Chapter Text
Joseph passed the time by counting Dell’s breaths, paying close attention to their duration and every slight change in their sound. By the minute, they grew more and more drawn-out, calming into a deep sleep. He listened to the crickets outside, who sung and chirped, wondering if he would hear them hopping beside his feet as he sprinted through the cornfields. He looked out the window and took in the sight of the glowing crescent moon that seemed to smile at him even through the clouds, promising him that it would all be alright in the end.
When he blinked, he could see his apartment behind his eyes. It had been so drab to him before and now, it was beautiful. He couldn’t think of anything better than diving into his own bed and enjoying the solidarity he had come to miss. He could make a case against the predator beside him and enjoy the payout. He could have justice, maybe even get his job back. The thought of normalcy made his eyes fill with tears. The first thing he would do was call Misha and cry with joy into his loving, bulky arms. He could finally relieve himself of his burdens, share the horrors he had endured and maybe, celebrate his freedom with a drink. But he was getting ahead of himself, he was still deep in the maw of the beast.
But a soft snore in his ear signalled to him that it was almost time. To be sure, he waited for another sign that Dell had fallen asleep. It came a few minutes later, in the form of a soft, unintelligible mumble. He took a deep breath, knowing that this was it. His chance had finally arrived. He began to peeled away from his captor like a splinter from a toothpick, doing it cautiously and ever so slowly, making sure that the Texan would not wake from his slumber. He dared to breathe out once he was on the edge of the bed without the warmth of another man seeping into his skin. He hopped off the bed, taking care as to not make a sound. He turned towards the sleeping creature, ensuring he was not waking up. Dell was still sprawled out, with his mouth wide open as he snored.
He walked towards the door, stepping on his clothes on the way – which he picked up and hastily put on as he walked – and placed his hand on the doorknob. His heart pounded in his chest as he turned the handle and opened the door just enough to allow him to slip through.
Joseph could hardly believe it when he found himself in a familiar hallway. His freedom was just out the front door. He raced through the hall and excitedly unclipped the lock on the door, tearing it open. He relished in the gush of frosty, fresh air that rushed through. All he had to do now was run until he made it to civilisation. He quietly shut the door behind him and held himself as the cool air robbed him of his warmth. The shivering would stop when he sprinted through the fields and that motivated him enough to take the first stride.
He sucked in a deep breath, took a final glance at his objective on the horizon and started to run. Every bound on the soft grass filled his head with elation. With every step, his freedom came closer. With every step, normalcy came closer. With every step, his life came closer. He turned to the horrid little shed as a final goodbye and smiled at it, mocking it for its failure to cage him. It was then when he noticed the blinking red dot in the darkness. As he passed it by, it flickered faster than it ever had before. He assumed that in normal circumstances, he would have been knocked out cold where he stood. That flashing remnant of Dell’s brilliant machine acted only to proclaim Joseph’s triumph. He’d outsmarted his captor and now, his machines were useless.
Joseph quickly realised just how wrong he was.
A violent, blaring alarm tore through the peaceful, quiet night, screaming as if the world was ending. He looked to the house as he increased his pace and a light was on, shining in one of the windows. Dell was coming for him. He only hoped that he would be too slow to stop him. If he tried to drag him back into his prison, Joseph would fight tooth and nail to get out of this place.
He ran and he refused to stop, fuelled by fear. Even when the front door cracked open, he couldn’t make himself look, telling himself that only the safety of the cornfields mattered. The cold air was burning his sinuses now and his throat rasped as he panted. His legs had started to ache and no doubt, his age was catching up to him. Even so, he continued, desperate to get away. The fields were close now and it wouldn’t be long until he could slip through them as a shadow, unable to be detected.
As if to contradict that thought, a flashlight landed on him, illuminating his body and the ground. “Joseph!” He heard Dell from afar. If he kept going, he could lose him. “Ya better get back here right now!” A shudder ran through him. He had never heard the Texan angry before. “This is your only goddamned warnin’!” His voice turned into an irate shriek, like a bat having its wings pulled. When a threat didn’t work, he changed tactics. “All’s forgivin’ if ya turn around. I’ll forget about it, and we can get back to bed. No harm done!” He yelled, this time losing the temper in a desperate attempt to lure him back inside.
Joseph didn’t buy it for even a second. If he returned to Dell, he would never just forget about this. Joseph would be chained up, or worse, he would never get the same opportunity again. Escape was the only viable option.
“I really didn’t want to do this, y’know.” Dell hollered, his voice breathy. “I’m not the kind of fella to start shootin’ but… I got no other options.” He felt his whole body turn cold upon hearing those words. He had a gun. He briefly thought that perhaps it was best to turn around before he ended up full of holes. But then again, the fields were so close. Once in there, the chance of a bullet between the eyes was far lower. A powerful boom rippled through the air. “Hear that, Joseph? Turn around or you’ll get one of those in your pretty little legs!” He grew confidence and regained that anger that terrified him to his core.
Even with that thunderous threat, he kept going. He couldn’t afford to stop. He couldn’t give up on his freedom just because of a bullet; he’d rather die than return to that pathetic man. The field was in arm’s reach, and he practically leapt into the reassuring, towering rows of corn. As he ran, the flashlight lost track of him. It beamed through the leaves, darting side to side, but it could not find him. It was more difficult to run through the leaves, but he continued despite the searing pains in his body. Gunshots flew through the field, only motivating him to go faster.
“You’re gonna be mighty sorry when one of these rips a hole in ya!” He screamed. “Ya better start prayin’ I don’t hit your pretty face!” He laughed cruelly, mocking him with maddened excitement, as if he was enjoying the hunt.
He rasped, feeling exhaustion in his legs and an emptiness in his lungs. He was slowing down, no matter how much he tried to maintain his pace. A bullet just whizzed past his ear, and he nearly screamed. He pushed ahead, knowing that Dell had to be catching up by now. Joseph sucked in raspy, scratching breaths, trying to keep his weary body going. In the dark fields, he had no idea as to how close he was to the end. He had to tell himself that he was close to keep his jelly-like muscles to move.
The rows of corn began to thin out and he reached out as if to touch his freedom. This was it. His life was just over the silhouette of a low, rabbit-proof fence. He was in the open air again and he grabbed the rough wood, hoisting one leg over it and—
He screamed as a sharp jolt of pain plunged into his thigh. He fell from the fence and tumbled onto the grass, nursing his thigh as rapid, burning pulses of agony rippled through it. On unsteady, shaking legs, he forced himself to stand up despite the pain. He couldn’t give in, not yet. He needed to get out! He hobbled to the fence and began to hoist himself over it, only to be roughly grabbed by the arm, startling him.
“You’re a persistent little varmint aren’t ya?” Dell chuckled from behind him. He was no longer yelling. Rather, he was scarily calm.
“You shot me.” He wheezed, his voice breathy and weak.
“I didn’t have any other choice. Now, gimme some sugar and I’ll patch it up for ya.” Dell outstretched his arms, asking for a hug after all of that. His instinct was to simply run but in his current state, there was no hope of that. There was only one way out now.
Joseph surrendered. He limped towards Dell and opened his arms out wide. He hugged Dell, taking in the smell of dirt, and sweat. As he caught his breath, he looked towards the engineer’s home from over his shoulder. A window glowed in the dark, like a nightlight in a void of darkness. He closed his eyes, imagining a life as his prisoner. He’d grow old with this monster, trapped by his side as an unwilling husband. He’d live and die in this place. Perhaps it would be a peaceful, quiet life. Maybe he could grow to love it.
“I’m tired of running, Dell.” He breathed. “I want to go home.”
“Aw, darlin’, I can help take ya home.” He said. “Hold on to me.”
But he was lying to himself. There could never be any joy in this hell. Joseph shoved Dell with all of his strength, causing the both of them to topple over and scrape onto the gravel. He landed on top and ripped the smaller man’s holstered gun from his hip, scrambling to find the trigger in the dark. He shoved it in Dell’s face with a triumphant grin.
It shook in his hands as his trigger finger lingered between life and death. “Let me go or I’ll—I’ll…”
“Aw, come on, Joseph. You’re not gonna use that. Ya don’t have the guts to kill little old me.” Dell laughed him off and smacked him across the face with his robotic hand, causing him to drop the gun with the sheer impact. “What’s it gonna take to show ya that you’ve lost, Joseph?” He mused, seeming to be enjoying the sight of him bloodied and broken.
Blood dribbled down his features, appearing like quicksilver in the dark. He glared at the Texan, allowing him to come closer. “I haven’t lost yet.” He slammed his fist into his gut as hard as he could. The smaller man coughed and sputtered, so he did it again, gathering the last of his energy to send out a flurry of hard, fast punches, intent on bashing his captor’s head in if he had to.
That was until his fist was caught.
Dell spat in his face, spilling spit and blood on his face. He gasped when a cold muzzle was placed against his open palm. “Kiss it goodbye, Joseph.” He said, grinning from ear to ear before pulling the trigger. The consequent pop of the gun made his ears ring, and he shrieked as the shot burned his flesh, destroying several fingers. He couldn’t think through the pain, nor could he move as his brain tried to process what had just happened. Joseph could only think of one thing now – he needed to hurt Dell just as much as he had hurt him.
Even as pained tears spilled from his eyes, he lunged at his captor. Joseph fought him for the gun, knowing that it was the rope he needed to climb out from his prison. He pinned him down, holding him to the ground with both hands, coating him in his blood. He bowed his head, tearing into Dell’s throat, mauling him like an animal. Blood and flesh filled his mouth, but it failed to disgust him, not when this was his last chance. Violence’s comforting cloak enveloped him, promising pleasure unlike any other if he popped his arteries and wore his blood on his face. Dell wailed and cursed under him, his bulky hand pulling at his hair, trying desperately to tear him away.
A powerful thump against his chest caused him to fall back, clutching himself as he gasped for air. The engineer’s mechanical hand slammed against his head, causing him to see stars as his mind shattered. He was hit again and again, a tremendous crack filling the night air. He tried to catch his captor’s fist, and he felt his very bones break upon impact. Blood dripped into his eyes, blinding him, reducing his odds of victory to almost nothing.
That was, until he realised he had one more card to pull.
In the pause between swings, he closed the gap between himself and Dell, sloppily kissing him. The smashing, cracking sensation against his skull stopped and for a moment, it was all calm again. If it weren’t for the mind-shattering pain all over his body, he would think that nothing had happened at all. As Dell eased into the kiss, Joseph’s hands crept to his neck. He held it for a moment, tracing circles into the skin with his bloodied, broken fingers. When Dell added tongue, he began to squeeze, hard. He squeezed as tightly as he could through the pain, choking Dell. He couldn’t help but grin as he felt him weakening.
He pulled away, a thread of blood and saliva connecting their lips. “I’ll see you in hell.” He rasped, cackling as his grip tightened.
Something moved against his chest with a loud, sudden whirr, like that of a machine. It moved faster and faster, spinning in rapid circles but all Joseph could focus on was maintaining his hold, no matter the cost. He looked down in a pain induced daze, to see Dell’s robotic hand spinning against his body. Even as it tore through his shirt, he refused to let go of the monster keeping him from his freedom. All that mattered was that Dell would die by his hand.
The metal began to cut his skin, but he did not move to stop it, knowing that it was far too late to try. In an unnatural, precise motion, the prosthesis plunged into his chest and effortlessly tore into it, penetrating his chest cavity and gouging a gaping hole in his body. Blood sprayed from him, flying through the air and splashing his skin and the engineer’s face like red tears. He couldn’t even register the pain as it effortlessly tore his heart apart, giving it just enough time for a final beat. His hands fell limp from his captor’s throat and Joseph cracked a genuine smile as it all slowed, the sound of his dead heart fading from his ears.
As his body began to surrender to the end, he looked to his captor, using his final seconds to mock him. “I’m free, Dell.”
Dell’s hand caressed his bloodied cheek, easing him into death. “There’s no gettin’ away from me, Joseph.”
And just like that, it all stopped.