Kidnapped

So Close (Revised)

"Are you gonna be a good little girl?" Jerry pinched my jaw in one hand and forced me to look at him.

"Yes." I glared at him fiercely.

He clucked his tongue and looked at me dubiously. "I sense a bit of defiance in you."

"Bite me." I growled. Jerry glanced back at Skip and shrugged.

"Why not?" Jerry's mouth crashed onto mine. I shrieked. He bit my mouth ravenously, tearing at my flesh like an animal until the coppery taste of my own blood filled my mouth. When he pulled away, grinning and satisfied, red smears coated his lips and chin. He licked them away slowly, savoring the taste.

"Mmh." He met my eyes. "Anything else you'd like me to do to you before we continue?"

I didn't speak.

"Good." Jerry turned to Skip and made a grand gesture. "Work your magic."

Skip stepped into the small circle of light and glared down at me. Without warning he threw his fist into my stomach. Another blow connected with my temple immediately after the first. I wanted to cry out, but I couldn't breathe.

"Do you see what happens when you disobey?" Skip smiled at me. The expression itself was one of kinship, but a dark glee in his eyes made another cold shudder snake through my body. Before I could recover, another blow landed on the other side of my face.  Another fist crashed into my rib cage, devastating what little progress I had made in my attempt to breathe. My mouth hung open and I gasped like a fish out of water.

"Do you see-" Skip slapped me again, "what happens-" another hit, "when-" hit, "you-" hit, "DISOBEY?"

No part of my body was left untouched, and all of it was left bruised. Most of the blows crashed into my skull and, even though I knew I hadn't moved, the world spun around me. I couldn't tell which way was up or down, the disorientation magnifying my terror. Most of his strikes were carried out with an open hand. With such force, I figured a few teeth should have been knocked loose. However, all of my bones stayed in tact, but the pain only seemed to grow more and more with ever powerful strike of Skip's iron hand.

"DO YOU SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DISOBEY?" His voice roared like thunder all around, echoing impossibly loud against the empty blackness surrounding.

"ANSWER ME!"

"YES!" Primitive fear reduced me to a crying, screaming mess. "Yes! I get it! I understand! PLEASE, STOP!"

The assault on my body stopped.

"Good girl." Jerry approached, his footsteps slow and deliberate.

I clenched my muscles, ready for the next hit. I jumped violently when something in the room crashed.

"Dad!" I opened my eyes to see Andrew scrambling to his feet. Light spilled from an open door behind him. It bounced off the wall beside it and slammed shut, evidence to his abrupt entrance.

Jerry froze, his fist clenched and pulled back to hit me.

"What?" A vein pulsed in his neck as the words hissed through his teeth.

"I- uh-" Andrew's gusto had left him. "I thought you said she was mine. It's my job to break her."

He shuffled his feet and reached up to rub the back of his neck. He glanced at me for a moment before returning his gaze to the floor.

Jerry's fist shook with excitement and something else.

"You did say-" Skip shrunk back into the shadows when Jerry's icy cold glare was turned on him.

Jerry relaxed slow and smiled at his son. However, this smile wasn't one that inspired warm fuzzy feelings. His teeth were human enough, but they might as well have been razor sharp for the murderous look in his eye.

He sighed. "You're right."

He turned, almost reluctantly, and left through the door that Andrew had come in from, Skip trailing behind hesitantly. The door slammed behind him and, even though I knew it was coming, I jumped.

Andrew didn't move for a moment, his eyes were locked on the now-closed door. His body was tense, every muscle clenched, even his jaw.

My breathing was still labored, tears were still streaming from my eyes, but I managed to stay silent, praying that, by God's grace, Andrew might forget I was there. A cold, intense fear gripped my heart as he turned around. A sob broke free when Andrew advanced on me, his arms swinging stiffly at his sides.

"Please." I begged. "I won't run again. I promise. Please don't hit me."

Andrew paused for a heartbeat, and stared at me. His eyes were the same color as his dads', but there was something different in them. He glanced at the ground before taking the few steps to close the gap between us.

"I WON'T RUN!" I screamed, squeezing my eyes shut. "I'm sorry! Please!"

My body tensed, every muscle bunched up into a tight ball.

A soft hand gently lifted my chin.

"Let me see what they did to you." Andrew said softly. He tilted my head this way and that, examining carefully. "It's not the worst they could have done, but it's not terrible either. Does it hurt?"

I turned my head away from his hand, and stared at him, searching his eyes for any insight to his intentions.

"A question usually requires an answer," he said.

"Yes," I stuttered, "It- it does."

"I might be able to get you some ice, or something." He offered me a smile. "Would you like that?"

I stayed silent.

"I-" he sighed, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry this happened to you. Just listen to my dad. Do what he says and this won't happen again, okay? You'll be out of here, before you know it. The sooner you cooperate, the sooner you'll be sold."

He searched my eyes for something that he didn't find.

"Please," he sighed again, "just do what you're told. There's no way that I can-" he looked away, unable to meet my eyes. "Please don't make me hurt you. I've done a lot of horrible things in my life, but I can't do this. And if I don't, my dad will-" he sucked in a sharp breath. "Please don't make me hurt you."

I slowly nodded my head and the final tear rolled down my cheek. Hesitantly, Andrew reached up and brushed it away, taking some of the intense terror with it.

"If you pretend you're knocked out," he began peeling the duct tape off my arms and legs, "I can carry you up to you room without my dad getting angry. Do you want to go up there?"

I nodded again.

Andrew finished untying me and slipped his arms under me; one behind my back, the other in the bend of my knees.

"Close your eyes and relax," he told me. I closed my eyes and let my head loll back, very aware of how exposed my neck became. The violation of Jerry's hand throbbed harder than the pain throughout my body. Any exposed skin felt not only vulnerable, but targeted.

"Relax," he said. "Your whole body has to be limp."

Slowly, one-by-one, I completely relaxed every muscle in my body.