Thanks to all of you who read and review and add to your story alerts and favourites! Thanks to Fern my beta for...err...beta-ing...And to Bloo for coming up with some of the ideas in the chapter!
Chapter 9: Raven
He stared at her. She had been quiet ever since he had released her friend. He hoped she would perk up soon. She had actually been doing much better before her friend had arrived. He knew he had knocked the fight out of her. She had stopped fighting after the first few obedience lessons. He didn't like to give them, but it was essential that he did.
He was purifying her. He was cleansing her of her sins. She didn't understand it, yet, but he knew she would eventually. He'd make her understand. All animals were trained eventually, and she would be no different. He'd train her to be how women should be. Quiet, calm, collected. They shouldn't be sleeping around, divorcing, and certainly not trying to prevent other people from being fruitful for God.
Maybe she was starting to understand that. She had told her boss that she liked it here. She was like any animal, he reasoned. They didn't like the punishment part but give them treats and rewards and they didn't mind their masters.
He considered pulling one of the boards off the window. She couldn't go anywhere; she was chained to the wall still. Maybe he could pull one board off and give her just enough light to know if it was day or night.
Ever since her friend had taken her punishment, she had not said anything. She hardly looked up. She only looked up when he told her to. He knew she was reaching her lowest, and soon, she'd change over into his way of thinking. It was only a matter of weeks, he believed, and then she'd repent and he could let her go.
He walked away from the doorway, going to get her food bowl. It was gone six, and she would be hungry. He made sure he fed her at least once at day, sometimes twice. Some days, he'd stand in and watch her. He enjoyed watching her. It gave him pleasure to see her eating. For a while he had been afraid that she wouldn't, that she'd starve herself and her soul would be lost. God had sent him to this earth to save her soul, and he would. He put a bit of potatoes and some meat in her bowl and went back to the room where he held her. Maybe once she came round, he could let her out around the flat. He figured she might enjoy that.
He went back to the doorway, and stopped to stare at her once again. She was sitting complacently in the corner, looking down. She was holding her chain, playing with it, seemingly content with it. He liked the fact that she was happy with her chain. In some way, it made him feel as though she was happy with him. He had given her that chain. She liked his gift. And he knew that, in the end, she'd like the gift he was still in the process of giving her. She would thank him one day for saving her soul.
~(*)~
Alex sat, playing with the chain that fastened her to the wall. Although it made her feel safe, she still hated it. She hated that she was now dependent on the feeling of the collar around her neck, just to make her feel safe. She hated that she had the fight knocked out of her.
She wanted to fight. But she was afraid.
She was afraid of obedience lessons, of being put back onto the short chain as a punishment, of the man who called himself her master. She hated the power he held over her. It was all she could do to not jump up and hit him in the face. But as long as she was chained, she could not do that.
And she didn't want to have her chain taken off.
To take off her chain was to take off her safety, her protection. And just like she never wanted to have her constant removed from her life, she didn't want her safety taken away.
She knew he was watching her. He did that a lot now. He would stand in the doorway silently and watch her. Alex didn't care. She had not had a restful night's sleep since she had come to this place, and she was utterly exhausted. He could watch her all he wanted; in this state she wouldn't, couldn't do anything. She only hated it when he watched her eat. Her fork was hidden underneath a loose floorboard. She couldn't get it out when he watched her eat. Having a fork was against the rules. She was an animal. She wasn't allowed to use utensils.
He was watching her more while she ate now as well. And every time he watched her, she would be humiliated. She was a grown woman, shoving food into her mouth like a child. More than once she considered not eating. But if she didn't eat, would she get an obedience lesson? Alex resolved to not eat the next meal he stayed to watch her eat. She had to know what he would do. It would help her plan to escape this place.
He had left now, leaving the doorway open. From the bit of the flat she could see, it was still daylight. Not that that meant much. She supposed that not knowing day from night actually helped. That way, she didn't know what she was missing, and when she longed to be outside, she couldn't see it the outdoors in front of her, mocking her inability to even move from the room.
Her neck itched, but she ignored it. Alex had kept her hands away from her collar since the day Chris had tried to take it off. She had been so close to getting a 'lesson,' but Chris had jumped in, telling the man that it was his fault.
Chris had gotten another beating, and Alex sat, not watching, saying nothing. She listened to his cries of pain, but did nothing. She knew she couldn't. He would consider that disobedience. Alex never wanted another obedience lesson.
He was standing in the doorway once more, her bowls in his hands. It was time to test her theory. He set them in front of her, and sat in the corner next to her. Alex looked at the food. It looked okay, better than her first meal she'd been given. Her stomach rumbled. Still, she pushed it away, not looking to gauge the man's reaction.
"Are you not hungry today?" he asked. "Or are you just being stubborn? You know how I feel when you're being stubborn."
Alex looked down, trying to stop the tears of self-pity from pouring down her face. She was unsuccessful, however, and she felt the warm liquid trickle down her face.
"You're upset," he said quietly. Alex stiffened as he sat beside her. She went completely rigid as he pulled her into his lap, rubbing her back. It was all she could do not to push his arms away. She knew he'd get mad about that. And she couldn't afford to get him mad.
"You'll be okay, Animal," he said. "Once you can repent, it'll all be much better."
Alex felt the tears starting to flow faster. What was she even supposed to repent for? What had she done?
She became aware that he was rocking her back and forth, a motion that had always lulled her. Alex felt the tears stop as her eyes grew heavy. His arms had provided the first warmth she felt in weeks, and she was finding it difficult to not doze off. She couldn't fall asleep in his arms. It was just wrong. This was the man who had tortured her, starved her and even raped her. She had to stay awake.
Eventually, however, her eyes grew too heavy, the exhaustion overwhelmed her, and she slipped blissfully into the land of unconsciousness.
~(*)~
He stared down at her in amazement. He had not expected this. His Animal had fallen asleep in his arms. Even more amazingly, she was sleeping peacefully. Had she really come to like him? Was she comfortable with him now? She had to be, if she was able to fall asleep like this.
He smiled. Maybe this meant that she was closer to repentance than he thought she was. He had waited so long to make her repent. Ever since the first day he had seen her. He knew that he had wanted to be with her when he first met her. But he knew he couldn't be with an animal, a whore like her. She was dressed like a tart, a mockery of what a woman should be. He had felt his hands itch to make her repent. Anyone could see that she must repent. Someone had agreed with him that she was a whore. So that made him plan. Unfortunately, he had been thrown in jail. It stalled his plans. But he knew that a hasty plan was not a good one. So as he waited for his solicitor to work out the case, to prove his innocence, he had plotted. It had taken nearly two years, but eventually, he was proven to be innocent and let go.
As soon as he was out, he knew that he could set his plan into action. He had found a flat immediately, in an abandoned building that was due for demolition. Once he had converted the flat, he took his first CID officer captive. It had not gone as expected, however, as she had been home when he had broken in. His Animal's capture had gone much more smoothly than the capture of the WPC.
He knew that she had hated him at first. He knew that she was angry with him for taking her name from her. But he had to. He had to show her what she truly was. She was a whore, an animal. Only when she was truly ready to change could she get her name back. And that would be when she showed him that she was ready to repent.
He looked down at the sleeping figure in his arms. She was the calmest he had ever seen her, the worry and fear removed from her face. He wondered whether he should take off her handcuffs again. She had been so calm lately. He felt her stir against him. Maybe he'd give her the reward of being able to use her hands. Then maybe she'd be more willing to repent.
He smiled to himself. Only a matter of weeks and Fenchurch East would be completely cleansed, their DI no longer a whore.
~(*)~
She was wandering, the collar and chain dragging behind her. But she was not chained to the wall. She was safe, but she was free. Alex looked down. Her nightshirt was gone, replaced by a blouse and her favourite pair of skinny jeans. Alex liked the feel of the jeans covering her legs, giving her a privacy she had not felt for so long. She knew she wouldn't wear skirts for a long while after this.
Alex looked up at the street sign above her and smiled. Christopher Street. She was on the street where her flat was, where CID was. Alex walked down the street and into the police station. It was completely silent as she walked past the desk, people just staring at her. Alex knew that the chain probably threw them all off, but she needed it.
She walked into CID. They all looked confused as she wandered in. Why were they confused? Why weren't they happy to see her? She had been gone for so long!
Chris was smiling happily, his face still swollen from the beating the man who had kidnapped her had given him. Alex smiled back, until she realised he was smiling at Shaz.
She was frustrated. Why was everyone acting as though they had never seen her before? Alex said nothing, wandering towards the back of the office, to where Gene's office was. His blinds were closed, showing that he was talking to someone. Alex knocked quietly on the door, realising she hadn't even looked in a mirror. She studied her reflection in the window. She didn't seem to look bad. She had no makeup on, but he had seen her without makeup before.
His voice called for her to enter, and Alex turned the knob, the door swinging open wide. Alex smiled in anticipation of seeing Gene after God only knew how long. She looked in, and her face fell. Sitting on Gene's desk, in HER spot, was the woman. Alex looked, taking the whole scene in. Gene ignored her, looking at the woman on the desk, completely transfixed. Alex felt a stab of jealousy. The woman had brunette hair, and was as tall as she was. Alex couldn't get a clear look at her face, however, as it was turned towards Gene.
"Just a moment," Gene said in her direction, glaring at the woman, but still with a soft look in his eyes. "No. No way. There's absolutely no way I'm going to do that."
The woman continued to stare at him before uttering one word. "Please?" She said it quietly, perfectly, exactly in the manner Alex herself would have said it to get him to bend. She saw the change in the set of Gene's jaw, and knew that the woman had won. Obviously the woman knew it to, because she leaned over and kissed him. "Thank you!"
"Just remember, you owe me!" Gene said playfully.
"Of course," the woman replied, smiling.
Alex had seen enough. She stormed out of the office, not looking at anyone, trying to hold back her tears.
~(*)~
The first thing she was aware of was someone's arms holding her tightly. Alex smiled. It had all just been a bad dream. She was in Gene's arms. None of this had ever happened. He had never thrown the record across the room. She had never been kidnapped and never been held hostage with a man who treated her as though she was an animal.
"Gene," she murmured. The person holding her stiffened.
"You're not ready then," said an all too familiar voice angrily. Alex fell to the floor with a thud as the person holding her stood. The man stood over her, his body position angry. "You'll just have to wait a bit longer. But eventually, Animal, you will repent." He picked up her bowls and left the room, slamming the door behind him, lock turning quickly.
Alex felt the chain that still fastened her to the wall and the handcuffs still on her hands. She wasn't free, then. She was still stuck here. And if her dream was true, she'd lost Gene as well. Alex curled up into a ball and cried. There really was no hope, was there?
...to be continued...
