The night had been upside down to start with when Russell dragged her along with Bill and Lorena for a late breakfast. The stripper's eyes were seared into Aurea's head as she stood in the shower watching the blood swirl down the drain.
She felt dirty, angry and disgusted in herself. She hated feeding from people…loathed it. The only time she felt good about it is when she fed from Eric, but when she fed from a stranger, she felt no connection, like taking advantage of something she had no right to take for herself. She was full and satiated, but she hated how it had happened.
The joy and sick satisfaction she had seen on Russell and Lorena's face didn't help her misery, and to top off the rest of the evening, seeing Tara strapped to a chair downstairs for that Franklin's pleasure made her stomach churn. She had grown up with Tara, had fights, laughs, tears with her, but the one time she needed to be there for her, she couldn't. At least not yet…and that was being optimistic.
She didn't think she could do anything for her without serious repercussions. She might be able to visit her, pretend she was there for her own selfish reasons when Russell wasn't around, but Tara would beg her to let her go. It was just something she couldn't risk.
She was stuck.
She growled to herself and shut the water off. She grabbed a towel and dried herself off before climbing into one of the many nightgowns provided for her. She padded into her room, drying the ends of her hair before climbing into bed. She crossed her legs and took the opportunity of the early morning hours, despite her exhaustive pull of sleep, to practice her listening. To see how far she could get.
She closed her eyes and relaxed her mind, her ears immediately going towards Bill's room to see what he may be doing. She didn't hear any talking but she did hear some rustling. She tried focusing harder to see if she could make the distinction of the noise. She couldn't figure too much out except maybe the sound of a belt buckle. She then heard shoes shuffling against the floor and the door opening.
Her eyes bolted open as she jumped out of bed and to the door. She grabbed the towel on her way and wrapped it around the silver knob, wrenching the door open in one fluid motion.
"Bill?"
Bill turned his head to see Aurea standing in the hall behind him as he was making his way to the stairs. He adverted his eyes slightly when he noticed her in nothing but a simple nightgown.
"Ms. Aurea. I do believe you're underdressed."
"Where are you going?" she asked, curious that he had somewhere to be so soon after they returned from their festivities.
"I have been advised I am needed in the dining area." said Bill. "Alone."
"Did they say what for?" she asked.
"I am sorry, Aurea. I can't say." he said, slowly stepping away from her, his eyes catching movement behind her. "I am sorry."
She furrowed her brow at his apology. What could he be sorry about? It was evident just as she felt hands wrap themselves around her upper arms and begin to drag her backwards.
"What- what are you doing?" she asked the gorilla behind her, trying to wrench her arms free.
"Aurea please, it's best for right now." said Bill.
"Best for what?" she cried, anger beginning to build its way up her body and to her hands.
"Rea, please." begged Bill.
The use of a nickname to refer to her caused her pause, and her hands to cool down from potentially sending the gorilla through a wall with one energy burst. Bill never used anything other than her full name when talking with her, but the anguish and the sudden pleading on his face and in his eyes caused her pause and to go limply with the gorilla.
Something was happening and she was suddenly scared at what would happen, or when. Her eyes fell away from Bill and towards the floor as the gorilla led her down a back stairwell to the basement. She wished she had worn something a little less revealing but her panic set in when she noticed the familiar bars of the basement cells. She woke herself from her daydream and wrestled her way out of the gorilla's hands, but he was quick and threw her in the cell and closed the door before she could get far.
"What's going on?" she pleased. "Why am I here again?"
The gorilla ignored her as he flipped a switch next to the cell, electric energy buzzing in the air as it filtered its way through the bars of silver. She heard the electric current, confused as to why this was being used on her.
She watched the gorilla leave the room, locking the door behind him. The room fell eerily silent except for the gentle hum of the electricity. She padded over to the bed and sat down, pulling her legs to her chest and laying her head onto her knees.
Her mind was in a panic as she struggled to find a reason why she was back in the basement, and this time with an added layer of security. It made no sense. Nothing in the previous days or just this past evening warranted any sign of deception on her part…other than being caught in Bill's room before their outing.
It still didn't make sense though. No words, actions or anything would give suspicion to a potential flight risk.
She looked towards the bars that were reinforced with electric current, at what level she didn't know but she figured it was strong enough to knock something out. She opened up her hand and laid it palm side up, an idea coming to mind. She wiggled her fingers a little bit generating a small ball of energy in her palm. She eyed the cell door across from her and gently tossed the ball of energy at it.
Hope in mind was that it would rattle a bit before she tried anything more extravagant…but the only thing that happened was the absorption of the energy into the already buzzing current. Didn't even move the cell door.
She flopped back onto the bed, thinking of anything else she could do to try and escape. She thought about trying fire, but didn't know what the combo of fire and electricity would do. Probably nothing helpful, probably just cause more problems.
She silenced her mind and opened her ears to see if she could focus in on any conversations or noises anywhere.
Silence.
She opened her eyes in confusion as she focused on the ceiling. Nothing was making sense. She closed her eyes and furrowed her brow as she forced her mind harder and farther. She was continuously met with silence as pain started to form behind her eyes and blood to seep from her nose.
She opened her eyes and relaxed her body back onto the bed, confusion etching through every piece of her.
It just didn't add up. Why go through the trouble of trusting her, giving her a period to prove her loyalty to then shove her into the basement with upgraded security features like it was square one.
"Ugh!"
She curled herself into a ball and drifted away. The pull of the day could be felt before this started, but now that she had exhausted herself the need to sleep increased tenfold. She haphazardly wiped the blood from her nose before drifting into a fitful sleep.
And it was within that cell that days came and went. What felt like a week had only been 1 or 2 days if she went by the number of bleeds she got. The beginning of each night she was met with a glass of blood to begin her evening, but after that it was silence and loneliness. Plenty of time for her to begin making up scenarios, increasing her paranoia, and feeling like this was where she was put to die.
She would never see her friends again; she would never have the pleasure of arguing with Pam over what the latest fashion was and who she was planning on banging next…and she would never again see his face or touch him one last time.
Pain ripped through her empty chest where her heart used to beat before it disappeared abruptly at the sound of the basement door opening. Her blood dried eyes looked towards the door to see the gorilla that dragged her down there as well as Russell step into the room.
"Oh, my little creampuff. I am sorry for putting you in this situation again, but…some things came up that I needed you hidden from." he said, leaning against the wall across from her cell. "But…it seems our opportunity to put you to use has finally come at hand."
Aurea watched his eyes gleam and his mouth turn into a devilish smirk as he signaled the gorilla to turn off the electric current and open the cell door. Aurea slowly climbed to her feet, pulling her nightgown down and wrapping her arms around her body.
"It pains me, sugar, to see you in this situation again. Was never my intention to make you suffer, but I needed you safely out of the way till I had all my ducks in a row, per se." he said, gently wrapping Aurea's arm around his own. "Now, my dear, we're gonna have you escorted back to your room. I've got a beautiful dress laid out for you. Get yourself cleaned up, and meet us downstairs. We've got an exciting night planned!"
Russell kissed her knuckles before leaving her in the hands of the gorilla. He dragged her back to her room using the back staircase and dropped her into her room. The door slammed shut behind her as her eyes perused her room to make sure things were still where they needed to be. She took notice of the dress laid out for her, a beautiful white lace dress with cap sleeves and some Jimmy Choo nude heels.
She ran her hand through her hair as she stepped into the bathroom, turning the shower on to the hottest setting possible. She had days of blood stained to her nightgown and face and it was gonna require a good scrubbing not only to remove it, but to remove the depression that grew within her.
She scrubbed her skin clean till there wasn't anything left, skin cells or life choices. She dried herself off as she walked into her room, quickly throwing on underwear before stepping into the dress that fit her like a second skin. She put on simple makeup with a bit more flare on the eye makeup before drying her hair. She left it down in waves before putting on a pair of diamond dangle earrings and her wedding ring. She gave herself a once over after putting on the shoes, noticing she looked to be going to a wedding more than anything.
"What the hell does he have planned." she whispered to herself, giving herself one more once over before heading to her door.
The gorilla on the other side opened the door after she rang her doggy bell, as she liked to call it, and escorted her through the hallway. Her ears instantly picked up some strange noises coming from one of the bedrooms, moans and the smell of blood hitting her senses all at once.
She reached out to hear the voice of Franklin urging Tara on to 'kill him'…and from the sounds of it he was more geared to orgasming than actually wanting to be killed. Aurea regretted what she heard but for now she knew Tara was still safe…at least. The gorilla barreling down behind her pushed her onward before she could hear anymore. She was hoping if they finished early tonight, she could try and get to Tara, at least let her know possible ways to leave when she got the chance.
They were coming up the stairs when shouting was heard, and from what Aurea could hear, it sounded like…Sookie?
"Let go of me!"
Aurea was greeted with a wrestling Sookie in one of the gorilla's hands as they stepped around the corner into the hallway. Aurea felt fear rush through every inch of her body, waiting for Sookie to catch sight of her. As they came close to crossing paths, Aurea was pulled closer to the gorilla as the same was done with Sookie.
"Let go." cried Sookie, her eyes suddenly falling to company in the hallway with her, that company being none other than Aurea who looked like a deer in headlights.
Aurea saw Sookie's eyes widen and her mouth open on an impulse, like normal. Before Sookie could utter a single syllable, Aurea reached her fingers out just slightly from her side, her eyes focused on Sookie's neck, imagining her throat closing, preventing her from uttering a word, much like she did in the club in what felt like an eternity ago.
Sookie's eyes widened as she felt her throat tighten, her vocal cords frozen as she tried uttering Aurea's name. Millions of thoughts ran through her mind at seeing Aurea, how long had she been here, did she know Bill was here, and lastly did she know how much of a fucking asshole her husband was.
Their eyes met for what seemed like a lifetime as they passed each other, Aurea giving a gentle nod to her head for Sookie to keep her mouth shut. She knew that was a crap shoot but under the circumstances she hoped for once she listened. She kept her focus on keeping Sookie quiet until they reached the landing of the stairs. She released her hold and listened to the remaining screeches from Sookie to be released. Though once that shit storm ended, another surfaced.
When they reached the stairs, Aurea heard Talbot screeching at the top of his lungs in anger. Aurea passed him on her way down the stairs. He was fuming and yelling in a foreign language that she couldn't even begin to guess. Talbot and Russell had more problems than she and Eric, and that was saying something. She continued her trek down the rest of the stairs, Russell's voice drifting to her ears.
"We're gonna go see an old friend of yours." she heard. "And I hope you don't mind…we'll be taking a very special guest with us."
Aurea furrowed her brow as she heard Russell speaking with someone. She felt the gorilla behind her pause halfway down the stairs, letting her continue the journey herself. She looked back at him before continuing down, her steps halting slightly at the image of Russell waiting for her.
"Ah, my little creampuff! You look positively radiant!" gushed Russell. "I hope you don't mind the circumstances, but you will be joining me and my guest this evening."
Aurea ground her teeth at the mention of Russell using her for his own advantage as she gripped the railing in her hand. Her feet however stopped like cement as her entire body froze with them when her eyes took in the additional guest Russell had been speaking of.
He was here.
2 chapters in one day! Happy Quarantine! I hope is staying safe at home if you can but if you are considered essential we thank you even more! Bless you all and thanky ou for reading! Let me know how you feel. And FINALLY Eric makes an appearance!
