was standing there scowling at him. He shoved a mop and bucket in his hands and told him to go mop the floors. David wasn't sure which floors he was talking about, so he just started mopping. The head butler, seemingly with nothing to say, stormed off away from David, leaving him there alone. That is until Maria showed up in front of him.

For Maria this past month had been an agonizing one, many nights were sleepless, and she had gotten into many passionate arguments with her father over the young man's treatment. She wasn't completely sure of the details of what they were doing to him down there, but she knew it wasn't pleasant. After the first few days she had mustered the courage to go down to see him and was appalled by what she saw. This human was now almost like a withered husk, she wasn't sure why his body had shriveled so much in such a short time, but she doubted it was natural. It was such a pitiful sight that she couldn't stay there for more than a few moments. afterwards she got into a huge argument with her father over what she saw, he neither confirmed nor denied that the withering of his body had anything to do with magic. And her father had, stubbornly, refused to back down on any of the issues she brought up. However, she had gotten him to make a promise to make sure he is fed properly. The thought of him withering away like he had scared her and deeply troubled her. 

After a few weeks had passed her father requested that she go down and drink some blood to stave off her curse. She was hesitant, after all the last time she went down she saw him in such a pitiful state, but her instincts got the better of her, and just imagining the taste of the sweet ambrosia again got her mouth watering. This time when she went down to see him, he was in much better shape, no longer withering away, his body had stabilized at being skinny, however when she looked into his eyes it was like there was nothing there, there was no life behind his eyes. However, she still had something to do so she swallowed her fears and regrets and went in for a drink. But unlike the first time when she bit into his neck and could feel his sense of euphoria and enjoyment, this time she felt nothing from him, not a shiver of his flesh as she bit, not the sense of joy as her fangs began their work, she felt nothing from him. This managed to even sour the taste of the blood, it was by no means bad, but what once was a sweet ambrosia that was unparalleled, was now little more than a sweet nectar, most of what made it such a rush the first time was gone, it merely tasted... good. 

After she left, she once again got into another argument with her father, he was still mistreating him, she knew that now. Hearing that he was being treated so… inhumanely was too much for her. The lifelessness behind his eyes was something that kept her up that night, somehow those eyes kept staring back at her, and even the little sleep she did get was full of nightmares of his lifeless eyes. It took her several days to get them out of her head. 

Over a month after the young man's escape, she was informed by her father that he was set to be released that day, she was caught off guard by her father's sudden declaration. She wasn't mentally prepared, she didn't have a dress picked out to see him in, she didn't have time to do her hair, or pick out jewelry. But as she was thinking about this, she thought about how it didn't matter what her pet saw her wearing, after all it's just an it, right? That was what her father had convinced her to believe. This was not a normal human but something else. Something about that didn't sit right with her, but she wasn't sure why. She was feeling a torrent of emotions when it came to dealing with this matter. In the end she rationalized it as meeting an important new servant for her family so first impressions mattered, even if they had already seen each other several times before. But to compromise due to her lack of time she decided that her hair could be done quickly, and a dress picked by her maids. The rest she could do herself. So, by the time she had finished preparing herself, left her room, and headed down the hall to the assembly room where her father was receiving the young man, she was very late. That's when she saw him mopping the floor outside the door by himself.

David turned around to see Maria standing there, dressed in a beautiful blue dress, her hair was tied in braids, and she had a small ruby necklace that matched her eyes. In short, she was stunningly beautiful, he had thought that from the moment he had laid his eyes on her, and this time was no different. However, while there was no doubt, she was objectively beautiful, what had once stirred passion inside of him, now laid dormant, her beauty, no matter how stunning, brought forth no emotions from him. He stared at her with the same look he had been giving everyone since they had thrown him down in the dark. Even if he didn't know what to call it, it was, simply, a dispassionate and cold gaze.

Maria, upon seeing David for the first time in a while was stunned at what she saw, fresh clothes, recently bathed and smelling of lilacs, with no dirt or blood on him, his hair well kept. She thought this when she first saw him, but for a human he was a rather attractive fellow. Even now a small ember burned inside her when she gazed upon him. However, then her view shifted to his eyes once more. And like the last time she saw him, his eyes were lifeless, there was no soul, no passion, no light behind his eyes. And somehow that hurt her deeply.

David wasn't sure what to say to Maria when she approached him, was he supposed to bow? Kneel like her father had him do? Was he supposed to keep his mouth shut until she talked to him, David had just about decided to ignore her and go about his work when she opened her mouth and spoke to him. 

"How are you?"