NOVEL NEXT Chapter 27: Torture (⚠️)
⚠️ Content Warning:1
This chapter contains extreme violence, graphic depictions of torture, and detailed descriptions of physical harm.1
Reader discretion is strongly advised.1
"Get up!" the guard's harsh voice echoed as his heavy boot slammed against the bars. The metal groaned, and the sound reverberated through the dark room.
Kai's eyes shot open and he sat up abruptly, his heart pounding in his chest. "I think I had a nightmare…" he thought, still half-dazed, stretching and letting out a quiet yawn.
He turned toward his sister, who was still asleep, curled up on the cold stone floor. Kneeling down beside her, he gently placed a hand on her shoulder and began to shake her lightly.
"Come on, sis… wake up."
His voice was soft, despite the situation they were in.
Mei slowly opened her eyes. She glanced around in confusion and whispered, "Why are you waking me up…?"
Kai opened his mouth to say more, but suddenly he was cut off by the piercing screech of old hinges.
"Out!" the guard barked as he flung the cell door wide open.
Brother and sister exchanged a look, then silently moved toward the exit. Their footsteps echoed against the stone tiles, the air thick with the stench of rust and dampness. As soon as they stepped outside, the guard approached and clamped cold, heavy shackles onto their wrists.
Without a single explanation, he led them down the hallway. They walked in silence, the only sounds the rattle of chains and the dull thud of the guard's boots. After some time, they finally arrived at massive iron doors.
The guard pushed the heavy door open just a crack and gestured for them to step inside first. Kai and Mei shared a brief, worried glance before crossing the threshold.
What awaited them on the other side was something neither of them could have imagined, not even in their worst nightmares.
The room was sealed off, windowless, its walls made of cold stone fractured with damp cracks. The air was suffocating, filled with the stench of rust and sweat, while cobwebs and dust gathered in the corners. A faint light flickered from a single lamp hanging from a chain, casting stretched, distorted shadows across the floor.
In the center of the room stood a wooden chair with leather straps. Shackles and chains dangled from the walls, and the floor was stained with dark patches that refused to disappear no matter how many times they had been scrubbed. In one corner, a makeshift table was piled with rusted tools—pliers, hooks, blades.
An eerie silence ruled the room, broken only by the dripping of water from the ceiling and the screech of chains whenever they shifted. Everything in that place seemed to wait patiently for the next victim to leave a part of themselves forever within those cursed walls.
A flash of memory exploded in Mei's head.
Hallucination of Vex stood before her, his shadow stretching long across the stone. His eyes gleamed with that same cruel delight, the one burned into her nightmares.
Her chest tightened, lungs refusing to pull in air. "No… not again. Not him."
Her legs gave out beneath her and she crashed onto the floor, palms scraping against the rough stone as she scrambled backward like a cornered animal.
"AHHHHH!" Her scream tore from her throat, raw and desperate, echoing off the walls like a cry from hell itself.
She bolted upright and ran, legs shaking, her breath ragged. Panic surged in every nerve, her mind screaming only one truth:
"I'm not going back there again!" Mei thought desperately as she sprinted as fast as her legs would carry her.
The guard merely glanced at her, unfazed by her attempt to escape. Raising his hand toward her, he commanded:
"SHOCK!"
The shackles around her wrists crackled, and a surge of electricity ripped through her body. Pain exploded everywhere at once, and she collapsed to the ground, trembling violently under the shock's intensity.
"Mei…!" Kai shouted, his leg jerking forward as if to run to her. But he froze the instant he saw the icy grin on the guard's face. He knew all too well—if he tried to help, he'd be shocked too.
Mei lay sprawled on the cold stone floor, her breathing shallow and uneven. "What are you waiting for…? Help me… Idiot…" she thought weakly.
"Get up already!" the guard roared, grabbing her roughly by the arm and dragging her toward the torture chamber.
"NO! I DON'T WANT TO! LET ME GO!" Mei screamed, her voice cracking as her knees scraped across the ground.
Kai stood frozen in place. His heart pounded painfully, each breath heavier than the last. "I'm sorry, sis… I know how much it hurts, but I can't do anything…" he thought, guilt clawing at him as he followed in silence. He had no other choice.
When they reached the room, both were shoved into chairs. The leather straps tightened around their wrists and ankles, pinning them against the cold metal frames.
Tears welled up in Mei's eyes, sliding down her cheeks before dripping onto the floor.
"I don't want this…" she whispered, her voice so faint it was almost lost in the suffocating silence.
Kai looked at her, his heart aching at the sight of his sister's suffering. "Don't worry. Everything will be alright!" he tried to console her.
Mei just stared back. She was shattered. The traumas kept returning, over and over, tearing her apart mentally.
Kai wanted to say more to calm her, but suddenly the sound of a door opening cut through the room. Another Elf entered—this one with a black sack over his head and a whip in hand.
He approached them. "Well…" His voice was deep and sharp. "Do you admit to being spies for Dravarn?" the torturer asked.
"NEVER!" Kai shouted, staring straight at the black sack on the figure's face.
"I thought this would be easy, but it seems I'll have to make you spit out a confession," the torturer said, throwing the whip to the floor.
"Put something in their mouths!" he added, glancing at the table of tools.
The guard standing beside Kai grabbed two pieces of cloth and forced them into Kai and Mei's mouths so they wouldn't bite their tongues.
The torturer picked up a heavy metal hammer from the tools table, then turned to the guard. "Cast the regeneration spell on them!"
Fear was written all over Kai's face. With regeneration, they wouldn't die—but they would feel the full force of every strike.
The torturer raised the hammer high and smashed it down onto Kai's head. The crack of his skull was sickening, the metallic impact sharp and horrifying.
THUD!!!
It echoed through the chamber. Tears streamed down Kai's cheeks as he tried to scream, but only muffled, high-pitched cries escaped the cloth gag.
His sister watched in horror as Kai struggled against the restraints — the only things keeping him from freedom.
"I'm just getting started!" the torturer laughed, striking Kai again and again, relentlessly.
At the sound of metal hammering against his brother's skull, Mei's stomach twisted violently. Her head jerked forward, and everything she had eaten yesterday forced its way up her throat.
She jerked her head again, and the vomit poured back into her mouth. The cloth gag soaked with half-digested food, which continued to drip from her mouth.
She tried to swallow, but it only came back up.
Kai's eyes were empty, broken. Each strike crushed his skull, but the regeneration spell forced it to heal immediately, refusing him the release of death.
THUD!!! THUD!!! THUD!!! THUD!!! THUD!!!
The hammer pounded again and again, growing more merciless with every blow.
The torturer grew bored and set the hammer down. He rummaged through the tools, searching for something "more fun."
"Eeny, meeny, miney… I choose you!" he said, picking up a pair of blunt pliers.
He approached Kai and clamped them to the nails of his hand. "Will you confess now?" he asked.
Pain etched Kai's face. Sweat mingled with tears on his cheeks. Still, he shook his head.
"I will never admit to such a lie…" he thought.
"Alright, then I'll continue…" the torturer said, pressing the pliers down and cutting into Kai's nails and nerves.
Kai bit down harder on the cloth in his mouth, trying to suppress the pain that surged through him.
Mei watched, still struggling with the food spilling from her mouth. Her uniform was soaked and slimy from the stomach acids. The undigested mess dripped down her bare legs, forming a disgusting puddle.
Both wanted to scream, to cry, or even speak, but the stupid cloth in their mouths prevented any sound.
The torturer grew bored again, returning the pliers to the table. He paused, then grabbed a rope and approached Mei from behind. He looped it around her shoulders and neck, then pulled with all his strength, choking her.
Kai shook his chair frantically, trying to tell the torturer to let Mei go, but the man ignored him, pulling the rope even tighter.
"Let go of my sister!" Kai screamed in his mind.
"Brother…!" Mei screamed in her head, looking at Kai. Her eyes rolled back, her face turning blue.
Finally, the torturer decided to let her go. He dropped the rope and stepped in front of them.
Mei began to breathe again, her rapid inhalations helping her brother calm—at least a little.
"Well… will you confess now?" the torturer asked.
Kai and Mei shook their heads simultaneously, still refusing to admit the lie.
"Free them… we'll continue tomorrow," the torturer said, as the guard began removing their straps. He shackled them again and pulled the cloth from their mouths.
The remnants of Mei's dinner fell onto her lap.
Kai and Mei were taken back to their cell, mentally broken.
Their eyes were bloodshot, filled with pain and grief.
"That… that sound… the sound of the hammer smashing into my brother's skull is the most disgusting thing I've ever heard. The most terrifying sound my ears have ever experienced," Mei thought, clutching her head and remembering the horrifying noise.
Kai hugged her tightly, his tears soaking into her hair. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry I couldn't protect you," he whispered softly.
THIS ISN'T A JOKE
THIS ISN'T A JOKE
THIS ISN'T A JOKE