Song: Happiness in slavery - Nine inch Nails
My clothes are ruined, soaked through with blood and sweat. I cringe at the feel of them against my skin and want desperately to bathe. He notices my discomfort and grins wickedly.
"Feel free to take them off if they bother you, honeybee." Ralph says. I bristle and look away, heat rising in my face. I am furious that he talks to me this way. It's just what a death row prisoner needs; added humiliation.
And to make it worse, I know I need to do something about it. This discomfort will only serve to distract me…
Linda was once a prisoner in Africa. Her work leads her to many danger zones and one day, she and some other missionary workers were kidnapped and held by a rebel group. Eventually, after they treated the rebel leader for injuries that would have otherwise proved fatal, they were allowed to leave, but Linda told Dennis and I that she had learned some valuable survival skills from her stint in captivity;
"Firstly, sleep whenever you can for as long as you can. You never know when you're captors are going to up and start moving you around. You may not have another chance to rest for up to days at a time. Secondly, no food of any kind should be left behind. If you're not on your captors' good side, they're not going to spare anything to keep you alive. Try to remain hydrated, but watch out for contaminated water. Lastly, you have to try and keep yourself as comfortable as possible. You wouldn't believe how much discomfort can sap moral…"
I glare ferociously at him. "Fine. I don't suppose you'd look away for a second?" I see a flash of surprise on his face before he grins with renewed malevolence.
"Not at all, honeybee, not at all. But…' He reaches out and catches my chin in pale hand "Don't try anything now. I'll know if you try to run." He says it with dead seriousness, his dark eyes fixed intensely on my face. I jerk my head back from his grasp and he winks at me. "Go ahead, honeybee."
I am relieved. There was no way I was going to turn my back to him. I shrug off the tattered remains of my jacket and study my blouse. I guess it will have to go. I remove that too and slip back into my jacket. The sleeves are ruined so I tear them off and then tie the jacket up as the buttons are long gone. I don't like the way it bares my midriff, but it is better than being covered with a sticky layer of old sweat and blood.
I look up and am shocked to find Ralph staring right at me, smirk firmly in place. "How long have you been looking?" I demand indignantly and he shrugs.
"For a while now. Bear in mind, Alyssa, you only asked me to look away for a second.' He leers wickedly at me "My, the whore look is rather fetching on you."
"Bastard..." I mutter, a deep blush rising to my face.
"Such a dirty mouth, too. I'm astounded, honeybee. You used to be such a sweet little thing…" I yelp as he wraps an arm around my bare waist and pulls me against him.
"You must be careful now, Alyssa…' he whispers, his lips pressed against my ear "You don't want to provoke me into doing anything… Worse." His breath is cold yet his arms are warm. I shudder and shrug out of his terrible embrace.
"You don't fool me, entity.' I say "I repulse you as much as you do me." But I am not sure how true this is and he laughs.
"Alyssa. Honeybee… You certainly don't know a lot about me. You don't know what lengths I will go to for my vengeance…' He takes a step towards me, a predatory grin on his face "You don't know how exquisite it feels to hurt you, all the time thinking off how I want to take this blade…' he holds up one of his twin swords so it catches the dim torchlight "and watch the look in your lovely eyes as I plunge it slowly into your abdomen. I want the pain to be so much; it robs you of your screams. I want to watch you moan and writhe as the cold steel moves inside of you. I want you to beg me to thrust it in as deep as I can and finish you because the pain is too much for you to take…" Ralph's face is less than an inch away from mine and I can't remember how to breathe. My heart seemingly refuses to beat and I am shocked that the urge to move away has deserted me completely…
"Alyssa…' Ralph breathes "You're sweating."
I blink and the spell is broken. I jerk away from him wondering what in the hell he did to me…
"We're not so different, Alyssa." He says softly "I can see in your eyes that you too enjoy killing." His words scald me and I want to scream at him.
"Shut UP! Don't you dare say I am anything like you!" He shrugs
"Don't take it out on me because you can't embrace the way you are.' Ralph says and then smirks "Or rather, do. I just adore it when you try to kill me, honeybee. It's so… Sensual." He cracks up, laughing manically as I stand with my hands clenched at my sides, shaking.
Ralph's laughter eventually dies down and he picks up his other blade from the table.
"I suppose we got a little sidetracked just now.' He says with a meaningful glance at my outfit "I almost forgot about our game…"
I feel a shiver run up my spine and manage to ask "What… Game did you have in mind?"
As soon as I have the words out, Ralph grins and throws one of the blades at me. I manage to snatch it out of the air, but wince as the motion pulls on my sore ribs.
"Never handled a blade like that, I suppose…" Ralph says "I thought you might appreciate learning how to use one in a little match." I stare at him and he raises an eyebrow.
"What's the matter, Alyssa? Can't deal without you magic weapons? I think it's about time you learn how to fight with nothing but your wits and cold, hard steel in your hand…" He raises his blade and swipes at the air so fast, I am sure he cut through it.
"En garde, honeybee."
What a strange little chapter. On the plus side, I managed to make deathage seem SEXY! Boy, am I proud of myself. Wait… Is that a plus side? I sure think it is.
Ralph is really starting to mess with her head. It's totally part of his game, the evil bastard.
-KD
