#platful whumper

[starrywhump]

Another game for the whumpee to play with the caretaker. Live hangman, always stopping before the whumpee dies, but only to do it over and over again, the caretaker at the brink of collapse before *finally* getting it right and bringing whumpee home. Only for one day for another friend to suggest the game to pass the time.

I love this idea thank you so much for submitting it!  I hope the few small changes I made are ok, and I hope you all enjoy reading it!

Tw: Flashbacks, panic attacks

“Please don’t do this!” The caretaker begged, pulling against their cuffs.  A short length of chain held them from getting to the whumpee, from helping the whumpee.

“Since you refuse to cooperate I guess you just don’t care about them,” the whumper ran a hand through the whumpee’s hair.  

The whumpee was on their knees.  Their head was pulled taught by a chain looped around their neck hooked up to the ceiling.  They were struggling to stay conscious.  After hours of torture and days of sleep deprivation, they were so tired.  The lack of oxygen was almost too much to bear. 

The whumper yanked the whumpee’s head back by their hair.

The whumpee yelped.

“Maybe I should just put them out of their misery if you aren’t going to try to save them,” the whumper pushed the whumpee’s head forwards.  They turned and pulled at the other end of the chain, yanking the whumpee up so the chain pulled against their neck.

The whumpee gasped, grabbing at the chain to try and loosen it.

“No! Stop it!  Stop please, please!” The caretaker yelled.

“If you won’t play there is no reason to keep them alive.”

“No no please!  I’ll play, please don’t kill them!”  The caretaker cried, jerking away from their restraints.

“Excellent, this will be much more fun!” The whumper released the chain.

The whumpee crumpled to the ground as soon as the tension of the chain was released.

“Ok six letters, make a guess.”

“I- uh,” the caretaker’s mind was blank.  They couldn’t think of anything.  This was the most important time to be able to think and they couldn’t think.

“I-I... please don’t, please.”

“I?  Is that your guess?”

“No please-”

“Incorrect.  No I in this word,” the whumper grabbed at chain again, pulling down on it so the whumpee was once again held up by their neck.

The whumpee let out a strangled cry.

“No, please!  Please stop you’re going to kill them!” Tears flowed down the caretaker’s face.

“I’m simply playing out the rules of the game.  I am being perfectly fair,” the whumper smiled.

“Stand up whumpee, please.  If you can, please, it would be better, you could- you could breathe if you stood up, please!”  The caretaker pushed forward, trying to get to the whumpee across the room.  They pulled so hard that the cuffs cut into their skin.  Blood trickled down their arms.

The whumpee’s eyes were panic-filled, they didn’t register what the caretaker said to them.  They seemed to be on the edge of unconsciousness, kept awake only by adrenaline and terror. 

“Ok second guess, go,” the whumper looped the chain around a hook on the wall behind them, holding the whumpee in place.

“Please let them down!  Let them down and then I’ll try again, please.”

“That isn’t how it works.  Make a guess.”

“Ok, ok uh let me think.  Ok uh, um... e?”

“E!  Good job, very smart.  E is the fifth letter, now guess the other ones.”

The caretaker breathes a small breath of relief, they just needed to keep this  up “Ok uh...a?”

“Nope!”

“Wait-”

The whumper pulled the chain down again.  

“Ngggh- ‘lease,” the whumpee choked out a plea as they were lifted off the ground.

The whumper smiled at the whumpee’s struggle. 

“Whumpee, stand up, please.  Please,” the caretaker begged.

The whumpee scrambled to get their feet under them.  After a what felt like an eternity of struggle the whumpee managed to stand.  They gasped for air, holding the loop of chain around their neck.

The whumper looked disappointed that the whumpee was able to get up, their sick grin quickly returned to their face as they looked back to the caretaker. “Next guess!”

“Give them a second please!” tears flowed down the caretaker's face.

“Guess,” the whumper’s tone was dangerous.

The caretaker sobbed, “please stop this.”

“Don’t make me ask again.”

“Ok, ok, I- uh, is... is, uh... what about T?”  The caretaker’s breathing picked up, they couldn’t breathe.  The whumpee dying, right in front of them, and there was nothing they could do about it.

“Sorry no T,” the whumper grinned  

“No don’t!” The caretaker’s voice cracked as they yelled. 

The whumper ignored them.  They pulled the chain, more than usual this time, forcing the whumpee up onto their feet so they could just barely touch the ground. 

The whumpee pulled at the chain around their neck, the sound of choked gasps filled the room as they desperately tried to take in enough air.

The caretaker sobbed harder at the sight of them, “Please!  I’ll do anything, please stop!  Do whatever you want to me just let them go.  Let them go, please!”

“All I want is for you to play the game,” The whumper circled the whumpee, enjoying as they became more and more desperate to breathe, as the panic and fear grew in their eyes.  

“Ok I will, I will, just... can I have a hint or... or something?  Please?” The caretaker focused on calming down, they couldn’t help the whumpee if they broke down. 

“Hmmm a hint,” the whumper looked between the caretaker and and the whumpee, pondering, “I suppose a hint couldn’t hurt.  Alright here it is: the word you need to guess is what my dear whumpee is, and always will be,” the whumper smirked, confident that they succeeded in making the caretaker even more confused. 

The caretaker squeezed their eyes shut, desperately racking their brain for the right word.

Five, no six letters, six letters, the fifth letter is e, six letters.

Six, six minutes, would the whumpee live another six minutes?  How long could they last without being able to breathe-Focus!

Oh god oh god, focus!  

E is... six letters, five, e, focus, six-

“You have your hint, make your guess,” the whumper broke the caretaker out of their spiraling thoughts. 

The caretaker nodded tearfully, “is there a, um, h?”

The whumper grinned, eyes lighting up with glee, “Nope!  Wrong again!”

The caretaker’s heart fell, “let me try again, please!”

“You will try again, as soon as I dole out the correct punishment for your mistake this round,” the whumper walked back to behind the whumpee and slowly pulled on the chain.  They took their time, watching the whumpee’s feet lift of the ground.

Horrible, spluttering, almost-silent, gasps came from the whumpee, they weakly kicked their legs, trying to find purchase on any surface to relieve their pain and let them breathe. 

“No!  Please!  Please please stop!  Please!” the caretaker screamed, wrenching their hands away from the chain, thrashing to get to the whumpee.

“Next guess, and I suggest you hurry.  I’d say you have at the very most fifteen minutes before your friend here is dead.  Five if I’m lucky.”

No! Nonononono they had to focus they had to ok, ok they could do this just... just FOCUS.

The caretaker was hyperventilating, they could barely speak, they forced out a guess, “N?!”

“Hey!  There is an N!  Who would’ve guessed?  Well I guess you guessed,” the whumper laughed at their own joke, “N is the last letter, that means so far you have: something, something, something, something, e, n.”

“Ok ok, I uh,” the caretaker let out a sob as they glanced back at their friend, the whumpee wasn’t kicking anymore, their eyes were squeezed closed, but they continued to gasp weakly.

“Tick tock, time is running out,” the whumper spoke in a sing-song tone as if talking to a young child.

The caretaker shut their eyes, they couldn’t look at the whumpee, they needed to think.

Focus.  It is what the whumpee is and always will be.  Or what the whumper thinks the whumpee is and always will be, e, n, e, n-

Their eyes shot open.

“B!”

“Oh?” the whumpee seemed surprised by their guess, “that was luck-”

“B!” the caretaker interupted!

“Fine yes, correct, don’t be so-”

“R!”

The whumper’s face fell, knowing the caretaker had figured it out.

“O, k, e, n.  The word is broken!”

The whumper rolled their eyes, “I never should have given you that hint.”

“I guessed it let them down!  You have to!  Please!”

“Fine, fine, don’t be so pushy it’s rude,” the whumper moved as slowly as they could towards the whumpee.  Then in one quick motion they unhooked the chain, sending the whumpee slamming down onto the floor. 

The whumpee didn’t move from the position they fell to, crumpled in a heap, with their face pushed into the ground.

The caretaker hoped, prayed that they were just unconscious. 

 The whumper riffled through their pocket pulling out a small key.

The caretaker recognized it as the key to their cuffs, was the whumper really going to let them go?

“I am nothing if not someone of my word,” the whumper sighed, and dropped the key on the ground, “find a way to get that and you’re free.”

The caretaker took in a shaky breath, the key looked outside of their reach, but maybe they could get it with their foot, or maybe they could wake up the whumpee?

“See?  I am not a sore loser,” the whumper grined at the caretaker, “I look forward to our next game.”

Without giving the caretaker a chance to respond the whumper turned and walked out of the room.

********

“They’re going to be alright, really, they just need rest,” A doctor stood before the caretaker, they were writing something on a clipboard.  The caretaker couldn’t remember their name, they hadn’t been listening when they introduced themselves. 

The only thing they had been paying any real attention to is the whumpee.  The caretaker sat on a chair next to the whumpee’s bed, holding one of their hands with both of theirs. 

The caretaker’s wrists had been bandaged, but other than that they hadn’t needed much medical care.  The whumpee on the other hand was hooked up to so many tubes, the caretaker couldn’t count them all. 

The caretaker wasn’t sure what all the different tubes were doing, part of them wanted to rip them all out, to stop anyone from ever touching the whumpee again.  But the rest of them, the logical part of them knew that the doctors were helping the whumpee.

The caretaker flinched as the doctor laid a hand on their shoulder. 

“Are you alright?”

The caretaker noded stiffly.

“Well as I was saying, when they wake up we want to try and engage them, so we could use your help.  We need to observe them speaking and moving to do a final check that everything is working as it should.”

“O-ok.  How can I help?”  The caretaker tore their gaze from the whumpee to  look up at the doctor.

“Just speak to them, act naturally.  Maybe play a little game with them, something simple like tic tac toe, or hangman.”

The caretaker’s breathe caught in there throat.

The doctor didn’t seem to notice, they continued to speak.

The caretaker didn’t hear the rest of what the doctor was saying.  Dread was building up in the pit of their stomach.  

They couldn’t breathe.  

Panic filled up their head.

They squeezed their eyes shut.

nonononono please don’t, I won, you can’t do it again please.

Their eyes flew open and suddenly they were back in that horrible room.  In front of them the whumpee hung, thrashing and gasping for air.

“NO!” the caretaker screamed, pushing forward to get to the whumpee.

Hands were on them, holding them, grabbing them.

NONONONO.

“STOP STOP YOU CAN’T DO THIS!” the caretaker screamed as loud as they could.

This isn’t fair I won!  I played your game!

The hands pulled on them.

The whumper pulled on them.

Pulling them back away from the whumpee.

The whumpee was dying and the caretaker couldn’t reach them. 

Someone tried to say something to the caretaker.

It was the whumper, they couldn’t listen to them, they swung their arm towards the voice. 

“STOP STOP”

The whumpee spluttered in front of them, they stopped struggling.  

Red streaks of blood started to ooze from the whumpees eyes.

The caretaker screamed.

The whumpee was dead, they couldn’t save them.

“NO NO NO NO!” the caretaker’s voice broke as they yelled.

A sharp pain lit up the side of the caretaker’s neck.

The hands became more aggressive, forcing them to move. 

Dark began to creep around the edges of the caretaker’s vision.

The caretaker sobbed.

They didn’t fight the hands, or the dark, they let them take over.

If the whumpee was dead there was nothing left worth fighting for.