Ch 58
V 1.0
Prison of Light
Author's Note 1: The first section of this chapter is going to be dark and deals with Sarah and her time in Roanapur. If you don't want to read about that kind of stuff you do not have to; just skip down to where the text goes from italics to plain text and start reading there.
"It's time to sing for your supper, little girl."
I looked up at the sound of the voice. I was sitting on the ground, my knees up against my face, my arms wrapped around my legs, sweat trickling down my back and limbs. My long hair was loose around my head, my eyes closed as I pressed my face against my knees. It was the only way to get away from the hot bright light; even with my eyes squinted shut the light would pass partially through the eyelids, resulting in a pink glow that I could not ignore. Sitting with my head down was all I could do in my circular cage, my butt on the thin folded mat I used to sleep on, the water bucket that was filled twice a day on one side and the bucket I used to relieve myself on the other, the unraveled roll of toilet paper next to it..
I would be fed twice a day. A paper bowl filled with mushy rice and vegetables and sometimes fruit would be pushed through the bars when the lights changed from half-strength to full, and another plate would be delivered just before the lights went from full to half. It seemed like it was every twelve hours, because all I could see beyond the circle of light surrounding my cage was darkness. The air smelled musty with a chemical tinge, and sometimes I would get a whiff of raw sewage when the door leading to this room containing my cage would open.
The voice was the only one I have heard for so long. It was an older man who spoke English with an accent that sounded Italian, someone that sounded tired and sad. He always called me bambina, which I guess meant baby girl. He would give simple directions; eat, drink, wash up. I never saw his face, I barely saw his hands outside the bars. But I had learned to obey his voice.
The day I arrived here I awoke in the dark, wrapped up like a mummy in what felt like a woolen blanket, straps around my arms and legs. I couldn't move, I was completely bound, lying there in the dim darkness. All I could do was scream and shout, and that is what I did, for what felt like hours, until my voice was cracking and my throat was raw. It was not until I was crying that someone approached from behind my head and covered my eyes with a cloth. I started panicking again until I felt someone push ice chips into my mouth. I greedily sucked on the melting ice, and the unseen hand keep giving me more chips until my mouth was numb and my stomach complaining from all the water I had consumed from the ice but I kept eating the ice until he finally stopped.
"Your old life as you knew it is over, bambina. The sooner you accept it the better your new life will be. Fight us on this or disobey us and you will be treated as a piece of meat. The choice is yours." Another cloth with a familiar chemical smell was pressed against my nose and mouth and the darkness consumed me.
When I woke up I was laying on a thin pad in the cage I am in now, wearing only a tank top and panties. A few minutes later the man returned, pushing a bowl of gruel and fruit through the bars, which I savagely consumed, my stomach suddenly roaring in hunger. This would make up our routine ever since, him coming to feed me and water me and clean up after me, just like a pet dog, which was not too far from the truth.
Every four meals the voice would come and direct me to strip naked and wash up under the spray of a water hose, using my tank top to scrub my skin before tossing it and the panties out of the cage and receive a fresh set to put on. The first time this happened I refused and cussed him out as a pervert, only for him knock my water bucket over and walk out of the door, the lights coming on to full intensity, a loud droning sound filling the room. I think he skipped a full day of meals and water, because by the time he returned I was laying on the ground semi-conscious and dehydrated, so hungry my stomach had stopped grumbling. He asked if I was going to do what he said now, and all I could do was nod and crawl over to the end of the cage, where a liter bottle of water was passed to me that I drank in about thirty seconds. He had to tell me to slow down or I would throw the water back up, and I was barely able to do as he said.
Once I passed the empty bottle back he directed me to strip and wash up, and this time I did as he said. He passed a clean top and panties to me and then a bowl of gruel again, and it was like the best meal I had ever eaten in my life. While I was eating he filled my water bucket and then took the empty bowl back when I finished. The words he said as he left rang in my ears rang as though I was in an echo chamber; "That was the least of the punishments here, bambina. You don't want to experience the other ones. Right now you have a certain value, but beyond a point it may be decided you aren't worth the trouble." With that he walked out of the room and I never fought his orders again.
Sitting there in the bright light would have been massively boring, if I wasn't so terrified. But after a while even terror could be gotten used to, and I started humming, just to have something to hear. Humming led to singing, the days going by until finally that other voice spoke, telling me to sing for my supper.
Hearing that voice caused the hair on the back of my neck to prickle. While the voice that spoke to me before sounded soft and old and tired, this other voice was different. This Other sounded younger and beside the barest inflection sounded almost artificial. After a moment I realized what it was; this voice had no emotion, no empathy. It was as though a computer was speaking to me, even though I could feel his presence in the room.
That was something else I had developed, a sense of knowing when I was being watched. I had once read that safecrackers would rub their fingertips on sandpaper to remove the callus and top layers of skin, so they were sensitive enough to feel the clicks of the lock tumblers fall into place. Now I could feel when someone was watching me; when I was sleeping, when I was using the relief bucket, when I was washing up. I didn't hear anything, I didn't see anything, but I could feel those eyes on me. All those times the Other stayed silent, until now.
"Who are you? Where's the old guy?" my voice wavered even though I did my best not to let it.
"He is not here, I am. And now it is time to decide what you are worth. So sing for me little girl." As he spoke I could hear the door to the room open and faint footsteps. It was several people, their shoes scraping along the floor, and even though I was frantically looking around I could not see anyone beyond the wall of light. I could hear them though; whispers, chuckles, heavy breathing. I could hear them all around my cage even though the Other was right in front of me.
"Sing for me. Prove that you are worth the money I paid for you, the trouble I went through. Otherwise I might decide to cut my losses and make my money back another way." Louder chuckles came from all around me, and I tried not to visibly tremble.
"Stand up, let us get a good look at you." I didn't want to, but I knew that the punishment for disobeying that order would be much worse than a day without food and water. Slowly coming to my feet I could hear soft wolf whistles and louder heavy breathing. Given I was wearing only child panties two sizes too small and a tank top that barely covered the bottom of my boobs, the sweat-soaked material letting my nipples stick out I looked like a pervert's dream, and it was all I could do not to shudder in disgust.
"Sing for us, I'm not going to ask again." There was menace in the Other's voice now.
I tried to lick my dry lips, but my mouth now had the consistency of cotton. Bending over my water bucket I took a handful of water and drank it, trying to ignore the sounds of the men behind me looking at my butt, the panties having ridden halfway up.
I straightened up and opened my mouth, but instead of the musical note I was going for my voice cracked. Flushing at the sound of the laughter I tried again, but this time it was even worse, a squawking sound coming from my throat.
For a minute I tried to sing, but no matter what I tried, my voice would come out wrong. It would have been funny it I didn't hear the laughter coming from all around me, the obscene suggestions they were making, the trembling of my body that was becoming obvious.
I was standing there hyper-ventilating when the Other passed his verdict. "It looks like you aren't worth the trouble, little girl. Gentlemen, she's yours."
I started backing away from the door to the cage when I saw a pair of hands unlocking it, only to be grabbed and groped by other hands reaching through the bars behind me. I pulled away, only to be moving toward the men that were walking through the gate reaching toward me.
I started screaming as the hands clutched at me, pulling my hair, my top, my panties, ripping my clothes from me. I punched and swung and squirmed around, but they threw me on the ground…
I was fighting as hard as I could, but they had my limbs pinned down…
I was screaming and fighting and they were holding my arms down, my legs, they were forcing open my legs…
Sarah sat up choking and sputtering, water spraying from her mouth and nose. She coughed as hard as she could, her chest and throat hurting the force of it. Her arms flailed around and she flopped onto her back and rolled to her side trying to clear her airway. She was like this for almost half a minute until she was finally able to breathe semi-normally.
Looking up Sarah could see that she was in her bed and there were people in sleepwear standing around her. Nyamo and Kanako were standing on one side of the bed and Keitaro was on the side closest to her, holding a drinking glass for some reason.
"Sarah-kun, you were having a nightmare, you're at the Hinata-sou, you're safe here. Are you feeling better now?" asked Keitaro, concern visible on his face.
"Yeah." Sarah's voice croaked and she cleared her throat and tried again. "Yeah, I'm better now. What the hell happened, why was I choking on water?"
"I'm sorry, you were having a night terror. I had to wake you the hard way." Keitaro raised the drinking glass and Sarah saw it was empty but still wet inside. He had apparently thrown a glass of water into her face while she was asleep, and she could feel that her pajama top and hair soaked in water.
"Why the fuck didn't you just shake me awake, I'm feeling like I almost drowned you jerk!" Sarah could feel her face flush red as her anger rose.
"Someone did try and shake you awake, it didn't work out well." Keitaro tilted his head to the side.
Sarah looked over toward Nyamo and her anger abruptly froze over. One side of the islander girl's face was red and starting to swell and it did not take much to figure out what had happened. Nyamo had touched her when she was fighting those men in her nightmare and she had lashed out and hit her friend in the face as a result.
"Oh shit!" Sarah exclaimed in horror. "I'm sorry Nyamo! I was fighting and people were grabbing me and I was punching like crazy and I think that's when I hit you!" The blonde was starting to hyper-ventilate when Nyamo stepped up and pulled her into a hug, ignoring the water soaking into her own clothes.
"It's OK, you not know what you are doing. Is mistake, I understand." Nyamo held on as Sarah started to shudder, trying to hold back tears. They were like that for a few moments until the blonde was able to control her emotions. They pulled apart then looked up at Keitaro, who had put down the drinking glass and now had Kanako standing next to him, one arm over her shoulder as she leaned slightly into him.
"Was a glass of water the best way to wake me up, Keitaro-sensei?" Sarah was wiping her face with her hand, until Nyamo handed her some tissue paper and she was able to clean the water and tears away.
"Actually yes, it's dangerous to wake a chi user when they are having a nightmare or night terror, they can lash out thinking they are under attack, sometimes using full force." Keitaro paused for a moment and Sarah's eyes went wide; a chi user hitting someone full force could result in serious injury or worse. "In our family when someone is having a night terror where they are thrashing around it's safest to wake them from a distance, and water to the face almost always works, since they get distracted by the coughing."
"And there is no other way to do it?" Sarah asked warily.
"There's the old fashioned ways that other families use, but I don't think you want to be thrown out of bed onto the floor or have someone hit you on the bottom of your feet with a bokken." Sarah shuddered; hitting someone hard with a stick across the bottom of their feet was extremely painful and was used as a form of torture called foot whipping or bastinado. "Kanako-chan and I heard your cries from our rooms and we got here when Nyamo-chan tried to wake you." Keitaro paused for a moment. "You want to talk about what the nightmare was about?"
"No, I don't." Sarah's response was not loud but it was definite.
"But it was about what happened in Roanapur, wasn't it?" Sarah nodded silently and Keitaro continued. "I know that I haven't pushed the issue about counseling, and most of that is my fault. Here in Japan we have this bad tendency to not seek counseling or psychiatric treatment and just work things out on our own, but the situation has changed now since you are training to use your chi. If you keep having episodes like this, you will have to start attending counseling, or we have to take measures to make sure you won't hurt others or yourself. In the worst case I would have to seal your chi." Keitaro and Sarah stared at each other for a long moment before the blonde nodded her head.
"I understand, Keitaro-sensei." Sarah said softly, looking away.
"This isn't your fault and I don't want to do it, so if you need help, let me know. I'll do the best that I can." Keitaro glanced at the alarm clock on her night table and sighed. "It's almost five AM, you can try and go to sleep again, or we can start our training early. This is just me, but physical exercise helps me when I have bad dreams." Sarah and Kanako looked at him curiously but he continued. "What do you want to do?"
"Might as well get up, there's a big old wet spot on my bed." Sarah threw her covers to the side and swung her legs off the side of the bed before standing. "Give me a few minutes to strip the covers and get dressed and I'll join you."
"Kanako-chan, make up a cold pack for Nyamo-chan's face please. I'll get some tea going, I'll meet you all in the kitchen." Keitaro turned and left the room, with Kanako and Nyamo following behind him, and Sarah started pulling the wet sheets from her bed.
Author Note 2: This nightmare is one of the worst case possibilities of what could have happened to Sarah in Roanapur, but it actually did not occur; the slaver that had possession of Sarah wanted her in one piece (at least physically) in order to make more money from her sale. If what happens in Real Life occurred Sarah would not be anywhere near this mentally sound. Of course, if that had occurred there probably would not be a Roanapur left after Keitaro was done dealing with it. This segment is mostly to show why Sarah reacts the way she does to public exposure (such as refusing to join the Choral Club) and why she reacts badly to being hit on by boys. Seeing Shinobu being bullied would have set off anyone's Berserk Button and is not just a reaction from Sarah's previous experiences.
This chapter is slightly out of sequence with the story; it took place just before the Valentine Day segment of the story last chapter. Observant readers will have noticed a reference to Nyamo having a bruise on her cheek that Kimiko had made fun of last chapter; this is how it occurred. The reason Keitaro and Kanako were the only ones to respond to Sarah's nightmare is because Sarah and Nyamo's room is in the same first floor hallway as Keitaro's and Kanako's rooms; the other girls are in a different hallway on the second floor. This chapter is out of sequence is because I did not want to post this just before Christmas, and with this segment the previous chapter would have run over 15K words, which would have been a bit much.
The upcoming chapter will be more lighthearted as Sarah enters her experimental phase, much to the dismay of certain characters in the story.
This chapter's winner of the Most Unusual Place Reading My Story Award is Haiti; the Runner Up is South Africa.
As always, many thanks go to AZ MII and PCH for beta reading my story, and to WalkerofDarkness as my FFN Beta reader.
As of 001526Dec2016 this story has 351K Words, 794K Views, 902 Reviews (One thousand reviews, here we come!), 61 C2 Listings, 1382 Favorites and 1264 Story Alerts, which is down some. *sad*
Happy New Year, Everyone. *victory sign*