by Dean Jones
The two on his right arm, the closest with blonde hair the other was the man with the goatee beard. They were roughly the same height; both had blue eyes like Seth only not as piercing. One thing that stood out was they certainly didn’t have an air of professional government agents which struck him again as strange, it wasn’t quite adding up.
Seth’s instincts were still sharp even though his mind was clouded with thoughts and memories which didn’t always make sense leaving him muddled but his intellect remained, and his subconscious mind still had tricks it could use to buy him the time he needed, as the longer he was awake and being dragged the more things seemed to clear up.
He wasn’t interested in going to where these men seemed keen to take him but part of his mind, the bit filled with guilt and despair and that buzzing didn’t care and it was this part of his psyche which was currently in control. Occasionally clarity of thought burst through and Seth could control himself better.
Halfway down the corridor, he was dragged to the left around a corner and he took the time to re-orientate himself as the men struggled to negotiate the turn with Seth’s dead weight. He glanced up and saw the man leading the group had stopped several feet ahead and opened a door on the wall to the right. There were more doors he could see at intervals along the same wall further down the corridor which continued for a distance ahead. About ten meters down on the left-hand wall he could make out the distinctive profile of an elevator and he committed it to memory as a potential way out. He also assumed one of the doors probably lead to stairs.
The room he was taken into was no more than two meters square and when spotted the chair with straps a feeling of foreboding took hold, deep down he knew what was going to happen once he was in that chair…they intended to persuade him.
For a second, he felt clarity return and he knew if he was heavier he would have more time to think, after all, they were struggling with his bulk now. So, he decided he should be a little heavier…the effect was instant as all four men stumbled as Seth lowered his head and gritted his teeth.
“Bloody hell, what are you lot playing at?” the long-haired man shot a furious look back at the struggling group and his scathing gaze took in all the men as they tried to manoeuvre their deceptively heavy load.
“It wouldn’t hurt you to give a hand!” The man on his left arm mumbled, but not loud enough for him to be heard, so he thought. Seth had excellent hearing, however, and he sighed at this man’s cowardice.
The leader walked quickly back towards them, stopped and looked directly at Seth, there was hatred in this man’s eyes. Seth met his gaze blankly while he thought and tried to buy time. Why was he here? where was his family? why did this man claim they were dead? All these questions burned in his mind.
Seth heard whispers around him but even though they were close the hisses and cries seemed so distant he couldn’t pick them up clearly or discern anything from the sounds and so dismissed them as background noise.
The man stepped closer and his pointed face hardened as he glared at the men holding him. Seth felt them all tense in anticipation, but he said nothing, instead, he looked from each of them and then let his gaze fall back onto Seth's face. “Clever, aren’t you Seth?” he took a step closer and grabbed a hand full of Seth’s hair pulling it hard, so he had to look up.
Seth could see the crooked teeth in between thin lips, and a scar covering his neck which still appeared to be pink and healing so must have been a recent addition to this man. His grey hair hung down to frame his weasel-like features.
“You think I don’t know what you’re doing?” he pulled hard again on Seth’s hair and the venom in his words was clear.
“I know you, and I know all your little tricks. You think dragging your feet will help where your going do you? Making these pathetic excuses for men struggle give you kicks does it?” he bent closer to Seth and stared intently into his eyes apparently searching for something.
“You in there Seth? You trying to hide from me in the back of your weak little mind or has the shock of killing your wife and daughter sent you mad?” he considered Seth’s expression for a moment and looked hard into his eyes. Seth screamed in his mind as images of what had happened popped into his head. Conflicted he squeezed his eyes closed trying to drive the images away, why were they there, it wasn’t true he knew it, but he could seem to stop the pictures or the feelings from coming.
“You are still in there, I can see you!” He let go of Seth’s hair and straightened up. “Right, put the effort in or I’ll practice on you first to get me warmed up for pretty boy here!”
This sparked extra effort for the four dragging him, but they didn’t have to worry, Seth’s melancholy had returned with vigour and his internal battles subsided whilst he sank deeper into the recess of his mind to try to escape the pain he felt and try to conserve his energy for whatever they were planning to do to him.
Seth let his mind wander as it tried to work out the sequence of events which had led him to be in this position.
He cast his mind back but each time he tried he saw an image of his beautiful daughter, her silky black hair charred and her lying lifeless in his wife’s bloodied arms. The pain of the memory sent his mind into retreat but not before a slight tinge of confusion flickered across the memory as it didn’t add up. As fast as the flicker arrived it was gone and with the emptiness now in his heart, Seth knew whatever these men decided to do to him he probably deserved it after all he had done worse.
Seth was heaved into the chair he’d seen and as they secured the straps over his wrists and ankles he noticed there were several metallic implements resting on a table which stood beside it. It reminded Seth of a dentist surgery.
He glanced around the walls and was not surprised to see instruments and tools hanging from racks. There were devices with wires protruding from connections he couldn’t quite make out and several bottles filled with clear chemicals with syringes lined up next to them.
A thought occurred to Seth, maybe there’s adrenaline in the bottles? This would make sense as he’d seen adrenaline used to keep someone awake through crippling pain whilst being asked for information. It was another memory which came unbidden, but Seth could place it into his life, he didn’t know when he’d seen this event take place or how it was connected to him.
“Put him in the chair gentlemen, it’s time for Mr Goodman to give us all the answers we want!” a familiar voice instructed.
Seth swivelled his head to the source of the voice and was greeted by agent Harvey standing to one side of the room, hatred clearly written across his face and now sporting a sling carrying his broken arm.
Agent Harvey moved to stand in front of Seth, a sadistic grin creeping across his face as he rubbed his broken arm. Clearly, he was thinking of retribution for his own injury, but Seth didn’t care and sagged back into the chair to wait.
“So, Agent Hector, you have your instructions I do believe?” agent Harvey asked the man who had been directing his movement to the room.
The man, Hector, nodded eagerly as he pulled on some protective latex gloves.
“Excellent. Right then Mr Goodman, shall we begin?” it wasn’t really a question which required Seth to answer, given his situation. Seth considered saying ‘no’ but inside he knew how these things went and torturers required an emotional response for them to focus on when doing their work.
Seth considered his options and decided, indifference was all he felt. He shrugged his shoulders to show he couldn’t care less; after all, he was in more pain emotionally than this man could even dream of inflicting physically.
Hector laughed, “same old Seth, I’ve seen the pain and suffering you’ve left behind you over the years and I’ve seen the people you’ve punished, they always remember you with that same look on your face...you really don’t care do you?”
The question was lost on Seth as so many memories filled his mind, Seth tried to select the right one which would enable him to recall a time when he h
ad done things he wasn’t particularly proud of which would fit the statement Hector had just made. But the memories he recalled seemed to be from so long ago this man didn’t appear old enough to have been there. Seth became confused at the images and time frames as it didn't seem to fit, he could recall very little, but flashes of events and faces popped into his head to be quickly replaced by the images of his wife and child lying lifeless among piles of other bodies. Each time he tried to hold on to a memory the buzzing in his head intensified and after a few seconds he abandoned the attempt and accepted Hector’s statement and prepared himself for what was coming.
“OK Seth, I know you won’t answer me but just for old times’ sake I’ll ask anyway….how did you kill all those people, what did you do?” he left the question hanging for a moment and walked around to the table beside the chair and lifted up a steel claw hammer with an wooden handle.
“Nope, don’t want to talk? Well, let’s see if I can encourage you?”
Seth sighed and relaxed waiting for what was coming. He watched as the hammer was raised and considered it as it descended. Will the physical pain, I’m about to experience, take away this ceaseless buzzing? he wondered.
The pain scorched through his arm as the hammer head struck his hand and the sound of splintering bone and squelching tissue filled his ears. Seth looked down at his hand and then glanced back to Hector who was repositioning the hammer to swing again. Strangely the only real thought was one of confusion, Seth couldn’t recall seeing the hammer hit. Deep in his mind, however, he was screaming like an animal and cursing this man with everything that made him human, rage building only for his desolation to dampen the flames each time they reached the point where his fury wanted to take hold of Seth’s conscious thoughts. And he was disappointed as the buzzing didn’t go away!
Hector saw the look of disappointment on Seth’s face and shook his head.
“You really are mad Seth, how far will you let me go before you tell me what we want to know? Not even you can put up with the pain indefinitely!” Seth watched the hammer come down again on his broken hand and as a flicker of pain shot across his face, a solitary tear forced its way out of his eye.
“How did you kill them? Tell me!” he screamed whilst he raised the hammer again high above his head and brought it down onto Seth's kneecap with two hands. Seth threw his head back and resisted the urge to vocalise the pain, which he knew was clearly visible on his face.
He heard Hector laugh, and it was quickly followed by another wave of pain as the hammer was again driven into his shattered knee.
“This can stop anytime Mr Goodman” sounded the drawl of Agent Harvey, who was clearly enjoying the show.
“Just tell us what we want to know and our mutual friend, Hector, will stop and I can get doctor Garrett to come in and patch these little bumps up for you, and then you can be on your way.” Seth forced his eyes open and looked directly at Harvey. Again, the sounds of hissing filled his ears but this time he could make out words which sounded familiar, pain bringing clarity to his mind.
Seth listened intently and could just make out “Master, hear us” being hissed into his ear but his concentration was broken by another blow from Hector's hammer.
Harvey continued with his ‘good cop’ part in this routine “I’m sure you’ll want to be at the funeral, after all, to see them buried will go a long way to help the healing process!”
Seth felt the words cut him as well as any knife and his mind focused on allowing emotion to rush forwards. Pain and anger were filling him and with them, the self-pity and guilt were, for now, pushed back.
“Who are you? Why are you lying?” Seth forced the words out in a guttural scream and strained at the straps holding him in the chair. He could hear the chair groaning under his efforts and slowly he began to put as much of his strength into getting at least one arm free, so he could grab this man and crush the life from him.
Harvey flinched and took a step back at the sight and Seth took pleasure in the sight and continued to force his arms up against the straps which bound him to the chair. There was a creaking sound as the pressure started to have an effect, it was only a matter of time until his hands were free and then he could get to work on this nasty little man.
There was another rush of pain as a knife was driven into his shoulder. Seth howled with agony. “Who am I you ask?” Hector twisted the knife against the bone and Seth knew he had severed tendons with his precise stab.
“I’m offended Seth, after all we’ve been through together?” The knife twisted again, and Seth clenched his teeth together to keep his own mind awake but even now he could feel himself falling back into the depths of his subconscious as his brain tried to work out what was going on and deciding it should be asleep for this kind of suffering. Slowly his mind shutting down into unconsciousness.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hector nod to one of the other men in the room who brought one of the syringes and passed it to him. Hector flicked the lid from the container, he was now holding and filled the syringe. Giving it a tap to remove the bubbles of air, he then patted Seth’s arm to get a vein to rise. Seth watched distractedly as the liquid was injected into his bloodstream and his brain suddenly awoke and his senses sharpened, his heart was racing, and he now knew he was right about the adrenaline.
“We don’t want you falling asleep and missing the best parts now do we?” Hector had a fire burning in his eyes as he removed the syringe and let the blood trickle out of the pinprick wound in his arm.
There was a clinking sound to his left and Seth’s eyes darted towards the sound to see Hector lifting two paddles connected to the wires he’d noticed earlier, he could sense the electrical energy flowing into them and knew what was coming.
Hector smiled as he ripped the shirt from Seth exposing his bare chest and tenderly mopped up the pooling blood from the wound in his shoulder before placing both paddles against his skin and sending a massive jolt of electricity through his body.
“You want to know who I am Seth?” Hector asked as he placed the paddles against his chest again and Seth’s head rocked back as he convulsed in the chair.
“I am the man whose family you left to burn, the man who watched you walk away from the burning wreck you had caused, the man who screamed and pleaded with you to help but you carried on walking away and my children burned and my wife burned!” he lifted the paddles and looked distractedly at them, Seth could see the tears rolling down his face.
“All you had to do was help, but no you ran and left me to try and pull them out of the twisted wreck alone, knowing I didn’t have your strength. I can still smell them burning you know…can you?” Again, electricity filled his body and he realised he felt no pain.
Seth fought and fought with his own mind trying to recollect this event not knowing when it happened or where, but the buzzing coupled with the blood loss was overcoming his ability to think clearly and images floated past his eyes like dreams.
“I…don’t...remember!” Seth knew this was the wrong thing to say in the circumstances, but it was the truth, he didn’t have a clue what this lunatic was talking about.
“How convenient, I wish I could forget sometimes but I don’t have that luxury…perhaps now you have watched your family die you know a little about how I feel?” This comment hurt more than anything he had done so far, and Seth looked directly at Hector and growled through his teeth.
“Yes, I see you can empathise with how I felt…painful isn’t it? Knowing you couldn’t save them but also knowing you should have tried?” He placed the paddles back on the table and picked up the hammer again, raised it above his head and struck down onto Seth’s other hand.
“Does it hurt much, Mr Goodman?” Agent Harvey’s voice was filled with Joy. “Do you feel like telling us anything yet?” there was a distinct chuckle “I do hope not as I would so hate for this wonderful show to be cut short.”
Every ounce of Seth’s concentration was focused on coping with the
pain; he could feel the throbbing from each injury Hector had inflicted. The wound from the knife had let warm blood flow which was starting to go cold on his chest and his arm was becoming numb. He knew he was losing a lot of blood and it was only the injection of adrenaline keeping him conscious but soon he would bleed it all out and he would have no choice but to succumb to the darkness.
Another blow to his knee but Seth was becoming removed from the situation and delirium was setting in, it wouldn't be long, and he would be lost to the darkness and he knew it.
“What was it you said to me Seth?” he heard Hector ask.
“That’s right, you said we all make our own choices in life and we have to live with the consequences…well, guess what? This is the consequence of your choices!” He raised the hammer again and brought it down across Seth’s head. Then, at last, he let unconsciousness take him knowing no amount of adrenaline would wake him.
The Lesson
Seth found himself looking out across the field to where his father was tending to the pigs. The sun was just rising over the horizon and the sound of his mother’s humming from the house was dragging his attention towards breakfast.
There was a smell of rain in the air and the late summer winds were beginning to grow cool. There was another element to the day which Seth was beginning to enjoy more and more since Mae had begun to teach him the ways to see the world with Frigg's eyes. The goddess of the earth certainly knew how to look at things and to his eyes the swirling patterns the wind made through the air as it snaked and danced through the leaves on the old oak tree, sending a cascade of green and browns down from the treetops to the ground below. What was amazing was the colours were not from the leaves falling but from the effect the wind had on the tree itself.
The tree had slowly lost its once magnificent crown of leaves over the years and had thinned significantly in the last couple of winters. Now the sprinkling of leaves it produced were sent spiralling to the ground and Seth new more would not replace them in the spring. He felt sad looking at this once great tree but as he had been taught by Mae, that was the way of things. Life moved on and when it was time to end then it would be recycled by the earth and born anew as whatever Frigg's will decided.
