Chapter Text
“Please, just let me die!”
The words came out strangled and desperate, all the air pushing out of Ranboo’s lungs to make the plea as loud and attention-grabbing as possible. Everything in this moment was too much. The wires digging into his wrists, keeping him pinned to his makeshift cross. The tears flooding their vision, making the figure of Hetch looming behind the camera blurry and all the more ominous. The camera, staring into his panicked face, like an executioner devoid of emotion. And as if their torture wasn’t enough, if the pit in his stomach wasn’t too heavy and the nausea in his throat wasn’t too strong, if their suffering wasn’t entertaining enough, then came the memories.
A flash of red light blurred in Ranboo’s tear-soaked vision. He barely had time to choke out another sob before everything started flashing. Their torture room suddenly faded, now replaced with what looked like moments from a movie. No, not a movie–he knew these moments.
His lungs burned as he stopped breathing, all of their memories suddenly flashing in his mind.
His home. His family. The smile of their mother. The warmth of their father’s embrace. His friends, before they became whatever Showfall wanted them to be. The brief warmth of the thoughts turned sour fast. Longing faded into illness as the pictures disappeared, replaced again with the cold hellscape of his deathbed. Hetch’s mask stared at Ranboo almost tauntingly. In his hand was a small remote, next to him a laptop. He glanced down at the screen for a moment before looking back up, waving the remote at Ranboo like a sick reminder of what he could–no, would do.
All the memories still fresh and heavy in the back of his mind, Ranboo took as deep a breath as his lungs would allow, and cried out once more. “Please, just let me die! I don’t wanna keep doing this! Let me die!”
Their head lolled as much as it could with the base of the small Iron Maiden keeping him upright. He watched for a moment as Hetch typed something on the laptop, the remote threatening to slip from his hand. Tired and battered, Ranboo fell as limp as he could, unable to muster up the strength to do much else but sob. Hetch’s voice filled the room, but the sound was muted and distant in Ranboo’s ears.
For a moment, the knot in their stomach loosened. The nausea subsided. Breathing became easier as some twisted form of peace washed over his being. The last thing he saw was the sharp metal of a thousand spikes racing towards their face. Pain seared through his entire body. Metal crunched and wires sparked. Sticky blood ran warm and disgusting everywhere. But it was only for a moment.
And just as soon as it had started, the pain ended as the memories faded and the world went black.