White room. White ceiling. White floor.
It had all been white once.
Before it was stained red with my blood.
The room was strangely warm, almost out of place, considering the cold reality of my situation. There was a table beside the man, my tormentor, and in front of me stood a large mirror.
It reflected everything.
Me, suspended by chains from all my limbs. My body covered in blood, bruises, and agony.
The sight was unbearable, yet I couldn't look away. The chains dug into my skin, cutting deeper every time I moved.
-Drip. Drip. Drip.
Blood continued to drip from my mouth, down my chin, onto the cold white floor. I could taste the metallic tang of it, mixed with the freezing cold of the ice that still burned in my mouth.
-Hurff... Hurfff!
I gasped for breath, my body trembling from the overwhelming pain. My voice cracked, my throat too dry and too damaged to scream anymore.
[Enough. Please… no more.]
My thoughts screamed louder than my voice ever could. I was on the edge of breaking, on the verge of death. I could feel it.
[I can't take this anymore. I'll die if this keeps going.]
But even as I whispered those words, he didn't care. He didn't hear my pleas. My tormentor's sadistic smile only grew wider, his eyes reflecting nothing but malice.
"Now, now, we're just getting started."
His voice slithered through the air like poison.
[Started? No, please no...]
The man's twisted smile never faltered as he spoke again, his voice chilling me to the core.
"You know, there's this manga I read once. The protagonist peeled off the skin of his bully's abdomen. What do you think about that?"
My heart stopped. My blood ran cold.
Was he really going to do it again? Was I going to be skinned alive again?
[No... No. No. No. No...]
I shook my head, fear consuming me.
"But the bully in that manga didn't have regenerative abilities like you," he said, tilting his head as if he were pondering some trivial matter.
"What to do... What to do..."
I could see the twisted joy in his eyes, as if my torment was some kind of puzzle for him to solve. His fingers brushed against his chin as he pretended to think deeply.
Suddenly, his eyes gleamed with excitement.
"Oh, don't worry about it. I've got something special for you."
He pulled out a syringe, already prepared, the needle glinting under the harsh lights.
"Hehehe... What do you think this does? Oh, I won't tell you just yet. You'll have to experience it first."
His laugh was maniacal, echoing in my ears. I felt the blood drain from my face as he moved closer.
[No... No, no, no...]
But my body was too weak to resist. The drug they'd been injecting me with had left me powerless, and I watched helplessly as he grabbed my right arm.
-Sssskt.
The needle pierced my skin, and the syringe emptied its contents into my veins. There was no immediate pain, just the dull sensation of liquid spreading through my body.
For a moment, everything seemed fine. Then it hit me.
"ERRRRHHHHH!"
A scream tore through my throat as every vein in my body seemed to explode at once. The pain was unimaginable. Black, twisting streams of something dark oozed out of my veins, spreading from my legs to my head.
[What is happening to me?!]
I could feel it. My body was breaking apart from the inside. My blood vessels bulged grotesquely beneath my skin, tearing apart and reforming again and again.
My blood… it was changing. Slowly, the red turned into a sickening gray.
[What is this?!]
It felt like something was ripping my soul out, piece by piece. My mind was screaming, every nerve alight with excruciating pain.
-Grind... Grind...
I clenched my teeth, biting down so hard that blood started to flow from my lips. But the pain didn't stop. It was worse than anything I'd ever experienced.
My muscles twisted, my bones felt like they were snapping. My skin was burning, and yet I was freezing cold. The black veins pulsed, as if trying to escape from under my skin.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the pain began to fade. My body was left trembling, drenched in sweat and blood.
The man's voice pierced the silence.
"Welcome."
[Wel…come?]
I barely understood the word, my mind too foggy from the pain.
"Yes, welcome to the beginning of the end."
I stared at him, my vision hazy, as he turned to glance at the table beside him. My heart stopped again when I saw what he was looking at.
A peeler.
[No... not again...]
The memory of the last time he skinned me alive flashed through my mind, a nightmare I couldn't escape. My stomach churned with terror.
"What are you planning to do with that peeler?"
He smiled, that wicked smile that chilled me to the core.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm going to peel off your skin... while you watch."
[Why... why is this happening again?!]
My voice broke as I tried to speak, but he silenced me with a single finger to my lips.
"Shh. Don't make any noise. It's starting."
-Ssskkkt.
The sound of the peeler cutting into my flesh echoed in the room.
"AAAAARRRRHHHH!"
My scream tore through the air as I felt my skin being peeled from my abdomen. The pain was so intense, it felt like my nerves were being set on fire.
But something was wrong.
[Why isn't it regenerating?!]
My skin wasn't healing. It wasn't growing back.
I could see the raw, exposed nerves underneath my peeled skin.
[What is happening? Am I going to die?]
"It's a special drug," the man said, his voice dripping with satisfaction.
"It completely suppresses your regenerative abilities."
[No...]
The realization hit me like a brick.
[Am I going to die? I don't want to die...]
Strangely, even after all this suffering, the fear of death gripped me harder than ever.
The man's voice cut through my spiraling thoughts.
"Touch the nerves that are exposed after peeling, and you'll feel like you're in heaven."
The peeling continued. More skin was stripped away, more exposed nerves revealed.
"AAAAHHHHHH!"
My voice was raw, my throat burning from screaming, but the pain just wouldn't stop.
The man laughed, enjoying every second of my torment.
[I don't want this! I don't want to feel this anymore!]
[Please... stop this. Please, let me die peacefully...]
I cried, begged, shattered. But he didn't stop. He never would.
-Ssskkkt.
The sound of peeling continued.