Chapter 5
I was roughly thrown on the wood ground of some cabin like building. It was small and all that seemed to be stored inside was extra things. Fur, gunpowder, and other things.
My body immediately turned when I felt cold metal touch my ankle. My free foot kicked the soldier that was locking my ankle in a chain, pushing him backwards on his butt. But it was too late, my ankle was locked in place, the chain running to the brick wall near me.
Because of my actions, I got a hard punch in the face, knocking me back down to the ground. The punch was so hard and sudden that blood dripped from my mouth.
I spat the blood out, sitting up and looking at the three soldiers that watched me closely. Two of them were holding guns while the third was free handed.
"Lord Benton didn't want us to kill you. But he did want us to beat you up a bit."
In seconds, my arms were flinging as the man grabbed my skirt and yanked it down, leaving me in my black pants. The two guards held my hands as I felt layers after layers being yanked off me. By the end of it, I was left only in my black pants and my black cover up that hid my breasts. Even my boots and wedding necklace were yanked off.
The cool air didn't bother me too much, but the second the door open, my body hugged together.
"Leave us, I'll keep an eye on her," the freehand man smirked, letting the two soldiers out. The second the door closed, the man walked over to me, studding me like I was his pet or something.
"What is your name?" The man asked me while I just sat up and glared at him.
Like I'd tell this ass-hat anything.
With one hard blow, the man used his boot to kick me in the stomach, toppling me to my side where another one was thrown. My eyes closed while my face scrunched up in pain. I held my stomach, already feeling the black and blue mark start to form.
"What is your name?" He yelled.
"Anna Harp," I choked out. Suddenly, my hair was grabbed and I was yanked back onto my butt, the man looking down at me with snake like eyes.
"No it isn't. What is your name?" He yelled in my face.
My eyes opened, glaring at him, "Man, you really need a mint or something." The second the words left my mouth, I regretted them. My head was thrown on the floor, bouncing slightly and creating a headache. Another blow was thrown at my stomach but my arms protected it.
When the man saw that my arms were taking the hit, he moved to my legs, making yells of pain leave my lips.
He just kept repeating the question "What is your name?" and my answer never changed, "Anna Harp."
When another blow was at my backside, I knew that some ribs had cracked and marks hard form throughout my body. "What is your real name?" He hissed in my face as I laid on the ground. I looked up at him, glaring as I fought against the pain, "Anna, mother fucking Harp!" I yelled, getting a hard punch to the face.
I felt my lip crack break, blood dripping from it as I hid my face.
Suddenly, I was yanked up again, this time to my knees. My eyes opened, noticing my knife that sat in his closed fist. He struck the knife against my arm, creating a scratch that lightly bleed. He did it again to the other side, adding to the pain.
When he lightly pushed the knife into my side, just enough to make it bleed, a yelp left my lips.
"What is your name?" he asked, pulling out the knife. I didn't answer, unsure of the answer he truly wanted.
He must have grown impatient because he scratch the knife against my cheek until it bled, making me squirm. I couldn't help the tears that escaped, burning my cut cheek. "What do you want me to say?"
"Your. Name."
My eyes starred into his, the pieces starting to slide together. "Anna Emberly," I said, making his fist let me go. My body bounced slightly on the ground and I hissed in pain.
The knife was stuck on the table, near my clothes and necklace. He cracked his knuckles before walking back over to me. "That's right. Which means that you're not truly a Harp."
His hand pulled out a key, unlocking my ankle. He tucked the key back into his pocket before grabbing my black cover up and hosting me to my feet. I don't know what I expected, but when his arms threw me with such force into a shelving, it shocked me.
He didn't wait long before picking me up against and tossing me towards the brick wall, my hands getting cuts from it.
My breath tried to catch itself through the pain, but once again I was yanked up and by my throat and slammed on another table. The impact was so hard that the table had broken and pieces of it pierced my back and side.
I expected to be lifted up again and tossed around like a rag doll but instead he stood up and took a step back.
Pain radiated off my body and my face scrunched up at the slightest movements.
"I don't know why you think you're tough. I mean, look at you. You're nothing without your husband." As his words left his mouth, my hand searched for a piece of wood, finding it and gripping it tightly.
Moving quickly through the pain, I sat up and struck the man's leg, watching as he fell to one knee in winced in pain. I was ready to do it again to his head, but his hand caught it and yanked it away from me.
Grabbing ahold of me, I felt him rip my cover up off, leaving my chest out in the open before tossing me back to the chain. My arms covered myself, only to be yanked away and gripped tightly. The man looked me over, making me squirm under his gaze.
"All admit though, your quiet the looker," He smirked, making my arms try to tear away to cover up. Failing.
The door swung open and I felt the cool air past through my body, seeming to make the pain more noticeable. My teeth gritted at the sight of Chesterfield, his eyes going wide at the sight of me.
"What is this?" He yelled, walking in and closing the door. He stepped over the pieces of the broken table, looking at before walking up to the man still holding me. He grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him away from me, making my body drop. My arms quickly wrapped themselves around my upper half my body crumbling together. It felt like if I pulled my body closer, I would just disappear from their sights.
But that's not how that works.
"Lord Benton said not to touch her!"
"He said not to kill her, he said nothing about torturing her." The man smirked over his shoulder as he looked at me, "Or having a little fun with her."
Chesterfield grabbed the man's face and yanked it back to look at him. His face showed anger as he said, "When Lord Benton hears about this, he'll be very disappointed. Now, get out!" He shoved the man towards the door, the cool air seeping through again as it opened and closed.
My eyes watched Chesterfield while my body shook.
Sighing, Chesterfield walked over, grabbed my ankle before locking me back to the brick wall. Once he stood, he looked me over before grabbing my silky, baggy shirt and tossing it over to me. With that, and no words said, he turned and left me alone in the room.
I froze in my spot for minutes until I was sure that they wouldn't return. Slowly and painfully, I sat up, slipping on the silky shirt that had grown cold. My hands moved to the chain, trying to yank at it.
No luck.
My butt scooted over to the wall and I yanked at the wall.
No luck.
I tried to reach the still standing table to grab my knife, necklace, or clothes.
No luck.
I even tried to grab one of the broken pieces of the table, unable to reach it though.
No luck.
A sigh left my lips as I crumbled back to the floor in pain. I knew that if the beating continued, there would be no doubt that I'd go unconscious soon. But, until then, I tried my best to stay awake.
I felt the rush of cold air hit me when the door to the small cabin like room opened. The same man that had taken a good beaten on me was standing above me, a smirk playing on his lips as he looked down at me.
He pulled out some rope, making me wonder what he was going to do next. Knowing my luck, something bad.
Before I could yell or fight him, he had grabbed my arm roughly and yanked me up to a sitting position. My body ached and though I could think of a hundred different ways to get out of this situation, I couldn't do any of them.
The rope was wrapped around my wrists, the man tying them together tightly so I wouldn't break them.
Once the ropes were tied, he pulled out the key and undid my chain around my ankle. The chain had left a raw spot on my leg, making the aching feeling more aware.
Two other soldiers came in while the one in front of me pulled out a large bag. He smirked down at me as he said, "Bye, bye." With those words hanging in the air, he threw the bag over my head. It was as if the words were choking me inside the bag, leaving little to no air for me.
I felt my arms get grabbed and yanked up so my feet had to take the weight of my body. At first, I staggered a bit, hissing slightly when legs had to take my weight.
"Walk!" One of them yelled, pushing me and cuing the soldiers to move. They held my arms tightly as I heard the sound of the door opening and the cool air hit the bare parts of my body.
The second my feet touched the cold ground, I wondered how long they'd last before freezing.
I tried to pick up other sounds that might tell me where I was going, but none stood out to me.
It wasn't until I was yanked to a stop that I heard a door open. I pushed inside, the two soldiers still holding onto me tightly. The door closed behind me and the feeling of a room similar to the one I was in took hold.
The bag over my head was yanked off of me and my eyes met Benton's. Immediately, a growl like noise left my lips and my teeth gritted at the sight. In the corner of my eye I could see Michael tied up on the ground, his eyes wide on me.
My attention stayed on Benton as he smirked at me, seeming to think he knew something that I didn't. And he did.
He grabbed one of my arms, cuing the others to let go, and threw me to the ground. One of the soldiers moved quickly in cutting off my ropes as I hissed at the pain that echoed my body. My soldier throbbed, making me think it was now out of place from the impact.
That's when I finally opened my eyes fully and looked up. There he was, my husband, Declan Harp, tied up like the killed deer would be. His hand were bound to the ceiling while his feet were bound together. Cuts, bruises, and stab wounds etched his body like an art work.
Where there was no cuts, only laid dried or somewhat fresh blood.
My eyes went wide at the sight, my own pain seeming minor to his and dissolving. His own eyes stared at me with shock, looking me over before staying on me once again.
His name came off my tongh in a whispered and before I could think to do anything else, I brought myself up to my feet and rushed over to him.
At first, my hands were scared to touch any part of him, afraid I'd cause more pain. But, when his lips quickly laid on mine, I knew that it didn't matter if I dug my hands into a cut, he'd still find more peace then pain.
Laying my hands on his cheeks, I pulled away and searched his face only to find more brushes and another cut.
"Oh my god," I whispered, my eyes pulling together in worry.
"Are you okay? What did they do to you?" Declan asked, his arms pulling at the ropes in hopes of breaking free and holding me.
I didn't answer his second question, not knowing what to say. Instead, I answered with, "I'm fine," before pulling his head to lean on my own. I wanted to hold him, to feel his embrace, but instead I felt numb.
And it wasn't from the cold.
The sound of a gunshot echoed in the small room, the noise making Declan's head part from mine and look up. My head stayed half lowered, the pain quickly swimming through my body, yet not reaching my face. It wasn't until I looked up at Declan that I saw his eyes go wide.
I was shot, directly from the back.
Declan yanked and pulled at his restraints, his cries and yells heard for miles when my eyes started to waver and my body left his, falling to the ground with a loud thud.
His yells mixed with his cries where what I heard, the other voices being nothing but background noise. My eyes had fully closed, leaving any movement or sound left to my imagination.
Then, everything turned off, my sight, my sound, and eventually even my brain. The feeling of being lifted up was what I felt, but I didn't know if it was my body or my soul.
There was nothing, not a thing. I expected to see a bright light or a bright woods path to carry me towards my son. But there was nothing but darkness. Not the kind of darkness that you get when it's night and your scared. More like the kind that falls upon you when you are closing your eyes to sleep.
Suddenly, my eyes shot open, my sight, sound, and slowly feel returning. I was laying on the floor, but it wasn't before Declan. Instead, I found myself back in the same room as before.
At first, I questioned if what just happened was a dream. But when the pain in my back and stomach circled me as I tried to sit up, I knew it was no dream.
They must have dragged me back in here.
My mind raced with thoughts, ideas, and worries. But, I stopped them, focusing on one thing at a time. Right now, I needed to get out of here and get some help.
Somehow, I managed to use my hands to bring me slowly up to my knees and hands. My head looked around, still finding some of my things on the table near-by.
I crawled, leaving a large blood trail to follow me.
Once I reached the table, I managed to grab a hand full of stuff and yank it down as I turned and sat on my butt. The pain flooded me and I held in my cry in hopes of not attracting anyone in here.
Searching through the stuff, all I could find was my small black coat that had fur on it, my boots, a piece of random cloth, my holder with one knife in it, and my wedding necklace.
Thank the stars, I had my necklace back.
Not wasting anytime, I threw the necklace over my head and took the piece of cloth and wrapped it around my wounds. Tying it tightly made a hiss of pain leave my lips and my breath pick up.
I slipped on my jacket and boots before struggling to pull myself onto my feet.
My hand grabbed my knife, letting it fall from its holder as I gripped it tightly. I stumbled and wavered my way through the room and towards the door. Creaking it open a little, I found no guards at a post near me, most just off in the distance.
They thought I was dead, that's why no one was watching over me. But that only meant that Declan thought so too.
Trying to move quickly, I held my side and left the little cabin like room. The cold hit me hard but that was the last thing on my mind at the moment.
Keeping my head down, I tried to hide myself from the world while my free hand wrapped itself around me in hopes of warming my body up. It did little to no use, but I didn't care at the moment.
I walked and walked, trying my best to keep to the shadows as my side and back started to bleed through the cloth.
When my eyes looked up, a breath of relief fill my lungs as I starred at the sign that read "Ale House". I moved a bit quicker, fighting the pain with every step. I made my way around the back, occasionally using the building for support before slipping into the back door.
I closed the door behind me, my breath picking up again from the rush and pain. Turning around, I found the backroom empty.
Grabbing onto a near-by chair, I managed to half fall into it and try to calm my breathing. I continued to try and keep pressure on my wound, but when I did I felt the blood rush to my back.
Everything was wavering, but still noticeable.
When the curtain opened, I gripped my knife with the little strength I had left only to release it. Emberly closed the curtain behind her, turning and stopping when she saw me sitting in the chair. Her mouth dropped slightly at the sight of me.
The only words I could force out where, "Em, I need your help."