CHAPTERTWO
DÉSIRÉE
A soft electrical humming sound comes from something above me. It’s annoying, and I wish someone would shut whatever it is that’s making that noise off. My head pounds with every beat of my heart, and all I want right now is silence.
Just as my eyes begin to flutter, I feel a cloth being pressed to my face. The stench is so overbearing that I have no choice but to wrench my face from side to side, trying to dislodge whatever it is. My eyes burn as they fly open, and I cough as I try to get the nasty taste out of my mouth.
Everything is blurry right now, but I see someone standing in front of me. A bright flickering light above us makes it hard for me to see exactly who it is. I take in a few deep breaths of cleaner air, willing myself not to panic. “Who’s there? Get away from me!” my voice shakes as I sit up from where I’m lying.
“You’re really not in the position to be giving me orders, little girl.”
That voice. Why does that voice sound so familiar? I blink my eyes hard, trying to clear my vision and raise my hand to shield it from the unsteady bright light. A shocked breath flies out of my mouth as I instantly recognize who’s in front of me. Dimitri.
I get to my feet, never taking my eyes off him, and it’s only then that I realize that my leg doesn’t hurt nearly as bad as it did before. I look down and see that it’s bandaged, and the area around it isn’t as red as it once was. Someone took care of the wound. Did he do this? I don’t understand. “Wh . . . why would you help me?” I stutter out.
Dimitri cocks his head to the side for a second before he laughs maniacally. “Help you? Oh, my sweet naive little girl. Why the fuck would I help you?”
His voice alone is enough to scare me, but it’s those eyes that seal the deal for me. Those eyes are what let me know that whatever pain I felt before now is nothing compared to what he’s going to do to me. I retreat from him until my back hits the wall. “Why are you doing this?” I ask, and his face changes from insane happiness to deadly fury in a microsecond. I squeal loud when he lunges in my direction and grabs my jaw squeezing tight enough, I’m sure he dislocates it.
He brings his face down to mine, and in a gentle caress, he rubs the edge of his nose against mine, “It’s been a while since I’ve had any fun, Désirée. When I play, I like my toys to be awake.” He leans back and stares right into my eyes.
I jerk my vision away from his face, and it lands on the wall behind him. It’s lined with chains and restraint apparatuses. This isn’t the room I was in before. Where am I? My eyes dart to the other side, and I see more equipment that can only be used for one thing. To deliver pain.
Whips, chains, knives, stakes, blowtorches, anything that could be used to hurt someone is lined up perfectly around the room. I hear myself start to cry. Even though I want to stay strong. I can’t. I’m scared. I inwardly beg for my sisters or my brothers to find me now, so I don’t have to go through this, but when Dimitri throws me down on the ground like a rag doll, I know my prayers won’t be answered.
“Are you crying? No. It’s not time for you to cry yet. We haven’t even started. I have a long and inventive day of fun planned for us. What good will it be if you’re already crying.” He walks behind me slowly, and I crawl on my hands and knees, trying to get away from him. In the back of my mind, I know there’s nowhere for me to go, but right now, I’ll do whatever I can to delay the inevitable.
“Please, don’t hurt me. Please,” I beg without turning around to look at him.
“Begging, now? Oh, Désirée, you’re making this much easier than I anticipated.”
My head jerks back, and pain slices through my scalp as he grabs hold of my hair and heaves me off the ground. I try to fight, but he’s too strong. He drags me a few feet back before he picks me off the floor and drops me down on a hard iron slab. I freeze in pain when I realize that there are small, pointed studs sticking up in various places on the metal bed. My mind can’t figure out which part of me hurts the worst.
“Fuck, no wonder they keep you locked up. This tight body is just waiting for someone to break into it.” Dimitri licks his lips while he grabs one of my arms and buckles it down to the side of the iron table.
“No, please. Don’t do this. Please, I can talk to my brothers. We can figure something out,” I cry, trying to think of everything possible that would get him to reconsider what I know he’s about to do.
“There’s nothing to figure out. You all are going to get what’s coming to you. It’s just my good luck that I get to start with you.” He walks down to the very end of the table and ties down both my legs at the ankle.
I close my eyes, determined not to let this memory not be the last one I have.
“Hey! Open you’re fucking eyes! Now!” Dimitri smacks me hard across the face, but I don’t open my eyes. I don’t want to see him. He smacks me again, but I keep my eyes squeezed shut. Maybe I can block him out this way. “Fine, you want to test me!” he screams at me. I hear him press something on the edge of the iron table, and my eyes instantly fly open at the pain. The spikes, they’re moving. They’re getting bigger and stabbing further into my skin.
“Ahh! Please no!” I jerk my body, but every movement just shoves the mini knives deeper into my muscle.
“You do what the fuck I ask! Keep your fucking eyes open!” Dimitri leans over me and yells into my face. The spittle from his mouth splashes on my lips and nose.
“Yes, yes. Okay, I will!” I agree right away. I’ll do whatever he says if it means that he’ll stop the pain.
I watch him press another button, and the spikes retreat. I cry in both relief and fear. My back is slippery with what I can only assume is blood. I remember reading about a device like this in one of my old textbooks. It was used in chair form back in medieval times. They would torture people to death with this. Only I don’t think Dimitri means to torture me to death. I think he’s going to use this device to keep me in line. I don’t think he has any intention of killing me today.
“I thought I’d be able to hold myself back a little while longer, but I don’t think I’m going to be able to. You know what’s in store if you don’t do exactly what I say. I’ll shove the spikes clear through your body and let you bleed out slowly right here on this slab.”
I nod again, making sure to keep my eyes open and on him. I hear the sound of his belt buckle hitting the metal, and his breath comes fast. “I wonder if this pussy is as sweet as I think it is?”
“Please, please, please.” The words come out as a whisper. I don’t know if I’m begging him or God.
“Shut the fuck up. No one is coming to help you. No one,” he snarls at me as he rips at my clothes. The tattered attire that they let me wear comes off easily, and I sob harder as my bare skin comes in contact with the metal underneath me.
The fabric of my panty's cuts into my hips as he yanks at them. “Get these shits off!” He’s no longer in control of what he’s doing. This isn’t a calculated event. His pupils are dilated, and he’s sweating so hard it’s running down his face. Just looking at him makes me want to throw up. I tug at my hands one final time just to see if I’m able to move, but I can’t.
He lifts himself on the table, and I feel his dirty cock stabbing at my thighs. “You brought this on yourself. Now I’m going to pound into you so hard you’ll never be able to sit again without remembering what my cock feels like.”
He thrusts into me hard, and I scream out in pain. I’m not wet, but it doesn’t stop him. He pumps into me, and I can feel my insides tearing up as he does. My hips sway and buck, doing everything I can to get him off me, but that does nothing but excite him further. My thighs shake with pain as he digs his fingers into my hips to keep me steady. I scream in a blind rage as I thrash with every ounce of strength I have, trying to break the straps on my wrist and ankles.
“Yes, fight! You’re mine now! Fight all you want, but you’re not going anywhere!” He leans up and spits directly in my face before he picks one hand up and smacks me hard enough to make my nose bleed. I choke for a moment before I turn my head and throw up right on the side of the table. I stutter out another cry, and he laughs louder as I do.
I feel thick wetness between my thighs as he continues to grunt and pound into me, and I know it’s blood. He’s ripping me apart. Every thrust sends blinding pain through my body. Every wail sends him into a frenzy to hurt me more.
I can’t take anymore—my eyes focus on the space over his shoulder, and my mind quickly pushes me into the darkness. As I pass out, I still feel my body jerking with his vicious thrusts. Somewhere deep in the recesses of my mind, I hear a small voice askhow do I survive this. I know the answer to that question right away. I don’t. I don’t know if I can live after something like this. Why would I want to?