Promises

A Word Of Warning: Things are going to get a bit ugly from this point on. There will be graphic torture/violence/rape in the next few chapters, so if you aren’t comfortable with any of those subjects, I’d advise against reading.

I have switched back and forth repeatedly between Jak's and Dax's points of view and to make it easier to follow, I've placed a row of plus signs between each POV change.

Review Replies:

Robin: Thanks for reviewing and glad you like it so far! There’s going to be a bit more hardship for the two of them, but I’m all about the happy endings so things should work out…more or less ;)

Null: Thanks for the review! I’m glad you’re enjoying the story so far; I’ve been able to update quickly because the whole thing was written a while ago. I’m just reposting it with some minor editing and the addition of a few scenes. I’m not sure which story “Something More” is; I don’t think I gave any of my past fanfics that title so you may have me confused with another author. Sorry I couldn’t be of more help!

Again, a note on how I've represented words spoken and thought for this chapter:

"blahblahblah" words spoken aloud

"blahblahblah" inner thoughts

"blahblahblah" Dark Jak's thoughts (though Jak doesn't know who he is just yet)

Chapter 3: Broken Spirit

+++(POV: Jak)++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"No…please, no…he can't be back already…"

I unconsciously curl deeper into myself as the terribly familiar click of heavy boots meets my quivering ears. I keep my eyes shut against the light and hope that all of this is merely a hallucination. I hear a short whirring sound, which I know by now to be the cell door sliding closed, and darkness once again falls before my closed lids. But this new darkness is thick and hostile. All trace of my comforting world is gone because…he has come…

He has come to once again shatter everything good and comforting within me…

"I said 'Good Evening', Boy…" the clicking subsides as he reaches my side and digs the sharp metal claw of his boot into my sore ribs. I feel that all too familiar sinking feeling within my stomach and squeeze my eyes ever tighter against the realization that I can no longer pretend this isn't real. And if it's truly my current reality, it means he won't leave until he gets what he wants…

I curse myself every moment I am in his presence because of that one time….It was so long ago as to seem only a distant nightmare, but I know that it was real. Real because of the ever brewing darkness within me and the voice I try so hard to block out…

It was a few days after I was captured and brought to this terrible place that the 'experiments' began. And from the very beginning, I was treated worse than an animal. I guess when I look back like this, I can see why I've become the way I am.

********

I was a frightened, naïve….child really, who had spent my entire life in sheltered paradise; thrown headfirst into a grasping, cold, metallic hell from which I could not escape….though I tried. Oh, how I tried; I fought tooth and nail as they dragged me to that hated room, strapped me to that cold, unforgiving chair and destroyed my insides with a burning river of Dark Eco….once a day….for five hours…five burning hours of endless pain…it never changed. And slowly, with every 'treatment', as they called it…I began to struggle less...lashed out at one less guard, struggled one less minute against the straps as they fastened them around my bruised wrists and ankles…giving in to the torture, little by little...and noticing more and more the presence of the figure hovering over me; urging them to up the dosage and always grinning with that sick twisted smile of his. Perceiving his presence and harboring a steadily increasing hatred of him and all that he represented to me.

Somehow, through sheer willpower and defiance I guess, I had managed to keep quiet. I had a voice but chose not to use it. For me it had never been necessary to use my voice and over the years I came to associate any sound I made with pure emotion. Only the presence of that emotion within me could bring forth any verbal acknowledgement. But I didn't want them to know how much they were hurting me, ripping me apart at the seams and just as mercilessly throwing me back together; how they altered my mind and body so that things would never be the same.

…No, they would not hear my voice; they didn’t deserve to. I came to believe that giving in to my pain and anger through anything other than an occasional whimper would mean that they had won. So, even as the Dark Eco was pumped through my veins and made my entire body burn and throb with pain, I never screamed, never cursed and tried my hardest to keep fighting when I could…

Until that day…The fateful day when I couldn't take anymore. The day they decided to electrify the Eco…

Merely pumping the dreadful substance through my veins wasn't enough for them because supposedly I wasn't responding to it as they wished. And since some idiot scientist had just discovered a way to triple the effects of dark Eco by zapping it with an electrical current, they decided to test it on their newest guinea pig….

The minute the electricity hit my body, I snapped. Much of that memory is a blur to me, filled with terrified screams and veiled by a purple mist tinged red with…blood. My blood or others; I do not know. But I do remember after the haze…because that was the moment I try so hard to forget…yet…the darkness within me longs to remember…

When the haze lifted, he had me pinned to the floor. He held an electrified rod to my throat and I felt the burn from the multiple wounds it had inflicted along my body. The rods were designed to numb the flesh and inhibit movement; efficiently immobilizing the victim for an extended period of time. It may have been the satisfied look on his face, or the fact that he had me in such a confined, uncomfortable position, that I felt an anger, quite unlike any that I'd felt before, bubble up within me…and heard myself say three words so foreign to me…so unlike the person I was, that it still makes me shudder when I think about it…

I'll KILL you…

Those three words…spoken in a voice that wasn't quite my own…and…after a few moments of deathly silence…

…he laughed….

Laughed and told me that I had a beautiful voice….and that he would do anything to draw that voice from within me again….his grin growing wider as he leaned over me and I tried to struggle, but in vain….my fear growing when he….he….

"No, don't think about that…calm down…its okay…"

It was only after I'd been thrown back in my cell, bleeding and clutching at my shuddering body, that for one fleeting moment of clarity before I sank into utter shame and despair at what he'd done to me….that I realized that everyone else in that room was dead….more than dead…shredded and torn apart….and that my wrists were still encased in the crumpled metal shackles originally chained to the table…

********

A sharp pain in my side pulls me out of the flood of memories and I realize he's kicked me hard enough to break the tender flesh below my ribs. I wince against the pain and grit my teeth, once again cursing such a stupid mistake…I wonder for the hundredth time if he would find such an interest in me if I hadn't spoken in that one fateful moment….but I also wonder if it is my own weakness in giving in every time he comes…

"You should show more respect," he enunciates the word with one final, fierce kick and I bite my tongue to keep from crying out, "to your elders."

I can feel the hot, wet liquid from the wound soaking my prison garb as I clutch my aching side with one hand and raise the other to my mouth, trying so hard to keep silent; but I cannot help the soft, feeble cough which escapes my lips.

"One cough?" he laughs, "Come now, Boy…we both know that you can do better than that…"

"I hate you…"

It's a game…a sick, twisted little game he loves to play with me because he knows that he will always win….because he broke me long ago….

"I want you dead!"

I can feel his hot breath upon my face as he kneels over me and my pulse quickens as his fingers brush my side; feeling out my trembling form in the darkness. His hand slides smoothly up my side and past my shoulder to my jaw line where he pauses to rub my check; a touch that one could almost mistake for tenderness. But I know better. Fiercely, I jerk my head away. It is my last show of defiance; all that is left, and I know that even that will dissipate soon enough. With each visit, he is growing stronger…

"One last chance, Boy…before we have some fun."

…and I…I am becoming more and more the shadow of my former self…

"I'll kill you…just wait."

"I can kill him for you..."

But that voice…that thing inside of me is more terrifying than anything he could do to me…so I draw my body in closer...

Closer upon myself as the sudden light from the lantern he always carries stabs my eyes and illuminates the face of my tormentor. Errol...the name alone makes me want to tear him apart…but I can't. As stupid as it sounds, I cannot touch him….because of what he's done to me…because he rules by fear…fear and pain…pain and torture….

His cold hazel eyes sparkle menacingly in the light as he grins at me and brings the curved blade of his knife up to his lips; giving it a suggestive lick. My eyes grow wide; I can't help it, because this is where the pain begins…

+++(POV: Daxter)+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Get out of here!"

A searing pain engulfs my left side; I feel a momentary weightlessness as my small form flies through the air before the hard ground rushes up to meet me and I land with an unforgiving smack against the stone pavement. I can hear the Krimzon Guard laughing behind me right before the main door to the prison whirs shut before him…

…He is cruel; all of them are cruel, heartless bastards, but the thought is quickly pushed aside as I put my shaking paws on either side of my heaving chest and push myself up off the ground, wearily rising to a sitting position.

I got them…finally got them; the last piece...

I sit for a moment to catch my breath and reach up to take the thin leather strap from between my teeth. I gaze upon the precious treasure clasped within my paws and sigh in relief as I see that, aside from the deep indentations made by the fierce grip of my fangs, they are alright….

…untouched, really…as if the person who had taken them put them into the armory and forgot about them, which was fortunate for me.

I brush a paw over the shining silver, surrounding and protecting the rare crystal glass and pure, concentrated Red Eco….said to provide focus and increased targeting ability…but you never did let me try them out….

Sudden tears well in my eyes as I clutch your beloved goggles in my small paws….you were so proud of them….

….it's the least I can do…after two years of trying…and failing…to find you….you deserve to have something from before…something unchanged and precious to you…

The last piece; grabbed at the final moment before I put my carefully laid plan into action….

Now everything is ready. Everything is prepared…I stand and stare up at the monstrous building before me as my grip on your precious treasure tightens in determination…

"I'm coming Jak….just hold on…"

+++(POV: Jak)++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Don't give in…you're stronger than this. Remember…you've felt pain before…suffering before…you can get through this…"

My inner voice, who I've come to recognize as the youthful, carefree innocent me of happier times, tries to comfort me. And I confess it is comforting…for one fleeting moment before I feel the cold steel running lightly down my side…

"We can do this in one of two ways. I'll let you decide."

The hard way or the easy way…I'd laugh if my situation wasn't so horribly real because it really isn't that simple…and it took weeks before I learned that regardless of what I chose, which at first was to defy him, he would always win in the end …my arms, among other things, are scarred enough to prove that…

Obediently, I gingerly roll onto my back and try to keep the pressure off of my bruised ribs by resting my weight upon my forearms. Immediately, the blade slides under the rough fabric of my thin prison garb and with a sickening tearing sound, the garment is quickly cut off of me and I smile bitterly at how efficient he's become at it…

My body is shaking and I can feel the hot tears trickle down my face. I can taste the salt upon my lips…but I feel nothing…no emotions….the embarrassment and shame connected with his actions are no longer a part of me right now. It sounds so stupid, but while within his power, I am nothing…merely a doll…a toy for him to play with….and I do nothing about it. I think that is the saddest, most baffling thing of all. Because deep inside I know I'm stronger than this…I know I can stop all of this if I tried….

…but the searing pain of his knife running down my back banishes all thoughts of rebellion from my mind. His dagger is not smooth; no, he prefers the slightly dull, saw-toothed edge; the better to make his victims scream in agony as he digs into the tender flesh, tearing it apart and taking small bits of it away with every cut.

My 'treatment' is always the same; three long jagged cuts; one traces my spine and is flanked on either side by two others, each more painful than the first. Each never allowed to heal. He comes often enough to make sure…

"Come on, Boy…this can all end if you speak to me…just one word…one little cry and I'll stop…"

But I know better than that. Even as the wicked blade digs the flesh from my back and once again opens my throbbing wounds, I keep quiet because I know that this is nothing…and I know that if I do cry out, I'd be better off dead…

"One word…"

The blood is flowing freely, the wounds are getting deeper…and the pain is getting worse…

…but I must not say a word…must not whimper….even though it hurts like hell…

+++(POV: Daxter)+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

With a satisfied grunt, I tie the remaining threads of the small bundle together in a tight knot, mentally thanking the Precursors that I am still blessed with opposable thumbs. I straighten up and take a glance around the small niche, checking once again that everything is ready. This alcove is a small shelter; insignificant and unknown to the many people that pass by it each day, but this fact has been my salvation for many months. I've come to think of this place as the closest thing to a safe home I could find within this Precursors-forsaken city; hidden deep within one of the dark alleyways a few streets away from the prison.

"Food…check." It's not much, but we should be alright for a day or two. As long as it’s enough to give you a little strength, we can worry about future meals later.

"Clothes…check." Judging by that dirty rag I saw you in, I'm sure any outfit will be an improvement. And I managed to scrounge up a pair of boots as well, which should come in handy in such unfamiliar territory. I just hope that everything will fit…

"Security Pass….Well…I'm sure we'll think of something," I had learned the hard way that each citizen required an electronic pass that allowed them to pass through certain sections of the city…I nursed a bruised head for weeks after attempting to run through one of the force fields after arriving in the city. I guess even the vermin weren't allowed any special privileges.

The plan was simple; enter the Central Hub and free Jak from the chair, exit via the opening in the wall, escape the prison via the route I’d mapped out which paralleled one of the ventilation system’s many paths, and then hide out somewhere until things died down.

"Yeeeahhh…real simple…"

Okay, so it had a few flaws, but I was sure that things would work themselves out.

…one way or another…

I chuckle in spite of myself, " 'Nother whirlwind adventure, eh buddy? Never planning, just running in…'damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead!' "

I bend down to pick up the bundle. It's a little heavy but it should be easy to manage. I shift it a bit between my paws, deciding whether or not I should try to find a backpack or something to put it in, when a sudden thought stops me dead in my tracks.

"Wait, what's a torpedo anyway?"

~To be continued. Thanks for reading!~