Darkness.
Her mind felt heavy and just darkness.
Aurora had no idea where she was or what had exactly happened to her. All she remembered was leaving Hunter and ending up drinking at a bar. The rest was all hazy. Aurora tried to move but she had no idea if she even lifted a finger. She needed help.
"Hunter." She whispered.
A man leaned over her as she started to become restless. She laid on the bed, no longer covered by the blanket as Aurora had kicked it off. He studied her face and the fact that she changed the color of her hair again. I liked the solid purple better. He thought. He moved his hand to the side of her face and with his thumb, caressed her cheek. "We'll get you all fixed up." He told her as she started to get more restless.
Someone knocked on the door before he walked in. "Stryker?" The man said, as he closed the door behind him.
"Raphael." Stryker, the man said. He didn't turn around. He still faced Aurora in his bed, he continued to stroke the side of her face.
"You called for me?" Raphael asked.
Stryker nodded. "Sedate her again."
Raphael raised an eyebrow as he walked over to a table in the room. Varying drugs and medicine were laid out on the table. "Are you sure? She's been sedated for so long now."
"I said sedate her!" Stryker started to raise his voice and Raphael quickly got together a syringe. "I have to look more into this Hunter gentleman and why he has her so brainwashed."
"I understand, Stryker." Raphael walked over with the syringe. "I wasn't questioning your authority. I just wanted to make sure."
"I know." Stryker sighed. "I have just missed her so much and now she's back but she's not my Aurora. She's changed."
"She still is." Raphael said as he injected her with the sedative into her arm. After a few moments Aurora settled out, her head falling limp. "She just needs to be reminded about everything you have done for her, how you were the one who saved her."
"And I will." Stryker removed his hand from her face. "Besides, this sedative is nothing compared from that hole in the wall I rescued her from. She's used to it." Raphael nodded, even if his friend didn't see it. "When do my guests arrive?"
"The Pykes should be arriving shortly. We best clean up before they arrive."
"I supposed we should. The guards are still outside?"
"Yes."
"Good. I want to be informed when she awakes."
"Of course."
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Aurora groaned. Her mind felt groggy. She knew she had been drugged and then sedated but she wasn't sure for how long. She realized her head hurt. Aurora knew she had to get moving. She had no idea where she was but deep down she did know, she just didn't want to admit it to herself yet. Slowly opening her eyes, the white marble walls made her eyes squint. She was alone in the room. She carefully sat up in the bed, holding her head. She saw loose medical supplies scattered on the table but it seemed for the most part everything had been cleaned up.
Aurora threw her feet over the edge of the bed and carefully got up, using the bed to support herself as she was still light-headed. She crept towards the door and leaned against it. She could hear two people outside the door.
She walked over to the window next and tried to lift it but it wouldn't budge. "Damn." She whispered when she realized the windows were screwed. She paused for a minute thinking of a plan. She saw a glass cup on the nightstand. She started to think of a plan. "I'm sorry Hunter." She whispered, knowing he would hate this plan.
She walked over to the glass and dumped the contents onto the floor. She walked over to the door and took a deep breath. She threw the glass across the room and it shattered upon impact with the wall. She pressed her against the wall next to the door.
Another second later the door opened and one of the guards walked in. He didn't see her as he walked further into the room, looking around. The door closed behind him and Aurora snuck up behind him, she saw his blaster was holstered. Taking another deep breath she jumped onto the back of the guard, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Hey!" The guard yelled and he tried to get Aurora off him but Aurora held on tight. She used her legs to wrap around his waist right as he slammed his back, and her against the wall. Aurora gasped for air. She let go of his neck and managed to reach down grabbing the blaster.
The other guard ran in, hearing the commotion right as Aurora jumped off his back and shot the first guard. She quickly turned and rolled out of the way right as the second guard fired a stun round towards her. Kneeling, she shot the second guard and he dropped to the floor. Aurora stood up and held the blaster to her temple.
Someone grabbed her arm and pointed it upwards right as she fired the blaster. "NO!" She screamed against the person stopping her.
"You were going to kill yourself!" The man holding her arm screamed at her. She struggled against him. He twisted her wrist, forcing her to drop the blaster and clattered to the ground.
"Let me go!" Aurora screamed again and brought her arm down, biting his hand.
"ARGH!" The man let her go. "How dare you!" With his other hand, backhanded her across her face and she staggered back, towards the wall. "We do not act this way!" He moved towards her again as she tried to flinch away from him. He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her into the wall, her head smacking it hard. She dropped to the ground, having blackout from hitting her head. The man rubbed the hand that Aurora had bitten. He knelt down to the ground and brushed the hair out of her face. Her cheek was a bright red from where he hit her. "Now look at what you made me do."
Another person ran into the room. "Stryker! Are you alright?!"
Stryker stood up, brushing his hands off. "Quite fine. Looks like I need to reteach some manners to the princess."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aurora slowly gained consciousness, her hands were tied, and her face hurt. Like someone had hit her. Her head also hurt. She weakly pulled on the binds that were on her wrists. She tried to take in her surroundings, but her vision was blurry. She believed she was still in the room she was originally in. A man knelt down in front of her and he grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him.
Stryker Orqunde.
"Who is Hunter?" Her ex asked. Aurora tried to back up but her back was against the wall. "Aurora, you know what will happen if you make me ask again." He calmly said. She still stayed quiet, she saw his nostrils flair and she knew he was getting upset. "Aurora! Tell me who this clone is that you have been spending all your time with!" He raised his voice and Aurora flinched away from him as he yelled. Stryker sighed and rubbed the bridge between his nose. "You are making me a bad guy by raising my voice. All I'm doing is asking you a simple question, it's not that hard to answer me." He gently brought his hand to the side of her face and caressed her cheek and Aurora tried to shrink away from him.
"He-he's no one." Aurora whispered.
"So you were calling out for no one then?" He inquired. Aurora's breathing quickened. "I want you to be honest with me."
"I am."
"Are you, Aurora? Are you?"
"Yes."
"LIAR!" He yelled in her face. "You really think I wouldn't find out about that clone?! Really Aurora? A clone?! Did you not think I wouldn't find out about those rejected clones you have been sleeping with? Seriously? Out of all the beings in this galaxy, you chose clones!"
"I'm not sleeping with them!"
"Stop lying!" He roughly grabbed her hair, keeping her looking at him. "I bet you are sleeping with all those men. I bet it's a small ship, testosterone running wild! Those men violating and touching you. It makes me sick!"
"I haven't done anything with them! I swear!"
He let go of her hair, standing up and he walked over to the table, he grabbed a cup and Aurora could see there was only water in it. He walked back over to her and knelt down again. "Drink." He said forcing the cup to her mouth, but she turned a cheek to the beverage. "Aurora, I won't ask again." She swung her head forward knocking the cup from his hand and she spit in his face. He wiped the spit from his cheek and brought his hand down, cracking her across her cheek, the same once he hit earlier. Her head rocked backwards and she took in sharp breaths. Her cheek stung and she pressed herself into the corner of the room. "By everything in the galaxy Aurora I'm only trying to take care of you!" He screamed and she flinched. "Now look at the mess you created and you're causing me to lose my temper!" He got back closer to her and grabbed her face, she tried to break away from him but he held a strong grip. "My darling Space Princess, I only want what's best for us." He forced her to kiss him. He let her go, got up, and walked away, leaving the mess Aurora had created. Aurora turned her head away from him. The tears started to pour, everything hurt. Stryker walked out of the room, the door closing behind him. She found herself wishing she never left Hunter's side.
"Hunter, please come save me." She found herself whispering once Stryker left the room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aurora had no idea how long she was alone in the room for, the curtain was covering the only window, so the room was dark. She still sat in the corner with the binders on, her wrist becoming raw from her pulling on them. Dried tears stained her face as she continued to silently cry to herself. The door opened and someone walked in, they kept the lights off. The door closed behind him and he walked over, pulling up a chair and he sat in front of her.
"You know, your life would have been easier if you had actually died in that explosion." It was Raphael, Stryker's best friend. Aurora stayed quiet and continued to stare at the wall. "He's worse now, well I don't need to tell you that. Clearly you understand."
"What do you want Raphael?" Her voice was scratchy. She still continued to look at the wall.
"I just came to see if you have any regrets yet?" He questioned. "You know, since your plan of staying away failed." He leaned forward. "You should have stayed off of Coruscant, did you really think I wouldn't see you dancing with that man, kissing him."
"I never kissed him." She turned, glaring at him.
"And you think I believe you?" He raised an eyebrow.
"He was hiding me from the monsters here." She spat.
Raphael laughed. "Clearly he failed, maybe he just really wanted to return you to where you truly belong. Right next to your Space Prince." He teased, standing up. The chair squeaking behind him. "If you really wanted to die, you should have been faster at shooting yourself."
"It seems like you want me to die."
"Well, I wouldn't be heartbroken about it."
Aurora saw his blaster resting on his hip. "You have your blaster on you. There's nothing stopping you from leaving it behind."
Raphael laughed again. "Oh how I did miss that sense of humor of yours, Aurora." He turned away from her and walked out the door, leaving her alone again.
"You are going to regret speaking to me that way." Aurora whispered to herself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The room seemed darker, Aurora lifted her head up and looked out the window and saw it was nighttime on Coruscant. She brought her bound hands to her cheek, the one that was sore. She winced when she lightly touched it. She moved her hands towards the back of her neck and tried to find the pin she kept in her hair but there was nothing there.
"Of course he took it." She whispered, dropping her hands. She looked back at the window and slowly got up. She realized her body hurt, but once she was standing she walked over to the window and looked out it. She could see the people of Coruscant going about their night. She rested her forehead against the cool glass. She didn't even get a moment of peace while at the window when the door to the room opened again. Stryker rolled in.
"Good evening, princess." He said, sounding a little too chipper for Aurora's liking. She looked down at his waist and she saw that his electric whip rested there. She backed up to try and get away from him.
"Stay away from me." She demanded.
"You need to be taught a lesson, my love." Stryker said. "You left me here all alone while you were lost in this filthy galaxy." He continued to slowly walk towards her.
"You are demented." She still walked backwards, away from him.
Stryker pulled the whip off his belt and unraveled it. Aurora felt her anxieties rise and she knew that she had to think of something quick. "Don't... don't you want to know how I did it?" The sentence quickly poured from her lips before she could stop herself.
Stryker paused and wrapped the ship around his neck. "I'm listening."
Aurora stopped moving as well. "Well, I-um, hate to do this but..." She looked around the room nervously. "I'm sorry Stryker. It was Raphael, he was the one who gave me the idea."
"Raphael?" Stryker raised an eyebrow. "My best friend."
"Yes!" Aurora pointed at him. "He was the one who gave me the idea and helped me deactivate the shields while everyone was sleeping. Even got me some dusty old ship to get off of Coruscant."
Aurora saw the conflicted look in Stryker. "I-I don't believe you."
"It's true, he even told me to never show my face here again, or he'll never cover for me." She paused again. "And you're not gonna guess what else." She stopped talking and Stryker stayed quiet, so Aurora continued. "He came to visit me before you did, he told me that he thought I should actually go through with killing myself, he even said he's going to bring me a weapon to do it. Go ask him if you don't believe me. Before all of this, when have I ever lied to you? It wasn't even my idea. He's jealous."
"He did always seem jealous of us." Stryker put a hand on his chin.
"Exactly, he's never had what we did."
Stryker uncoiled the whip from his neck and whipped it towards Aurora, it wrapped around her wrist and he yanked her towards him. He brought his hand to the side of her face and she flinched, closing her eyes.
"We did have something great didn't we? Why did you let that go?" There was a sweetness in his voice. He brought his lips to her and he kissed her. Aurora leaned in and kissed him back. A few seconds later Stryker pulled back and he moved his hand from her face and to her neck and firmly held his grip. Aurora gasped for a breath. "I do hope you are being completely honest with me. I would have to hate to harm your pretty little face."
He let go and Aurora sucked in a big breath. He unwrapped the whip and turned around, walking out the door. Once it was closed and Aurora was back alone in the room she opened her closed fist and a tiny key sat in her palm. In a swift motion her binders were unlocked and they dropped to the floor. She looked back towards the table and moved it towards the window, being careful not to make too loud of a noise.
The table was in front of the window and Aurora jumped on top of it. She still held the tiny key in her hands and looked at the screws in the window. "Let's hope this works." She whispered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aurora had no luck, she had given up and was sitting on the table. The screws weren't budging, and her hands were sore. Her wrist were raw from where the binders had rubbed. Her door opened again and Stryker slowly walked in again. The whip was back on his wait, his hands were behind his back and Aurora saw little blood splatters on his white shirt and face. There was a sadness in his eyes.
"Tell me." Stryker solemnly said. "How did Raphael come up with this said escape plan?" He looked at her wrist and saw they were no longer bound.
"What do you mean?" Aurora got off the table. "I already told you."
"Yes, so it seems you have..." He removed one of the hands from his back and inspected the fingernail. "I always did let my anger get the best of me."
"What did you do?" She whispered.
"No, Aurora. It's what you did." He said, he continued to stroll the edge of the room. His hands were back behind his back. "It's everything you have done since you first left me."
She continued to stand in her spot but circle as well to follow him as he walked the room. "What are you talking about?"
"We all know just how... hot headed I can be." He said. "Let me tell you something, I never had believed you had actually died, I knew deep in my soul because we are connected." He clicked his tongue. "So I went and had a chat with that vile of a man you know."
"Stryker, what have you done?"
"Oh don't pretend you actually cared about that man!" He yelled. He snapped the whip towards her. The tip connected with her cheek and she stumbled backwards, falling to the ground. She didn't even realize he grabbed his whip. "If you were only a few years older that man would have violated you!"
Aurora scrambled to her feet. "What did you do to Kristopher?!" She yelled back.
"I got rid of that filth!" He snapped the whip again, it hitting her arm. She looked at the already red mark appearing.
"Why?!"
"Cut the bantha-shit, Aurora! He never cared about you! The minute you got too old, he got rid of you, just like your parents did! No one but me has ever cared about you!" He snapped the whip at her again. "I was the one who got you out of that club!" *SNAP* "I was the one who got you clean." *SNAP* "I was the one who has always unconditionally loved you!" *SNAP* "You owe me for everything that I have done. The sacrifices I have made for you and what have you done? You ruined it all!" *SNAP* "And the worst part of it all? You lied to me and now mistakes have been made! Mistakes I can't take back!" *SNAP*
Each time he cracked the whip Aurora tried her hardest to get away from it, but she failed each time. She looked down at the deep gash on her arm. Blood already dripping from it. Tears stung her eyes. "Why are you doing this?! Just stop!"
"You weren't loyal to me! You, of all people, know what happens when that loyalty is broken!" He screamed out. Aurora took in a deep breath. "You left me for so long and I have been nothing but loyal and loving to you." He raised the whip again.
Aurora shrinked again as the whip wrapped around her forearm. "Just stop! You don't have to do any of this!"
"Disloyalty needs to be disciplined!"
Aurora laughed. "You want to talk about disloyalty?" With the whip wrapped around her arm she grabbed it, keeping him from unraveling it. "What about your royalty to Raphael?!"
"Choose those next words very carefully." Stryker threatened.
"Oh I will." Aurora snapped back. "I haven't been by your side in so long. You know who's been? He has! Yet the second I'm back in your company you didn't even hesitate to kill him because I told a silly little lie. You didn't even question me at all!"
"Enough!" He tightened the whip again, around her wrist and Aurora somehow managed to keep her tears away.
"You killed your best friend because some bitch had told you too!" Aurora laughed again. "You always talked about how crazy you are, but it seems you forgot just how much crazier I am willing to go to ruin a life!"
"I said enough!" He yelled and yanked her towards him. As she stumbled towards him he brought his hand down and connected it with the side of her cheek, hard. She fell to the ground, her vision getting blurry. Aurora brought her hand to her nose and it felt wet. She knew her nose had started bleeding.
A knock on the door interrupted them.
"What is it?!" Stryker yelled.
"We have intruders." A man on the other side of the door said. "I believe it's that clone you mentioned would be arriving."
"Hmm," Stryker knelt down and grabbed her chin. "So it seems our little hunter has finally arrived. I shall greet our guests." He chuckled. "For your sake, you better hope he asks questions first." He stood up, yanking Aurora to her feet.
"I hope he doesn't." She spit at Stryker's feet. The saliva was blood tinged. Stryker just laughed in her face.
Aurora tried to steady herself but being pulled to her feet made her head spin more. "What do you want us to do?" The other man asked.
"Pull everyone back. I want to greet our guest." Stryker said, shoving Aurora into his guard. The guard put a hand on her shoulder to steady her. "But if I die, no matter how, I want you to kill her."
"Understood sir." The man said.
"Good." Stryker said, walking towards the door. "Now excuse me. I have guests to entertain."