((Hello everyone. This chapter was fun to write, by virtue of the fact it tested my limits as a writer. I have to let you all know now, this story has to be rated M now. Only because of this chapter, and possibly future chapters. I am rating this M because of: Sexist comments, Cursing, and Rape. If you don't like any of those, then just skip this chapter, and I'll summarize it at the beginning of the chapter. I know this isn't everyone's thing, and I respect that. So only read if you want to. And please, continue reading this thread.))
Cindy was staring at herself in the mirror. She could barely recognize herself now. She was in a dress that Garrett had picked out special for her, and it made Cindy feel like a ballerina. It was a black strapless dress with metallic gold stitching along the top of the fitted corset that was the bodice. The skirt was also black and came out and in her opinion, barely covered her ass. She thought it was completely inappropriate for the party and had forced Garrett to purchase a floor length blue gown as a back-up plan, but when Bruce saw the dress she was wearing, his jaw had nearly touched the floor.
"It's perfect," he said, almost breathlessly. "You're perfect," he concluded as his lips met hers in a kiss that set Cindy's heart ablaze. She was almost ready. She knew it. In that moment, Cindy knew she would be ready soon to finally bind herself to Bruce. Did she maybe… No, that was impossible. They had been dating for hardly a month. How could she even imagine ever… Loving this man. He was gorgeous, there was no doubting that. He was also rich, would great for everyone, though Cindy could care less about money. But ignoring his looks, his money, his power as the owner of a major company, he was… He was the sweetest man that Cindy had ever met and she couldn't bear to let him go.
Double checking her hair that was pulled into a bun on the side of her head by a stylist Garrett had also insisted doing her hair, Cindy smiled weakly at herself in the mirror. She really would be a princess tonight, all she was missing was the tiara. But a tiara was nowhere near as important as a prince, and she most certainly had a prince. Bruce had been in the other room and walked in, wearing his tuxedo. Under Garrett's instructions he had worn a black undershirt instead of white, and a gold tie that matched the stitching of her dress. He smiled at Cindy when he saw her, "You're beautiful, as always. Come on, let's go. The guests are waiting."
Cindy smiled and took Bruce's arm, walking with him downstairs to the hoard of people below. Now Cindy wasn't a huge fan of parties, she wasn't even a huge fan of people to be quite honest. So Cindy's goal of the night was to stay as close to Bruce as possible, have enough drinks to get her buzzed but not wasted, and only listen to half the things said to her. She didn't plan on starting a friendship with any of these snobs, so why bother to pay attention? Oh wait, that was kind of snobbish… So maybe Cindy would listen, it would really just have to do with how the night went.
As the night wore on, Cindy found herself smiling and leaning on Bruce as she met the inner circles of Gotham's elite. There were a lot more rich people in Gotham than Cindy had ever realized, considering most communities had way more families living in poverty than ones who had money to spare. And these people certainly had money to spare. Bruce had been really good about making sure to stay by Cindy, knowing she didn't want to be alone. But then Alfred came up. "Master Bruce, I'm afraid we have a slight problem." Bruce frowned, his arm wrapped protectively around Cindy's waist. "What is it Alfred?"
"Gate crashers." Alfred replied and Bruce sighed heavily, pecking Cindy's cheek. "I'll be right back. I have to take care of this." He looked to the people he had been talking with, a group of four men, around his age. "You'll take care of her while I'm gone?"
"Of course," the apparent leader of the group replied. With that Bruce walked off. Cindy immediately felt herself shrinking back into her shell, shy around all these strangers without her security blanket of her boyfriend. The boys took a step closer to her and Cindy realized for the first time that she was backed up against a wall. She smiled sweetly at the boys, starting to feel a bit nervous. "So, you really are Wayne's latest pet." Cindy blinked, shocked by their language. "Excuse me?" The man grinned wolfishly at her. "You heard me. I've got to admit, Bruce did a good job. For once he didn't pick up some skank of the streets." Cindy frowned, pouting slightly. No amount of liquor could make her hold a conversation with these pigs. "Excuse me."
The man grabbed her arm as she started to walk off. "Hey now. We told old Brucie boy that we would… Take care of you while he was gone." Cindy blinked, trying to pull away as the mans grip tightened on her arm. "I can take care of myself fine, thanks. Now please, let go." The man took a step closer, his cronies one step behind him. "Not that kind of care love." Cindy's eyes widened slightly. "I swear to god if you don't let go of me right now, I will scream." The man simply laughed at her and in a flash had Cindy pulled up against him, his lips on hers.
Cindy immediately started to panic. The man on her had rough, chapped lips that scratched her sensitive ones, and he tasted heavily of liquor and cigarettes. She began to squirm, feeling a pain in her chest and panic swelling her heart. When the pulled away and Cindy went to scream, another hand clamped down over hers and she felt herself beginning to get pulled away from the crowds of people distracted by their friends and the drinks in their hands.
She was shoved roughly into a dark room, heart racing. The door shut behind the men, and the lights flipped on. Cindy looked at them, fear evident in her expression. "Wh-What are you going to do?" All of the guys grinned at her. "You really can't figure it out?" The man who had kissed unzipped his fly and turned to his men. "Somebody get the bitch out of her clothes." And that was when Cindy screamed. She screamed as loud as she felt she possibly could. She started to run around the room, desperate to find another door, another exit. Some way to save herself from the nightmare about to unfold.
Cindy felt strong arms wrap around her waist and pull her off the ground. She started to kick and scream, thrashing violently to make this strange man drop her. It didn't take long for Cindy to hear the tearing of fabric as her dress was torn off. She was dropped to the floor, knees aching from the drop to the hard floor below her. She felt exposed, defeated, and hopeless now. Hungry eyes bored into her back and Cindy found herself closing her eyes in an attempt to wake up from what she prayed to God was just another nightmare.
Her bra was the next thing to come off, rough hands forcing the clasp open. Naturally it had been a strapless bra so it simply fell off her slender torso. Tears began to roll down Cindy's cheeks, the only thing keeping her somewhat safe was the underwear that covered what these bastards really wanted. Cindy was flipped over onto her back, and then a strike like lightning smacked across her cheek. "Look at me!" A man above her yelled and Cindy just turned her head the other way. That's the when the second hit reached her other cheek. "I want you to look into my eyes while I'm doing this."
With a sniffle, Cindy shook her head no. She wasn't going to give this man the satisfaction of that. The only thing worse than not seeing the scene unfolding in front of her, was seeing the horrifying memories flash in front of her eyes. A dark, cold alleyway. Rain splattering against her pale skin as her clothes were torn off and thrown aside. The pain shooting through her with every motion, and then laying there in the mud for hours, crying, just praying for someone to rescue her.
"She says no. We don't like that, do we boys?" A murmur of agreement was all Cindy could hear, curling herself up into a little ball. "Well then, I think we ought to teach this little bitch a lesson." Cindy blinked, trying to comprehend what was going to happen to her next, then a kick plowed into her stomach. Crying out in pain, Cindy was assaulted by a flurry of kicks and punches. Every inch of her body burned with a pain she had never experienced before.
Finally opening her eyes as she sobbed, Cindy realized that all of the men surrounding her were now nude as well. "Stop! Please!" She cried, clutching her sides as she attempted to curl up. Cindy was grabbed by the hair and pulled up to eye level by the leader of this band of criminals. "I'll stop when I damn well want to." He threw her on the ground and straddled her stomach, finally pulling off her panties. "Get ready sweet heart." Cindy found herself paralyzed with so much fear that she couldn't even close her eyes to think she was reliving a past nightmare instead of adding a new one to her list of troubles.
"What the hell is going on!" Bruce was standing in the doorway, anger radiating off of him. It only took a split second for Bruce to take in the scene and rip the man off of Cindy's bruised and naked body. It took even less time for Bruce's fist to connect with that same mans jaw and a loud crack to fill the now silent air. All the other boys got dressed as quickly as they could and ran out, not wanting to stick around for Bruce to beat them as badly as he was beating their friend. Once the man was unconscious, bruised, bleeding, and had several broken bones, Bruce dropped him to the ground. He was still absolutely furious, but if he took out all his aggression on this man, he would be dead.
Cindy hadn't moved an inch since Bruce walked in, just crying. That was all she had the energy to do, cry. Bruce took off his jacket and set it over her. "Cindy. It's okay now, I'm here. No one's going to hurt you, you don't have to worry." He picked her up with the care of holding a new born baby, holding her to his chest. He walked out of the room and quickly led her into his bedroom then to his bathroom. He managed to start up a warm bath while holding Cindy in his arms. "It's going to be okay Cindy… I'll take you to a hospital in the morning, I promise. But not right now, I just can't right now."
Cindy sniffled, finally looking at Bruce. "No… No, I won't go to a hospital. I don't need to go to one." Bruce frowned deeply, looking incredibly worried. "But Cindy, what if you ended up-" "I'm not going to end up pregnant Bruce. They didn't actually rape me." Bruce scowled. "Don't say that word." Cindy scowled. "What word? Rape? Why not! It's what almost happened Bruce! It almost fucking happened again…" Cindy began to bawl again and Bruce seemed shocked. "Wait, what? Again?" Cindy stayed silent and Bruce frowned, picking her up and gently setting her in the warm water. "Please tell me Cindy…"