The beautiful woman with the kind expression sighed at Tanya's words and ignoring the fact that she was wearing a gorgeous, expensive gown, she sat down on the cold snow next to Tanya and gently brushed tangled, powdered locks away from her face.
"I cannot do that, child."
As the fire continued to spread Tanya whimpered in pain and raised her hand to clutch at the burning in her throat, as if her broken nails could claw out the pain from her flesh. She groaned as her jagged nails tore at the flesh already broken open by her attacker's teeth, but the pain of that action was nothing compared to the fires of hell that were coursing through her veins.
The beautiful woman gently moved her hand away. "Shh, little one, there is no point." She let out a heartfelt sigh and looked at something in the snow not too far off from them. Tanya was in too much pain to notice or care about what she was looking at.
The woman sighed a deep, heartfelt sigh. "I will be right back, dearest." But, then again, it wasn't like Tanya was going anywhere. She lay there, writhing in pain, her limbs twisting and curling in on themselves then growing taunt as her body tried to fight off the venom coursing through her veins.
She was too lost in the pain to even notice the crackling of a fire and the strong smell of incense that began to fill the air. Right now, the only thing that was on her mind were her sins.
She was certain that God was punishing her.
It seemed like forever before she felt cold arms around her and the beautiful woman, despite her delicate, petite frame, was lifting her up as easily and gently as if she were a child. As Tanya convulsed in her arms she held her close, her embrace protective. "Shhh, child. I wish I could say that I can make it better, but I can't."
This was what Tanya had imagined her mother's embrace would be like when she was sick as a little girl, but in those unfulfilled fantasies her mother had made everything better. That was not the case now.
The pain was getting worse rather than better and she whimpered as she clung to the woman who was now racing through the snow filled night so quickly that everything around them was a blur. She did find a slight bit of comfort in the woman's motherly embrace and the words that she whispered to her.
"Do not worry, my child, the pain will not last forever and I will do what I can to speed along the process."
Tanya took some comfort in these words, but she had no idea what the 'process' that the woman was speaking of was. Somehow she felt that the woman wanted to take care of her, that she wanted to make it all better.
Before long they were in luxurious surroundings, surroundings even more lavish than those than Tanya was used to, but again, she paid no mind to this, not even as she was careful laid out on a large bed.
The woman sat on the bed next to her, smoothing back Tanya's hair. "I'm sorry, child, but there is something I have to do. It will cause you more pain, but in the end it will make the amount of time you are in pain shorter."
Tanya was in too much pain to ask her what she meant, but then she was screaming like she'd never screamed in her life as the woman's teeth sank into one wrist, then the other, then the woman's teeth were tearing a new wound into the other side of her neck from where her male attacker had placed the first wound.
Now the burning was everywhere!
Why had the woman done this? She had made things worse rather than better!
Screaming and sobbing, she begged to be killed. She wanted to be put out of her misery like the horse her father had once had to kill because it had broken a leg. Even that animal had been shown more mercy than she was being shown now.
One thing was unexpected. Instead of leaving her to her wallow alone in her wretchedness, the woman lay down with her and held her gently, trying to provide some sort of comfort amid the hellish pain.
She had no idea how long the pain lasted, it seemed to have just started and at the same time it seemed to have started an eternity ago. There was no beginning and no end, but through it all, the woman was there, holding her, rocking her, whispering soothing things in various languages in her ear. The woman even san lullabies and ran cool damp cloths over her skin that surely had to look as if it were charred bits of flesh.
None of this took away the pain, but it was soothing.
At one point she managed to ask while whimpering why God had chosen to punish her in this way. Had she truly been that bad?
The woman had sighed and holding her she whispered, "God has nothing to do with this child. Never forget that. We are all creatures of God, but even God has his fallen angels."
Tanya did not understand the cryptic words and had just continued to moan, scream, and cry and through the whole trip through hell, the kind, beautiful woman had only left her side for short moments and she had always returned with things to make Tanya more comfortable, whether that be a wash basin to wash the grime and muck from her skin and hair, or a night gown to replace the tattered gown that she had been proud to dress in not so long ago.
Tanya was grateful for these little things, but none of it really made her comfortable. She was beginning to doubt that this would ever end or that she would ever feel comfortable again.
And, through it all, the woman continued to stay by her side, telling tales, singing songs, and holding Tanya. At one point the woman had whispered, "What a bad mama I've been. I have not even told you my name. I am Sasha."
Tanya had not had the presence of mind to think about the fact that this woman had referred to herself as her 'mama,' but she was glad she could finally put a name to the beautiful face.