Darker London

For the long flight back to London, the survivors of the auctioneers had been sedated (by choice) so they could rest up. There was no need for them to be feeling trapped in a tiny plane for hours.

They were then transported to Peter's hospital and set up in four private rooms that were next door to each other. They could have their run of the place if they wanted, but privacy as well. Razvan, however, found that he didn't so much want to be alone after so long in that damn cage. Instead he left his room behind and made his way unsteadily into ALicia's room. Both Trent and Reggie were set up across from them. "Hey," he said gently. "How are you feeling? Do you want me to show you are? We could go get some food. I sort of want to eat every thing in the entire world."

There had been another potential buyer the previous day, and while they had been standing, Razvan had passed out and landed hard on the floor of the cage, his head slamming against the bars. That had earned him punishment by cattle prod, though after they had all been given the smallest amount of food.

Now the captors returned, and signalled for them all to stand again, and Razvan was seriously considering whether or not it was worth it to pretend to faint again. Sure he would be shocked painfully, but if they got more food afterwards- And then the captors said the words which flooded him with relief.

"Stand up again, you pieces of shit. Another buyer coming through." And then, when he was making his way back to the door he said over his shoulder, "this one's a priest. So fucking weird."

Razvan sagged against the bars in relief and he signalled to the others. "It's my friend," he whispered. "He's here, fucking finally. Gonna have to act like I hate him. Safer. But it's my friend. I'll get us out of this."

Standing was torture.

After being drained by Alicia, Razvan had slept for hours. He hadn't even had the energy to eat the soup they had given him until he woke up and it had long gone cold and congealed. It did nothing to sate his hunger either, instead it made him feel queasy.

He wanted more.

And then their captors had come to rattle their cages and inform them they all had to stand because a buyer was on their way. Razvan's body was wasted and while he made it to his feet by using the bars to pull himself up, once there he swayed dangerously. His head was so heavy and it pounded against his skull. He moved closer to Alicia's cage, while the captors were focusing on other things.

He was just going to avoid what happened yesterday.

"Alicia," he whispered. "If they try to take you-" God he hated the idea of it, but Alicia could die- "-if you let me what was it, borrow your spirit? I can try to help you. I can't do it without touching you." And he knew he couldn't break out of the cage so honestly he had no idea what he was going to try if that was the case. But he had to try something, right? "Standing. So difficult."

While they had been provided with water, the only one of them who had been fed anything since the granola bars was Alicia. And Razvan understood that it was not only because she didn't need to be kept as weak as they did due to the threat of soulsucking, but also because Alicia wasn't immortal and the three demons were. He got it, sure. But fuck did he want something to eat. Literally anything.

( Mmmmm )

It hadn't been a particularly restful night for Razvan. Someone in the complex, far in the distance, had spent nearly the entire night sobbing. He had only fallen asleep through pure exhaustion, his hands clamped over his ears. He was awakened by footsteps outside his cage, and when he blinked his eyes open, he saw what he had been dreading.

Captors with cattle prods.

He scrambled up and into a corner of the cage, his back pressed up against the bars. "No! Nonono! Look, I'll cooperate!" The words tumbled out of his mouth, but the captors didn't pay the slightest bit of attention as the shoved the cattle prods between the bars and turned them on.

Electricity arced through his body, pain flaring and twisting him into awful positions. He didn't even realise he was screaming until the shocks stopped. He was left panting, dragging heavy and desperate breaths in and out until the shocks started again.

His captors shocked him over and over again until Razvan couldn't even move and his vision was tunnelling. They immediately moved on to the other demons, though they didn't bother with Alicia, considering she couldn't soulsuck anyone. Razvan felt like he shoud be fighting them, telling them to stop hurting his companions. But all he could do was whimper and cry.

When the door opened again, Razvan had been dozing on the floor of his cage. He sound woke up, loud and definitive. He opened his eyes to see several people swarm into the container, dressed all in black. They were shouting directions at each other, but he was so completely out of it, it was hard to pick out any one thing.

( Awfulness )