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kira-the-whump-enthusiast · 10 months

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Day 12 - Search and Rescue

Synopsis: Mailys goes to save her former captor from a torment she unknowingly resigned him to.

Content: Prison escape woohoo, possibly even a search and a rescue, vampire whump, captivity whump, aftermath of torture <2, a lot of angst, whumper turned whumpee, (past whumpee turned caretaker, very sad broken resigned whumpee, mentioned sun burning, fear of said sun burning, also fear of being murdered/tortured, and a lot of begging, probably more but honestly this stuff is tame by my standards, cuz there's some comfort <2

Tagging: @whump-in-the-closet @dismemberment-on-a-tuesday-night @eric-the-bmo

—

Mailys still couldn't believe she was actually doing this.

She had planned out every little detail of this breakout, but now, standing in front of the cell door, she didn't feel the least bit prepared.

Trying to steady herself, Mailys took a deep breath and slipped the key out of her pocket and into the door's lock. It took her a couple of tries because her hands were shaking so badly.

Why was she here? Why was she doing this?

Mailys let go of the key, leaving it sticking out of the lock. She had half a mind to turn back, to forget about everything, to just go home and never have to see him again. Truth be told, she might not even feel that bad about it. The cell door was plain and heavy, with only a number affixed to it and no way to look inside. That could be anyone's cell. Anything could have happened inside.

But it wasn't that easy. Her friends would probably understand if she walked away, but to even get down here, she had told the warden things that could not be taken back so easily.

And besides, she couldn't leave anyone to this fate, to be hurt and broken and tortured indefinitely. Not even Soren Espinosa.

That bastard. She would never forgive him, but she wouldn't be complicit in his suffering.

Mailys sighed and turned the key, hearing the quiet click of the opening lock.

—

All Soren could think about was how much it hurt.

It always hurt, of course; Soren could barely remember a time when he wasn't in pain, but this? He could barely think straight, and he couldn't muster up the energy to do anything more than fall in and out of consciousness.

Not like he could do anything more than that, even with the energy. His wrists were chained to the wall, over his head. His arms ached horribly, his wrists burned from the silver cuffs, and he couldn't move, but there wasn't anywhere to go in the first place. Soren missed being able to wrap his arms around himself, though. Now he just had to let the whip scars on his chest bleed out.

No human would survive this, but he was cursed to live despite the agony and the pleas for relief. Or maybe he wasn’t living. Soren was half-convinced that he was in hell, and he just didn't remember dying.

The other half was terrified that when he died and went to hell, everything would be worse.

Soren was about to pass out again when he heard the click that meant someone was coming inside. As quickly as he could manage, he shifted into some semblance of a kneeling position. His legs ached and protested every movement, and he just felt so irritated.

Gods, he couldn't take it. He really couldn't take it. He knew that Kastor only brought pain with him. The best that could happen would be release from the chains, but that would come with a price. And he couldn't—it hurt, it hurt so much, and just wanted to be able to close his eyes and pass out or die or anything else. Just as long as the pain fucking stopped.

Bile rose in his throat, and his heart started to race as the door creaked open.

Soren squinted as bright light suddenly flooded the dim cell. His heart skipped a beat. Something was off. Something was terribly wrong. He blinked a couple of times to clear his eyes, but he couldn't deny it.

The person in the doorway wasn't Kastor. It was someone more important, a certain human with purple hair. The one he regretted hurting more than anything. He thought he'd seen the last of her. And yet, that was Mailys Renault. Standing in the doorway.

This had to be a nightmare, right? This only happened in his nightmares. The ones where he woke up screaming and shaking and in a cold sweat. His heart raced and his head hurt with all the questions spinning in his mind. Didn't she say that she never wanted to see me again? What does she want?

In his heart of hearts, though, he knew the answer. She must have found out about what really went down in this cell, and now she wanted to join in the fun.

Mailys sighed and started walking towards him. Soren whimpered, pressing himself into the cold wall despite how much the rough stone scraped his lacerated back. It sent pricks of pain through his worn out nerves that put him on edge.

She put a finger to his mouth, and Soren’s eyes widened. Stupidstupidstupid— She didn't want to hear anything from him. He shouldn't have made a sound in the first place.

Please, please, have mercy on me, Soren begged in his head.

She was dangerously close now, the perfect distance away to bash his head into the wall. Or pull out a hidden knife and cut him into ribbons. He shut his eyes tightly. He didn't want to see it coming.

Soren braced himself for pain, but instead, he heard a key turning in a lock, and the clunk of his shackles as they opened, freeing his wrists from the firey silver. His arms dropped to his sides, and the throbbing in his shoulders subsided just a little. He wrapped his arms over the worst of the deep cuts on his chest, careful to not put too much pressure on his wounds and his bruised ribs.

Breathing heavily, he opened his eyes and saw Mailys standing over him, the key in her hands.

She knelt to make level eye contact with him, something that struck Soren as very strange.

She spoke in hushed whispers, and Soren had to strain to hear what she was saying. "Okay, you've got to listen to me, alright?"

He nodded. He wasn't planning on doing anything else. He was too scared not to.

Mailys took a deep breath, and then she imparted to him a sentence that he'd never thought he'd ever hear in his life.

"I'm going to get you out of here."

There was silence as Soren replayed the words again in his head, trying to process what she said.

"…What?" he breathed, in the quietest of murmurs.

Her expression was one of obviously practiced stoicism, but Soren wondered how someone could deliver such unbelievable news with a face like that. It couldn't be true, right? It couldn't. Not from Mailys of all people.

He remembered the last time he saw her very well.

You're right, there's nothing you can say to convince me.

I don't think you'll ever truly change for the better.

I'm tired of these hearings. I won't forgive him, now or ever, so there's no real reason to keep the offer of amnesty on the table.

When he learned that he no longer had any chance at pardon, Soren felt like he'd fallen into a hopeless, twisting thicket of vines that threatened to swallow him whole.

But that was probably nothing compared to what Mailys felt, having to face the vampire who'd tortured her for months.

"I'm getting you out of here," Mailys repeated, louder than before, and that brought Soren out of his thoughts and into the present. He froze. He wasn't listening to her for a moment. Could she tell? What would she do to him, for that? Why hadn't she done anything to him already?

Oh.

Getting you out of here.

Soren understood.

He couldn't say he hadn't been waiting for this moment since the first months of his captivity. But living suddenly mattered so much more now, knowing that death was right in front of him. Like it did every time he thought death would take him.

But just like there was nothing he could ever say to convince Mailys to give him amnesty, he knew there wasn't anything he could say to save his life.

Soren didn't want to know what the next world held for someone like him.

He shut his eyes again, retreating into quiet, empty darkness, and he nodded, resigned. Hot tears ran down his face and neck and soaked into his pathetic excuse of a shirt.

"Okay," Soren murmured. "Take me."

—

Mailys didn't know what to expect, but to say that she was shocked would be an understatement.

The vampire chained to the wall looked nothing like the one she was expecting to see. He was obviously starving, judging from his prominent ribs and bony limbs. She might have been worried he’d try to bite her, but his fangs were gone. Someone must have pulled them out. And his body was covered in bruises and cuts, dark blood congealing in some particularly nasty wounds on his chest.

Soren stared at her with pure terror in his eyes, and he was trembling violently. What in the world had happened to him?

Coming closer, she noticed that he was missing two fingers on his left hand. Considering how vampires healed, it had to be a recent injury. A sick feeling settled in the bottom of her stomach, and she fought the urge to throw up.

How could she have left anyone to this fate?

Logically, she knew it wasn't her fault at all, and that she didn't even know this was happening to him, but guilt washed over her in waves.

It was apparent that Soren couldn't stand for very long in his state, let alone walk. So she was resigned to carry him, one arm under his knees and the other under his back. Lifting him was worryingly easy like she was carrying a pile of sticks and not supporting the weight of a person.

He quivered in her grasp and shut his eyes tightly when they crossed into the overbearing fluorescent light of the hallway from the darkness of the cell.

Was he in pain? Well, who was she kidding? How could he not be? At the very least, she hoped that she wasn't making it worse by putting too much pressure on his wounds.

Blood soaked into her sleeves and dripped onto the tiled floor. She'd arranged for a friend to take care of his injuries later, but she hadn't expected that they'd be this severe.

Thank god they were almost out of here.

Kastor had given her a keyring and directed her to use a back route down an empty hallway in the guards' wing. There was some forgotten exit at the end, and Jakao was waiting outside that exit with his car.

Mailys was worried about being spotted and having to answer awkward questions, but the hallway to the exit was truly neglected—dust gathered on the floor and half the lights were burnt out. It made it easier on the eyes, at least.

Soren was looking more and more nervous with each passing minute. Instinctively, Mailys wanted to reassure him, but she thought better of it. What would she even say? Would he really believe her?

The door to the outside was rusty and windowless, adorned only by a complicated lock. She'd need more freedom of movement to get this one open—so she set Soren down on the floor. He scrambled to a kneeling position. She was used to people bowing in her presence, but this…this made her distinctly uncomfortable. Maybe it was the fear in his eyes. Maybe it was the memories of when he was the one standing over her.

She turned her attention to the lock, taking careful glances at Soren every now and then. Mailys didn't think he'd try to run or attack her—but she didn't trust him. She could never trust him. Soren shrunk in further on himself.

Finally, she got the lock open with a loud clunk. The vampire jumped and stifled a shriek. Mailys started, almost hitting her head on the wall.

"Hey…hey…there's nothing to be afraid of," she reassured in a shaky voice. More for herself than for Soren.

The vampire was backed into a corner, arms wrapped tightly around his chest. He was trying to speak, and it took him a few tries to get the words out. Mailys tried her very hardest to not share in his fear.

"Please…please…what-what time is it?" he sputtered.

Oh. Did he really think she was going to bring him out into the sun.

"8 pm. It's fully nighttime," she stated, trying to coax her voice into something soothing.

Soren…didn't seem to trust her. No matter. She wasn't lying to him, and he'd know that soon enough.

She opened the door to a purple night sky, dotted with stars and soft lights.

The vampire, almost imperceptibly, leaned closer to the door.

"It's—it's been years… since I've been outside…" he whispered so quietly Mailys almost couldn't hear him. She faltered—was that her fault?

No, it wasn't, it couldn't be, and if it was? Then she was making up for it. Right now.

She held her hand out to Soren, the man who ripped her to shreds, the person who needed her help right now.

He wrapped his shaking hand around hers, and she scooped him into her arms again.

"Let's go," she sighed, something akin to a smile on her face.

They walked into the gentle moonlight together, and for the first time, Mailys saw hope in Soren's eyes.

—

A/N: You don't even know how long this took me to write. I am dead and dying and murdered. Enjoy sad vampire man and angsty princess <2

#whump #whump writing #vampire whump #prison whump #captivity whump #whumper turned whumpee #whumpee turned caretaker #search and rescue #broken whumpee #whumpmasinjuly2023 #wij23day12 #my writing #my ocs <2 #oc soren #oc mailys #mailys is the best #we are all mailys stans here

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