The torture was suspended for a moment as the Man in Black gazed at Red Feline's naked, whipped body. The whip marks glowed under the low lights, blood trickled from the open wounds. She moaned faintly, returning to a reality that she had valiantly avoided during this last part of her ordeal. Leaving Piroska alone, the Governor gave the order to chain her and lower her into the the Fosa, the pit of death.

It was a deep, wide pit under the cave. People were lowered there to be eaten by insects and the creatures that inhabited the underworld. And it was dark.

The soldiers approached the women and pulled Piroska's aunt to her feet. Piroska understood they had come for her. She was aware of what was happening even if at that very moment she was not looking at the Governor but rather at the Man in Black who walked to Red Feline nail in hand.

Red Feline was somewhere between here and there, but still she could hear his heavy breathing as a menacing roar.

Red Feline opened her eyes, slowly, as the metal tip of the nail began to press her skin, it was a pain she knew very well, she had felt the nail twice before. The nail went into her flesh, slowly, making her open her eyes wide, she wanted to scream.

But it was Piroska who let out a deep moan and shook in pain as if the nail was being inserted into her flesh. The soldiers thought that she was suffering the pain of her still fresh wounds. They lifted her and took her to the pit. Both gates were close, serving as a platform. There were four chains hanging from the top of the cave, they were attached to pulleys.

After placing Piroska on top of the gates, facing down, they attached the chains to her wrists and ankles, spreading her legs and arms to the extreme. They pulled her up until she was near the top of the cave. The gates were opened and Piroska saw the dark pit, and beyond she saw Red Feline shaking in pain as the nail entered her flesh.

As the cold metal sunk in, Red Feline felt the warmth of her blood springing from her wound, rolling down her skin. The metal went deeper and she let out a scream, it was more like a anguished groan, she was too conscious now, too aware of her pain, too aware of the whip marks on her body, too aware of his heavy breathing.

Her legs raised slowly first, then she began to shake. Her torturer had finally made her aware of her torture. He saw her squirm in pain, opening her eyes and mouth wide, he pressed the nail deeper. She screamed and her mind went to the darkness of the pit as Piroska was slowly lowered into it. "Leave her there for seven days." the Governor ordered, "Maybe that will teach her a lesson, or maybe it will kill her.".

The sound of the chains reverberated in Piroska's ears as she felt herself being lowered. The tension in her stretched arms and legs was hard to bear. Soon she was engulfed in the darkness and her journey did not seem to have an end.

"Is this the bottomless pit I heard about?", she thought while feeling that sharp pain just above her leg as the long nail kept piercing Red Feline's body.

Red Feline looked at the Man in Black, making eye contact, the one thing her tormentor didn't plan for. In her eyes he sees a plea for mercy. He hesitates for an instant but soon he's in control and presses the nail further into her.

Red Feline allowed him to have that feeling. If he had looked deeper into her he would have seen that he did not exist. He would have become the Governor looking down into the pit as Piroska's body disappeared into the dark. "Close the gate.", he ordered. The gates were closed. There were openings on both sides, from one end to the other, that allowed for the chains to move freely.

Piroska was a feet of two above the bottom of the cave when the chains finally stopped. The darkness was complete, the same darkness from which Red Feline emerged, extracted out by the unbearable pain of the nail moving inside her.