An update! A mild one at that.
Disclaimer: I do not own anyone working in the WWE. I just own my OCs.
Damian stepped out of the hell house and stood outside the door; he feigned guarding the front door, but he was using his peripheral vision to see if Vince was far enough from the building. Vince had crossed the grassy lawn to the dimly lit parking lot where his beat-up old rental was parked.
"Hey, Don, Murray told me to hand over this note to that McMahon guy." Damian said as he pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket. "I'll go run after him; you stand here and make sure none of those fucking girls get out of here."
Once Don had nodded, Damian ran across the lawn and arrived just as Vince had closed the passenger side door. Astrid was safely strapped into the seat and was lulled into a horribly deep and uneasy slumber. "Sir!" Damian called out.
Vince spun around and gave the Englishman an inquisitive stare. Damian handed him the note and said, "Sir, please take this. I would like to talk to you about this young girl."
The older man nodded and willingly took the paper. He opened it to see a phone number hastily written on it. "Astrid is a strong young girl. She's a few weeks short of twenty, but she's been through a lot. I know you saw something in her. I may be out of line to say this, sir, but take care of her."
"How are you so sure that I'm not going to use her?"
"A man who has intentions of hurting does not carry a girl out. He will drag her by her hair. You seem to have gained sympathy for her."
"Why have you taken such interest in this young lady?" Vince questioned with his eyes keenly focused on Damian.
"She reminds me of my eldest daughter, young and quite the fighter." He replied; his eyes downcast. "I should go back. Please tell Astrid to call that number once she's okay."
Vince nodded. Damian hurriedly ran back to the building, but stopped a quarter of the way and went back to Vince. "Sir, I warn you. Should anything bad happen to Astrid, I will make it my personal mission to make sure that you never see the light of day again." he threatened before turning back and running away again.
Vince stiffened knowing very well that men in the black market are not the ones one wants to mess with, especially since this one knew his secret love for the young and the paid for. He stepped into his rental and started the car. The young girl beside him was curled up and barely dressed. Shaking his head, he grabbed his blazer from the backseat and casually draped it over her thin frame. She immediately took to the warmth and snuggled into the clothing.
He pulled out of the parking lot and traveled the two kilometers to the nearest hospital where he checked her in. It took some good money to keep the head nurse quiet about the situation, but it was definitely worth it.
Astrid woke up to a beeping sound. Her eyesight fogged a little as she opened her eyes before feeling the unusual warmth of clothing on her body. Immediately, she sat up and took in the strange place she was in. Shit, what have I done wrong now? What are they putting in my body? Her mind spun without recourse as she began yanking the wires and needles off of her body, shaking in the fear of more cocktails.
Her instinct told her to stay quiet. Her breathing became ragged and the tears slowly poured out. This made no sense. She was clean and clothed, and her body seemed less numb as before. She put her hands on her face and took several deep breaths before jerking at the sound of people entering the room.
"I'm glad to see you're awake." said the lady in the pink scrubs.
Astrid pulled the blankets over her and instinctively curled up. "W-who are you?" she whispered, fearing a vicious slap if she spoke too loudly. "Please don't hurt me."
The lady gave her a smile and reached out her hand to touch Astrid's face. The young woman flinched and inched away from her hand. "Don't worry, honey, I'm not here to hurt you." the lady said, her words not making much of a difference to the situation. "I'm here to help you, but I can't unless you let me."
Astrid's eyes widened with anxiety as her breathing became more and more erratic. "Please don't hurt me." she kept repeating, each time with more panic in her voice.
The lady sighed and motioned for the other fellows behind her to exit the room. "Astrid, my name is Gina. I'm a hospital nurse." she said in the calmest voice she could muster. "You were brought here by a good man who said that he took you away from some very bad people."
"Damian?" Astrid asked, her voice showing some hope.
"No, honey, his name was Vince McMahon. He brought you here last night." Astrid froze at the unfamiliar name. She knew he would come back and have his way with her. "I am here to help you. Please let me."
Gina brought a tray of colorful and healthy-looking food to Astrid's lap. There was soup, mixed vegetables, and some lumpy yellow mashed potato that looked unfamiliar but appetizing to the young girl. "Here, honey, have a bite to eat. You're going to need the nutrition if you want to be healthy again." Gina said and tried to give her some food. She inched farther away and hid behind her crossed arms.
"Please don't put bad things in my body anymore." she pleaded with a high-pitched crackling voice, causing Gina to put the food down. "Please don't make me dizzy or numb anymore. Please don't hurt me. Please stop. Please…"
Realizing there wasn't much she could do for Astrid, Gina stood up and looked pitifully at the young girl. She was skin and bones. Her hair was messily cut and her face was bruised. A large violet patch shaped like a palm had begun to form on her collarbone. She must have been held down. Gina thought, her brow furrowing in sympathy.
"Astrid, please get some rest. I'll leave the food here in case you change your mind." Gina left and a sense of silence overcame the room. Astrid brought her arms down and sniffled back a tear. The food did look good and she was definitely starving from the many foodless nights. She clenched her fists in control and muttered to herself to stop and just go to sleep. At least she was given a bed and some clothes now. Escaping wouldn't be such a good idea.
She lay down on her side and brought her knees up to her chest. Wishing that Damian had been around, she closed her eyes and tried to imagine good things… but there were none. Her mind didn't know of good things anymore.
"Astrid, wake up." a low, rough voice said.
Her eyes opened wide in dread. It was time. This is it. The rest was over. She feared turning to see who her next customer would be so she pretended to still be asleep. "Astrid, wake up." it said again, this time a hand touched her arm and she automatically stiffed at the coldness.
She sat up and turned around, preparing her mind for the physical abuse she was about to receive again. Looking up, she saw a face that she thought she dreamed. Vince McMahon stood beside her bed and offered a warm smile. He looked better than the usual men she serviced. His sharp suit told her that he had money. His clean shave showed that he was someone who cared about his appearance.
"Sir, I'll do anything." she whispered and bowed her head. "Please don't hurt me."
It became a mantra to ask for mercy, but no mercy every came. She silently prayed this would be different, but expected a backhand to the cheek or a breath-depriving choke around her neck. She clenched her fists in anticipation and closed her eyes so tightly, she felt like they would never open again.
"I'm not here to hurt you." said the man. "I'm Vince McMahon. Before anything else, I'd like you to talk to your old friend, Damian. He told me to ask you to call him once you came to."
He pressed some buttons on his phone and handed it to her. She looked at it weirdly, as though it would possibly hurt her. Vince realized that this girl may have never held a phone before, so he put it on loudspeaker instead so she could freely listen. The ringing went on and on, but stop when a click and a mumbled "Hello?" came through.
"Damian! Damian! Damian, help me!" she cried softly as warm teardrops felt down her cheeks. "Damian, help me!"
"Astrid? Astrid, honey, is that you?" he said.
"Yes, it's me. Come help me. Come get me, please." she wailed in hushed tones.
"Honey, it's okay, I need you to calm down. You're safe now. The man who took you is there to help you, I promise. I made sure that he would take care of you." he softly said to the hysterical young girl.
"Don't leave me! Don't leave me with these people! Come get me! They're trying to put bad things in my body!" she kept insisting, her arms subconsciously wrapping around her body as some sort of defense. Her breathing had become ragged again as she pleaded.
"Ssh…" he hushed her, and so her cries toned down. "Astrid, believe me when I say that you're safe now. I would never try to harm you, so believe me on this one. The man told me that you're in a hospital; you'll get better there. They'll help you treat your bruises like I used to, and they'll feed you good nutritious food…"
His voice had begun to break as he choked back the tears. "Astrid, I love you like my own daughter. Do it for me? No one will ever hurt you again; I promise you that. You're in good hands now. No one will ever hurt you again."
She began to cry continuously, "How can you promise that? You're not here. I want you here!"
"Honey, I will always be in your heart; I will always be protecting you from afar." He said sweetly as he began sniffling. "You're free, Astrid. Please remember me as you go on in life. I'm happy to have seen you leave this hell. Please let yourself be helped. You know that I love you like my own daughter, and I only want the best for you. Please, though it may be hard, please learn to trust this man… He will look after you for me."
"Damian, don't leave me…" she said and began to rock back and forth. "Stay with me."
"I have to go now. Don't call me again. It's for your own safety. For me, Astrid, please try to open yourself to help. You need it. I'll look for you when I get out of this place. Trust me." he whispered. "… Believe in freedom, Astrid. Believe."
The line went dead. She began crying softly as Damian's last words rang in her head. She brought her knees up to her chest and sobbed into them. Her heart felt like it had fallen out of its place, and her chest was worn down with grief. True to her fighter nature, she looked up at Vince who was putting away his phone and trying to hold back a tear or two. She asked him, "Why did you save me?"
"Your eyes told me something that I haven't seen or felt before." he said. "It made me remember my little girl back home. I thought to myself that somewhere, your own father may be looking for you. It wouldn't kill me to try to save a young girl from that nasty place."
"But you go there?"
"I do." he admitted, ashamed of his actions. "But I think it's time to stop."
Her eyes widened and unintentionally showed a glimmer of hope. She dug down from deep inside her soul for some sense of strength and knew fully well that Damian, the man who had kept her alive and rolling all these years, would never lead her astray. Speaking shyly, as though any decibel higher would cause the world to stop spinning, she said, "I'm hungry…"
Vince let out a small smile and called Gina in. Carrying a tray of even more good-looking food, she walked in with her entourage of nurses and smiled pleasantly at Astrid. "Sweetheart, we need to put this back on, okay?" Gina said, motioning to the IV drip and heart monitor. "May I?"
Astrid sank back into the bed and kept her hands close to her. She didn't want any needles in her anymore. Sensing her distraught, Vince stepped in and said, "My dear, it's medicine for your health. Don't worry, I intend to keep my promise to Damian. Please give Gina your hand."
Hesitantly, but with Damian's words ringing in her head, she slowly stretched her right arm out for Gina to take. She expertly reinserted the IV needle and only caused Astrid to flinch a little. As the male nurses were about to reattach the heart monitors, Astrid pulled away and hid behind her hands. Gina said to them, "I'll take it from here. Go on and prepare her medicine."
"You don't like boys, huh?" Gina said with a warm smile.
"…Only Damian…" she whispered, letting her arms fall down to her lap. Gina started to attach the heart monitor to her finger and chest before saying, "We girls have to stick together. You can count on me."
It wasn't much of a good day for Astrid. She encountered new things like computers and undrugged food. The whirlwind of having to take medicine, walking around for exercise, dressing in clothes that didn't show off her legs or chest, and allowing people to touch her freely wasn't easy, but Damian's words played in her mind over and over again each time she was met with something unfamiliar. Believe in freedom, Astrid. Believe. Without much to go on, she clung to his words and tried to trust the new people around her.
Maybe, just maybe, someone heard my prayers. she thought silently.
FIN. R&R. Much love!
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