(Sorry its taken so long for a new chapter. Life has kind of gotten crazy. Enjoy. One small warning this chapter is slightly graphic.)

Seh'ra

Ben finally came to. Consciousness hit him like a wall. His head ached. Every inch of him ached. Slowly he rolled his head to try and loosen the tension in his neck only to find that any movement brought more pain everywhere else. He let out a long slow groan. From somewhere in the darkness cast by his still shut eyelids, he heard her giggle. In terror his eyes slammed opened only to show him a hard stone floor and his feet, bound at the ankles, dangling six inches above it. Below his feet a puddle of sweat and blood, his blood, pooled. As it radiated out from below him, the vile mixture started to snake its way through the grout between the stone tiles, turning left here and right there, always at right angles, until it finally reached a drain near the corner of the room. Following its meandering path through the room, he searched for the source of his terror. The room was dark. Usually some light from the window in the next room, her sleeping chambers, escaped and invaded his torture cell, but that was not the case now. It had to be the middle of the night. Searching was difficult.

Ben was naked, his arms bound behind him up to the elbow. From that binding he was suspended from the high vaulted ceiling leaving him in an odd position with his chest parallel to the floor and his feet hanging beneath him. This had become her favorite way to suspend him. She had tried many different ways from simply hanging him upright from his wrists to even suspending him upside down by his ankles, but this position clearly brought him the most discomfort, exactly her goal. Being suspended in this manner placed a great deal of pressure on his shoulder joints. Even the slightest movement brought excruciating pain and would even tear his shoulder right out of its socket if he wasn't careful. He had lost track of how many times that had happened, especially since she had developed a liking to beating him while suspended this way.

Every day he had been beaten, usually multiple times. Sometimes "the nothing", as he had taken to calling her in his mind, would do it by herself. Other times she would invite other Mord'Sith to join her in her escapades, but never would she let them do it themselves. Always she had a hand in it. Recently she had allowed the other Mord'Sith to start raping him at night. Their agiels jammed inside him causing more pain than he thought was possible. If he didn't please them, the beatings only got worse from both the Mord'Sith he didn't please and the nothing. It was hell. No it was beyond hell. It was death over and over again.

Literally it was. Twice, that he could remember, he had died during the pummeling, only to be brought back with the breath of life. The only way that he had escaped a total and complete mental break down was by shutting himself off, taking himself to another place entirely. He would imagine sitting in the rocking chair that his father had made, his sisters in each arm. In his mind he would sing to them as the light cast by the warm fire licked their faces. Even still, despite the safe haven he had created in his mind, he knew he was on the edge of that breakdown. He wondered to himself what was worse, actually breaking down or the knowledge that you were on the edge of it and not being able to do anything to stop it.

It had been a week since he had been captured, by Ben's reckoning based on the rising and falling of the sun in the window in the next room. However, he couldn't be sure that he was correct. He had lost consciousness from the shear severity of the drubbings so many times that he couldn't be sure if he had been there a week or perhaps even months. It felt like he had been there for years.

Slowly he panned his eyes back and forth across his field of vision. It was the middle of the night so most likely there were two of them, the nothing and one of her sisters come to molest him again. He couldn't find them. Perhaps he had only imagined the laugh. Maybe it was only his tired mind playing dirty tricks on him. Despite thinking better of it, he struggled against his restraints and swung his legs causing him to spin, the pressure on his shoulders was almost too much. Spinning to his right he finally spotted her in the darkness, or at least he spotted her red boots covered with patches where his blood had dried to a sickening brown-rust color. She was alone, seated on a black leather ottoman with her legs crossed, her agiel dangling from her wrist on a gold chain.

The sight of her put him into a panic. He wiggled hard to try and free himself from his bindings, but to no avail. He let out an exasperated whimper. He hated himself for letting it escape. She laughed again. The sound not only sent a shiver down his spine but awakened a rage inside of him. He did the only thing he had the power to do in his position. He spat at her. He watched as the spit mixed with blood arced through the air and landed just in front of her foot.

"Tsk tsk tsk." She scolded. "That's not very nice my pet. You keep that up and I'll have to go get Alicia. You don't want that do you?" She asked mockingly. Alicia was one of her sisters. Two days earlier, at least according to Ben's reckoning, Alicia had been allowed to rape him. She had been the most brutal out of all the Mord'Sith in so doing and had forced him to do a great many disgusting things, sometimes even bringing him to tears. He hated himself for that too. However, near the end of their time together, she was strangling him by placing her agiel across his windpipe while she forced him to pleasure her. However in her moment of release she became too overwhelmed and jammed her agiel hard into his throat nearly crushing his windpipe and killing him. If she had done so the nothing could not have revived him with the breath of life. Since then Alicia had been kept under close watch by the nothing whenever she was with him, but she still raped him constantly.

He convulsed against his restraints again, harder this time, but as he did he could feel his shoulder on the verge of tearing. It forced him to stop.

"Come now my pet, you need to relax." She said as she uncrossed her legs and leaned forward so that he could see her face. "Struggling isn't going to help at all. Didn't you learn that lesson with Reeta?" She oozed as a snake of a smile appeared on her face out of the darkness.

Reeta was her most trusted sister and had been the first allowed to punish him. She had beaten him mercilessly for hours, then nearing the end of their session she decided to use her favorite approach. She placed her agiel at the base of his skull and whispered in his ear "Now don't you dare move sweetie. I've got something special for you." He heard her inhale and attempted to move out of the way of the coming blow. Instead what he succeeded in doing was to cause her blow to land not at the base of his skull but on the spine at the base of his neck. His body had immediately gone limp. He knew, in his mind, that she had just paralyzed him. The nothing, who had been sitting on her black ottoman the whole time watching, leaped up in distress. She too feared he had been paralyzed, which greatly diminished how she could cause him pain. Luckily the paralysis had only been temporary, but it was another hard lesson learned.

"You see I'm not going to train you tonight and none of the sisters are going to have you either." She got up and started toward him, her skin tight leather creaking with every move and her boots pounding against the stone floor. Click! Clack! Click! Clack! She paused in front of him, straddling his head. Slowly she ran a gloved finger along his spine and up the back of his neck.

"So there's no need for this!" She screamed as she stepped back and jammed her finger under his nose, making him smell the sweat she had just collected from his back. She shoved his head back causing him to swing back and forth, placing incredible strain on his already very sore shoulders. "There's really no need to be nervous, my pet. You see I have something special planned for you tonight."

She grabbed the rope that held him up to stop him from swinging and knelt down on a knee so that their faces were mere inches apart. Ben stared into her green eyes. He stared into the nothingness behind them. He knew this woman had once been his sister, but he didn't recognize a single part of her, nor did he understand how she was there standing in front of him. At first he thought he had been dreaming when he saw her the day he had been brought here, but this was not a dream or even a nightmare, it was real. He still couldn't understand it. She was dead!

"I'm going to tell you a story, my pet. Parts of it I'm sure you already know, but other parts I know, from the look you've had on your face since you got here, you're dying to hear." She lightly rubbed her agiel against his cheek while puckering her lips at him to mimic a kiss, then sat cross-legged on the floor in front of him interrupting the meandering river of sweat and blood. "So pay careful attention because there will be a test later and if you get any part of it wrong I'm going to get Reeta and Alicia and leave you to them unattended." A devious smile crept across her face.

"Look into my eyes." She said. Ben looked into the nothing that was there. "You know who I am don't you my pet. Ever since you got here you've been a quiet little one. But I know you know me. What's my name?"

A single tear slowly trickled out of Ben's right eye and dripped from his cheek to the stone floor, adding itself to the sweat and blood.

"What's my name, worm?" She insisted.

Choking back sobs Ben whispered, "Seh'ra."

"Louder! Scream it! Scream my name!"

"Seh'ra!" Ben screamed as tears began to flow more solidly.

"And who am I to you?" She asked.

"My ba- ba- baby sister. Family." Ben managed past restrained sobs.

"Oh. Poor pet. 'My ba- ba- ba-'… bullshit!" She mocked as she spat in his face. "I'm nothing to you, just like I was nothing to that bastard father of yours. Let the story begin." She said waving a hand in the air.

"So I was once a happy, playful young girl with a family that I thought loved me. Mother had died giving birth to my twin sister, Aimee, and I but Papa and our older brother, Ben, never seemed to hold it against us. We were one happy family. Papa was the town carpenter and Ben was his devoted helper, which left Aimee and I to spend the days frolicking through town and along the countryside. We couldn't have been happier. Every night Papa would kiss us goodnight as Ben sang to us to help us fall asleep. I loved them."

More tears added to the puddle.

"Then one day, when I was seven, the D'haran army arrived to conscript soldiers into their ranks. Aimee and I had been left alone at home, like usual. All of a sudden there was a terrible bang as the front door of our house burst off its hinges. We cowered in the corner, afraid of what monster might walk through the door. As we watched in horror, the most stunningly beautiful woman, dressed from head to toe in red leather strode through the open hole where the door had been. Seeing us she indicated to the soldiers accompanying her to take us. We clung to each other. We screamed for Papa, but he didn't come. The men struggled with us mightily but they couldn't pry us apart. Finally, they bound us together and escorted us out of the building. They lead us out of town and as we passed the last building on the outskirts of town our hearts sank. Outside of town we joined all the other girls who had also been captured by the Mord'Sith. They marched us North but just as we were about to crest the hill and leave our town out of sight, we heard our names being called. We paused and looked back and saw, standing in front of the burning town hall, you. You were calling our names. The sight lifted our spirits and gave us a ray of hope. Papa and Ben would certainly rescue us. They wouldn't let these terrible monsters have us. It was with that thought that we marched on, all the while knowing in our hearts that we would once again be a family.

The first nights were the hardest. Of course the terrible beatings we suffered during the day were bad, but it was those long, lonely, sore nights that were the worst. Unable to sleep from the pain but too tired not to. It was a terrible limbo, especially for a girl of only seven.

Aimee and I were given a special trainer. A young Mord'Sith who had apparently shown great promise and so was given the privilege of breaking us. Aimee and I of course were always beaten together, due to our special bond. It not only hurt when we were beaten, but it hurt even more to see the other. At one point, during the first week we were there, I asked our trainer, who we called Shark, why she was doing this to us. She told us flat out that our father had sold us to them. Not needing daughters due to his line of work, he had told them exactly where to find us. 'Oh don't worry dearies; he received a handsome amount for you two.' She said. I refused to believe her. I told her that our father would never do that to us. He loved us and was no doubt already on his way to save us. She had only laughed.

As the days and weeks and even months dragged on, however, my resolve began to fade. Why was it taking so long for Papa and Ben to come get us? These terrible women were hurting us. Why weren't they doing anything to stop it? Then one day I received my answer. That day, as we arrived at the torture chamber, we found Papa, on his knees, in front of Shark. We ran to him and hugged him, but he shoved us away. 'Papa?' We both asked. 'Papa, save us!' We pleaded. He only glared at us.

'He hasn't come to save you, dearies.' Said Shark. 'No, no. He's come to try and collect more money from the sale of you two. It turns out he and your brother squandered it all. Now they want more.'

'That's not true!' We screamed

'You don't believe me, ask him yourself?' She said.

'Papa?' We pleaded.

'Get those sorry bitches away from me and give me my money!' He screamed.

We were shocked.

'But Papa, they're hurting us, don't you love us?' I asked.

'How could I love worthless, good-for-nothing, tramps like you two. You took my wife from me. You think I give a lick what happens to you. Just give me my money.'

Our knees buckled. Our entire world had been sucked out from under us. Slowly our trainer approached us and whispered in our ears,

'You see? You see how your love for your father and your brother has made you weak? And where has that love gotten you? Nowhere. Your trust has made you whores, sold off to the highest bidder. If it hadn't been us it most likely would have been the men in the tavern in town he would have sold you to. At least we care enough to show you the error of your ways. Love, sadness, remorse… these feelings make you weak. However, pride, loyalty, and anger make you strong. Tell me what do you feel right now dearies?'

'Anger!' We both said through our teeth.

'Then act on it.' She said as she offered us two agiels. 'Overcome your weakness and join your true family.'

With fire in our eyes, we both stood and took our agiels. The pain of the touch was but an abutment to our hatred. It couldn't stop us. We purposefully strode toward the bastard kneeling in front of us and each of us jammed our agiels into the side of his head."

Ben let out a whimper. It didn't make any sense. Their father had died with the rest of the town in the burning town hall.

"Oh, does that bother you my pet." She said lifting his chin to look in his eyes. "Well the story isn't over yet. You see that day Aimee and I joined our true family. We were happy again. We belonged. We realized how love had blinded us. How our faith in you and our father had made us weak. You see, my pet, the Mord'Sith made us strong.

However, all that came crashing down one day years later, when you came to exact your revenge. Aimee and I were at the top of the temple preparing for a long day of breaking prisoners when we heard the commotion coming from down stairs. Another Mord'Sith rushed into the room and told us that a D'haran soldier was massacring our sisters down below. We waited and as we did we could hear the screams as our sisters, our family, fell one by one to his blade. Finally we could hear him rushing up the stairs. Our agiels were at the ready. The door flung open and in you strode. Just the sight of you made our blood boil. Then you had the nerve to tell us that you were there to rescue us, but we knew better. We knew you had only come to exact revenge on us for killing that bastard you called father. We tried to fend you off, but you were too strong. Somehow your rage made you so reckless we couldn't contend with you. Then slowly you drove your sword through each of us and then ran away like a coward, not even brave enough to watch us die.

But one thing happened that you didn't count on. I died first, almost immediately after you stabbed me, but Aimee remained for a few precious moments longer. In those moments, with her very last breath, she gave me the breath of life. She gave up her life to save mine. That is true family, my pet. So despite your best efforts here I am." She said with a self-satisfied smile.

Ben was torn to pieces. He didn't know what to say. How to explain to her how she had been lied to. How to tell her that he still loved her. All he could manage was,

"I'm sorry, Seh'ra. I'm so sorry. I tried."

"But you didn't try hard enough." She said bouncily as she stood back up. She was misunderstanding him. "Now did you get all of that? I sure hope you did cause I'd hate to see what happens if you GET – A – WRONG – ANSWER!" She screamed emphasizing each of the last four words with a blow to his chin, breaking his jaw. He couldn't speak now.

"Alright now… first question, my pet." She leaned in close and whispered in his ear. "Does love make you weak or strong?" She asked and spread her palms up. He wouldn't have given her the right answer but even so, he couldn't speak. He couldn't move his jaw.

"I'm waiting!" She implored.

Another tear added itself to the pool.

"Times up. I'm sorry, my pet, but you didn't give me the right answer. You've left me no choice. Reeta, Alicia, play time!" She screamed over her shoulder into the darkness of her sleeping chambers. From out of the shadows he heard a horrifying sound.

Click! Clack! Click! Clack!