It was just as she remembered it. The smell of her home filled her with an abiding ache that physically hurt as she took in the old furniture and simple, white walls decorated with homemade art and photographs. It wasn't brand new and a lot of the furniture was cheap, store bought stuff, or hand-me-downs from her mother-in-law. Still, it had been her own little island of peace from the chaotic world outside as she was filled to the brim with good memories and how much she missed the idea of making new ones in that little home.
It didn't take long for her handsome, three year old son with his light, caramel-colored hair and big, brown eyes to come racing down the hall as she watched herself hold him tight, tickling him and giving him kisses all over his neck and face, making him burst out in contagious giggles! It was the very sound of exquisite joy and her heart ached to make him laugh like that again as she watched herself help him get ready for the day. As her young son raced down the hallway towards his room to eagerly get his shoes on, she watched the simple act like it was the greatest treasure she could ever have.
Her husband had been out doing a job out on a construction site that day and wouldn't be back until later that afternoon. It was around nine in the morning and Aria gazed longingly at her little son as he tried to make her other self laugh as they ate breakfast together. He'd tried putting his spoon on his nose and, through her laughter, she was trying to teach him proper table manners.
It started as a sudden loud sound outside. Aria saw herself stand still, the sound interrupting her moment of joy as her son still tried to get her attention. Then the loud sounds drew closer and more frequent as Aria watched the moment when her other self recognized the sound of gunfire. The color drained from her face as Aria watched the gears turn in her head, a silent prayer blazing through her as she sought to know what to do.
It came as a series of thoughts. The Holy Ghost told her that her son needed to get over the fence and out of the neighborhood as quickly as possible. There was a back alley over the back wall that met with her backyard as the Holy Ghost urged her to get him over that fence now.
Hurrying to the backdoor, Aria tried to sooth her nerves as she told her son that they were going to play a new game. Getting him out through the sliding glass door, Aria told her son to run as fast as he could to the back wall, while she grabbed a wooden lawn chair nearby. Her son squealed with delight as he ran as fast as he could to the back wall as he cried out that he won the race, while she congratulated him and told him to climb on top of the chair as fast as he could with a very stiff smile on her face.
Her young son was concentrating so hard on his task that he didn't notice the sound of loud voices coming near the front of their home until he was already on the chair. Not waiting to warn him, she scooped him up in her arms in a way she hoped felt fun as she stepped onto the sturdy lawn chair and moved to dangle him over the concrete fence. The voices from the front of the house shouted for people to go through the side gate as Aria prayed her son would understand or be guided by angels as she told him sorry as she let him go on the other side of the fence.
By God's grace, there was a young, black child probably closer to the age of eight on the other side of the fence. Pleading for the child to guide her son as far away from there as she could, she told her son to be brave and that this was part of the new game. He was crying loudly, then, giving their position away as Aria half shouted and half begged the little girl to take her son and run for safety as she took out her phone and began dialing 9-1-1 just as the intruders appeared in the backyard.
A burly, young man in a dingy, white hoodie, filthy blue jeans, and sporting a blood red mask that complimented his red hair held a black pistol in his hand as he rounded on her, shouting threats on her life unless she got on the ground immediately. Aria heard a voice asking about her emergency on the phone just as she struggled to get off the wooden lawn chair, her phone dropping to the ground on the other side of the fence as she heard the sobbing cries of her son in the alleyway. Thankfully, they were getting farther away by the time the man got on top of the lawn chair and took a few shots at her son and the little girl as Aria begged the Lord for all his shots to miss as she quickly lay down on the ground.
"Damn it! The brats got away!" The redhead shouted angrily, filling Aria with relief as he turned his attention to her and kicked her hard enough in the ribs to make her cry out in pain. "Hey Duke! Grab this cunt and drag her by the hair back to where we holed up! We should have some fun with her before we kill her! Move it!"
"Whatever you say, Brad!" Duke, a squat youth wearing all black clothing with shoulder length black hair and watery, black eyes answered with a shrug and a nasty grin, making the man with the pistol shoot off a round near his comrade, almost hitting him as a new bullet hole punched through the side of Aria's little house. "The fuck!"
"THE NAME'S SHADOW, YOU FUCKING IDIOT!" Shadow screamed angrily as he went over and pistol whipped the guy, earning himself a new bruise and a small cut over his right eye.
"Sorry, B-, I mean Shadow!" Duke answered pathetically as he quickly complied and grabbed Aria by her long, brown hair, making her scream in agony as he started to drag her around the backyard and through the side gate. "Hahaha! This'll be fun!"
Her new captors paraded her like this through her neighborhood as Aria witnessed many homes being lit on fire by homemade, molotov cocktails, while dead bodies of mostly women and children littered the empty streets. Through her tears of pain and anguish, Aria witnessed a family she loved and knew be held at gunpoint on their front porch only to be gunned down mercilessly by a row of well-armed men and women that laughed and cheered as they did so. They didn't even spare the young baby still alive and screaming in the dead mother's arms as Aria was pulled around a corner before she could see what caused the little one to abruptly stop crying out in terror.
Just as she felt that most of her hair had been pulled out by the incredibly painful dragging she'd endured by Duke's hands, she was unceremoniously thrown into the middle of a house near one of the now heavily armed entrances to her neighborhood. Her captors had used tinfoil and tape to cover the windows as guards stayed at the front and rear of the house. When Duke finally let her go, he'd thrown her into a large, master bedroom where the smell of death was insufferable as Aria felt herself hurl all the contents of her breakfast onto the floor. For her trouble, she got a kick in the face by whoever was lurking in the dark space, making Aria almost fall in her own puddle of vomit as someone walked in, took a sniff, and also gagged.
"Shadow! This is deplorable! Surely we can continue these activities in a more clean and well-lit environment!" A pompous, well-educated voice spoke up in a British accent, the tone portraying a sense of scandal as someone threw a bunch of towels in front of Aria, covering the mess she'd just made. "Really? Your idea of clearing out the dead bodies of the previously tenants, not to mention our newest guest's understandable mess, is revolting!"
"Look, British, we need to set an example to our fucking enemies, and so this is how I intend to fucking do it!" The voice of Shadow spoke up in the darkness as another kick to the face made Aria almost black out as she felt a trickle of blood escape her nose. "We get all soft and noble and you'll see why we Americans fucking beat up you British during the Fucking Revolution!"
"It's odd that you would mention that, given our mutual interests, but I'll let it slide, given that beggars can't be choosers in who they work with when trying to force needed change," British piped up patiently in answer as he helped Shadow haul her onto the bed and proceeded to tie her to it, her arms and legs splayed out as the ropes dug into her ankles and wrists. "There we are! Now, poppet, are you a Christian?"
Aria stared at British for a moment, surprised that the tall, dark, and handsome man looked no older than herself. He wore a black, turtleneck sweater that matched well with his perfectly pressed, black slacks, shiny, black shoes, and elegantly styled, black hair that had a slight wave to it. The man was obviously obsessed with his appearance and was incredibly fastidious as he picked off a small ball of lint off his sweater as his bespectacled gaze framed his cold, green eyes tastefully, making Aria instantly distrust him.
Aria refused to answer at first as all her memories of The Stage were overwhelming her at that moment because of her circumstances. It was distracting her from the present or enhancing it to the point that she was hoping it was just some sort of terrible nightmare. The hard slap across her face from Shadow forced her back to the present, her nerves shot and her heart beating painfully in her chest as her eyes focused hard on British and Shadow. This was unfortunately no dream.
"Answer the fucking question or I'll start cutting off your pretty fingers!" Shadow threatened with a nasty grin, an eager look in his grey eyes that sent a shiver down her spine.
"I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," Aria answered evenly, unsure of what brutality she may suffer this time as she suspected something was up, or they wouldn't want to know her religious viewpoint so badly to the point of asking her while being tied down.
"Ah! A believer of old Joe Smith, I presume?" British assumed with an air of arrogance as a sneer crossed his handsome face, marring it in Aria's eyes as his green eyes looked down on her like she was common filth. "Mostly known as Mormons, you believe that there was a golden book buried in New York State and that book was found and translated by a man well known for having a third grade education! If my memory serves me, it's widely accepted outside of your faith that he wrote the book and published it, fooling everyone into believing he'd seen God and the book was proof of that."
"You're assumptions are half-truths at best," Aria retorted, straining at her bonds, but she knew better than to struggle as the pressure of the ropes on her wrists and ankles chaffed every time she moved. "The gold book was a record of an ancient people brought forth by the power of God. Joseph Smith was visited by an angel, a prophet who had compiled the golden book himself, which is about the spiritual rise and fall of his people, who were a remnant of the house of Jacob, the same Jacob who would be known as Israel. Long story short, the record is an accurate account of God's dealings with a family of the tribe of Ephraim just before King Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, besieged Jerusalem. It's record reveals that they were led by God through the wilderness towards a "promised land", which we now know as North America, and how God made covenants, gave them revelations, and prophets to guide them just as the Jews experienced as it is written in The Bible. The book truly testifies of Jesus Christ and reveals His visitation to this ancient civilization in North America after His death and resurrection. God gave Joseph Smith the power and authority to translate the book into English despite his weakness, and the book IS proof of whether or not Joseph Smith is a prophet of God saved for these latter-days."
"Indeed? How droll!" British quipped with a laugh, his disinterest in her declaration annoying to her as she frowned, wondering what he was playing at. "You actually believe in angelic visitations and revelations in this modern age? Surely you can't be this dense! The only reality is this physical reality we see and feel! There is no God, there are no such things as angels, and anyone who does believe such stuff and nonsense is of a frenzied mind unable and unwilling to accept the truth of their existence!"
"Ha! You're nothing but some bitch bringing us all down because of your shit about sins and that we're all going to fucking Hell!" Shadow added, his smile predatory as Aria watched and waited to see what he might do as she felt the Holy Ghost fill her very being as she spoke again.
"I know what you're trying to do," Aria answered softly, a sigh escaping her as she looked tiredly at them both, knowing that this wouldn't end well for her as her heart broke at that knowledge as the fire of the Holy Ghost burned under her skin. "You're trying to get me to deny the existence of God and renounce my faith in Jesus Christ. I know that there is a God. The Holy Ghost has confirmed that to me a million times over and more. I can no more deny the existence of God than I could deny my own existence! I don't just believe in Jesus Christ. I KNOW that He lives and loves us, even you! Please...don't do this. You're souls are worth far more than the evil I've seen you do while being dragged here."
"What a shame!" British piped up as he shook his head, his face revealing little emotion as he studied her through his thick glasses like some sort of fascinating experiment. "I was hoping this back and forth would be more beneficial, given that your life is now forfeit unless you give up your psychotic beliefs in a God and join us! We will cleanse the world of those who would cloud our minds and rob us of our Utopian society where everything is truly free! There will be no more sin or judgment! Just absolute and total freedom!"
"Freedom?" Aria asked, shaking her head sadly as she felt the Holy Ghost try to comfort her as she looked steadily at British, her resolve sure as she looked disappointedly at him. "What you call freedom is the worst, possible prison you could condemn us to. Your violent resolve is the same as Hitler and his need to make a "pure" and "perfect" nation based off of his one definition of it alone. Your ideas of freedom from sin echoes of the same wickedness that those in Sodom chose as they sought to defile themselves with the angels of God that had come to destroy Sodom, insisting angrily that they did no sin, but that they had every right to abuse those new to their city just because they wanted to. There are consequences to our actions and our need to control others and hating those we don't agree with is the same as Lucifer wanting the throne of God and hating God for defending Himself as He struck him down, just as you will be for what you've done here today. I pity you both for your hatred and hard hearts."
"How inconsiderate of you to deny yourself life!" British said with a sneer as he nodded to Shadow, who looked positively giddy as he punched her in the head, making her cry out in pain as she suddenly felt very disoriented. "Shadow, she's all yours! Just leave her alive for me, will you? I do love to get the best parts for myself once the messy work is through."
"Fuck yeah!" Shadow shouted out with glee as he punched her in the gut, knocking the breath out of her as he then started pummeling her as she fought to just breath as she finally gained enough air to finally scream!
Shadow was joined with two other people wanting in on the beating as a girl with purple hair brought a pin with her as she pricked Aria over and over again all over her body, while Duke came back with a lighter and proceeded to burn her skin. The beating was brutal as Aria was vaguely aware of gunfire outside beyond her screams, the sound of a firefight starting as Aria cried out for them to stop! In answer, they tried to get her to open her mouth to see if they could burn it, but Aria made sure that didn't happen as she bit down hard on Duke's hand, refusing to let go until the purple-haired girl stabbed the needle in her right eye for it!
"Deny your God and I'll spare your life," British piped up after Aria screamed herself hoarse, the pain excruciating in her right eye as blood poured from the wound, while Aria heard the wicked girl who stabbed her giggle like she was having the time of her life!
"OH GOD, HELP ME!" Aria screamed, terrified that she would relent just to make the pain go away as she screamed and thrashed while she pulled hard against her ropes, chafing her wrists and ankles very badly as she fought against his tempting offer! "GIVE ME THE STRENGTH TO ENDURE THIS!"
"All you have to do is deny there's a God and join us, and you'll be free from all this pain!" British insisted with a syrupy, sweet voice that sounded like poison in Aria's ears as she suddenly felt the needle stab her in the ear, making Aria thrash away from it in protest!
"I CAN'T!" Aria begged him, wishing he could understand what he was asking of her as the needle dug into her right ear, her screams ripping through her throat as she prayed frantically in her heart for God to take the pain away! "I'LL LOSE MY SOUL IF I DO THAT! CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT! I WON'T LOSE MY SOUL! AHHHHH!"
"Oh, I know that's what you believe," British admitted as his cold demeanor bore a smile more cruel and devilish than she'd ever seen, even during her time under The Stage. "I've succeeded in breaking countless Christians into denying their God and have succeeded in getting a few to join us. The girl digging her pin into your ear once believed just as you did. She's since become very adept at torturing her former comrades in retaliation for continuing to believe such corruptible beliefs that we go to Hell for loving those of the same sex. She's a lesbian and delights in the company of women and has become a strong supporter of destroying those who oppose her and her sexual beliefs. Those who refuse to join, I've successfully talked most into committing suicide afterwards, just in case there is a Hell. Surely, you Christians deserve to go there after all you've done to the lesbians and gays of this world. I wonder how long you'll last before you either join us or get thrust down to Hell yourself."
Despite the fire fight outside and her constant screams, they continued their torture as the girl with a needle dug into her other ear, Duke broke her right arm, and Shadow cut off her left pinkie, making her scream!
"Deny your God," British insisted with that cruel grin on his face as Aria shook her head, her breathing heavy and spent from all the screaming as British nodded to Shadow, who cut off her right ear after Duke pinned her down to make sure it got done as she screamed and thrashed, the lighter he held scorching her skin where her ear had been, cauterizing the wound with the smell of burnt flesh. "Deny him, poppet! You know you want to!"
"NO I DON'T!" Aria screamed, wishing that the pain would stop as she watched British pull out a pair of scissors in his hand as he nodded to Shadow and Duke, an unspoken understanding going between them as they made sure to pin her down while British cut off her clothing, making Duke and Shadow whistle and howl roughly at her expense as he cut up her temple garments for good measure to expose her body completely. "DON'T DO THIS, BRITISH! PLEASE! I BEG OF YOU! YOUR SOULS ARE MORE PRECIOUS THAN YOU KNOW! DON'T DO THIS TO YOURSELVES! PLEASE! LET ME GO!"
"You bring this upon yourself!" British announced with a sneer as he grabbed her breasts roughly, suckling on one of them as a hand went down to her womanly folds to rouse her.
Aria felt sick as every horrible experience from under The Stage rushed to her now as Duke and Shadow joined British in the gang bang. It was like being right back with Uncle Joe and his thugs, with the exception of the purple-haired woman, who put her needle away to take advantage of Aria, too. The combination of all three men and their incredibly rough handling of her, coupled with being forced to lick the woman and endure her riding her until she came, it brought nothing but horrible memories and a deep sense of helplessness.
"Give up your God, poppet, and you'll be able to enjoy sex with anyone, although it seems you already enjoyed all our attentions with how much you came," British said into her ear after he came the third time, her body sticky with cum from Duke and Shadow, who jerked off to her despite the sound of gunfire outside, making her feel suddenly very angry as she glared daggers at British.
"You pervert! Do you really think I enjoyed this with any of you!?" She demanded, outraged as she felt blood trickle from her wrists and ankles at how much she'd thrashed against them in both pleasure and pain. "Sexual arousal comes whether I want it to or not! Do you have ANY idea how the human body even works!? MY BODY IS TRYING TO HELP ME NOT RIP IN TWO FROM YOUR DAMN, SEXUAL ABUSE!"
"I think you protest too much," the girl with purple hair said seductively with a grin as she licked at Aria's opening, sending waves of both pleasure and revulsion from Aria as her stomach rebelled as Aria spit out a mouthful of throw up right into the girl's face. "Why you fucking bitch!"
The girl clawed at Aria's face, wracking her long nails all over her face and chest as more blood trickled from her body as Aria cried out in pain, but she was done giving them the satisfaction that they'd beaten her as a joyless laugh suddenly escaped her.
"You can all just go to Hell," Aria said with a humorless smile on her face, her brown eyes fiery with righteous indignation as she spat at British, too, the glob of spit soiling his spotless, black sweater.
"You'll regret your actions, poppet," British commented with a hint of annoyance in his voice as a dark, murderous smile came over him as he snapped his fingers.
All the lights of the room suddenly blazed on, the sudden light blinding Aria for a moment as she got a good look at all her captors before she suddenly noticed a table right next to her. It only took her a moment to realize what was on the table as all the color drained from her face. It was covered in surgical instruments.
"Hahaha! Oh, fuck yeah!" Shadow suddenly shouted out with manic euphoria as he held a knife in his hands as Aria saw the purple-haired girl pick up her needle, while Duke got his lighter as he licked his lips at her. "I fucking love it when they last this long!"
"I'll enjoy seeing you cut open like the fucking pig you are!" the purple-haired woman said with hateful glee, while Duke just laughed to himself as he flicked the lighter open, exposing the open flame to her.
"I do commend you for lasting this long," British admitted with a small bow of his head to her as though to congratulate her on her endurance, but the respect left his face quickly as wicked delight crossed over his handsome features as he picked up a scalpel delicately in his right hand. "Now, however, is the time to see whether you'll beg me to give you a knife to end your own life with by the time I'm done with you!"
There were no words to convey the sheer pain and agony Aria suffered under the scalpel of British. Despite the loss of a few more fingers, toes, and several pounds of her own flesh from Shadow, intense burn marks and burnt hair from Duke, and the digging needle of the purple haired woman as she assaulted and bloodied her tender folds, it was eclipsed by the careful surgery done by British as she lay there, fully conscious as he cut her open slowly from collar bone to belly button. His movements were precise and methodical as he took his time, her blood pouring from his precise, cutting strokes.
"Do you wish to die, yet?" British asked conversationally as Aria barely heard him over her own screams, the shock of it starting to take her as she began to lose consciousness. "Oh no you don't, poppet! You get to stay awake for this!"
Aria felt a tiny pin prick of pain in her good arm as fire burned through her, making her scream all the more as she felt herself suddenly jump back into consciousness as whatever he'd given her pulled her away from the darkness on the edges of her vision.
"There! That's better, isn't it?" British said as Aria felt the pain she was experiencing from everyone heighten as she felt British pull away her skin slowly to open up her chest cavity, causing her screams to go shrill! "That's right! Sing to me your pain, poppet!"
British then picked up what looked like cutting shears as he then proceeded to cut through her rib cage. Despite his best hopes, Aria did black out for a little while before something tugged inside of her and woke her up. Aria felt British prod and poke inside of her until she instinctively knew he held something vital as she felt her heartbeat tremor and pulse as she felt her own blood pool around her, soaking the bed!
Watching him through her endless screams, British pulled out her heart from her chest cavity, the vital organ beating incredibly fast in his bloody hand. She watched him look at her as he showed her what he'd done, the insanity of the experience leaving her feeling utterly bizarre through the excruciating pain. He then snapped his fingers, again, making Duke, Shadow, and the purple-haired woman suddenly stop what they were doing as they obediently paused and looked at British.
"I hold your very heart in my hand," British said triumphantly as he held the scalpel in his hand as he nodded to Shadow to cut her good arm free from the bedpost before offering the handle of his scalpel towards her, a look of confusion momentarily ghosting across her pain-ridden face! "Take my scalpel and kill yourself and be rid of the pain you suffer from!"
Everything inside her told her to do it as she felt her free hand lunge for the scalpel, but a deeper part of her stopped her, making her hesitate mid-grab. The screaming never stopped, the agony incessant as her hand shook in place as she fought the urge to end her life. She wanted the pain to end, to stop this cruel torture and be at peace at last! She wanted it more than anything...but there was something she wanted far more than the pain to just go away.
She pulled her hand back and turned her screaming face away, tears running down her cheeks as she prayed and begged for release! Surely this act of bravery made her eligible for a miracle from the heavens, she thought frantically as she wept and screamed, begging the Lord to help her escape the madness! She couldn't last much longer as British tapped her good hand with the handle of his scalpel, but she refused to take it as she suddenly heard a shout suddenly come from the open doorway.
"British! We need to fucking move!" an unknown voice yelled frantically as the sound of gunfire suddenly entered the building close by. "We're surrounded by fucking pigs! We need to get to the armory and chuck the few bombs we've got! I want my fucking thousand virgins, British!"
"Well, then, my friends! Are you brave enough to take a bite out of our most loathsome enemy and prove your fearlessness to all those filthy pigs outside who oppose us?" British announced, making Aria turn to look at what was happening in utter horror as she saw Shadow, Duke, and the purple-haired girl gleefully take a hold of her heart despite the shouting cries coming from their comrade as gunfire blazed on beyond that little room.
As one, they all looked at each other and, with the most horrifying smiles she'd ever seen, they all took a bite out of her heart as she felt the pain of it end her life. As she felt her spirit finally escape the remains of her abused, mutilated, and broken, dead body, she witnessed her murderers rush out of the room to answer the call to arms. As British was about to leave the room, he muttered something under his breath before he turned and walked away.
"What a terrible waste," Aria barely heard him say before the scene closed before her, as Aria watched as the darkness around her faded until she found herself standing in a rose garden bathed in moonlight with Rosie standing before her.