"Wait, what," Cierra questioned.  Something boiled behind her. The man gagged Alli.

"Ten minutes, you tell me what I want," Bates responded. Alli's muffed shouts were quickly ended by a smack to the head.

Cierra's mind raced. "Uh, money? Fame? Power?" She said. Bates stared at her, unmoving. She shook her head. What could he want?

"Revenge?" Cerria suggested. Bates glanced at his watch. Cierra was drawing blanks. The other man started to rummage in the bag. Alli tried to keep her face neutral. Anxiety and adrenaline flowed through Cierra as she tried to think. 

Bates timer beeped. He nodded to the man, who grabbed something out of the bag. 

Cierra thrashed in the ropes. The man from grabbed the barbed wire with his gloved hands and slowly and tightly wrapped it around Alli's waist. She clenched her teeth on the cloth and tried not to move as the small metal pieces dug into her skin. Small dots of blood peppered her shirt.

Bates tapped his watch. "Time is ticking, thirty seconds."

Cierra shook her head, trying to avoid Alli's pained eyes. "I don't know Bates. What do you want me to say? Chaos?" Bates justed tapped the face of his watch. Her heart pounded. The watch beeped again.

"No!" Cierra shouted. The man threw the barbed wire that was once around Alli's waist in the bag. He grabbed all of Alli's hair in a bunch and pulled it back, hard. Alli grunted. The light shined on the old blood from when Bates had cut her face. The man pulled harder. Alli's neck strained. The chair was starting to tip ever so slightly.  Soon her body was almost vertical.

The man pulled out a pair of scissors. He quickly cut alone her taunt hair. The chair rocked forward, then hit the ground. Her short, uneven hair swayed at her shoulders. The man dusted her cut hair over her. Alli shuddered.

His watch beeped again. Already another minute. The man stood behind Alli's shoulder. In one fluid motion, he grabbed Alli's middle finger and bent it all the way back to her wrist. There was a sickening crack.

Alli's muted scream pierced the second of silence. Cierra let loose a string of curse words that had been long overdue. Bates stared in a mix of awe and pride as Alli's finger laid limply on top of her hand.

The watch beeped, but no one moved. Not the man who lived to serve, or Bates who lived to be served. They just started at Alli as tears ran down her face. Bates tentatively approached her, glancing back at Cierra for a mocking look for approval. Cierra glared back, too afraid to speak. 

Bates lifted Alli's chin. His watch beeped again. Bates ignored it, instead, studying Alli's face and the line he had carved yesterday. He looked at it like it was the scar from some far away memory, not fresh, but not forgotten. The way he ran his finger over it as if it reminded him of a story he had almost let slip.  

Cierra's stomach twisted. She couldn't keep the pure hatred of her face. The watch beeped.

Bates studied the way the flakes of dried blood fell of her skin. Alli held completely still as if petrified. A tear streaked down her face. Bates frowned. He wiped Alli's old hair out of her face. His watch beeped again. He glanced at it. Cierra's heart stopped.

Bates signaled behind Cierra. She was suddenly aware of the bubbling again.

She strained back, but all she could see were shadows. The man emerged with a teapot and a dixie cup. The man wore potholders. Bates turned to Cierra, pausing his watch.

"If you can see what is about to happen here-" Bates gestured to the two across from them. The man held the pot to Alli's skin briefly. Alli hissed. "I want you to know that you can stop it."

Alli bit her lips as the man poured the boiling liquid into the cup. He held it to the light. Cierra could see the steam coming off it. The man tossed the cup to the side. The water spilled onto the floor.

"I know what you are thinking. Surely not even I would stick a piping pot into her mouth and pour boiling water down her throat." He paused for emphasis. "It's not me who's doing it."

Cierra shuddered. "Bates, please. I don't know. Please." Bates looked up in surprise.

"Wow, I mean really, wow. The great Cierra was begging me. Should I be honored or slightly disappointed? I really did expect more Cierra. Well, things rarely do go as planned." Bates rambled. Cierra shook her head. 

"Bates," He said, mocking her. "Please, don't kill my wife." He stuck out his bottom lip and batted his eyelashes.  He shook his head and smiled. "Oh, really though. That was the most cliche beg for mercy I have seen in my life. You had no originality, no heart." He paced around the room.

"How can I give mercy to someone without a heart." He shook his head sadly as he gestured to the man.