Chapter 3

Nora's POV

I was thrown into a chair, and my arms were chained to the sides. There was a lot of cursing flying around from both sides, as there was no way I was just going to go into it lightly. The basement was a dark, dank place; concrete walls and ceiling. The only light coming in was through two 4x11" windows at the top of the wall. I'd thought the room upstairs was hot, but someone could have told me that basement was the seventh circle of Hell and I would have believed it- it was that hot. There was a twin sized mattress on the floor in the corner, brand new. There were dark stains on the wall- God only knows what had happened to other people in the room, and the fearful thought of joining their ranks kept me struggling.

When the men finally had me strapped down, Hank ordered them to stand aside and keep watch at the door. He approached me and I went silent, staring up at him in defiance. I wanted him know that he couldn't keep me locked up here, that I wouldn't go down without a fight. He finally stood less than a foot from me.

Whap!

He slapped me in the face! I looked back in shock, stretching my jaw.

"Now, that was for that highly unnecessary struggle to get you down here. There's no reason we should have to fight you to get our way." Hank said, unfazed by the fact that he'd just struck me.

"No reason…you've got me locked up, against my will, and you expect me not to-"

Whap!

"Yes, actually, I do. Seeing as I control whether you live or die, you should consider not taking me so lightly, Nora."

My face was already on fire from where he'd hit me. I felt the tears come on, but I refused to let them fall, not for him. I couldn't wait until Patch came; I'd make sure he paid for every hand he put on me. Hank failed to see my glare as he moved on to his next topic.

"So, Nora. Such a shame. I have to admit; I thought that you would turn out much better than this. You had it all going for you; good family, good grades, proper schooling…and you decide to put it to the side for a fallen angel. Not only going against the grain in proper society, but against your Nephilim bloodline." He began pacing around the room.

"Maybe it would have gone better if you'd shown any concern in my life. Hell, you couldn't even be a proper baby daddy. No phone calls, no money, not even a check up on me or my mother." I hissed.

"I couldn't be a part of your life, Nora. Everything I did was to keep you safe. Things grew; became more important…" he said, speaking quietly by the end.

"Keep me safe…what a COP OUT! You know what I think? You didn't want to risk your image. Your perfect wife, your perfect life; couldn't have the world knowing you had a whore and her baby around!" I didn't want to call my mother that, but I felt that the usage of the word would hurt Hank. Suddenly he was in front of me and slapped me again.

"Watch your mouth and check your tone, young lady. I will not accept any more foul words from you." I could see I'd agitated him just a little bit, and suddenly, no matter if he hit me again, I wanted to watch him crumble. I wanted him to look his failures and secrets in the face.

"Oh, what, does it shock you? That that's how I feel? Did it ever occur to you that if you'd been in my life, I would never have liked Patch in the first place? That I would have known all about the fallen angels and Nephilim?"

"I certainly wouldn't have mentioned it to you; at least not until I felt you were ready." Hank replied.

"So it wouldn't really matter anyway! But, since I wasn't a part of your family dynamic, you could care less what I did until it happened to reflect badly on your plans!" I yelled.

"Once again, you need to check your tone. I'm a patient man, Nora, but there are certain things that you need to learn. One of those things is respect, not only to an elder, but most importantly to your father, and your lineage." Hank growled.

"Okay, so one, my lineage- Chauncey tried to kill me- did you know that? I'm a part of his lineage; didn't stop him from trying to throw me off the rafters!" I probably shouldn't have gone into what happened with Jules, but by this point I was belligerent. "You wanted to protect me; where were you back then? That's right, you weren't around!" Hank simply looked interested, not at all sympathetic. Marcie got the look honest.

"Respect to my father?" I continued. "Oh I have much respect for my father, that is, Harrison Grey! The man who raised me, the man who stepped up the challenge you were too weak to face," I kept going, getting louder and louder, "The man that stepped in to die for you! It should have been you that Rixon shot! You let an innocent man die!"

Quicker than a lightning strike, Hank struck me. Except this time, it was with his fist. I felt my left eye immediately swell, and the back of my head began to throb from the impact. By the time I could gather my bearings and look him in the face, I shrunk back at his expression. It was close to the one Patch got when he was deeply enraged; a monstrous, inhuman look. He turned to the guards.

"Unlock her from her chains." He told one. "Bring me-" he said to the other. Bring him…bring him what? I thought. The man came back with a padded stick; it looked like a weapon. By then, the other man had unlocked me from my chains, but held me in the chair. Hank motioned his head for them to leave. I tried to get out of the door, but suddenly Hank hit me in the face with the weapon, knocking me to the ground. I was too dazed to even see where he was standing.

"It's called a short staff, Nora. We use these for the training of my men. It won't kill you, but it will get my message across." Hank stated, looking at the stick.

"No…Please don't do this…don't you think this is a bit extreme?" I said, pleading with him not to do what I thought he was going to do. He didn't respond, he only came at me with the weapon. I shielded my head; curled up into a ball, but it was no use. He simply lifted me up by my hair, and hit me multiple times in the chest. My ribs were on fire from both the impact and the quickness of my breathing. He hit me in the back, and I fell into the ground, cracking my head against the ground. He paused to check my head, and upon seeing that my brains were still safely inside, he hit me back onto the ground. I began to hyperventilate through my tears, and when I looked down at the floor, dark stains were coming from the tears. There was blood mixed in with my tears. All of a sudden, I heard a hysterical screaming. It was me- that's me screaming! I was already screaming from the pain but the terror of the entire situation hit me all in one moment. Panic, sadness, anger, fear, all of it came out.

That didn't stop him. He just kept going.

Again…

Again…

And again…

By the time he was done, I had bruises everywhere on my body, and I couldn't scream anymore. I'd never been abused in my life. My throat was hoarse from screaming, but I don't think he could hear me. That or he just didn't care. I tried to crawl onto the mattress so that I could roll up and die there. That's all I wanted anymore. Hank fixed his suit, walked over to the chair, and lifted it off of the ground, nails and all. He threw it at the wall right next to me before I could get onto the mattress. Humiliatingly, I urinated on myself, and began to cry. I felt like a goddamned animal, not even human anymore. He sniffed the air, and wrinkled his nose.

"Disgusting." He walked to the door, checked his watch, and knocked on it. It opened. Before he left, he turned to me. The earlier expression was gone, but was replaced with one of complete antipathy- I didn't know which was worse.

"Listen, Nora. I can't kill you; no I daresay your boyfriend's information is too good for that. I can even be quite kind to you, if you deserve it. I don't want this to happen again. But if I receive any word from my soldiers that you aren't cooperating, I can make your stay here exceedingly unpleasant."

Laughs echoed from outside the door as it shut behind him, and to my horror and shame, I fainted.