The Contract Ch. 04

He smiled and lay the fag gently against her skin. Waiting for it to work its magic. Rosalie froze, a sob escaped her as the fag burned through the layers of skin on her neck. Dravid frowned, as he saw she still did not speak. He moved the cigarette to the other side of her neck, and held it there counting aloud until he reached the number thirty. There was a deep burn in on both sides of her neck, the smell of burning flesh filled the air. Dravid shook his head, this was not going to be easy. However, he was a master of his art.

*****

Two hours later

"Oh well" Dravid exhaled. "Let's try the..." Dravid turned back to his table of horror, and after he routed around a tray on one of the lower shelfs. He paused "Aha" Dravid grinned at Rosalie as he placed a tweezers and needle on the upper shelf of the table. He then grabbed a bottle of liquid. "Guess what this amazing stuff is" He taunted Rosalie, moving the bottle slightly. The bottles contents gurgled as it was shook around. "It is a liquid form of your precious moonstone." Dravid was sick of waiting for Rosalie to answer his question. He had not thought she would last this long. No one had.

He grabbed her left wrist. He released her hand from the manacle, as he gripped her wrist, fracturing the bones within it. He chained it to a second, lower manacle. His eyes seared a hole into her soul, trying to pull the information from her. He jerked his head. Dravid grabbed the table that had originally separated the two of them and placed her hand on it. The manacle prevented her from moving it.

Rosalie whimpered "Please" She pleaded with him "I am not allowed to say that, ask another question" Rosalie wept. Her yellow ringed eyes filled with tears, as they portrayed her immense fear about Dravid's next actions.

"Tell me why?" Dravid demanded her to answer the same question, "It is the most important thing you can tell us!" He roared the last two words at her, temper frayed as fear for his people, and the people of his friends. He had snapped, unable to control either his fear or his temper.

His king, Emmett looked around the room, disinterested in the torture of another. His people needed to know the answers or they would lose the war to the witches.

"Please, get him to stop" Alpha Moss asked Alpha King Emmett, "This is doing more harm than good, Dravid is getting nothing from her"

Emmett shook his head, "Moss, You and I both know that this is what we need to know. We need to know if the witches and warlocks are going to use Le Mon and pit him against us- he is one of them, he might have the ability to shift into a wolf, but we all know that three thousand years ago Le Mon's was on the witches side. He is not one of us and we cannot let him back into this world without good reason."

Emmett's eyes hardened, he would not allow this woman's actions to go unanswered, irregardless of what the world council said. They were elected to deal with consequences that affected all different supernatural's. He would punish her for her actions against his people only.

Her body was a mass of burns and cuts. Rosalie sobbed quietly as she watched Dravid open the bottle, he turned towards her, placing the needle into its opening he swirled it around. When he removed it the liquid moonstone dripped off, he grinned and brought it near her left hand. "Last chance" Dravid drawled, bored with the situation. His thoughts were in turmoil, it was necessary. He had been given permission by his king to get to use whatever means possible to get why Le Mons body was being brought back together.

Rosalie continued to sob, unable to answer him. She looked at him with pain-filled eyes "I can't". She let out a shriek as he jabbed the needle into her wrist, paper thin skin of her wrist peeled off when the moonstone touched it. Her veins collapsed, nerves burned away as the moonstone spread. Her eyes rolled back into her head as she passed out.

"Well, that is gross" Dravid looked at her blackening wrist. Smoke swirled through the air, leaving its place or origin, Rosalie's upturned wrist. "No good interrogating her now is there!" He huffed, "Leave her for now, and make sure she stays alive" Dravid barked the orders at his men who had re-entered the room upon his mental command. Dravid stalked out of the room, fury evident in every step he took. The other alphas had exited the observation room and waited outside for him to return.

"Sire" Dravid looked at his king, and bowed, "The thief has no intentions of revealing the necessary information to us"

Emmett sighed "I had thought she would not, continue on with your current course of action. But do not kill her. We need to know why it is so vital for Le Mon to be brought back to life, and why it is only happening now" Emmett huffed, "Come I am hungry, we should rest, and wait for her to regain consciousness" Dravid nodded and walked behind the other Alpha's who had been listening quietly.

Moss snorted "Do you really think asking her the same question is wise? Why not change the wording of it, or even the question?" he stomped his hoof, "It makes no sense to keep repeating yourself when she has said she is physically unable to answer your questions!" Centaurs normally kept themselves out of trouble, only helping if they were needed but keeping out of other species overall lives. He stopped walking, Cleo turned around to glare at him.

"Moss" Cleo turned to look at him, her honey skin began to turn red in areas, as her temper flared "Although your intentions may be noble you must remember. This is werewolf territory, were territory, not the forests of Norway or Germany" Her eyes blazed with anger. "Now please continue walking".

Moss huffed, "You catch more flies with honey" He ground out angrily, as he resumed walking towards the dining area. Moss ignored the curious stares of Dravid's pack members as the group of people came to the stares up to the main house. "Can you not see what you are doing, if the council heard of this it would be your head on a pike, Emmett you may be king of the werewolves, but you are not king of the entire supernatural race, yes she was captured here. But her deception and the truths she tells you now affect the entire supernatural world" Moss remarked, angry that none of their opinions had been taken into consideration. "Stop what you are doing or you will lose the support of the centaur population for your inconsiderate and hasty actions" Moss paused at the staircase, its opening lead them directly in to the main hall, large and open it held many of Dravid's pack members who were awaiting news on the Thief's life.

Emmett, stopped walking and turned to Moss, he laughed at Moss "Moss, you are just a centaur, your people are barely able to fight, few decide to go to battle, most are untrained" He laughed derisively "Do you really think that what you said will change my mind. The only thing that matters is why Le Mon's body is being brought back together, not who directs her, that comes second. If Le Mon is brought back it could spell disaster for us all".

Be gone peasants Dravid roared at his pack members, through the mind link, who had gathered near the hall, listening to the Alphas argue and undermine each other. "I respectfully offer the use of my office to all Alpha's for this current discussion, away from prying ears!" Dravid looked at his king nervously, staring at his eyes for a moment, before dropping them to stare at the ground. As powerful as he was, he was nowhere near as strong as Emmett was. The man was ruthless and terrifying.

Dravid bowed low to all the Alphas, anger radiated off many of them, most of it was directed at Moss, and Alphas rarely got involved in other Alpha's business. They generally went to the council to solve such matters.

Moss roared angrily "DO YOU IDIOTS NOT UNDERSTAND?" He reared up onto his hind legs, his eyes flickered with his warring emotions. He loathed getting involved but his seer had seen in the stars what this joke of an interrogation would lead to it. It had the potential to destroy the Were race, to obliterate them from history and the future forever, if they angered faith to much she would not hesitate to remove them. "I am not going to continue with this charade. I will make my position very clear on this torture of the thief. It will not end well. You are being too stubborn and listening to your basic instincts too much. Sometimes you need to acknowledge the human aspect of your life as well.

With that Moss galloped up the steps. His warriors meet him at the top ready to protect their king's life with their own. They would not stay here any longer. Moss was barking orders for his men to ready the boat, to leave Ireland. He would inform the SWC (Supernatural World Council) about the Thief's capture the minute he got onto his boat. Luckily for him, Alpha Dravid had chosen to build near a forest He was near enough to the sea. It allowed him to get in and out, a similar set up to Rosalie's hideout in Mayo. Dravid's manor was, however, based in Donegal. Irish transport was a pain at times, with some people needing to head to Dublin to reach other parts of Ireland. It would take two hours for Moss and his Protectors to reach their boat.

****

Back in the Interrogation room

Rosalie moaned piteously as she regained consciousness. She started to sob. She was physically unable to bring it up. The reason for the re-joining of Le Mon's body parts. It was the one thing she was not allowed to answer, it would affect the future too much. It would divert the future too far off course. She could however answer any other question the men asked her, like why she could not talk about that particular thing. But she could not answer that question.

"Sir, the rogue is awake" One of the guards keeping an eye of Rosalie had noticed her newly awakened presence. The guard grasped her chin and mover her head so she was looking at him. There was an unfathomable amount of pain in her eyes, there was a solid yellow band encircling the blueish-steel eyes, like the clouds of a midwinter storm. Dravid rolled his eyes, the Alphas had continued to huff about Moss' comments to Emmett, when he heard the guard stationed with guarding the Thief call out to him.

"Sire, the Thief is awake, I am going to head down to check on her. Shall I begin the interrogation again?" Dravid looked at his king briefly, as he awaited Emmett's answer, he began to curse the day his father sent him to the other world for training. He had been sent to work with vampires, as part of a peace treaty. It had worked well for the vampire prince, not for him he had been pushed to his limits and trained using techniques that had never before been used by were's. He was still unable to replicate those techniques in his men. No matter how hard he trained them.

"Please" Rosalie begged the guard to her left, hating herself for doing so. The moonstone was slowly working its way through her system, shutting down her organs. "Use Aloe Vera, Valerian, Capsaicin, Sage, Paprika. It will help with my healing, make a paste, please" She pleaded into their minds as she lost consciousness again. Rosalie's breathing slowed down as her body struggled to cope with the poison in it.

"Boss get down here now, there is something wrong with the Thief" The guard started to shout for Alpha Dravid, they were not allowed to get the healer themselves, their orders were to keep her alive. Something they could not do as they had also been told not to leave the room, under any circumstances. They could not contact the healers, as the infirmary was the one room protected from mind conversations. Only the Alpha could talk to the healers through it. Emmett nodded his consent for Dravid to leave and resume the interrogation "Do what is necessary to get that information" Dravid rose from the chair, freezing in the process as the guard shouted mentally that The Thief was losing blood. He rushed from the room, mentally informing his king.

"Shit" Emmett cursed as he was told of The Thief's new medical situation.

"Healers, meet me in the interrogation room now!" Dravid bellowed through his pack link. He raced down the steps, desperate to get to the woman who could destroy them with one mistake. He ran into several pack members, one of whom stumbled, her mate catching her just in time, as he turned to glare at his Alpha, both he and his mate were knocked over by the other Alpha's rushing to catch up.

Dravid tore the door to the interrogation room off its hinges in his attempt to get into the room. He stopped, it was like a blood bath. Rosalie vomited up blood she turned her head to face him, and grinned at him "''appy now" she giggled, blood filled spittle dripped from her mouth. "I ryd 'elp, ryd tell 'oo" She grinned pitifully. Rosalie swallowed back a moan of pain just in time to see the other the other four Alphas ploughed into him. Cleo gasped as she saw the woman standing in front of her, there was blood spatters on the floor and wall in front of her. There was about a seven foot distance between the two walls. The thief dangled from the single manacle that held her upright. All her body weight was being supported by her right hand. Which was turning a dangerous shade of blue. What remained of her left hand continued to smoke on the table.

It was a blackened mass of burned flesh. Cleo's gaze travelled up the body. It was a mass of burns and cuts. Her clothing had been ripped off her body to reach more sensitive parts of it. There was not an inch of uninjured skin visible, most of it was bloodied and bruised. When her gaze reached the rogues face she wretched. The despair in the Thief's single open eye was horrifying. Her face was a mass of bruises and blood, her jaw was barely hanging on, it had been broken in three places.

The thief's right eye was swollen, closed by the immense pressure. Both her eyes were purple, the left eye was only barely open. Cleo had forgotten how much damage Dravid had done to the Thief. Her attention had been on the argument between Emmett and Moss, Carl had wisely stayed out of it, choosing to listen and gather information. Something he was known to do. Rosalie yanked Cleo out of her musing as she vomited up blood. It was starting to conceal fast, something which should not happen for another few hours. "Oh Luna, save her" she prayed to the goddess of the Were's and the Moon.

Carl shook his head, Emmett just stared at Rosalie, "How did this happen, she is not that injured, she should not be vomiting up blood". Emmett looked at Dravid who had not moved, "Help her you moron, you were the one who suggested that stupid concoction you called moonstone". He grabbed Dravid by his neck and slammed him against the wall, "What the hell have you done". He roared at Dravid "Save the Thief!"

If only I knew. David thought to himself. How the hell was he supposed to save this unknown creature, and stop her from dying with precious information?

Healing properties of herbs and why Rosalie asked for these particular herbs

To heal the burns: Aloe Vera - to stop any more damage from the moonstone

To help numb pain: Valerian (Extremities) to help with her hand.

Pain relief: Capsaicin (From chilli pepper seeds) further pain relief

Antibiotic and antiseptic: Sage- to help stop infections

Anti-inflammatory: Paprika - to prevent what is left of her wrist from becoming swollen.