The Archaeologist's Dig Pt. 03

He put the sledge hammer down again and observed her tiny frame, bringing a hand up to his face to stroke it, in a cliché of deep thought.

"Fine, Arianna. I will see you tomorrow. Goodnight."

Arianna struggled quickly, desperately trying to speak through the gag. Surely he wasn't going to leave her cuffed and gagged all night? She would sleep on the floor if she had to, but if she was kept hoisted up there all night she'd ache profusely by the time the sun rose.

Her attempts were pointless. The doctor left, and the click of the lock was the last sound in the room.

Arianna was motionless again. She stared straight ahead with wide eyes. What the fuck was happening? The events had unfolded too rapidly to make any sense to her. Was that the doctor's intentions? That morning, everything had been completely normal, and yet now she found herself bound, naked, in the basement of the mansion.

She needed to get out. She needed to escape this ridiculous nightmare. That's what it was, that's what it must be. A nightmare.

She looked desperately around now, trying to find the best way out. Her eyes quickly settled on the board of tools. Arianna began pulling at her wrist, but it was cuffed tightly. If she was going to escape, she'd have to do something drastic.

Arianna pulled, and when the pain hit, she kept pulling. A loud scream filled the room, even though she was gagged, as Arianna pulled off a thick layer of skin, freeing her right hand from the cuff.

She inhaled and exhaled hastily, trying to calm herself down from the pain. She didn't want the doctor to wake up and see. She then leaned forward, stretching her body as much as she could.

Her fingertips brushed against the board. She leaned harder, adrenaline filling her. She was so close.

Her heart stopped. The door opened once more. She shot back into place, terrified. She could feel Dr. Tarrant's anger from across the room.

"I knew it. I knew you hadn't been even close to cracked you ungrateful bitch!"

She didn't speak, but warm tears began to stream down her face.

"This won't do, this simply will not do." The doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out what seemed to be a small iron stamp. He delved into his pocket again and pulled out a lighter. As the lighter clicked on and the metal began to heat, Arianna realized what it was. An NT.

She struggled horribly as the white-hot iron was raised above her left breast. It waited there momentarily, as the doctor yanked off her gag.

"Go on. Scream. Let me hear that beautiful scream." He said with a manic laugh, before pressing it down.

Her skin sizzled and steamed, and Arianna screamed out louder and with more pain in her being than ever before. Nathan merely smirked.

He yanked the iron away from her and she continued to scream. The insignia remained.

Through her screams, Arianna managed to force out the only thing that was on her mind.

"You're fucked! You fucking...agh! Sadist! Twisted, sadist, fucking creep!"

Nathan laughed again, bringing his face close to hers.

"And deep down, you're just a twisted masochist. This is just a game, Arianna. Play with me, now."

Nathan turned to the board, ignoring the screams of violent abuse that Arianna Gold spat at him, as he flipped it over, and began to pin up the pictures he had taken of her earlier. He wheeled in front of her and left again, for the last time that night.

She continued to scream for help for hours, but as the long night droned on, she began to understand. She was an experiment, but it wasn't a physical one. Dr. Tarrant was experimenting on her mind.

The biggest fear she had now was that he was going to break her.