No reviews, but I'll live.

Chapter 17 – Scars

Silas sat up instantly. The water around him was cold, his skin was pruned, and wounds from the cilice and Discipline had cleared up some. The area around his leg where the cilice once was was still a tinged yellow from infection. Silas pulled his tired body out of the metal basin and let the water drip from his skin on to the floor.

Had I dozed off?

Silas walked to the center of the room, fell to his knees, crossed himself and began praying. When he was finished, he stood and pulled his robe on again; savoring the rough wool, he had grown so accustomed too. He lay on his mat, stretched out, and fell asleep into a dream.

Silas was sitting on the chair in his room, unable to see anything but the silhouette of a female figure. Trying to move, Silas found his hands bound and feet tied to the chair. Angered, Silas let out a string of French curse words. The figure put a finger to his lips and he sat still. He couldn't tell who it was. The finger moved and he felt the lips on his, prying his mouth open with her tongue and dancing around in his mouth. Silas leaned forward to kiss her back, but she pulled away. "You are a ghost." She whispered. Moving closer, she untied one of Silas's hands and led it up her shirt so Silas could feel her breast, warm and soft to the touch. Silas wanted to take her now, as he felt her nipple growing harder, moaning in pleasure, but he couldn't move. She moved him for him. She let out a sigh as Silas felt his hand being led to the hem of her skirt, then delving into it, touching that warm spot as she let out a passionate moan. Silas growled as he let his hand be moved back and forth. She had no underwear on, and as she began getting wet, Silas could no longer restrain himself. He broke free of the bonds and pushed the woman to he ground. Hovering over her, he had no idea what to do. Did he seduce her or make a run for it? He could see no visible door, but when he looked down, he saw Rachel's face turned up at his, looking scared. Her hand shot up and grasped his own as she pulled him to her level. "Silas..." she muttered. Silas tried to pull his hand away but he couldn't; her hold was too strong. "Silas!" she yelled now. Silas was beginning to become afraid. At first, he was enjoying this dream but now...Lights flashed in the window as if it were a lighthouse. The pain on Rachel's face was too much to bear. "Silas...scars." she whispered. She spread her legs open for Silas to see, and at first he saw nothing, but as light filled the room, he caught glimpses of the scars leading from her vagina to the inside of her thighs. Silas's mouth fell agape as he traced each long, dark scar. What kind of monster would do this? Silas looked at Rachel who wore the cuts on her cheek where Silas had struck her ad he stood and ran. In the distance, he could hear Rachel's voice yelling, "Silas! Scars!"

As much as Rachel wanted to visit Silas at the moment, she thought it would just feel awkward for the both of them. Her friend Marcy had stopped by to check on her. "Rae, I know you love him, and cuddle him, and he's the only one who really understands you, but you can't keep him." Marcy said, as if Rachel were her daughter trying to keep a stray puppy. Rachel sighed as she brushed her hair. "Marcy, you don't understand. He's a tormented soul. He needs love." Marcy took a sip of her water as she listened. "Rachel, if you had half the common sense you had now you would be dead. Leave this guy. He's not good for you. And what happened to Kevin? I thought he was your Ken and you were his Barbie." Rachel spun around and threw the brush at Marcy, narrowly missing her head. "Don't you ever say that! I never want to hear his name again!" Marcy threw her hands up in defense. "Alright, chill Temper Queen. Just making a point." Rachel stopped in her tracks to retrieve the hairbrush. "What point?"

Marcy sighed and said, "You two went out for a good long time. He could put up with you being a prostitute when others would have left you on the corner from where they picked you up."

Rachel sat down on the floor. "Marcy, he was cheating on me. That doesn't constitute as "putting up."

"Sure it does. Look, he could have had a stripper, and he could have had a prostitute. Which did he choose?"

"I don't get it."

"Rae, listen. I love you like a sister, but you've got to stop being so dopey and naïve."

"I am not naïve!"

"No offense, but considering the fact that you allowed yourself to believe Kevin was cheating on you while dating you makes you a sensible naïve."

"Go on."

"A person who is a prostitute could automatically assume they have a good enough boyfriend who won't cheat on them, making them naïve. But in your case, you had a good thing going for you. You were, unfortunately, sensibly naïve. Doing logic, and from the streets that you worked, you automatically assumed that because you were a prostitute, he was cheating on you. Really, he wasn't. Why do you think he always picked you up when you were done? Sometimes walked you back to make sure no one tried to rape you."

"That went really well."

"Rachel, you need to forgive him. Your shift was over, but you went with that sick bastard anyways. He wanted to help you, he really did, but he didn't see you there, and assumed you were at your pimp's house, so he guessed you were okay."

Rachel was silent for a moment. Kevin really cared about her? And all this time she thought she was a play toy for him. "Well, thank you for clearing that up for me Marcy, but I'm not going to stop seeing Silas." Marcy shrugged her shoulders. "Your call. Just know you're losing a good thing." Rachel escorted Marcy to the door with a final hug and goodbye. Was Kevin really a good thing?

Silas was awake from his dream now and panting. It had been alluring, but now it was a nightmare. Rachel's voice echoed in his head. "Silas! Scars!" The most terrifying part of it all was that she had those scars. It pained him to look at them, but he couldn't tear his eyes from them either. He clenched his fists and rested his forehead on them. I've hurt her. I promised I would never hit again! Silas let his tears fall from his weary face without as much as a second thought. His door opened and he found Rachel standing there. She had changed to a white t-shirt that hugged her curves perfectly, and blue capris with black sneakers. "Silas? Are you okay?" she ran over to him and knelt down, hugging him, stroking his hair. Silas stopped crying and wiped his tears with a sleeve. "Please, no. I don't want to hurt you again." He moved himself away from her. Rachel, confused, followed him. "Silas, what's the matter? I've forgiven you for the hit, you've forgiven me for whatever. You can tell me what's wrong!" Silas stopped in his tracks and began breathing. Being with Rachel these past days had tapped into a part of Silas that he was not akin. It wasn't love, but something like. It made him a different person. It made him more gentle, and happy. Albeit it did not work out his mental issues, he was just as glad. At least one part of him had not changed.

Rachel had stopped short of Silas, and was now toe-to-toe with him, standing on her toes to try to reach his eye level. "Silas, you need to tell me what's wrong." Silas looked down at her and sighed. "I had a dream. About you. You had, scars." Rachel fell back on her feet and wavered a bit. How did he know? Rachel took a step back and wrapped her arms around herself. "Where?" she asked, her back turned to him. Silas was lost. "What do you mean?" She spun around on her heel and said in a rougher voice, "Where were the scars?" Silas looked down to his feet and said, "Between your legs." Rachel's hands flew up to her face as she paced around the room muttering, "Oh God, please, not this, not now!" Silas stayed where he was. When Rachel was done with her pacing and ranting, she turned to Silas and said, "About ten years ago, prior to my going to jail, two guys raped me. They left me in a dumpster, and these scars are the only thing I keep from that memory." Silas let his shoulders slump forward. She was raped? He sighed and said, "I am sorry for you. Being a victim myself, I can share your pain." Rachel strolled up to him and hugged him. Unprepared, Silas stared, and slowly let his arms come around her back. "Silas," she murmured into his chest, "why am I so fond of you?" Silas didn't know how to answer that question, but just stared at the top of her head. Rachel looked up and stood on her toes again, leaning forward, lips slightly parted...

HAHAHA! Cliff hanger!

:D I am the Devil's child for this...