Some say pain gradually fades if you get used to it.
But that's a bullshit. A lie told by people who've never been through this.
It still hurts. Every single time, it still hurts like hell.
There's no getting used to this thing called pain.
I've learned that from long experience.
CRACK!
The sound of my tooth being pulled from its socket echoed in the white room, followed by my own scream.
"ARRRRRRRRHHH!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, my voice broken, hoarse. It felt like my throat would rip apart, but the man kept pulling.
Pulk Pulk Pulk Pulk Pulk!
One by one, my teeth were yanked out, blood gushing from my gums. But it didn't matter.
The teeth grew back.
And he kept pulling.
-ARRRRRRRHHH!
I screamed again, my voice shaking with agony. The tears had long since dried, leaving nothing but raw pain. The cycle repeated over and over.
I couldn't tell how many times I'd gone through this.
Time didn't matter anymore.
All that existed was the pain.
My throat burned, my body convulsed. But still, the man didn't stop.
And I never got used to it.
At some point, I must have blacked out. The pain was too much. I could feel nothing.
But when I woke up again, I wished I hadn't.
I was hanging by my arms, both wrists tied tightly to ropes that stretched upward. My legs were bound too, leaving me suspended in the air. I couldn't move.
And I was still naked.
Still like a prisoner.
I don't know what I did to deserve this. What crime had I committed? Why was I suffering so horribly?
I had no answers.
The man, my tormentor, hadn't spoken a word today. Usually, he remained silent, methodical in his cruelty. But something was different this time.
I kept my eyes shut, pretending I was still unconscious. Maybe if he thought I was still out, he wouldn't start again. Maybe he'd leave me alone.
[Please, don't notice.]
But my hopes were shattered when his voice cut through the silence.
"I know you're awake. Open your eyes. It's no use pretending."
His voice sent chills down my spine. It wasn't indifferent like before—it was filled with something darker. Malice.
"Open your eyes. Now."
His tone grew sharper, more threatening.
I kept pretending, kept my eyes closed, desperately clinging to the hope that he'd let me be. But I was terrified.
I could feel my heart pounding in my chest.
[Please... don't hurt me again.]
[I cannot... handle it anymore.]
Splash!
The sudden shock of freezing cold water hit me like a brick. My body shuddered uncontrollably, the ice-cold sensation seeping into my skin. I gasped, unable to suppress my reaction.
"AAAAHHH!" The sound ripped out of my throat, my body convulsing from the cold.
"See? I told you you were awake."
His voice was laced with amusement now. I could hear it in his words as he played with the hammer in his hand, his smile widening.
It wasn't a normal smile.
It was the kind of smile that shouldn't exist in this world. His lips stretched unnaturally wide, reaching his ears, while his eyes remained cold and indifferent.
[He looked like the devil himself.]
"Why… why are you doing this to me?"
My voice cracked as I spoke, barely a whisper. My body had healed, but my mind… my mind was broken. Even speaking felt like my soul was being ripped apart.
There were no words to describe the depth of my suffering.
The man chuckled softly.
"I wonder why."
He never answered. He never gave me a reason for this torment. But this time, he spoke more than usual.
"Don't worry about these insignificant things. The real game hasn't even started yet."
[What...?]
My mind struggled to process his words. The real game?
[This wasn't torture yet?]
But he didn't give me time to think.
"Let's start with this."
I watched in horror as he picked something up—a small object from his right hand. He moved closer, his footsteps slow and deliberate. My heart pounded wildly in my chest.
"Open your mouth. Say ahh."
I clenched my mouth shut, refusing to obey. I knew what would happen if I opened it. I couldn't bear it.
"Heh, still not cooperating?"
His voice dripped with amusement.
"Then let me help you."
With brutal force, he grabbed my jaw and pried my mouth open. I tried to resist, but I couldn't. The drug they injected into me earlier had left me powerless.
My muscles refused to move.
Swish!
I felt something cold, solid enter my mouth. Ice.
Ice cubes, one after another, packed into my mouth until I could barely breathe.
"Wat ar yn tring tuu duu wth ths cobe?"
I tried to speak, but the ice muffled my words, turning them into nonsense.
"Hehe. Don't worry."
He laughed, the sound chilling me to the bone.
"I'll entertain you with this ice... and the hammer."
I struggled to scream, to protest, but the ice made it impossible.
CRACK!
The hammer came down on the ice cubes, shattering them inside my mouth. The sharp edges of the broken ice cut into my gums, my tongue, my throat.
"ARRRRHHHHH!"
Blood mixed with the freezing cold, filling my mouth. I choked, gasping for breath as the pain spread.
CRACK!
The hammer came down again, harder this time. I could feel my teeth cracking under the pressure. The ice was like shards of glass now, slicing through the inside of my mouth.
"AAAHHHHH!"
Tears streamed down my face, but there was no escape. The pain was everywhere, from the cold biting into my skin to the blood flowing from my torn mouth.
I was tied up, bound so tightly I couldn't even move. My arms stretched above my head, my legs tied at awkward angles. Every movement sent waves of pain through my limbs, but there was nothing I could do.
I was his prisoner. His plaything.
And the torture wasn't over.
The blood in my mouth flowed freely now, dripping down my chin and onto the cold floor below. I could taste it, mixed with the bitter cold of the ice.
"Now, now," he whispered, his breath warm against my ear, in contrast to the freezing cold of the water and ice.
"We're just getting started."