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Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Chapter 15 Part 1

     In the shower Carol Anne washed all of the grime off of her body with shaking hands. The gray-brown specks flowed down the lines of her skin in chaotic swirls mixed with the suds from her beauty bar. The citrus scent that wafted up into her nose made her feel somewhat cleaner on the inside as well as the outside but the inside would take much more than anything Dove could give her. More often than not as she tried to lather up her torso and legs her ribs would protest, loudly. She held in gasps trying to keep them quiet and told herself that she could take it; she didn’t want to provoke the injury unnecessarily so she kept things light and slow.

     After the slow torture of simply trying to clean herself, even the 4 shower heads seemed to only marginally help as she pushed through the pain of simply standing upright and breathing. Carol Anne decided that her hair was only getting a token rinse, the bench in the shower was too far away from the falling water to be of any real use to take a load off and lifting her arms above her head was just not going to happen. As much as she wanted to wash the dirt out of her hair she wasn’t interested in anything other than the body scrub.

    She thought of the Jacuzzi tub opposite the shower. Out the shower door 4 steps and she would have been there. She should have used that seeing as she could step down into it and sit down but she thought the jets might have been too much and the simple fact was that the shower had a barrier. It was glass but that still made her feel like she was separated from the real reason she was in here now. We start over now. She thought to herself.

    The shifting of feet reminded her that she wasn’t alone. As much as she hated the fact that Robert stuck to her like a tick on a deer especially after her ‘Punishment’ had been exercised she knew that in his guilty phase, he wouldn’t let anything happen to her and would actually be surprisingly gentle. So even though she hated him more than anything she could even think of, at this moment he would do anything for her. So if by chance darkness closed in he would stop her from hitting the floor in the marble confines of the shower.

    As if he knew what she was thinking, “Angel?” his soft voice penetrated the sound of water falling.

Cringe…
She forced herself to speak. “Yes?” she knew what was coming next and closed her eyes to wait for it. “Do you need my help?” The sincerity in his voice crushed her. That was a shadow of the man she fell in love with but in their five years together he had done so much to alter and completely destroy that perception of him. At least for her the image was dead and buried. Every now and then though, she would catch a small glimpse of that person he was before he became the hell on her earth that she needed to survive.

    Ugh…she cleared her throat. “Just a towel…please.” As slowly and carefully as she could she reached out and shut off the water. Without the water on she had trouble keeping her balance. It must have been keeping her upright she figured. With her head down and slightly hunched over she rested her palm on the wall taking slow deep steadying breaths while she waiting for Robert to pass her a towel. The tremble in her legs told her that she was going to fall over soon if she didn’t sit down. She eyed the bench at the other end of the shower wondering if she would have the steam to make it there.

   When the glass door opened Robert just stood there, staring at her, soaking in the sight of her wet naked body. Primal need was behind is eyes and barely restrained. Even though he knew she was injured his body didn’t care and she watched him harden in front of her. The front of his pants stretched tight. She froze when he stepped in to wrap the towel around her shoulders. His gentle hands guiding her to step over the lip in the shower stall.

    Once she was out Robert sat her down on the step between the shower and the Jacuzzi where he had been perched while he waited for her and then he ducked out of the bathroom. The chill on her legs had busted out goosebumps and made her shiver. Not so good with the rib situation but there was nothing she could do about that.

    Robert came back with the biggest and fluffiest robe she had ever seen and when he wrapped it around her it was warm. “I popped it in the dryer for you Angel, so it was nice and warm for you.” This was why she had trouble leaving…before. The sincerity he showed her after the damage was all a lie and she knew that now. Even if he did honestly feel badly about the way he abused her, she would never fall for the nice guy routine again. Now it was all about self-preservation. Her brain kicked into high gear and she tried to think of what it was this time that made her finally decide to end it, but she didn’t know where the decision came from only that it was there now. She was finished with this but he wouldn’t let her go easily and there was no way to get clear of this while he was breathing.

But she would try.

    At least there was one good thing she didn’t have to think or worry about.  The house, business, the bank accounts…were all hers.

    He lifted her to her feet and walked step by step with her to her bed. She passed the two walls of floor to ceiling windows and the window seat that looked out over the vast acreage. She wanted to sit there, but didn’t say anything. She always felt at peace looking at the familiar treeline and rolling hills. After lowering her gently on to the edge of the bed, Robert helped her get her legs in and under the covers making sure not to jar her too much. He fluffed her pillows and even found her the remote for the wall mounted TV in her room. He was crazy…he had to be.

    Once he got her all situated in bed he went downstairs to make her breakfast. She let the bed consume her body as she relaxed against the pillows. She slowly let out a deep breath that she was unaware of holding, and the tears that she had stopped herself from shedding in the Pit surfaced again. She had mere days to figure something out and get away from him but only a few days that were not nearly enough time. With a firm mind she gave herself a timeline that wasn’t too long and not too short. “One week.” She whispered to herself.

She solidified her courage. “One more week…and I’m gone.”

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Chapter 14 Part 3

   She opened her eyes and squinted at the brightness that surrounded her and blinded her at the same time. Everything was bright in the way people that had come close to the brink of death said that everything is white and that you should walk into light when you died. She felt something hard and cold through her clothes, the surface she was on felt smooth and she quickly registered that as unusual but didn’t move right away as she tried to get her bearings.

“Am I dead?” she said in a small voice.

   The white borders began to fade away and darken becoming fuzzy at first but gradually growing more vivid as her vision cleared and became more focused. She was starting to make out shapes, other colours and could make out a wooden border and white laminate that was on what looked like doors directly in front of her low lids, the black red and white of the smooth floor beneath her. Sounds were dulled and mumbled reminding her of being underwater but that wasn’t what she cared about.

   She tried blinking hard and fast to help her eyes along but it didn’t seem to help, apparently they would do it in their own time. She squeezed her eyes shut tight as a shooting pain found its way from the base of her skull straight through the back of her head with a destination landing right between her eyes and didn’t that make her want to scream, but she caged it as her hands raced to her head. The pain went from a stabbing piercing pain to a pounding throb that threatened to make her sinuses crack in the blink of an eye. Literally…

   She kept her eye lids shut and held her breathe as the assault on her nerves began quiet down to a dull roar. Since she didn’t trust the light making it worse she stayed where she was, squinting hard every now and then as she tried to look around the room and not having much luck. She could feel the presence of the others around her but all that mattered at this point was trying to breathe through the pain and surprisingly enough a panicked thought coursed through her, how long had she been out?

  “What. Is familiar?”… She mumbled, her speech broken just as she realized she that she really wasn’t alone that there were others with her and she was grateful as the hands on her were trying to lift her up gently, she felt them on her forehead, her arms and her back to steady her. She was comforted by this and yet it felt unfamiliar that there her people touching her although at this moment everything felt unfamiliar and familiar at the same time. The pain in her head was preventing a coherent thought from breaking through.

It was incredibly disconcerting. 

    “Where am I?”…She continued to speak out loud hoping for an answer, any answer but the bodies around her kept talking over each other about doctors and water and taking it easy with her fragile body as well as snarking going on somewhere in the room about whose fault this was. 

    She tried to speak again. “What… happened?” Suddenly all there was around her was silence...for a half a second, then voices exploded, the volume cranked up a whole lot and that sent the pain screaming into her eyes so hard she gasped. It was a matter of everyone trying to speak all at once again so she raised a shaking hand, palm out to silence them all hoping that only one would speak to her and tell her what happened. After a minute of frustrating silence the pain in her head was finally starting to ebb and she felt the tension back off within her neck and shoulders. 

    A palm the size of a baseball mitt came into view of her squinted eyes and she slid her right hand into it without hesitation and tried to pull herself upright. Feeling the resistance and pain in the shoulder she must have landed on froze her for a moment and she sucked in a hiss at the same time. The palm she was holding gripped her firmly as well as waited patiently while she did the breathe in and breathe out thing.

    Trying to gauge her body she started from the bottom and wiggled her toes; once they proved to be mobile she managed little movements travelling up each of her muscles in her legs as she flexed them, then her torso and complete to the dull pounding in her head and yet still as everyone was talking over each other they did it at a quieter decibel this time. all of them talking... except for one. 

    The silence coming from one that was right now holding her hand in his steady grip. She held her breath and bent her legs underneath her rear end and resumed trying to sit up with the help of the big hand only having to pause again. There were too many things going on to the point where she felt the loss of control very unusual, tipping her off balance.

   Her struggle to find something familiar in the room seemed to be the only thing she could focus on but she couldn’t place the things around her. The pain was becoming less and less as it faded and her eyes finally responded by opening wide. She looked around and it was as if she dreamt that she had been here before or had a really bad case of déjà vu. Even though her eyes were back on line her ears didn’t seem to get the memo as the sounds fluctuated with the throbbing weaving in and out. Compared to the other noises in the room the warble in her ears was taking its sweet time going away, but she could hear dogs barking in the background through dense fabric wall the in her ears, like a fish bowl effect.  Yes underwater, her ears felt plugged wreaking havoc on her thoughts and mind as she tried to clear her brain.  

    Silently she begged for it all to stop as she took a bracing breath and finally got to her feet where another palm immediately held on to her elbow and she felt the hand on her back once more. Things didn’t make any sense this is not what she remembered, this isn’t where she remembered being. Fear speared through her that if nothing in this room looked familiar that something had changed.

  With her eyes on her feet, she caught sight of her dark hair and thought that it wasn’t right. Things were moving now squares of black, red and white passing under her bare feet as she was plunked down in a dark wooden chair. From out of nowhere a glass of water appeared in front of her, she gratefully wrapped her hands around it and pulled it to her lips and took a deep draw. When she looked up she was staring into the face of an old woman whose eyes were just as wide as the smile spread across her lips. She recognized her, inclined her head and gave the woman a curt nod before she looked around the room and noticed that the people in the room were in fact very, very familiar to her, except one and when she looked into his young eyes she couldn’t believe what she saw.

    Except for the eye colour he looked like a male version of herself. "I...I...don't understand..." she stuttered. confusion rocked through the bodies in the room. Gertie stood up and clapped her hands, her smile brighter than the sun as she turned to Dominic and hissed. "My Mistress has returned!"

Chase who had said nothing through the whole ordeal only said one thing now at the revelation.

"Fuck..." 

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Chapter 14 Part 2

    While Skye was taking her second unwanted nap in 24 hours, Carol Anne was waking up. Her legs protested the movement since they were in a cramped position half underneath her body, all curled up in the tight space. Her eyelids didn’t want to open right away, the silent tears she cried before she fell into an exhausted sleep had stuck them together. She gently rubbed them and feeling the stiffness in her limbs she willed her legs to work. As soon as she tried to put her knees up her stomach and torso screamed its pain into every muscle. Electric jolts that felt like tiny knives were completely unrelenting under her skin. She sucked back a hiss and moved her limbs carefully so that the pain in her lower abdomen was at a minimum.

    Everything around her was dark, only a small glow overhead from the solitary light that was the only modern item in the concrete covered room because 15 feet down was where she was spending her time until Robert decided to let her out of the Pit. The stone that surrounded her in the 5 foot around hole was still damp from the hose that he had turned on her at some point during her punishment, she had no concept of the time that passed and her breath only came after he had turned off the water to end the second part of her punishment. The first part of it was the reason her lower body and torso were throbbing with pain. Being worked over with a pair of fists and then soaked in cold water for part of the night was only the beginning of the three part series of discipline.

    She took shallow breaths as she got to her feet and was almost positive he’d broken one of her ribs in the process although he didn’t like to break things…how nice of him. Robert liked the damage that he did as long as he was the only one that would see it and something broken would keep them out of the social circles for a while and Robert the monster that lives...liked to keep up appearances.

    “It looks like I’m about to have bronchitis…again.” She muttered to herself as she moved her ankles in small circles. They had used that excuse so many times that one of their friends told her to go see a specialist and gave her the contact info of his doctor as well. The coughing that came with bronchitis would explain why her chest and ribs hurt if anyone were to ask.

    She stopped turning her joints and wrapped her arms around herself, leaning gingerly against the wet stone wall. Closing her eyes she let her head fall back against the cold stone and prayed that she could get out of this somehow. She didn’t have it in her to kill him unless he was trying to kill her and he never was. Robert was purely about proving a point and showing how in control he was. She didn’t have the physical strength over him but she had brains and knew that this was not somewhere she wanted to be any longer and she would not be like one of those women that were too scared or unable by other means to get away.

    Carol Anne was to the point now that she decided that rather be dead than continue to live like this. All she needed was a way out without involving the ‘friends’ they have now. Dragging them into it was not an option. She had to do this on her own; she knew that was the only way to really be free of it. They lived so far outside of town though that for her to walk away when he was at work was not possible. They only had the one car a 2010 blue Ford Focus that she never drove and on top of the trackers plus the alarms he had everywhere she would have to make sure he couldn’t find her. Unfortunately she didn’t know what any of the devices looked like so she didn’t really know what she was looking for. That made it kind of hard to be proactive on that front but her mind was set after almost 5 years of this, she was done with it.

    The wheels started turning in her head now and stood slowly. Once on her feet she began to pace around the small space using the pain to keep her on her mind on track and promising her body that she wasn’t going to be down here much longer or for that matter ever again. She would be the perfect wife while she planned her escape and in a few days Robert would take her into the city so that people could see her, alive, well and happy…well appearing to be happy. She would sit in the little square, on the little bench with a cup of some fancy coffee she didn’t even like and watch the people go by with a fake smile until Robert came back from that little antique store he loved so much. He wouldn’t take her in just in case she got to chatty. New friends to try and fake out were not welcome in Robert’s world. He had enough trouble with the few they had now.

    From the front window of the store he could see right into the park and she knew he watched her from there so she would have to be very careful. Not that she had a plan yet but she would and god help her she would get out of this house. First thing first though…she had to get out of the Pit. And that couldn't happen until her loving husband came to let her out. She had no idea what time it was or how long until he woke up. The only good thing about any of this...or instead useful thing was that he slept up there above her but in the basement with her on a cot in the corner but she didn't dare wake him. He got up on his own when he was ready to and the only reason he did was because didn't like to be away from her, except when he was at work and even then he called her every hour in that work day time frame and sometimes came home early.

    Carol Anne continued to walk in very tight circles, hunched over and her breathing shallow not being able to expand her lungs. Taking another half turn she gave up and slid her ass down the stone wall inch by inch until it hit the dirt. Blinking quickly she realized she was about to cry. “No. I will not do this.”

    As she chanted in her mind 'I will get out of this” over and over again she didn't hear the cot squeak from Robert shifted his weight. She didn't hear him as he shuffled across the concrete floor in his bare feet and she didn't hear him as he leaned his sleek body over the edge of the Pit

    “Angel,” he purred. “you're awake.”




Thursday, August 6, 2015

Chapter 14 Part 1

Gertie hated the way the Guardian spoke to her, with his wide body and dark hair greying at the temples and his piercing grey eyes. Wait…why was she looking at his eyes? She shook off the thought and resumed her hatred of how beneath him he made her feel. She did her job and did it very well over the centuries as far as she was concerned. She took care of the vessel her Mistress was in every time it magically showed up at her door and always made sure it found its way back to where it belonged, alive and in living colour.

    She felt a strong surge of courage and her back straightened in her chair as she opened her mouth to speak. “Guardian…I have long taken care of that which is my assigned duty. I feel her when she is released and in this case I only felt but a shadow of her. Something was wrong with the transition and I only came to help her cross back over into this world.” Her eyes travelled around the table and fell once again on Cyrus who quickly averted his eyes from her direction to stare anywhere else, the cupboards, the sink, and those stupid potholders over the stove. Anywhere that was away from her eyes.

    Snapping fingers appeared in Gerties view which made her less than happy but she continued. “I followed my Mistresses’ trace of an aura to this house and I must say it was quite the journey.” As she recalled the events in her head that led her here she remembered that she had been trying to go upstairs but was interrupted by the boy. She held on to the thought that as soon as this was over she was going to find the Beast residing above her at this very moment no matter what any of them wanted her to do and with that mission in mind she sat back in her chair and shut her mouth.

     As Dominic spoke she tuned everything he was saying out of her head because frankly she didn’t want to hear any of it anyway. She never understood why they felt like they the Guardians were more necessary in the grand scheme of things, especially since the activities they were a part of in order to keep the money flowing was very far from her natural and quiet way of life. The only other difference between them was that they were stronger and more powerful, tasked with doing everything within their means to not control the spirit within but merely keep tabs on her and attempt to circumvent her destructive ways, as in doing some damage control.  As far as Gertie was concerned her Mistress could destroy everything in her path and it was acceptable. Her time was almost up and she had lived for centuries in a lonely void with just her and Jack…well Jack the15th, maybe 16th? She couldn’t remember anymore as the years rolled by.

Her eyes and ears suddenly came back to what was going on in the room. The Guardian was just looking at her, waiting for more of an explanation. Apparently he had asked her a question. She thought he might have, for a moment she wondered why they were just staring at her until Dom so clearly agitated opened his mouth and asked the question she never would have thought to hear from his mouth let anyone else’s.

“Caretaker, we have an unusual situation here.” He took a deep breath and settled himself back into his chair aware that the old woman was now paying attention. “We are trying to tell Skye here exactly what we are to her. As you can see the situation is somewhat different from what we are all used to and yes that includes you.” Immediately she turned to Cyrus. “Yes,” she crooned and Cyrus winced at the intense attention. Dom rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers in front of her again. “Look Caretaker, there are children involved here…Skye’s children with…Deacon.” Gertie recoiled and stared at Skye with hard eyes.

    At the mention of Deacon’s name Skye focused hard on Gertie. Had she known him? How well? The Caretaker stood up suddenly and Chase stepped forward but didn’t try to touch her. Gertie paced back and forth in front of the sliding glass door mumbling to under her breath, hands moving constantly like she was calculating something. Maury started to fidget himself getting antsy he moved closer to Chase who looked at his friend and partner and then shot his eyes to the ceiling. Maury stilled with his head tilted towards the ceiling, listening and gave him short nod back. Skye caught the exchange as she looked over her shoulder and had the impression something else was going on as Maury slipped out of the kitchen but was too tired and still hungover to care at the moment. As he passed the cage in the hall, the bird squawked again.

    As Skye watched him head for the front of the house to the stairs where Maury was going Chase stepped into her view and blocked her line of sight with his crotch in her face. When she looked up at him annoyed he just looked at her with eyes so blue and powerful that she turned back into her seat and with more and more frustration boiling inside her. With every step Gertie took, she felt herself shaking…unraveling. The sudden shift in her mood made two of the three men left in the room cautious.

    Dom cleared his throat and caught Gerties attention wanting to move this along. “How do children change the game Caretaker? What happens to them on the reset?” His words slapped Skye in the face and Dom cringed at the choice of words he had used but they were flying blind and as much as he loves Skye this was too important to pussy foot around.

    Just then a thought struck him. “Skye…did you find the Journal? The leather bound book that Deacon had?” The anger was boiling up around like a rough sea calmed for a moment as her confusion deepened and the lack of answers she was getting was driving her mad he had given her a focus. Her voice steady she replied “No…I’ve been a little busy this morning Dom.”

“I know Skye it’s just very—“ The calm sea turned stormy.

    “I know Dom! It’s very important!” she screamed as she stood suddenly kicking the chair out from behind her into Chases shins and lost it. Waving frantically at the people in the room she continued to freak out. “Everything to you people seems to be but not as fucking important as telling me what I am and apparently how long I’m going to be me!”

    Cyrus paled and took a ragged breath as he stepped away from her until Chase stopped him from moving any further and parked his butt in a chair. As she realized what she had said, she reached for her son to hold him…and passed out.



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