Infiltration IV: "Sacrifice"
[Day 17, 2:00 PM - The King's Bedroom, Belal's Palace]
They stepped across the threshold without hesitation and shut the door behind themselves. It hadn't been at all hard to take out the lone guard. They had literally inched towards the man, pinned him against the wall, and pressed another drug-soaked rag over his face. Now he, too, was sleeping peacefully in a closet somewhere.
The sitting room was nice enough: plush chairs; a low couch; a tea table. It had all the normal trappings of a useless room, Yozak noticed. He ignored the trinkets and interesting objects on the shelves and headed right for the second door. It was fastened shut with an ugly iron bolt that seemed out of place in the refined room.
"I don't suppose I have to tell you not to touch anything," Yozak muttered to Anissina as he slid back the bolt on the door and pushed it open. It was important that they left the room as they found it, even after they'd spoken to Conrad. Yozak patted the last two lemons bars in his apron pocket. Maybe he couldn't do much just yet, but he wanted to leave Conrad with a little bit of comfort if he could.
The luxuriousness of Belal's bedroom was almost smothering. None of the rooms in Blood Pledge were this exquisite, not even the Throne Room. The furniture was all made of gorgeous wood, polished and buffed until it shone. The cushions were all made of silk and satin; the walls were paneled with beautiful wood and rich paint. Even the bed was magnificent: bigger than Conrad's, carved from the same shiny wood as the rest of the furniture, and decked out with so many red curtains and a low-hanging canopy that the redhead wasn't sure where the curtains ended and the bed began.
For a moment, Yozak felt like he'd just walked into a very high-class bordello. It all looked sinfully luxurious, and the only thing that stopped Yozak from sitting on the edge of the bed and resting his aching feet was the reminder that Belal slept there. Everything in here was matched to Belal's taste. Somehow, that knowledge made the room seem less glamorous and more...sleazy.
He saw something shiny out of the corner of his eye. Sitting innocently on the bed was a coil of chain, wound up neatly. The end disappeared underneath the bed, and Yozak's eyes narrowed as he followed the path of the chain. He knew a tether when he saw one.
"He chains him to his bed," Yozak muttered, resisting the urge to tear the leash out of the wall. "Son of a bitch."
So this was Conrad's side of the bed in Belal's sick little fantasy. But where was Conrad? Gretchen said he spent most of his time in here…
Yozak turned away from the bed, taking in the rest of the room. Empty bookshelves. A wardrobe. Another door, closed. Windows. A large chest made of polished wood. Some plaques where weapons had once been mounted for show. Another small tea table. The redhead let his eyes roam freely, until he noticed something interesting.
Someone had beaten in one of the doors.
Yozak felt something cold and dangerous slipping around in his insides as he began walking towards the door. Who would do something so bold? Wouldn't Belal have them executed for something like that? Could Conrad have done that-beaten down the door while trying to escape?
He poked his head into the room, looking around. It looked like a study of some sort: there were plenty of books, a nice desk made of that same dark wood, and-
A box.
A large, black box, to be precise, sitting innocently in the middle of the room.
Yozak lifted his eyebrow as he stepped into the study, pacing around the ugly thing. Now, wasn't this odd? Why would Belal be keeping something like this in the middle of his study? Not for storage, not for decoration, so what-
He paused, listening.
"Please..."
The pieces came crashing together in his brain all at once and Yozak stepped back, horrified.
"...no."
The clock on the wall counted the seconds. Thirty. Forty-five.
One minute.
Then another.
Yozak did not move.
He wanted to say something, but he couldn't even breathe, much less speak. His throat felt like it had been packed full of blasting powder: one little spark, and he’d explode ... screaming and screaming and screaming...
Can't move. Can’t speak. Can’t breathe.
This...can't be real. It just can't be. He cannot accept this. WILL NOT accept this. It's not real. Of course. That's it. It's not. Not real. None of this is real. It's a fantasy, brought on by too little food and too much anxiety. He should have eaten breakfast this morning. And after they find out where Conrad really is, they'll talk to him and assure him that they're coming back, go back to the Quail and have a few drinks before drifting off. Of course. That's how it is. This reality isn't the real real life. He's just hallucinating; Conrad isn't really in there. He'll pick the lock and it'll just be weapons or armor or clothes or whatever the hell else Belal collects and stores...
...in man-sized black boxes...
...with the faint stench of human waste lingering about them...
...that whimper...
Yozak exhaled heavily as if he'd just been punched in the stomach.
Oh, Gods! Oh, GODS!!
"Oh, gods..." he managed to choke out at last, too shocked and horrified to do anything else. "Oh...Oh, gods...Conrad!"
------------
[OOC: Please see Abduction 13 for the conclusion of this thread.]
They stepped across the threshold without hesitation and shut the door behind themselves. It hadn't been at all hard to take out the lone guard. They had literally inched towards the man, pinned him against the wall, and pressed another drug-soaked rag over his face. Now he, too, was sleeping peacefully in a closet somewhere.
The sitting room was nice enough: plush chairs; a low couch; a tea table. It had all the normal trappings of a useless room, Yozak noticed. He ignored the trinkets and interesting objects on the shelves and headed right for the second door. It was fastened shut with an ugly iron bolt that seemed out of place in the refined room.
"I don't suppose I have to tell you not to touch anything," Yozak muttered to Anissina as he slid back the bolt on the door and pushed it open. It was important that they left the room as they found it, even after they'd spoken to Conrad. Yozak patted the last two lemons bars in his apron pocket. Maybe he couldn't do much just yet, but he wanted to leave Conrad with a little bit of comfort if he could.
The luxuriousness of Belal's bedroom was almost smothering. None of the rooms in Blood Pledge were this exquisite, not even the Throne Room. The furniture was all made of gorgeous wood, polished and buffed until it shone. The cushions were all made of silk and satin; the walls were paneled with beautiful wood and rich paint. Even the bed was magnificent: bigger than Conrad's, carved from the same shiny wood as the rest of the furniture, and decked out with so many red curtains and a low-hanging canopy that the redhead wasn't sure where the curtains ended and the bed began.
For a moment, Yozak felt like he'd just walked into a very high-class bordello. It all looked sinfully luxurious, and the only thing that stopped Yozak from sitting on the edge of the bed and resting his aching feet was the reminder that Belal slept there. Everything in here was matched to Belal's taste. Somehow, that knowledge made the room seem less glamorous and more...sleazy.
He saw something shiny out of the corner of his eye. Sitting innocently on the bed was a coil of chain, wound up neatly. The end disappeared underneath the bed, and Yozak's eyes narrowed as he followed the path of the chain. He knew a tether when he saw one.
"He chains him to his bed," Yozak muttered, resisting the urge to tear the leash out of the wall. "Son of a bitch."
So this was Conrad's side of the bed in Belal's sick little fantasy. But where was Conrad? Gretchen said he spent most of his time in here…
Yozak turned away from the bed, taking in the rest of the room. Empty bookshelves. A wardrobe. Another door, closed. Windows. A large chest made of polished wood. Some plaques where weapons had once been mounted for show. Another small tea table. The redhead let his eyes roam freely, until he noticed something interesting.
Someone had beaten in one of the doors.
Yozak felt something cold and dangerous slipping around in his insides as he began walking towards the door. Who would do something so bold? Wouldn't Belal have them executed for something like that? Could Conrad have done that-beaten down the door while trying to escape?
He poked his head into the room, looking around. It looked like a study of some sort: there were plenty of books, a nice desk made of that same dark wood, and-
A box.
A large, black box, to be precise, sitting innocently in the middle of the room.
Yozak lifted his eyebrow as he stepped into the study, pacing around the ugly thing. Now, wasn't this odd? Why would Belal be keeping something like this in the middle of his study? Not for storage, not for decoration, so what-
He paused, listening.
"Please..."
The pieces came crashing together in his brain all at once and Yozak stepped back, horrified.
"...no."
The clock on the wall counted the seconds. Thirty. Forty-five.
One minute.
Then another.
Yozak did not move.
He wanted to say something, but he couldn't even breathe, much less speak. His throat felt like it had been packed full of blasting powder: one little spark, and he’d explode ... screaming and screaming and screaming...
Can't move. Can’t speak. Can’t breathe.
This...can't be real. It just can't be. He cannot accept this. WILL NOT accept this. It's not real. Of course. That's it. It's not. Not real. None of this is real. It's a fantasy, brought on by too little food and too much anxiety. He should have eaten breakfast this morning. And after they find out where Conrad really is, they'll talk to him and assure him that they're coming back, go back to the Quail and have a few drinks before drifting off. Of course. That's how it is. This reality isn't the real real life. He's just hallucinating; Conrad isn't really in there. He'll pick the lock and it'll just be weapons or armor or clothes or whatever the hell else Belal collects and stores...
...in man-sized black boxes...
...with the faint stench of human waste lingering about them...
...that whimper...
Yozak exhaled heavily as if he'd just been punched in the stomach.
Oh, Gods! Oh, GODS!!
"Oh, gods..." he managed to choke out at last, too shocked and horrified to do anything else. "Oh...Oh, gods...Conrad!"
------------
[OOC: Please see Abduction 13 for the conclusion of this thread.]