I regain awareness and my stomach greats me by growling
at me. I feel like I have not eaten in days, my arms and stomach ache, and I
realize that I am lying on something soft. I sit up cautiously, looking around
to figure out where I am. I do not remember anything after falling asleep with
Ethan next to me. I shudder at the memory, and as I gaze around myself I notice
I am not in bed with anyone. In fact, I am not even in a bed; I am on a padded
exam table wearing an oversized black t-shirt with ‘Led Zeppelin’ emblazoned
across the front. I lift my arms to find bandages covering my forearms. With a
gasp I swing my legs over the side of the table, only to find them latched on
to the table with thick metal clasps. I bend and reach my ankles to get a
better look at see blisters and sores from the cuffs, almost as if I had been
trying to break free for a while.
“What the hell?” I mutter to myself as I stare at my
ankles in disbelief. I glance around, trying to find something to explain why I
am here and tied down. I am surrounded by white walls and no door in sight. A
metal table seems to be the only other thing in the room. I chill runs through
me.
“Hello?” I call out nervously. No one answers. “Is
someone there?”
I wait in silence before calling out again. “Where am I?
Why am I strapped to a table?” I hear a clicking noise, then the floor creaks
as if under someone’s foot, but I see no one. I call out feebly, nervousness
turning into fright.
There is a gentle whirring noise and a part of the wall
to the right of me disappears, revealing a plush hallway with crimson walls.
Ethan enters, moving towards the table and staring at me with an expression I
have not seen on his face before. I try to shy away from him, frustrated at my
inability to move my legs.
He circles around the table I am strapped to and says,
“feel funny?”
“I…” I falter under his gaze, fear and nausea returning
with his presence. I shallow. “Not really.”
“Remember anything?” He asks, placing a hand on my
stomach, making it tie itself in knots.
“I remember falling asleep with…after…” I pause, a memory
floating back to my mind of Ethan mumbling something in his sleep. The memory
of his words makes my shiver.
“With me, yeah. Anything after that?” He begins to move
his hand, gently stroking my stomach, and reaching closer to my lower regions.
My breathing turns to short nervous breaths and my face burns in embarrassment.
My mind starts to panic.
“No.” I gasp as he barely touches my thigh, teasingly.
“Nothing at all?”
I shake my head, my attention more focused on resisting
the urge to scream or punch him to make him stop.
“Ok, well you might want to see the tape of the last few
days then.” He moves back up, his fingers heading for my chest.
“No… I mean, yes…… I mean-. Last few days? How long have
I been in here?” I grab his hands, trying to keep him from pulling my shirt
off.
“Playful today, aren’t we? Well, I suppose it’s better
than you trying to bite my fingers off.” Pulling his hand out of my grip, he
casually reaches up and pushes several strands of his hair out of his eyes.
“Watch this and I’ll be back in a little while.”
Pulling a remote out of his pocket, he presses a button,
and then heads back out through the opening. It closes behind him, just as a
security video displays on a television panel on the wall in front of me. I am
instantly entranced by what is showing.
I see Ethan in the same room I am in now, carrying me. I
am writhing and screaming something about spiders, clawing at myself as soon as
he puts me down. My scratches quickly draw blood from both my arms. Ethan
latches the metal cuffs to my ankles, keeping me from falling off the table,
before trying to grab my arms and cuff them too. I fight against him, screaming
and clawing like a deranged person. He finally succeeds in strapping my arms
down, while I scream that I want to kill myself. Blood drips down Ethan’s arms
as well as from my fingernails. The video fast-forwards through more of me
trashing on the table then slows to show me apparently either falling asleep or
passing out when Ethan injects me with something. Fast-forward. Ethan enters
again and bandages my arms while I sleep, pausing as I mumble something. My words
seem to interest Ethan.
“Please no, Ethan! Don’t do that again. Please. I’ll do
whatever you say.” My voice trails off before I begin talking again, only
louder. “Please let me go home. I don’t like it here. Don’t let the vampires
bite me again. Please, Ethan, I’ll do whatever you want. Don’t let them bite
me.” I go on for several moments on the tape with much of the same.
My stomach rolls as I listen to myself mention things he
had done to me. The last bit of the recording seems to interest Ethan especially,
as he grins slightly. I almost gag.
The tape goes fast again as Ethan leaves the room and I
mouth things silently on the tape. I look like I a hallucinating again. A while
later Ethan enters again and watches me, before moving his hand to my face. I
lash out at him and bite his hand with the viciousness of an attack dog. He
pulls back with a grim look, before reaching in a drawer next to the table and
injecting me with a needle. I fall limp again. More then same process follows
with Ethan entering and injecting me with something each time I wake up. This
is all fast-forwarded through until it shows me waking up again, this time
without the thrashing. Playing in real time now, I lie still for a few moments,
my eye wide and unfocused. The camera zooms in as I begin speaking. My voice
wavers with realization and sadness.
“I think I love him, Daddy.” I pause. “No, Daddy, don’t
leave me here. Don’t leave me here.” My eyes begin to fill with tears on the
video. “Please…” I mumble. Ethan enters in the middle of this and pauses,
watching me with a cautious look as I plead with my Dad to stay and not leave
me. I continue to cry. With more tenderness than I have ever seen him use
before, Ethan leans toward me and gently presses his lips to my temple, whispering
something in my ear. I stop speaking and my eyes move toward him, still
unfocused as if I cannot really see him.
“I love you, Kyle.” I smile. A frown quickly replaces it
as tears fill my eyes again. “Why are you leaving? Where are you going? Don’t
leave me. You’re the only one left.” Ethan gently puts the syringe to my arm
and injects me again, waiting briefly with his hand on my cheek as I slip back
into unconsciousness. The tape stops, and the screen goes black.
I stare at the screen with an open mouth, in awe at what
I just witnessed. What made me act like that? I have never told anyone about
that. I told myself I would never say that name again. It hurt too much. What I
had said brought a flood of incredibly painful memories. Memories of a father
who had disowned me early in life because I did not want to be a doctor.
Memories of the stupidity of falling for the first fast talker who came my way
and running away with him. Of being robbed and dumped by him only three days
after. Of being left alone with nothing. The tears and pain and struggling to
survive. They are the memories that I had tried so hard to forget, especially
when I sat alone in my roach-infested apartment, trying to get through lonely
nights. And now it all comes back to haunt me with an intense force. I refuse
to cry, to shed another tear for that selfish jerk.
I hear the whirring sound again, followed by the door
opening, allowing Ethan to enter. He watches me intensely, holding a paper sack
in one hand and has the other stuffed in his pocket. I avoid his eyes,
embarrassed at how he had seen me, and unsure what to think of how he had
treated me in the last scene of the video. It was unnerving.
“Interesting, hmm?” he says, coming over to me and
sticking his cell phone into the pocket of his pants.
“Why was I acting like that? What was wrong with me? And
why don’t I remember?” I force myself to be bold and ask him questions, trying
to force myself to stop being afraid. I have been like that for the past three
years. Enough is enough!
Ethan perches himself on the edge of the table, one hand
in his pocket, the other on my bare thihg. My body instinctively tenses up, but
I force myself not to cringe at his cold touch. “Hungry yet?”
Even though I notice that he seems to be shying away from
any answers, I cannot pass up his offer. “Yes.”
“Here.” He takes out a roll and a bottle of water from
the paper sack and hands them to me. “Don’t eat it too quickly or you’ll be
sick.”
I snatch both from him greedily, ignoring his instruction
as I devour the roll. I take a long swig of water before looking back up at
Ethan.
“Can you undo my legs now?” I ask, a little grumpily, but
trying to keep my emotions in check.
“Hmm. I dunno. That makes what I was planning a little
more difficult.” He inches his hand a little further up my thigh, stroking the
soft skin.
I hold in a gasp. “I’m still hungry. Can I have some more
food?”
“Nope. Don’t want you to eat too much and make yourself
sick. Beside, I think I can take care of you being hugry real quickly.” With a
slow smile, Ethan moves his hand underneath my shirt to my inner thigh, moving
even higher.
My eyes widen. “No, that’s-“ I am cut off as Ethan climbs
onto the table, his knees supporting him so that he is not sitting on me. I try
to scoot backwards, annoyed at the cuffs.
“Ethan, please don’t…” I whimper, leaning back to keep
him as far away from me as possible.
“Why don’t you tell me exactly what you don’t want me to
do? Or maybe I know. You were rather specific earlier.” He suddenly grabs my
head in his hands, his fingers running through my tangles as he draws my mouth
towards his. Our lips meet, his tongue parting my lips and exploring my mouth.
He kisses me so fast and hard that I can barely breathe, and he will not let me
go. He releases me, letting me gasp for air as he pulls off my shirt. My eyes
fill with tears.
“Ethan, please don’t do this again, please…” I say, my
voice breaking as he runs his hands across my chest, softly stroking one
moment, then roughly handling the next.
“Since when have you been on first name basis with me?”
he asks in a raspy voice, his gaze leaving my body long enough to give me a
glare. “Now shut up or I’ll make this hurt on purpose.”
I close my mouth for a moment, expecting to be unable to
speak when he commands me to be quiet. Then a thought goes through my head, I
can speak when I want to!
“Let me go! You can’t do this!” I grab his arms to try to
stop him. My hand barely covers his forearm, not stopping anything.
Ethan stops to stare at me, my resistance shocking him,
then forces me to lie down. He secures my arms in the cuffs on either side of
my head.
“Why stop me? I’ve had you a couple times already. You’re
no virgin anymore, there’s nothing you have to lose. You might as well stay
still and enjoy it.” His blue eyes bore holes in my head as he stares at me,
baring his fangs.
I shake my head wordlessly, tears streaming down my face.
I feel so vulnerable and abused. Kyle was a saint compared to this guy. This is
the only reason a man wants a woman. There is no such thing as happiness or
love. My body trembles as I sob, my eyes forced shut.
“If only you’d learn to keep that mouth of yours shut,
you’d be perfect. But we’ll fix that… in a couple of weeks, you’ll be just like
those other girls. Doing exactly what I tell you, when I tell you. It won’t be
hard at all.” He bares is fangs as he speaks, growling.
What is wrong with him? Why is he like this? Why does he
act tender one second, playful the next, and then cruel? What have I done that
has singled me out for him? There is no reason, nothing. I feel like I am going
crazy. Suddenly, my head begins to feel fuzzy. Ethan looks distorted as I stare
at him, my tears coming to a halt. I begin shaking and shivering
uncontrollably. A whimper escapes my lips.
Ethan looks at me and frowns. “What are you doing now?”
“Ethan.” I whisper. “I feel funny.”
Ethan slides off me and jumps to the floor. He unlatches
my arms and legs, picking me up. My skin cringes away from his touch.
“Don’t touch me.” I mumble. “Put me down.”
Ethan ignores me, the white room. Tears return and
trickle down my cheeks. What if he is taking me somewhere to hurt me again? I’m
still so sore.
“Please, not again, Ethan. It hurts.” I say hoarsely,
struggling in his arms. My body feels heavy and everything around me is moving
and swirling.
“Don’t talk. Close your eyes and try to sleep.” His voice
is soft and tender.
My body gives in to his commands and I close my eyes and
fall into a peaceful slumber
Points: 2200
Reviews: 235
Donate