Disclaimer: Drow not mine…

A/N: I feel that I should warn you. I was in a really bad mood when I wrote this chapter and it kind of reflected on the plot, meaning it's a bit more vicious than the rest. I also broke with the usual style towards the end, but I felt it would be more appropriate that way, so I hope you don't mind.

C

Darkness

C

I cringe when I hear this. He's called me pretty! Dolls are pretty and that's probably all that I am to him. Not good. Please whichever deity can hear me here, let me survive this and I'll be good and virtuous for the rest of my life. I'll be a fucking saint, but just get me out of here! My internal plea seems to fall on deaf ears for nothing happens, except for the next unsettling sentence.

"Are you afraid of me?"

Of course I am? What else would I be? Being at the mercy of a Drow is not something which is likely to cause pleasant feelings. I nod hesitantly and only when I see red eyes turn into angry slits I remember to say. "Yes Master."

"Good." He comes closer.

"Why?"

Why? How should I know, I just am! What does he want to hear now? That I fear him because he's so powerful? Flattery? I can't think of anything, especially not when he walks behind me where I can't see what he's doing. I have never in my whole life felt this helpless!

"I asked you a question slave."

I tense up, expecting to feel the punishment of the collar again, but nothing happens. I realize that this is my last opportunity to say something and because I can't think of anything else I blurt out. "Yes Master, I don't know Master."

"You don't know."

He's very close now. I can feel his body heat, it's so close to my horribly exposed back.

"Well if you don't know, I'll just have to give you a reason, won't I."

I nearly jump up and try to run at that statement, but before I have the time to do more than twitch he grabs the collar, effectively cutting off my air supply, and yanks me backwards so I loose my balance and fall against him.

"You don't like to be left alone, do you?" A soft whisper close to my ear and although I try very hard not to show it he must have seen something that betrayed my uneasiness at this prospect, for he laughs that haunting laugh which will probably make me shiver with dread for the rest of my life.

"Yes, I thought so." He gets up abruptly, which leaves me lying on my back. "Stay here. If you move from this spot I will punish you."

And with that he leaves, going in the same direction Andy took a minute ago. Immediately the thought of escape comes into my head. Where would I go though? I have absolutely no idea where he brought us and if I want to get away for good I'll need at least a direction. I can see a window, which is about twenty feet from my current position. I wonder if it would be worth a punishment to go there and risk a glance. Would he know? He's not here and cannot see me…

After a few minutes of agonizing about the possibility I decide that he's not omnipotent and won't find out if I go and have quick look.

The view is, mildly put, very disappointing. We seem to be in a city and of course it is a Drow city. Drow and several slaves of various races are mingling on what is obviously a market. I see no chance whatsoever to get out without being caught. Damn! As I get back to my spot on the floor despair threatens to overwhelm me. I'm going to spend the rest of my life in this horrible city! I really need a drink. Things would be so much easier if I were drunk and maybe I'd even have the courage to annoy him enough to get him to kill me fast instead of making me suffer here for centuries.

I sit there for what seems like hours so wrapped up in my depressed gloom that I don't notice him coming back.

"So, tell me. Have you been an obedient slave?"

I nearly jump out of my skin at the unexpected sound of his voice and whip around, eyes wide and startled.

"Yes Master."

He is circling me like a panther would do with his prey. Slowly, deliberately, full off deadly purpose and all I can do is to sit there.

"Have you moved from your spot?"

Is he daring me to lie to him or does he just want to scare me? But he can't know!

"No Master."

"I see."

The dry comment can only mean one thing. Shit, he knows! Flashes through my mind and is soon confirmed by his softly purred "Liar."

I try to swallow, but somehow my mouth has just gone desert dry. I don't want to see what happens next! Why has fate given me such a crappy life?

"Come with me." He commands, but somehow I can't bring myself to get up and stare at him, transfixed in fear. I watch one white eyebrow rise in amusement.

"I told you that you would be punished, didn't I?"

"Yes Master." It comes out as a choked whisper. I can probably be glad that I haven't wet myself yet.

"Good. So you knew. You still disobeyed and now you will have to live with the consequences."

He grabs the front of my shirt to pull me upright and it occurs to me that for a mage he is surprisingly strong. This time I follow. What else can I do? We walk through long, dark corridors while my imagination supplies me with a lot of scary scenarios, each one more painful than the last. It's a bit of an anticlimax when he just opens the door to a small, totally bare room and after telling me to go inside leaves me alone there. I hear the lock click into place and only when suddenly everything is swallowed by an impenetrable, black darkness do I begin to understand what he has planned for me.

The thought that he could never come back seems terrible to me all over sudden. I'm alone in the darkness. This is my own personal nightmare. There's nothing to distract me, no alcohol, no place to run, nobody else to turn to. Not only am I afraid of the darkness, but in my mind the accusing faces of my clan stare down on me, reject me and then they go away. Murderer they call me, turn their backs on me and I am left in pained solitude.

After a few hours I begin to whimper, soon afterwards I start screaming until I faint from exhaustion. When I wake up I'm still there, my throat is raw, it's still dark and everything starts again. I loose count after some time and I can't remember how long I've been here only the all consuming loneliness and horror stay with me.

When I'm lying on the cold stone floor, exhausted, thirsty, hungry and sobbing once more he comes back and with him comes the light. By now I have lost any pride I might have had and desperately beg him not to leave me here again, not to leave me alone. When he kisses me I don't resist, because it means he won't go away. In fact I respond quite eagerly to his touch. I think at that stage I would even have thanked him if he had whipped me as long as I didn't have to be alone again.

His hands on my skin are the affirmation of another being next to me and at this moment I crave anything which makes me feel wanted, even if it is just for my body. I spread my legs like a cheap whore without him even having to tell me to do it. I know that later I will hate and berate myself for this blatant display of weakness, but right now nothing seems more important than keeping him here. I'm sure I will die if I have to spend another second alone in this dark room. It's a bit of a surprise to me when he even takes the time to prepare me carefully, it seems almost tender, not what I expected. I welcome it though and arch into his touch, desperate to get as much contact as possible.

"I'll never be disobedient again." I promise when he is lying on top of me breathing hard after spending himself in my insides. "But please don't make me go in here another time. Please don't leave me Master."

He smiles pleased with my submission and I realize now why Andy was so afraid of him. Pain I could have dealt with, endured it and still stayed whole, but against my own mind I'm powerless. And with this he's got the perfect tool to break me. It would be so easy for him to reduce me to a sobbing wreck just by leaving now. I shiver, because I know very well that I would do anything to not have to experience this a second time.