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sammys-magical-au · 15 days ago

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A Telltale Heart

Hey y’all!! I’m back at it again with the follow-up stories as a Christmas present for my good friend @wouldntyou-liketoknow - this one’s a long overdue sequel to Bloody Tricks and Even Bloodier Treats, her Halloween special from 2 Halloweens ago (😅). It ended up a little shorter than I’d originally intended, but the ending I have here just kinda felt right 😊

Disclaimer: the character of Caliban is not mine and belongs to @wouldntyou-liketoknow, he’s one of her many MatPat fanegos that I would highly encourage you to check out!!

Warnings: cannibalism, mentions of past injury, reference of a suicide attempt

And without further ado, I give you A Telltale Heart…

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“You wanna know what it tastes like, don’t you?”

Sam’s head shot up at Caliban’s comment, and she was shaking her head before she’d even fully thought about it.

“Absolutely not,” she replied sternly, “I’m vegetarian, plus I’ve learned in my line of work to not ask questions I already know I don’t want the answers to.”

Caliban stared at her for a moment, then shrugged.

“Suit yourself.” He murmured, which would’ve totally been an acceptable thing to say if he hadn’t followed it up by shoveling a bite of actual-human-person into his mouth. He absolutely knew the irony of his actions and was revelling in how uncomfortable Sam was because of it.

Sam cringed, swallowing the bile rising in their throat.

She didn’t know why she was sitting across from him while he ate the person she’d helped him kill.

Maybe what Owen said was right, and she was just a damn bleeding heart, too caring for her own good.

She just wanted to make sure Caliban was okay after he’d been attacked.

There were still red marks on his throat where that man’s thumbs had pressed into his flesh, and they’d likely bruise. Sam was positively certain Caliban had suffered worse injuries in his line of work, but she couldn’t help but feel… he didn’t want to be alone here, even if he’d never say so out loud, since Murdock had left to contact the cleanup crew a few minutes ago.

As if he’d read Sam’s mind, Caliban suddenly broke into her thoughts.

“You can go if you want,” he mumbled around his mouthful - again, actually human flesh. Sam wouldn’t have minded his poor table manners if he’d been eating something normal. “You don’t have to stay. I know not many people like to watch me eat.”

“No, it’s fine,” Sam half-lied, “I’ll… I’ll stay. I don’t mind… too much.”

She tried to keep her eyes from drifting down to his plate as she said it, which admittedly wasn’t that hard when his mouth curled into a smile - a genuine smile, not his usual cavalier smirk - and he let out a faint chuckle.

He seemed to have calmed down a bit since having eaten, and even though Sam couldn’t relate to craving human flesh, she could certainly relate to feeling better when her stomach wasn’t empty anymore.

“Sorry if I scared you by the way,” Caliban added - once again seeming to read her mind, “earlier, I mean.”

“Oh, you didn’t scare me,” Sam replied, again sort-of lying, “I’ve seen much worse in Torchwood, believe me… you’re not even the first cannibal I’ve met, if I’m being completely honest.”

That gave Caliban pause - Sam quite literally saw him jolt in his chair, though only slightly. His head snapped up to look at her.

“Really?” He asked, “who were they?”

“I dunno if I ever learned their names,” Sam answered, trying not to shudder, “if I was ever told them, they either didn’t stick in my brain or I purposely forgot. They were… different from you…”

As much difference as you could get with cannibals… she thought, but neglected to say.

Caliban raised an eyebrow, clearly expecting them to go on.

“It was a whole family, for one thing,” Sam went on, realizing she was already shaking, “a mother and father and their grown-up kids. Lived in this town in the Wales countryside, people started going missing, we got called out because it was ‘suspicious’. Turns out it was pretty far out of our jurisdiction - out of anyone’s jurisdiction, really, considering what they were doing out there… they didn’t just… they didn’t just eat the people the caught. They tortured them, they tricked us into thinking they were on our side, one of them even impersonated a police officer to capture Gwen and Owen. Ianto got it the worst. He tried to sacrifice himself to save Tosh, so she could run. They… they beat him so heavily he almost wasn’t alive by the time we got him outta there. Those people weren’t just cannibalizing for food, they did it for fun, for pleasure. I… I’ve seen a lot of horrible shit in my lifetime, but that was probably one of the worst.”

She sucked in a long breath, realizing she hadn’t inhaled since she’d started the story.

“Anyway… I dunno why I’m telling you all this. I guess just to say that… I misjudged you. You’re not like them, you’re… different. And I’m sorry.”

Caliban frowned.

“What for?”

“Well it’s not fair to judge you based on the only thing I know about you.”

“I’m a cannibal.”

“That… still doesn’t make it fair.”

“I don’t really care much about fairness.”

“But I do.”

Caliban shrugged.

“Alright. Fine. If apologizing makes you feel better then.”

He was quiet for a second.

“Thank you.” He added, in a barely audible voice.

Sam nodded, knowing he probably wouldn’t want anymore acknowledgement than that, and offered a small smile.

She sat back in her chair and closed her eyes as Caliban finished his impromptu snack - if it could be called that - finally feeling the adrenaline of the evening starting to wear off.

“You threw out a lot of names there,” Caliban said finally, breaking the silence, and Sam opened one eye to look at him again.

“Hm?” She asked.

“In your story about the other cannibals,” Caliban explained, “what’s this ‘Torchwood’ thing really about, anyway? You said about four different names of people I don’t know and that apparently you get called out to deal with missing people, but you’re not a cop.”

Sam raised an eyebrow.

“I could be.” She said.

Caliban was already shaking his head, grinning.

“No, you couldn’t,” he said, “you’re not the type, I can tell.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Sam chuckled, “Gwen used to be, though. A cop, I mean. She’s our investigator now, using that could’ve-been-a-detective brain to track down leads and appeal to people’s human side. She really cares, she’s our heart, reminds us to be more… human. More kind. Toshiko is the brains of the operation, she’s a scientist, a techie. She can hack into just about any government agency site and she can solve any tech issue in five minutes, tops - I just wish she’d recognize her own brilliance. Owen’s the doctor, but he’s also a biologist. Any weird, wacky specimens we find go to him. He’s a bit of a hardass, but he’s like a little brother to me. We all know he’s much softer on the inside than he lets on. Ianto’s kind of a one-man-band, he cleans up after us, makes the coffee, but he specializes in the archives. He’s also the youngest of all of us. By a lot. Sometimes I catch myself thinking of him as a kid, even if that’s wrong. I can’t help it.”

“That young, is he?” Caliban asked.

“Early twenties.”

“And the other cannibals, they beat him?”

“Almost to death. And I can’t imagine the psychological torture they put him through. That could only be seen in his eyes… he wouldn’t tell us what they said to him, but I could tell… he tried to… take his own life not long after…”

Sam swallowed hard.

“H-he’s better now, of course, but… we were all pretty worried about him. And I don’t think he’s ever had friends who worry about him before.”

Caliban’s expression hardened, a flicker of anger appearing in his eyes, though Sam could tell it wasn’t directed at her.

“Then there’s Jack,” Sam went on, wishing her hands would stop shaking, “he’s our leader, and… well, I’m his biological ancestor. He’s from the future, but he ended up back here because of a misadventure with a man called the Doctor, who’s a whole other story completely.”

“How do you find out your someone’s ‘biological ancestor’?” Caliban demanded.

Sam shrugged with a weak laugh.

“When your coworkers start not minding their own business and notice how similar you talk and act and look and get a DNA test done.”

Caliban huffed a laugh before lapsing into another momentary silence.

“Doc told me about that little favor he did for you,” he said after a minute or so, “watching your other children. I’m assuming Jack wasn’t one of them.”

Sam nodded, trying to fight the sudden anxiety worming away at her stomach over the fact that a cannibal had just asked her about her children.

“Yeah, I have three younger kids between one and eight,” they said quietly, “my partner, Jay, was gonna be out for the evening and I got called out on an emergency, and since we were all living over here at the time and I couldn’t ask anyone else on my my team to step in, I contacted Murdock.”

Caliban was chortling.

“You hired a contract killer to babysit your children!” He cackled.

“Yeah, and Jay wasn’t too fucking happy about it when he found out either,” Sam grumbled, which only made Caliban laugh harder, “I know Murdock promised they couldn’t be safer, but… well, a serial killer is a serial killer.”

“What’re their names?” Caliban asked, a strange glimmer in his brown eyes that Sam couldn’t quite match to an emotion.

Sam’s heart slammed to an immediate stop.

Caliban must’ve seen the shock and reluctance in her face, because he immediately shook his head, waving a hand dismissively.

“Never mind,” he murmured, “you don’t have to tell me. I can understand why you wouldn’t want to. I shouldn’t have asked.”

“N-no, it’s fine,” Sam stammered quickly, “I just… and I hate that I have to ask this, but… you wouldn’t eat a child, would you?”

Caliban raised an eyebrow at them, annoyance (and… possibly offence?) etched into his face.

“So, did you think my underground subway lair looked like a witch’s gingerbread house, or…?” He asked, his tone bordering on the same anger he’d expressed before.

“Alright, fair enough,” Sam sighed, raising her hands, “sorry. Protective instinct, I guess.”

“You would protect them, wouldn’t you?”

The question caught Sam off guard.

“… What?” She responded, frowning and tilting her head to one side.

“From someone like… from someone like those other cannibals.”

Sam could tell he’d wanted to say “from someone like me” but had refrained. She didn’t acknowledge this.

“Of course I would,” they said, with sudden fierceness, “I’d protect them from anything, human or not, cannibal or not, Earthly being or not. I’d give up my life for my children, I’d give up everything for them. You don’t have to worry about that.”

“I wasn’t.” Caliban responded quickly. Then he added quietly, “just wanted to be sure.”

“Sure of what? That I’m not an abusive parent?” Sam shot back with a laugh, “never. NEVER.”

“Good to know.” Caliban said simply.

That strange emotion from before still lingered in his gaze, and Sam squinted at him.

“… Why?” She asked finally, and Caliban glanced up at them.

“Huh?”

“Why… did you wanna know that? Why’s it important to you?”

“Because no child deserves to suffer, but any adult who caused them suffering does.”

Sam nodded.

“Agreed. Got a bit of a soft spot for children then, huh?”

“You could say that, I guess. As long as you don’t make fun of me for it.”

“I’d never do that! Why would I? It only makes me like you more.”