a l o n e (open)

[malfoy]

It had taken a long time for him to find it in himself to get there, but now Isaac finally stood before Hiroku's grave with a heavy heart. She had been too young to die, like her brother. He felt guilty, as if it had somehow been his fault, but she had been killed whilst he was being held prisoner, there was nothing he could have done. Isaac closed his eyes after laying down the flowers he had brought, as if it would somehow solve all his problems.

The only thing the gesture succeeded in was allowing sharp, painful memories come before his closed eyelids. Isaac promptly opened his eyes, but he could still hear the screams inside of his head. He had never felt so alone in his life, no one would understand.

[calcetines]

"Isaac," Angel said tentatively, standing at a distance from one of her closest friends. She had not seen much of him since he had been rescued, but every time she saw him he looked so depressed- as if nothing in the world would ever make him smile again. Angel could scarsely imagine what he might have been put through, but just being around Isaac was difficult these days. She inched closer to where Isaac stood, swallowing forcefully as a lump formed in her throat. It was Hiroku's grave, Wolfgang's right beside it.

[malfoy]

Isaac momentarily looked over at Angel and nodded once, his way of acknowledging her. He hadn't spoken a word all day, talking was too hard to do for the moment. He wished that he were able to cry, perhaps then it might be easier to deal with everything that had happened in the past few months. Isaac fixed his gaze back on the flowers that he had left, the bright white petals stood out against the dirt. After a moment he slowly turned, with the intent on walking away. He figured Angel would stop him before he could get very far, but he was not looking for conversation today.

[calcetines]

Angel quickly caught up to Isaac, whether he wanted to or not she was determined to make him talk to her that day. It wouldn't be easy, but she had to do something. It pained her to see him like this, it was like he had become a zombie. She stepped in front of him, placing her hands on his shoulders. "Isaac, what did they do to you?" Angel said quietly.

[malfoy]

Isaac only looked Angel in the eye for a second before turning his head away. He wanted to tell her everything, break down and be comforted, but he knew that he couldn't. What had happened to him was horrible, he might not ever tell another soul as long as he lived. At any rate, Isaac was too much of a gentleman to tell Angel- she had enough to worry about, what with her sons and her job, she didn't need to hear about what had happened. Isaac only shook his head as a response.

[calcetines]

Angel frowned, she wasn't afraid of using stronger methods of getting her friend to talk. She had had to be pretty harsh with her own father to get him to go to work in the months after Ginny's death. Harry had gone to another extreme, he now seemed unable to stop working. "Now Isaac," said Angel, keeping her tone soft, "you can tell me, or I can slip you some Veritiserum. What's your choice, then?" She kept her gaze fixed on Isaac, surprised that he hadn't just run off, there was relatively little she could do to stop him from doing so.

[malfoy]

Isaac hung his head, examining his feet as if he were fascinated by them. The last thing he wanted to do was talk about what had happened in the months where he had been held prisoner in his childhood home. Immense feelings of guilt had attached themselves to the walls of Isaac's stomach, pain filled him. But finding words was too hard, he couldn't bring himself to do it. After a moment he looked up at Angel, his steely grey eyes pleading. "Angie," Isaac said quietly, "please don't." He bit his lip lightly.

[calcetines]

"Isaac," Angel said softly, she could see it in his eyes that what had happened was too painful to talk about, but she wasn't about to let him get away with shoving her off again. Not this time. She knew that it would make his burden easier to carry if he were to just open up, but he had been so stubborn for so long. "Come sit with me," Angel added, making sure to keep her tone gentle. She walked to a bench that was a short distance away and pat the seat beside her.

[malfoy]

Reluctantly, Isaac followed Angel to the bench, keeping in mind that it would at least put him in the shade of a nice big tree. Even with the ring the redhead had given him the June sunlight wasn't terribly comfortable. He would much rather be indoors on a day like this. When he was younger he used to love summer weather, but these days Isaac prayed for overcast and rain. He sat down on the bench, slumping a bit. Isaac was dreading what was sure to come, but he knew Angel wasn't going to back down until she had gotten what she wanted out of him.

[calcetines]

Angel was quiet for a while, admiring the sound of the birds chirping, the breeze ruffling the leaves of the tree they sat beneath. She looked at Isaac expectantly, as if the change in environment would suddenly make him open up. She figured that it was wishful thinking on her part, it certainly wasn't likely. "Isaac," Angel began again, still using the same soft tone, "I know you don't want to, but keeping all of that to yourself won't help you."

[malfoy]

Isaac sighed, he knew that, but he was determined to keep that information solely to himself. Nobody needed to know the things that had happened to him, the things he had been forced to do to others... If it had just been himself being tortured Isaac might not be so different than what he used to be, but he had been made to torture others... He wasn't sure how many he had accidentally killed because he had been starved. "I can't," Isaac whispered, and then fell silent again.

[calcetines]

Angel bit her lip lightly, this was going to be a bit more difficult than she had thought. Perhaps it wasn't unreasonable for Isaac to feel as if he couldn't, but whatever it was was eating him from the inside. Angel lightly placed her hand atop Isaac's, refraining from recoiling at how cold it was. She was used to it by now. "You've got to be strong, Isaac," said Angel, "be strong for me, for Gabriella."

[malfoy]

Yet another sigh passed Isaac's lips, he knew that Angel wasn't going to let up on him once he had at least said something, she was stubborn that way. "Please," said Isaac, "don't think lesser of me when I tell you, I was forced to." He looked up at the leaves of the tree, watched as they fluttered in the summer breeze. Isaac kept quiet, waiting for Angel to respond before speaking again.

[calcetines]

"Isaac," Angel said gently, almost hurt that he would think something like that, "I would never, you have my word." Already she felt a certain heaviness coming to her heart, whatever it was that Isaac was going to tell her would be terrible, but it would be worse if he kept it to himself. Angel squeezed Isaac's hand in a reassuring way, while lightly biting her lip.

[malfoy]

Isaac nodded as he looked back down to Angel. If he still had a beating heart it would probably be hammering against his ribcage, but as it was, he was one of the walking dead. He only had the nervousness piling up in his stomach. "I was starved," Isaac began, tone quiet, "tortured on a daily basis." He swallowed, it was getting hard to talk again. "But I was made to torture others. Break their bones, remove teeth and fingernails, cut with knives. Sometimes the smell of their blood... I would lose control." Isaac stopped, he was visibly shaking, and no longer able to get words to come.