One Man's Trash

[Darth Abyss]

wake upwake upwake up

The words would echo through the vision of [member="Makai Dashiell"], before his whole current reality was swallowed by a great darkness, leaving nothing behind but a endless, empty void. When his eyes would open up again to see the true world around him, he could neither say how much time had passed, nor what was real and what a fabrication forced into his mind. All he would know would be the terrifying, hungering presence of the husk behind him, with the cold steel of his dagger touching his throat just enough to know it was there in the first place.

"I hope you had a good sleep, little maggot. Because from here it will get a whole lot worse."

Abyss desirably made no comment on the nature of Makai's moments of mental absence. Revealing that it had been just a idea implanted into his head by his might would undermine the intent of doing it in the first place. Yet he still had to reveal some of the things he had learned by digging through the boy's mind.

"I hear your father is a somewhat wealthy man. Care to tell me how much your life would be worth to him, if anything at all?"

The husk finished his mocking question with a hollow laugh, still keeping the dagger pushed against skin to make sure that there was no reason to doubt the meaning of his words.

 

[Makai Dashiell]

[member="Darth Abyss"]


[SIZE=11pt]It took a long moment to realize he was in a different location. Makai didn’t know where. His envirosuit helmet had been removed but everything else seemed the same. A shiver went through him at the temperature in the room. An entirely different shiver went through at the feeling of cold metal pressed to his neck. Iced azure eyes opened, seeing the hideous creature he had fought back on the abandoned station. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Makai was quiet during the tirade, wondering what the ‘worse from here’ meant. His memories were fuzzy on how he had fallen into the claws of the creature to begin with. One minute he was running down a corridor and finding a tubrolift shaft to shimmy down. The next he was having a knife pressed against his throat. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“Probably not much.” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Reality was his Dad would go bankrupt to save him. Makai wasn’t going to say as much nor was he entirely convinced his life was worth such a amount. He had not been the best son recently. Certainly wasn’t a great friend to his now deceased best friend. Eyes drifted away from the creature for a moment, thinking. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“Just go ahead.” Head nodded down to the blade slightly. “Its not going to matter.”[/SIZE]

 

[Darth Abyss]

"Really?"

The deformed head adorned by the broken grin tilted slightly, making the words of the husk obsolete. His inhuman form couldn't hide the body language that said exactly the same, and even his motionless eyes felt like there were raised eyebrows above them.

"I have been to the afterlife stupid child. The pain of this world is nothing compared to the horrors that await you there."

In truth [member="Makai Dashiell"] probably wouldn't even reach the nether intact, as most souls not held together by the power of the force. Still he wasn't giving out life advise, but he was merely feeling annoyed by the new lack of willpower within the boy. Of course that had been to be expected after toying with his mind, but it would make anything from here far less entertaining then Abyss had anticipated.

"We should just call him then. I mean not much is still better then an ugly corpse."

Once more the husk laughed, while he reached for a small communicator with his free hand, offering the device to his hostage while the knife continued to coldly press against his skin.

 

[Makai Dashiell]

[member="Darth Abyss"]


Makai was silent as the creature prattled on about the afterlife, saying it wasn't something anyone wanted to experience. Mind drifted towards [member="Myra Elspeth"]. Wouldn't on some level she be reunited with her biological parents? The teenage girl was innocent, so what level of hell of the afterlife would result in torture for her spirit? The teenaged half-Galan wasn't convinced the creature had been in all levels of the spiritual. Both Jedi and Sith - whatever this one was - seemed to like to talk in half riddles and odd false statements. The creature was trying to get in his head, trying to get him to lose it.


Iced azure gaze fell on the comm device before looking at the creature again. Brows furrowed.What was going to happen if he refused? Makai was fairly certain the thing was going to kill him anyway. If he contacted Dad, then the creature just got credits and still killed him. Seemed like a lose-lose situation.


"No."

 

[Darth Abyss]

"I do not recall offering you a choice."

Slowly the knife began to cut, not deep enough to leave anything behind but a surface scratch, but just enough to coat the tip of the blade in the boy's blood. From there it would unfold its effect, red liquid transformed into a crippling, draining blight through the crude spell placed upon the weapon. At first [member="Makai Dashiell"] would feel nothing, but the longer the blade would stay in contact with his blood, the more blood would change. What would begin as merely a slight sense of unpleasantness could quickly grow into the feeling of watching as the own body burned through every leftover resources to sustain itself.

"Last chance, little maggot. Refuse me once more, and I will show you that your current suffering is nothing compared to the horrors I can force upon you."

Under other circumstances Abyss would've called upon the arts of mentalism to bend the boy's will to his desires. Yet the changes he had made to his mind was his trump card, leverage to use against his father more then against himself. Revealing his powers a second time could be to much of a hint of what had happened before he had returned to consciousnesses.

 

[Makai Dashiell]

[member="Darth Abyss"]


There was a wince when the blade cut him but it wasn't as bad as he expected. From his experience spearfishing and being outdoors he knew the blade was extremely sharp to make such a cut. Nerves set in a little, knowing how easy it would be for the creature to apply slightly more pressure and cut into his artery. The teenage boy went still, not wanting to give unneeded temptation.


He wondered how much to push the creature. Makai wasn't experienced at games such as these, yet he was smart enough to recognize this as a game. Either the creature was bored and merely toying with him or toying with him, trying to get credits, then planning on dumping his body out of an airlock.


"What is calling my father going to do? Besides make life difficult for yourself? Are you not worried he will call in favors to come and chase you down..."

 

[Darth Abyss]

"Do you expect me to fear an old merchant?"

The husk simply laughed, but behind his mask of mockery he couldn't but to feel a small shred of admiration for the boy. Despite being broken and defeated he still clawed to his last glimpse of defiance, and tried to play the game with him. With another this might would've worked, but Abyss was known as the guy who flipped over the board and stab the other players should the game go differently then he anticipate.

"Besides, how far could he go while I hold a knife at your throat? If he cares enough to call in favors to get you, then I assume he would not risk your life so carelessly."

Again he laughed, while twitching the knife just enough to remind [member="Makai Dashiell"] that it was there, not that he expected the boy to have forgotten by now. Besides the boy's life, he had something of equal worth up his sleeve: His sanity. It wasn't like he even had to play his cards well, because his hand clearly was the winning one this round.

"Now stop stalling and make the call. You will not like me when I get bored."

 

[Makai Dashiell]

[member="Darth Abyss"]



"I don't like you now, I doubt not making a comm call will make a difference."



Scale speckled hands took the comm with a hint of resignation and annoyance. Reality had already set through him awhile ago : he was going to die. It wasn't going to matter if the creature got a large sum of credits from his father or not, no one remained alive after a ransom. Scratch that, not many remained alive after a ransom was made. Which made him even wonder why he was making the call. At the very least he could say goodbye and give some sense of closure.


Makai didn't use the direct line to his father, the personal one. Instead he dialed through Salacia Consolidated. He considered it safer although the creature could probably figure out the personal line fairly easy if he wanted. Considering it wasn't a direct line the call was being routed through various channels.


Thank you, you've reached Salacia Consolidated. If you know your party's extension, please enter it now.


Makai dialed in the appropriate numbers to reach his fathers secretary. Scale speckled hands held up the comm towards the creature, offering the device as tinny hold music came through the speaker. It lasted for roughly a minute before a perky, overly cheerful voice interrupted the tropical music.


"Mr.Dashiell's office, how may I help you?