"Who the hell are you?" Amita asked defensively. I looked at her with a strong and solid stare. "...I, am Keira Polsky. I lived here when I was a child but my father and I fled to America. My father returned here months ago to help the golden path fight but he's missing. I came here to find him but I was abducted by Pagan's men and was threatened. Pagan told me that if I don't manipulate the golden path, that he will rape and kill me." She looked at me with furrowed brows. "Well...any member of the golden path is like family. And I appreciate you coming to me rather than helping Pagan. That was very brave of you." We looked at each other for a moment before she continued, "We need all the help we can get right now. We have recently had an ally take out Paul Harmon and that has been a great help for our cause. But," - she began walking around the room- "now that we have taken out a royal army leader, they are beginning to take us as a serious threat; which is a double bladed sword. We are finally posing a threat but the threat towards us is growing." She stopped and looked directly at me. "Are you willing to do what it takes to defeat the royal army and take down Pagan?" I looked at her with ferocity in my eyes. "I will do whatever it takes." She flashed a very brief smile and turned around to a table that contained maps, radios and ammunition. "Good, because like I said we need all the help we can get." She turned back towards me and put various items in my hands. "Take these, you'll need them to communicate with us and to get around safely." I received a map, knife, radio, camera, and a handgun with ammunition. "Earn your keep with us and you'll be able to buy more powerful weapons. If you really are willing to do anything, Kiera, then I need you to take out an army leader for me." I blinked in response, waiting for further explanation. "There is a small camp south west of us. The Royal Army has been kidnapping Golden Path members and selling them on the black market. Kill their leader and free the prisoners. This will prove to me that you can fight for us. Come back here when they are free. And we will talk." With that, she motioned for me to leave and I did so. I followed the map to where she marked the camp. I found a bush nearby to hide in and I made note of where the Royal army members were. I found their leader guarding a man and woman of the Golden Path. Since I didn't have a stealthier weapon than an un-silenced handgun, I made my way closer to the camp.

A soldier with a gun stood facing away from me, about 10 feet ahead. I found a small stone and threw it at a tree near me. "What was that?" He said. He sauntered his way towards the noise. He got closer and closer to me. I leapt out of the bush and plunged my knife deep into his neck. I could see the fear in his eyes and how quickly it depleted, just as the life in him did. I hid his body in the bush I was in. I turned a corner of a small building and I saw a slave. She looked at me with wide, pleading eyes. She loudly whispered, "Help me. Please. They've captured us!" I told her to keep quiet and I quickly untied her. "Go, c'mon you're free! Get out of here." She left as I scanned the rest of the camp. I saw three more slaves and 5 more soldiers; one of them being the army general. I threw a rock and distracted two of the guards. I quietly made my way to them and I stabbed the first one in the back and then took that guard's knife and threw it at the other guard. Holy shit I can't believe that worked! I freed the nearest slave. *sigh* okay. Only three more to go. And they don't even know you're here." I repeated my process of rock throwing, body stabbing, and slave freeing twice more until there was just me, the army general, and one more slave.

I loaded up a magazine and put it into my gun as I crouched behind a building wall. I peered over the side and awe the general taking pictures of the slave as he begged him for mercy. What kind of sick things do these fuckers do to people? I shook my head in anger. I stepped out from behind the wall. "WHAT?" The general shouted as he saw me. He reached for his gun but I quickly sent three bullets through his chest. He collapsed to the ground with a groan and a thud. I freed the remaining slave and he thanked me. I took a picture of the general's body and headed back to Banapur.

"Kiera, this will help us greatly!" Exclaimed Amita, after I showed her the picture of the dead army general. "You freed the slaves which gives us more soldiers to fight with. You killed the army general and their soldiers and weakened their forces! This will not go unnoticed, Kiera, by both the Golden Path and the Royal Army."

The happiness I feel disappeared when I thought of when Pagan finds out what I had done. Amita saw this in my expression. "Don't let Pagan scare you," -she made eye contact with me- "He is nothing but as self appointed asshole who thinks he is the powerhouse of this country. But the Golden Path's power is rising! And you helped aid in that today." Amita paid me a healthy sum of 25,000 and I left to go to the general store. I bought the weapons I'm familiar with: an AK, a recurve bow, an RPG, and I also bought a sniper rifle with a silencer attached. I was fawning over my new loot when I heard a cry of terror. I ran out of the general store and saw car upon car of Pagan's men rushing into Banapur. I went around the building and climbed the stairs. I was surrounded by shouting. "SEARCH. EVERYWHERE."
"I don't see her!"
"Please! Stop this! Don't hurt us!"
"Shout if you see her!"
The mixed shouting made my heart race as I realized that Pagan had sent them to collect me; dead or alive. I couldn't risk using my RPG in such a small area so I grabbed my sniper and took out two of the many army members. The shouts of the army members seemed to reach as climax as they saw two of their own dead. I was reloading my gun when I heard "I SEE HER" followed by gunfire. I gasped as bullets whizzed past me and onto the exterior walls of the general store. I left the cover of the small wooden walls just before they broke completely. I raced back down the stairs and all I could see are people rushing everywhere. Innocent citizen were running for their lives as the Royal army chased after them and frantically looked for me. I briefly peered around the corner to shoot at one of there cars, causing a huge explosion. I heard cries of horror ring out. I took advantage of the chaos of ran to a stack of boxes in the side of the road in the town. I readied a grenade and threw it towards a group of soldiers. It exploded and killed 3 of them. I was starting to make a dent in their numbers. I reached for another grenade and threw it towards another one of the cars. BOOM. More death. More noise. More chaos.

I look around the boxes and see that only one car remained. I reached for my last grenade when I felt a burst of pain against the side of my head. I grunted as I hit the ground. Bleary eyed, I looked up and saw one of the Royal army members standing over me. I quickly and haphazardly attempted to shoot at him with my handgun. Only one of the bullets grazed his arm, as I started to black out. "DIE you stupid bitch!" The last thing I saw was the butt of his gun rushing towards my face.

I woke up with an all too familiar feeling of dizziness with a splitting headache. This time I didn't have a bag over my head but all I could see was a ceiling. I blinked away the sleepiness and lifted my head to look around. My wrists had been taped down on a bed. My legs tied together with rope. I could tell that I was in the royal palace based on the ostentatiousness of the room. My breathing quickened. I frantically looked around the room, trying to find anyway out. Oh god. Oh fuck I know what he's going to do to me. This is it. I'm finished. The doors suddenly bursted open and Pagan quickly marched into the room, staring and pointing directly at me. He continued to walk quickly as he began to talk. "You, girl, have been causing a lot of trouble since I last saw you." He came around the side of the bed and looked down at me, putting his hands on his hips. "Were my instructions not clear? Did I not specify that you should KILL the Golden Path, not HELP them? Do you know the difference?" I stared at him wide eyed, my mouth slightly ajar. He pinched the thin parts of his nose where each of his eyes were closest to it in annoyance and anger. He only did this for a moment before he punched the areas of the bed directly next to my head. I let out a yelp. "You cannot just go around killing my men, girl. I lost valuable time, soldiers, and resources with that camp His angry eyes stared into my fear-filled ones. All of the sudden they softened. He let out a very brief but exaggerated sigh. He sat on the the of the bed, keeping his hands on either side of my head. "I'm sorry to lash out on you like that, love, but it's just," - he looked slightly upwards, searching for the correct words- "When one of my subjects goes out of their way to disobey me, I get not happy. And when they decide to take out a valuable camp which contains valuable resources... I just get plain mad." He looked back down at me, his face slightly lowered; giving his face a scary shadow. His bipolar mood swings made him hard to predict. "You know what I warned you about. You know what has to happen." He slowly, and without breaking eye contact climbed on top of me from the side of the bed. He smashed his left hand over my mouth and I let out a series of whimpers. Tears began to run down my face. Pagan turned his head over his shoulder and yelled, "Guards! Close the doors!" The doors seemed to close by themselves. He turned his head back to me. "And now that we are alone," -he dipped his face closer to mine-, "I can make you serve your punishment."

He dived his face into my neck, giving me gross neck kisses. My body scrunched up in discomfort and fear. He lowered himself on top of me from his original hanging-over-me position. He kept his hand over my mouth, but I'm pretty sure this was just for effect as nobody would have stopped him, screaming or not. I was crying hysterically, but my cries were smothered by his hand. His face moved up and down my neck as his free hand moved down my body. I feel him slide his right hand down my side, then down the side of my leg. he briefly lifted his face to say, "My, my, that's quite the wound you have on your side." His face moves to mine and he moves his hand. I had no time to scream as he plunged his mouth onto mine. My eyes were as wide as they had ever been with fear. I could feel and taste him in my mouth as I felt his hand move slowly over my leg and into my groin. I arched my body in discomfort. He only pushed himself closer to me. He pulled his face away from mine and looked down at his hand. He undid my pants' buttons and zipper as I let out my cries. Combinations of "no"
"Please"
"Stop"
and "Don't" escaped my lips. I willed my arms forwards but the tape was too strong. He took the same knife he used earlier from his belt and cut the restraints on my legs. Then, starting from the crotch down, he cut my pants off. I pulled my knees together but he was in the way. He did the same the to the other pant leg and then ripped them off. I continued to hyperventilate and to try to get my legs as close at they could together as he began unbuttoning his stupid sequin pink suit jacket. He made direct eye contact with me as he did this. He whipped his jacket to the side, leaving him with a white undershirt on. He undid his belt and threw that on top of his jacket. His hand quickly reached for his own zipper and then he leaned forward, putting his body on mine as he fiddled with pulling his pants down. His head was next to my neck and I could feel his hot breath on my skin. He pulled his pants down to his knees and then he lifted his chest up off me with his arms, weighing his bottom half against mine. He looked into my eyes. He saw the fear in them. He could see the adrenaline pumping through my veins. "I was almost hoping you would fuck up your instructions just so I could do this." My body quickly shivered. He leaned himself against me one more time and kissed me on the mouth, softly at first but then it turned rough. He went on his knees, still kissing me, and his hand on my groin again. He began rubbing me through my underwear. He was forcing it so hard, it hurt so much. I closed my eyes tightly as this was happening. I knew my worst fear was coming true. I knew there was nothing I could do about it. His mouth moved to my neck as his hand went into my underwear. Cries of horror escaped my mouth. His knees pinned each of my legs open, I knew that would leave bruises. He began rubbing me through my underwear; moving in and out of me. My arms shook as I pulled with all of my might to free them of their binding. He grabbed my underwear and forcefully pulled it down, ripping it in the process. He turned his hand around and pulled his own underwear down. I didn't look as he did this. I didn't want to see. Instead I stared at the same ceiling I woke up to as I felt him rub himself against me. He teased my groin with his member before quickly sticking it in. I threw my head back and squeezed my eyes shut in pain. His thrusts began, and they were unforgiving. Slow, but rough and hard. I thought he was going to break me. I let out strained cries and moans as his pace got quicker. His head lifted slightly off my neck but remained next to it.

I could hear his quick breaths that aligned with his thrusts. He kissed the area where my neck and jawline met every few seconds, adding to the disgust I felt. One of his hands began reaching up my shirt and I willed my arms again. I felt his fingers brush over my skin as he crept his way towards my bra. He tightly gripped it repeatedly, moving my bra around in his hand. Not a minute after he started this, he moved into my bra, squeezing tightly with his hand. I stared at the ceiling. Became fixated with it. I examined our shadows and how they moved, but I never looked at us; feeling it was more than enough. His thrusts seemed to be going a mile a minute while his breathing was heavy and he almost sounded like he was in pain. The bed was shaking at its fastest when all of the sudden it stopped. Pagan let out a groan and sank his head down into the area next to my head. He was barely moving his hips, he was simply enjoying the feeling of his climax right then. He breathed a few hot breathes into my neck before rolling over next to me, arms spread out like he was being crucified. His breathing continued to be quick for minutes after it ended. I only laid there, regretting every decision I had made recently, starting with coming to that God forsaken country.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After Pagan caught his breath, he turned towards me. He rested his head on his left hand. "I knew that was going to be fun." He looked at me with sweet eyes. I continued staring at the ceiling, hoping he would just disappear. "Well, it's all fun and games until somebody gets their head cut off." He pushed himself off the bed and walked around it to get his clothes. He put them on and looked down at me. "Make sure you don't fuck up again, Keira. This experiment here has been a lesson for both of us. You have learned what I'm capable of. I have learned that I can control you." I closed my eyes. He abruptly ripped the bindings off my arms, making me flinch. "I will give you one last chance. I open my eyes as he turned around and grabbed an identical vial to the last one out of a drawer. He turned back and placed it in my hand. "Poison. Their. Crops God damn it. Your instructions remain the same. Come back here by sundown with proof and I won't repeat this whole," -he gestures to my body- , "scene." He gave me a once over with his eyes and turned on his heels to leave. He closed the doors behind him.

I lifted my head and look at my ripped pants on the ground. I slowly lifted my body off the bed with my hands. I cried out briefly in pain. I gasped for air as I put my legs over the side of the bed. I was raped. I...I was just raped. Tears of despair formed in my eyes. I let them fall silently onto my damaged and sore legs. I put my feet on the ground and stood up. My legs wobbled. I grabbed the small table next to me for support and reached down for my pants. They were pretty much rags at that point. Split in half down each side of the pant legs. I put them on because it was better than walking out of there stark naked from the waist down. I looked in the box that Pagan got the vial from and I saw all the items that Amita gave me in Banapur. I took all of them and I walked out of the doors. Few guards made eye contact with me as I trudged through the grand hallways. I walked right out the front doors and away from the palace. I called out of my radio. "Is anyone there? I need help, I've just been attacked at the Royal Palace and need to get to safety." I hold the radio in my hands and stare at it, willing it to respond to me. "What are your coordinates?" I hear a male voice say eventually. I exhaled in relief and took a look at my map. I told him my coordinates and he responded with, "Okay, help is on the way."

I stayed put and soon saw a Golden Path car come over a hill and it pulled up next to me. I recognized the man in the car as Sabal; the other leader of the Golden Path. I lugged my sore body into the car and Sabal took off. "You're in dangerous territory here. Most of us haven't gone past the northern border since the war broke out." He flashed a glance at me. I was leaning against the passenger side door, gripped my midsection and trying to hold my pants together. "What the hell happened to your clothes?" I looked at him as he stared at the road.

"Pagan…" Is all I say. Sabal seemed to understand what I meant, since he didn't ask me further questions about it. "Amita told me what you did for us at that camp. How you freed the slaves and killed the army general. You have brought great honor to your family's name." No I haven't, I thought to myself, I came here to find my father but all I did was get caught between two sides of a civil war and get assaulted. I sat there in silence until we reached Tirtha.

We exited the car. "Welcome to Tirtha, sister. I know that you are in bad shape, and that you've been through a lot. Why don't you restock your supplies and then come back to me. I'll be in the building to the north." He nodded at me and left. I slowly walked into Tirtha and immediately went into the general store. I restocked my ammunition, bought some syringes and some body armor; including new pants and underwear. I sat in a chair in the store and put my face in my right hand. *I don't think I can do this anymore. How can I possibly bring myself to do this? Questions and scenarios rushed through my head.

I went into the bedroom in the general store and slept until the next day. When I awoke I stood up, injected myself with a syringe for the pain and headed towards Sabal. Tirtha was a good excuse for a town. Citizens went about their daily business; playing cards, gutting animals, drinking. Just minding their own business. How could Pagan punish these people when all they're doing is defending themselves? I made my way to Sabal's shack and open the door. "Hello, Kiera. I hope you are feeling better, because we need your help." He began to point to a map that was covered in red areas. "Sabal, before you say anything else…" I interrupted him. He looked to me. "I need to tell you that Pagan gave me this vial of poison," -I held it up- "and he told me that if I don't poison Kheta Mansion's crop fields that he is going to attack me again."

Sabal walked towards me and took the vial. Then he did something I hadn't expected him to do. He took off the cork and drank the vial's contents. My hands reached out, "What are you doing!?"

"Kiera, there was never poison in this. Pagan was playing a mind game with you. He was trying to see if you would jeopardize the Golden Path or if you would join us." I looked down in disbelief. I was raped over a fucking vial of water? What the fucking hell? Anger swelled in me. "I swear to God, if it's the last thing I do I am going to kill Pagan."