"Arrrgh!"
The painful scream tore through the underground basement, echoing off the cold concrete walls. The sound came from a man suspended from the ceiling beams.....tied so tightly his shoulders had long passed the point of dislocation. His head hung downward, legs bound upward, a dirty sack covering his face and muffling his ragged breaths.
Around him, the cries of other prisoners drifted from iron-bar cells lining the walls....weak, hopeless pleas swallowed by darkness.
The air was thick with the stench of oil, old blood, sweat, and the metallic tang of the rubber-coated whips that had been carving into Sabe's flesh for hours. He had vomited blood so many times the floor beneath him was slick with it.
"What… what the hell do you want from me?" Sabe rasped, his voice barely escaping the sack. "I'll pay you. Any amount. Just... just tell me who sent you, and I'll double whatever he gave you."
A cold chuckle answered him.
