Blood Vengeance [COMPLETED]

Chapter Twenty-Five - Promises

It was several hours before anyone came to check on her. She had no way of knowing exactly how long, because there was no clock in the room.

A place that had no need of time, she thought.

But thinking is one thing she did a lot of, whilst she was trapped in the chair, her skin goose-pimpled and cold, her nipples erect and chafing on the fabric of her bra. In the last half an hour they had started to hurt, feeling raw and overly sensitive. She tried to curve her spine, curl her shoulders inwards, to stop them rubbing, but nothing she could do was enough.

She thought of Hector, and wondered where he was, questioning whether she was crazy, or whether he had really been in the building. Had he spoken to her? Told her to let Arthur die? She couldn't be sure, and by now Hector seemed little more than a dream, a figure concealed, standing on the other side of frosted glass.

What had it felt like, being with him? Being near him? Never as explosive and dangerous, and yet sweetly satisfying as it was to be near Arthur.

And what of Arthur? What was he playing at? If he knew about the soul that was harboured within the fragile cage of her human flesh, why hadn't he cracked her open and pulled it out already? Did there really have to be some element of pure love for the perpetrator on her behalf? Would that ever be possible, now that she had known both these men? Could one really exist without reminding her of the other?

A guard bust into the room, with an energy that seemed to drain from him as soon as her saw her.

"One of Arthur's games?" he asked.

She raised her eyes, slowly, as though they bore a weight she couldn't lift.

"Do you need to use the bathroom?" he asked.

"Yes." The word came out softer than she had intended, but she had no need to repeat it. The guard was already releasing her and lifting her from the chair.

He walked with her, her arm around his shoulders, supporting her as she walked to the bathroom.

Her legs felt as though they belonged to someone else; when he released her she nearly fell, her knees giving way.

Her mind felt as slow as her body, and as she closed the door leaving the guard outside the bathroom, she tried to speed things up. She splashed her face and neck with cool water, waiting for her body to spark into action.

But it didn't. She tried to think of a way out, a means of escape, but she could think of no options.

*

Three days passed in this way; Selene measured them out by the changing light that filtered into the tiny room.

Sometimes she heard noise from Arthur's chamber; the sound of a woman, the sound of sex. It sickened her.

The guards came and went, allowing her release only to use the bathroom. As for food, they fed her, spooning whatever was available into her mouth. But she ate very little of it; the very situation she found herself in had wiped away her appetite.

On the evening of the third day, Arthur himself opened the door to the room. Selene did nothing more than raise her heavy eyelids, acknowledging him with a mere flicker of her eyes.

"Not pleased to see me then?" he asked.

She blinked, lacking the energy to even form a response. Her lips felt as though they had been glued together.

Well," he said, smiling, "we can easily remedy that."

He stepped closer to her, tickling her skin with his fingertips as he untied her.