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another-whump-sideblog · 2 years

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Jane’s Pets Chapter 18: Nowhere To Run

TWs in the tags

Masterlist

Cornered | Caged | Confrontation

Over the next few days, Dollie helps you get back to a relative normal. You still need help with just about everything, but now you spend time outside of your room and only lie in your bed at night. You have to be practically dragged around because Jane didn’t see a need to provide crutches, but you still move around the house and eat with everyone else, including Jane.

At first, you would try to hide behind Dollie, silently begging her to protect you. But Jane doesn’t seem to be trying as hard to make you uncomfortable. Maybe she’s giving you more time to recover. Or maybe you’re less of an exciting new toy, now.

Dollie hasn’t been allowed to talk to you again, but you feel like you’re getting better at reading her, if only a little. While before you had no idea what was going on in her head, now you have some idea.

Kit seems to be avoiding you, but it’s hard to tell when you both have a broken leg and can’t go anywhere without help. You mostly only see them at meals, before they ask Dollie to help them back to their room.

One time, Jane tells Dollie not to help, and Kit drags themself on their stomach back to their room using their arms. Your skin crawls.

You miss Kit. You’re worried they’re mad at you for trying to run. And for getting them punished because you tried to run. And for breaking their leg. And for not getting them water (you didn't tell them about that, but you can't guarantee Jane didn't).

“Is Kit mad at me?” you ask Dollie as the two of you play a card game Kit invented. She shakes her head without hesitation.

“Are they avoiding me?”

She nods.

You try to think of another yes or no question. “Do you think they’d get annoyed if I tried to talk to them about it?”

Dollie thinks for a moment, then shakes her head.

“Can you take me to their room?” Dollie nods and helps you down the hall to Kit’s room. You knock on the door.

“Kit? Can I talk to you?”

It takes Kit a while to answer, and you wonder if they’re asleep. Finally, they call “Yeah, come in.”

Dollie helps you into the room. Kit lies sprawled out on their bed, coloring in a coloring book.

Kit doesn’t give you a chance to speak. “This is about me avoiding you, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.” You stare at the ground.

Kit sighs. “I… I wish Puppy could tell you so I didn’t have to. It’s just…” They trail off, seemingly distracted by their coloring.

You lean against Dollie even more. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I got you hurt and I broke your leg and I could’ve gotten you water but I didn’t and now you don’t want to be around me-“

Kit cuts you off. “It doesn’t have to do with any of that.”

“Then… why?”

They groan. “Just… I don’t know. Please don’t ask me to kill you again.”

“Oh. Yeah, okay. I… I won’t.”

Kit nods. “It’s not that you did anything wrong. You were scared and in pain and tired and you wanted it to stop. I understand. I just… I can’t handle listening to that sort of stuff. I’m sorry.”

To hear Kit admit to not being able to handle something shocks you to your core. They’re so much stronger than you. The idea that anything you could say would bother them seems unthinkable. They’re too tough for that. You’ve told them you hate them and they didn’t seem affected at all.

“It’s okay.” You mumble. “I’ll leave you alone, now.”

It’s worrying how easily you forgot Dollie was there, despite her literally holding you up. You need to get better about that, ask yes or no questions to make sure she’s included. Dollie helps you out of the room and plops you down on the couch.

“Thank you. I really appreciate you helping me around, even if it’s just because Jane told you to.”

Dollie offers you a small smile.

“Do you want to finish our game? It’s okay if not, I know you have a lot of chores.”

Dollie nods, grabs the cards, and sits beside you on the couch.

—

“I have a new game idea!” Jane announces, clearly excited. You and Kit freeze. Dollie keeps eating her dinner.

She points at Dollie and Kit. “I want you two to fight. Physically. Bunny will sit with me. Finish your dinners quickly, then come to the basement. You have five minutes.” She vanishes.

You choke down a few more bites. Dollie gets up first, and you and Kit follow her. You’re both having an easier time walking since Jane traded out your regular casts for walking casts.

It’s not torture. It doesn’t sound like she’ll be doing anything to you. She’ll make them fight and she’ll make you watch and it shouldn’t hurt nearly as bad as… everything else that’s happened. Still, you have trouble forcing yourself down the stairs. You try to focus on your breathing. Kit said that as long as you do what she says you’ll be okay.

Jane smiles. Just the sight of her smile makes your heart rate rise. “Okay, here’s the deal. You two are going to fight. Whoever wins will get a reward, and whoever loses is going to be locked in a cage for a week.”

You flinch. Solitary was bad enough, you can’t imagine being in an actual cage. But the threat isn’t directed at you. Kit and Dollie look somber.

“And how do we know who wins?” Kit asks. Jane smiles wider.

“Bunny and I are the judges. We’ll decide who wins. And…”

Before you can even blink, Jane grabs your collar and pulls. The collar is already far too tight, and now with her pulling on it you can’t breathe at all.

“I expect you not to hold back. You will actually fight, or Bunny will be punished. Got it?”

You claw at Jane’s hands on instinct. Luckily, she doesn’t seem to notice. You hear Kit say “Yes, master,” and Jane lets go. You gasp, savoring the ability to breathe before Jane takes it away on a whim again.

“Excellent! Bunny, sit down with me. Kitty, Puppy, give me your collars.” Jane sits cross-legged on the bloodstained ground and drags you down with her, pulling your head into her lap. Kit and Dollie give Jane their collars, and she sets them down at her side. She plays with your hair. You feel nauseous.

“Well? Go on. Fight!”

Kit is at an obvious disadvantage with their broken leg. You’re sure they both have injuries beneath their clothes that will limit their mobility, but Kit's is obviously going to make a greater impact.

You have no idea what Dollie’s thinking. She launches herself at Kit. Kit hobbles away as quickly as they can, but they’re quickly cornered.

Kit is knocked down and Dollie whales on them brutally, punching their face over and over. You scream.

Jane clamps her hand over your mouth. “Fight back, Kitty.”

Kit cries out and tries to punch back, prompting Dollie to grab Kit by the hair and slam their head into the ground. They cry.

You don’t think you’ve ever seen Kit cry before. Even when you broke their leg. You squeeze your eyes shut and Jane immediately smacks you.

“Eyes open. This is your last warning.”

You’re crying too, but that’s not very out of the ordinary. You keep your eyes open as well as you can.

Kit lashes out at Dollie’s eyes, momentarily distracting her. They try to roll out from under her, but they can’t get back up fast enough with their broken leg. Dollie pins them down on their stomach, limiting their mobility even more.

She grabs their left arm and starts twisting.

“Stop! Stop it! Dollie wins! Puppy wins! Stop, they haven’t even done anything, please!”

Dollie does stop, but doesn’t release her hold on Kit. She looks at Jane intently, waiting for her to tell her whether to listen to you or not.

Jane hums thoughtfully. “Keep going. I’ll tell you when to stop.”

And Dollie keeps going.

Kit tries to kick her, but it has no effect. She presses her elbow into their windpipe.

You scream. “You’re going to kill them! Please stop! Please, Dollie! Puppy! Please!”

Dollie doesn’t show any sign that she heard you. She continues to suffocate them, letting go of the arm she was twisting and using her now free arm to keep her balance, placing her hand on the floor next to Kit’s face. Kit bites her fingers, hard, and she jumps back. Her fingers are bleeding.

Jane is laughing.

Kit still can’t get up fast enough, and they’re still cornered. Dollie kicks at their ribs and stomach. With Dollie off of them, you can see blood soaking through their shirt. You realize with growing horror that the beating must’ve opened one of their still-healing wounds.

Kit spits blood.

“Master! Please!” You cry. Jane rubs your back. It’s not healed enough for the touch to be painless.

“You’re okay, Bunny. Relax.” She focuses her attention on the others. “Kitty! I don’t believe that you’re actually that weak. If you continue to just lay there Bunny will be punished.”

Kit sobs. The next time Dollie kicks them, they grab her leg and pull her to the ground, using her momentum against her. She lands hard, barely avoiding hitting her head.

Kit keeps their grip on Dollie’s leg and punches her thigh over and over. Dollie kicks them in the face.

Kit groans and Dollie gets to her feet before stomping on their stomach. Kit tries to grab her again and she stomps on their hand.

It won’t stop it won’t stop please let it be over-

The “fight” continues, with Kit continuously getting the shit beat out of them and occasionally landing a blow on Dollie. You find a point in the basement and stare at it, trying to ignore what’s happening. If Jane notices, she doesn’t say anything.

Finally, Jane says “That’s enough.”

Puppy stops immediately. You sob with relief.

“Well, Bunny? Who do you think won?”

Of course it’s not over. You don’t want to send Kit to be caged after that.

“It wasn’t fair, master, Kit has a broken leg.”

"Who?"

You hate her so much. "Kitty has a broken leg."

“And whose fault is that?” Jane smiles and wipes at your tearstained cheeks.

She’s right. If you had chosen to get your other leg broken, Kit would’ve had a fair chance. This wasn’t inevitable.

No, wait. That’s not right.

“Yours.” You tell her. Because you never would’ve had to make that choice if not for her. Because for all you know, she planned on breaking one of Kit’s legs regardless of what you chose.

This wasn’t inevitable, but it was her choices that made it happen, not yours.

Jane sighs. “The choice was yours. But it doesn’t matter whose fault it was, does it? I don’t care whether it was fair or not. Who won, Bunny?”

She’s asking you to choose who gets locked in a cage for a week and who gets rewarded. You don’t know what to do. You don’t know if Jane will accept either answer or if she’s looking for something specific.

Kit told you that if you have to choose someone to be tortured, to choose them.

“Puppy won, master.”

Jane nods. “You heard him. Puppy, come here so I can put your collar back on.”

Dollie kneels down next to her, and Jane fastens the collar around her neck. Now that you get a better look at it, you can see that it’s definitely a shock collar.

“Can you take care of your hand on your own?” Jane gestures to the hand Kit bit. Dollie nods.

“Alright!” Jane produces a cage out of thin air. It’s the biggest thing you’ve seen her summon, but still not nearly big enough to fit Kit comfortably. She sets it on the ground.

“Get in, Kitty.”

You can't look them in the eyes. Kit crawls slowly into the cage and curls up with their chin in their knees, the only way they can fit. Jane tosses in two water bottles.

“That should keep you alive. I’ll let you out in a week, Kitten.”

Jane closes the cage and locks it.

“You two can go upstairs.” Jane says before vanishing.

You don’t need to be told twice. You get up the stairs as fast as you can (which isn’t very fast at all) and go straight to your room. You hide under your covers and cry and cry and cry.

You want Kit to comfort you, but they’re not here and you can’t look at Dollie without crying, so you wrap your blankets around yourself and try to stop yourself from thinking. It doesn’t work.

You want to leave, but you still haven’t completely healed from your last punishment and you can’t take another. And even if you could run, where would you go? You’re days away from any civilization. There’s nowhere to run.

You can’t stop crying.

Puppy has six stuffed animals, given to her as rewards for good behavior. First a teddy bear, and then a puppy and a kitty, and then a monkey and a pig, and finally, most recently, a bunny.

Puppy takes good care of her stuffed animals. She feeds them three times a day and makes sure they have plenty of water. She sets them in different places in her room every day, so they don’t get bored of their environment, and so that they get enough movement. She keeps her window open so they get plenty of sunlight and fresh air. She brushes them every day and cleans them if they get dirty.

Tonight, she brushes the kitty a lot more than usual. She brushes it and hugs it and kisses it, over and over again. The others are a bit jealous, but they know sometimes one of them needs to be taken care of more than the others.

She dotes on the kitty until it’s sick of her and wants to be left alone, and then she sits it on the windowsill. So it can see the stars. So it’s not trapped and can move however it wants.

Puppy takes good care of her pets. It’s more than she can do for her friends.

A/N: Let me know if I should tag anything else!

Tag list: @eatyourdamnpears @ghostsinthecloset

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