“Quit fighting. It will only make it worse,” he hissed into my ear. Seth moved his ha
nd up the side of my exposed hip, I tried again to buck him off. “I said stop fighting!” he commanded. He moved his hand up to squeeze my breast through my bra, pinching my nipple hard through the lacy fabric.
“What are you going to do
, Seth? Fuck me into submission like usual?” I retorted.
I wanted to sound brave, but I couldn
’t keep my voice from quivering. Seth stopped his actions to flip me over like I was a rag doll. He pinned my arms above my head, licking his lips he brought his face just inches from mine.
“Fuck you into submission? Is that what I do?”
My breathing was heavy from my struggling. His penetrating gaze was unrelenting, waiting on me to submit, to be the first one to look away.
“Yes
!” I said through clenched teeth.
I was scared;
my heart was racing. I had nowhere to run. The more I fought him, the more excited he became.
“That is exactly what you do
, so do it! Go ahead, do your worst, then let me go home.”
Tears rolled out the corners of my eyes, but I wouldn
’t look away. I refused to look away. Even knowing that whatever he was about to do to me was going to be painful, I wouldn’t submit willingly. Not this time. Seth’s hips pushed forward, grinding himself against me, making sure I felt just how turned on he was.
H
e leaned down, burying his face in my neck, inhaling deeply. “You are home,” he murmured.
“This is not my home. This will never be my home!” I yelled.
He kept grinding against me while kissing then sucking harshly on my neck.
“You won
’t leave me again,” he said, softly nibbling on my earlobe.
“You can
’t make me stay. Not this time,” I replied, turning to look at him. I had been the fool one too many times, and I couldn’t do it anymore. “There is no amount of apologizing that can keep me here after this, Seth.”
Seth looked down at me
, and a half smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “You’re wrong,” he retorted.
Suddenly he moved, no longer crushing my body with his. Grabbing my wrist tightly, Seth jerked me off the bed while he rummaged around in the nightstand drawer until he found what he was looking for. His fingers dug into my arm
, causing me to cry out from the pressure.
Wordlessly
, he pulled me behind him. I stumbled over my feet, trying to pull back in order to free my arm from his grip, but that only caused him to yank me harder. Seth led me down the stairs and out the back door. The cold, October air hit my exposed flesh, chilling me instantly. The rain had stopped finally. My feet sank into the muddy ground as he roughly pulled me along towards his storage shed. I continued to beg for my release, pulling and twisting, trying to gain freedom, but to no avail. The weeds and rocks from his unkempt yard cut painfully into the soles of my bare feet.
“What are you going to do
? Lock me in the shed?” I asked frantically, but my question went unanswered.
When he attempted to unlock the door, I again tried to get free. Seth responded by pushing me against the rough wooden door and used his body weight to pin me there while he unlocked the padlock on the door. He shoved me inside once he
’d gotten it open. The space was dark until he flipped the switch, illuminating the small room in a dull, eerie light. Something was off about this place. I thought this was a tool shed of some sort, but the structure was empty. The only thing it contained was a staircase. I stood frozen, my anxiety level rising.
“Go,” he commanded, pointing towards the staircase.
“Seth, what is this?” I asked, unable to keep the panic out of my voice. I turned to run out the door, but he blocked my path.
“I said go!” he yelled, grabbing me by the shoulder
s and spinning me around towards the spiral staircase.
With tentative steps,
I walked down the stairs. The metal grate on the steps was cold and hurt my already sore feet. The smell hit me when I got halfway down. It reeked of some heavy cleaner mixed with the old, moldy, musty smell I always associate with basements. I was not prepared for what I saw at the bottom of the landing.
I looked back
at Seth who stood behind me. I felt like I was floating. My feet carried me forward towards the large glass wall; I pressed my hands to it. A shower, a toilet, a sink, an old cot: it was a cell. I jumped back from the glass quickly.
He has a cell. For me?
My blood ran cold at that thought. I turned to look at Seth. He wore a stoic expression. That’s when I noticed the short hall. Trembling, I walked towards the back and let out an anguished cry when I saw the things there. Bile rose in my throat, and I bolted back to that room, barely making it to the toilet.
***
I watched as Calida emptied the contents of her stomach. This was a mistake. I should have never brought her here. This place wasn’t for her. She was not supposed to know.
She left you no choice. This was not your fault. She left you no choice.
I just wanted her to understand she had to stay, that I could make her stay. She saw it all, the chains and the whips. She saw the bed and chair with the restraints that were covered in old blood stains. There was a look of true terror and total disbelief etched on her beautiful face.
“Seth,
wha...what is all of this?” she asked, turning to face me.
The look on her face said it all, she needed me to lie, to tell her she was crazy for thinking what she was thinking right now, but I couldn
’t.
“
It’s exactly what you think it is,” I replied.
She stumbled over to the sink to rinse out her mouth and splashed some cold water onto her face. Her entire body was shaking. Calida slowly slid down to the floor
, cradling her knees to her chest.
She started rocking herself back and forth
, mumbling something low to herself. She pressed closer to the wall as I approached. Her eyes scanned around the room before finally settling on me.
“Calida,” I said softly
, reaching out for her.
“No!” she screamed
, scrambling away from me. “Don’t, don’t you put your hands on me!”
I took a step back then sat on the floor in front of her. The look on her face was
more than fear, it was anguish and disgust when she looked at me.
***
This couldn’t be true; this had to be a terrible, terrible nightmare I was stuck in. My eyes scanned the room, no, cell, I was in. This wasn’t a dream. I first thought he built this room for me, but like that other room, it looked used. Well used. He held people here, possibly hurt them here. I sat with my arms wrapped tightly around my knees; this was too much.
“Please, I want to go home. I don
’t want to hear anything you have to say. I can’t…I, I just can’t.”
I didn
’t look at him; I couldn’t. My imagination was running away with wayward thoughts of things he might have done in this room. Those thoughts made my stomach twist, but I managed not to vomit again. There were a myriad of emotions storming in his eyes when I finally did look at him.
“I told you upstairs, you are home.”
Frantically I started shaking my head. He was going to keep me here, in this place. Slowly, I crept up the wall into a standing position. My body trembled so hard from the cold and fear. I needed air; I needed to be free of this prison, of him.
“Seth,
” I said slowly as he stood to stand in front of me. “Do you, you…hurt people?” I asked in a whisper.
“Yes, sometimes.” His voice was void of any remorse.
I closed my eyes as fresh tears streamed down my cheeks. I knew the answer to that question, but I still desperately hoped it would be different. I hoped that he would tell me this was all some sort of elaborate Halloween haunted house, or that he had some morbid fascination with medieval torture devices. But none of those explanations came; instead, he stood there looking at me with those unforgiving eyes. I swallowed hard while I forced my brain to work on figuring a way out. How could I not have known this? Were there signs that I was too blind to see or just wanted to ignore?
I should have known. I should have known. How could I not have known?
“From the first moment I saw you
, I knew you belonged with me,” he said as he reached out to wipe the tears from my face. I recoiled from the contact. “You were different. I knew that instantly. I had to have you, but not here,” he continued, gesturing around the room. “That decision, to change how I do things, it caused major adjustments on my part, but they have been worth it and I won’t give that up.”
I inched myself along the wall
, trying to work past him so I could run to the door. He knew what I was doing and casually blocked my path.
“I can
’t let you leave me. You did that once, and I didn’t like the feeling.”
“Please, you can
’t expect me to stay here.” I gestured to the surrounding room. “You can’t make me stay! You can’t keep me here!” I screamed.
The panic took over. There was no rational thought;
I couldn’t think. I just needed to get away from here, from him. I bolted forward, but didn’t get far.
“No
! Let me go!” I screamed, fighting for my freedom.
Seth pinned me to the wall, his hands tightening around my wrists. He rubbed his nose into the side of my neck as I turned my face away from him. He inhaled deeply before I felt his tongue run across my flesh.
“Haven’t you been paying attention, my lovely Ms. Alexander? Making people stay is what I do.”
I closed my eyes
, trying to get control on my fear, not wanting to give in to the feeling of hysteria that was taking hold of me the longer I was here in this place.
***
“Why Seth?” Her voice sounded weak and unrecognizable to me. “Why? Why would you want to do this?”
I watched the tears as they continued a steady stream down her lovely face
, thinking over the question she continued whispering. I didn’t believe she really wanted to know, but since I’d brought her here, the only thing left would be to tell her the reason behind it. I released her wrists, confident she wasn’t going to run from me.
“Because I liked the feelings it gave me. The power, the rush was unlike anything you could e
ver imagine. It was like a drug; it made me feel alive. Do you know what it’s like to hold power over someone’s life in your hands? There is a level of excitement that is simply indescribable”
There was no color in her face;
she looked absolutely terrified. I feared she would get sick again the more I talked, but I couldn’t stop. I wanted, no, I needed her to know; I needed to share this with her. Slowly, I circled my arms around her waist, pulling her to me.
“Then
, there was that moment, that brief, yet pivotal moment, when they knew no amount of begging and pleading would save them. That moment when they realized they were going to die, it…was…exhilarating. There was nothing that compared to that feeling until I met you.”
Her body was rigid, and she started shaking harder.
“I met you, and you were a different type of drug, but the high was just as great. No, it was, is, actually much, much greater.”
Calida covered her ears
, shaking her head, trying to drown out what I was saying. “No, no, no, no…” she whispered over and over again.
“Calida.”
“No!” she screamed, pushing at my chest. “Let me go you sick, twisted bastard!”
Her fists made contact with my chest and face as she fought to get free.
“Stop this, Calida!” I yelled, struggling to get her under control.
I needed her to calm down and listen, but she was scared and frantic. I was doing my best to deflect her blows, but I felt my temper starting to rise. Finally
, having had enough of this, I grabbed one wrist then the other and pinned her arms behind her back. I held her there, holding her close as she continued to scream and struggle to break free.
“I said stop!” I spoke through clenched teeth
, fighting to keep my temper in check.
Her shoulders slumped
, and her head hung down in defeat. “It was all a lie. Everything you ever said or did. Every nice gesture, all of it a lie,” she cried. “Why, Seth? If all you wanted to do was hurt me, and lock me away, why go through so much trouble? Why…why make me fall in love with you first? Did that give you a bigger thrill? Watching me eat up for every line you ever fed me?” She turned her head to look at me. “You’re hurting me. But since it’s what you do, I guess that would be the point right?”
My heart skipped a beat when she muttered that last sentence. I released her,
and without me holding her up, she crumpled to the ground.