Rose POV

I was glad that Adrian knew where I was because I had no idea. I kept telling myself that I just needed to hold on, to wait for them to come for me, but I didn't know if I could. I knew that I needed to be strong. I needed to get out of here and get back to them. I just had no idea how I was going to do that.
I was pretty sure that my back was infected. The skin was tight and red hot and whatever I wore always ended up glued to my back. Added to the fact that there were no windows and the door was locked at all times unless Rainbow Girl came in or out, or Nathan did. I tried to imagine what Dimitri would do in this situation but honestly, I didn't know. He'd probably knock through a wall in a Godly fashion and stroll out of here, taking every strigoi that crossed his path down on the way.
I smiled at the thought. In all honesty, I would have been okay with just curling up in to a ball and dying right there on the bed but I knew that he'd never forgive me. Neither would Liss. I just had to wait. Adrian said that he was coming, which meant that Dimitri was coming.
The lights had been left off since the last time Rainbow Girl had visited me and I was okay with that. The light in the bathroom worked, so I'd left that on. The dim yellow glow didn't help much in terms of lighting the room, but at least I could see if anyone was trying to sneak in. That didn't really seem like Nathan's style – he seemed like the type on monster to let you know that he's coming so that you end up paralysed with fear.
I had to hand it to him. He was good at what he did. He'd managed to inflict pain that was more intense than anything I'd ever felt before, both physically and emotionally. He'd isolated me. Truth be told, he'd almost broken me. My resolve was fading quickly and I knew that I couldn't hold out much longer before I was begging for food. I'd found a way around him not letting me drink seeing as he'd unlocked the bathroom door; though he probably knew that I'd drink the water from the tap when he'd done it. Nathan was a lot like my father in that way, never doing anything without having thought it through first.
My thoughts wandered to Abe and I prayed to any deity that would listen to me, begging them not to let him see the message that Nathan had sent. I assumed that it was one of those things that once you've seen it, you can't un-see it. It was certainly something that once you'd experienced it, it stayed with you. Hopefully it got lost in the mail or something. It was a weak hope but it was the only one that I had left.
It was pathetic. I was pathetic. According to Adrian, I'd only been here for a week and already, Nathan had broken me down. My last hope wasn't that I'd get out or that Adrian and Dimitri would find me. It was that none of them would see what I'd become. Abe was right about me, I was nothing more than a blood whore. Everything that I'd been before was gone. I was an empty shell of the person that I used to be.
All I wanted was for Nathan to come back to me, sink his fangs in to my neck and drink from me until there was nothing left.
I'd searched the room for something to use, something to end it myself, but there was nothing. There were no razors in the bathroom, no pills, nothing that I could make a noose out of. I'd tried to tear the bed sheet apart but it was too thick and there was nothing to cut it with. I'd searched my duffle bag that they'd taken from the apartment but other than a few toiletries, there was nothing of any use in there and I doubted that I could poison myself by eating a bottle of shampoo. I was trapped with no way out and I couldn't cope.
I'd been staying in bed for the most part, only getting up to use the toilet or stand under the shower in an attempt to unstick my clothes from my back. I spent most of my time asleep, hoping that Adrian would come back to me. I didn't even know how long it had been since he'd visited me. It could have been hours or days.
The door opened but instead of Rainbow Girl, it was Nathan. His red eyes mocked me as he smiled. "Have you missed me, Rosie?"
"Not really." I said, clinging to my attitude. It was the only defense that I had left, and even that was running out. "Maybe in another few days."
He chuckled and laid something on the bed. I looked down and saw that it was some sort of red material. "Wear this tonight, Rosie. We have guests joining us."
"Who?" I asked, trying not to let myself get too excited. Of course, if Dimitri and Adrian were coming to get me, Nathan wouldn't be telling me about it. He probably expected me to entertain some of his strigoi friends or serve them like the humans did.
"That's for me to know and you to find out, Rosie." He pressed his lips to my cheek almost tenderly. "I'll send Talia in to help you get ready. I need you to look your best tonight."
He left the room and I stared after him, wondering what the hell was going on. Rainbow Girl came in shortly afterwards with a basket in her arms. She smiled at me as she came and set her basket down on the bed.
"Good evening, Rosie." She said. "The master says that I'm to make you look presentable."
"Why?"
"I do not ask questions, I just do as I'm told." She said and went to the bathroom, switching the shower on. "Shall I help you clean your wounds?"
"I'll manage." I said and made my way to the bathroom, knowing that it was pointless to fight her. If I did, she'd just fetch Nathan and I didn't have the energy to deal with the pain that he'd inflict on me.
I showered quickly, washing my hair and face, doing my best to wash my back although it was difficult. I came out of the bathroom wrapped in two fluffy towels and saw that Rainbow Girl had set herself up on the night stand. There were lotions and hair products and make up spread out and a small mirror had been brought in to the room. An hour later I'd been primped and preened within an inch of my life and I looked nothing like myself.
I'd lost weight while I'd been there; the red satin cocktail dress that Nathan had given me to wear hung loosely off my shoulders. It was a size too big but it was my size, or at least, the size I'd been before. My hair had been dried and straightened and scraped back in to some sort of French twist. My eyes had been lined with winged eyeliner, bronzer applied to by cheeks and red lipstick that matched the colour of my dress applied to my lips. She'd managed to hide what was left of my bruises and the lipstick made it impossible to see that my split lip. I looked like any other girl, getting ready to go on a date. My stomach rolled as I realised that was what tonight was, or at least the first part. What would happen when Nathan's guest arrived was something that I tried not to think about.
It wasn't a look that I'd have chosen for myself. Unless I was training, I usually kept my hair down because I knew that Dimitri loved it. He'd always been attracted to my hair. I wore as little make up as possible, only ever using a slightly tinted lip balm. I looked like me, but an alien version of myself.
Rainbow Girl smiled as she presented me with the mirror as if I were a masterpiece. "You look beautiful, Rosie."
"I look like a prostitute." I said.
Her brows furrowed. "The master will like it."
"Well, the master can go and-"
"I'll take you down for dinner now." She said as she gathered up her supplies.
"I don't have any shoes."
"You won't need shoes, Rosie." She said.
She led me down to the dining room and presented me to Nathan as if I were cattle at a market, spinning me around so that he could see me from all angles. He nodded his approval and then dismissed her. He kept his eyes on me as he took my appearance in, a smug grin on his face.
"You look lovely, Rosie." He said and led me over to a small table with a white table cloth and a single red rose in a vase. He held my chair out for me as if he were some sort of gentleman and then pushed it in once I'd sat down. "That colour suits your skin tone."
"Thank you." I said, knowing that it was he expected me to say.
He nodded as if to say 'you're welcome' and then asked me what I would like to eat.
"I don't know." I said, feeling as if there was some sort of trick coming.
"You can have anything you like, Rosie. My staff will make it for you. Pasta, pizza, chicken... The options are endless."
I took a moment to think about. I couldn't have anything too rich, my stomach wouldn't take it after a few days of not eating. I also needed something that would give me some energy, so carbs and protein were a good choice. In the end I opted for chicken breast and brown rice, hoping that that would serve me well for the next few days. He nodded and summoned one of his humans, a tall man with shoulder length blonde hair, and gave him my order. He also told him to bring a bottle of wine.
"I'd like to get to know you tonight, Rosie. I realise that I know nothing about you, except what I've heard. Tell me about your life." He said as if he were actually interested.
"There isn't much to tell." I said, not wanting to tell him about any of it.
"I could force you to tell me, Rosie." He clenched his jaw and frowned at me. "I'd much rather that you told me by choice. We're going to be together for a long time. I'd like to get to know you."
"There really isn't much to tell. I train, I work, I eat... That's my life."
"What do you like to eat?" He asked.
"The things that I shouldn't. Pizza, doughnuts."
"Pizza and doughnuts are the way to your heart?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. "Then why didn't you ask for pizza?"
"It'll be too rich for me now."
"Why?" He asked.
"Because I've not eaten since the night you threw my pasta across the room." I snapped and regretted it instantly.
"Have they not been feeding you?" He asked. I shook my head and he growled. "Talia!"
Rainbow Girl came in and bowed her head slightly as she stood before him. "Yes, master?"
"Rosie tells me that she's not eaten since the first night that she was here. That was a week ago."
"Yes, master."
"I told you to take care of her. See to her wounds, bring her anything that she needed." He said as if he actually cared about my health. "Why didn't you bring her food?"
"She never asked for food." She said, her voice quivering slightly.
I looked down at my hands in my lap, not wanting to see the look on her face. She looked devastated that she'd failed him. This is what strigoi did to people, they told them that they'd be awakened if they served for a number of years. They made them want to please them, in any way they asked, and they usually killed them. That was the fate that awaited her but I knew that I couldn't save her. I couldn't even save myself.
"And did you take her water?" Nathan asked slowly.
"No, master. She didn't ask for any."
He turned to me then, reaching over the table and lifting my chin with his fingers so until I met his eyes. "Why didn't you ask for any food or water, Rosie?"
"I didn't know that I could." I said honestly. It wasn't very often that hostages could ask for anything.
"Of course you didn't." He said. "I should have made that more clear. What have you been drinking?"
"Water from the bathroom."
He looked to Rainbow Girl again and snarled at her. "Because of you, my Rosie has had to drink tap water. Do you know how many chemicals are in tap water."
She shook her head as her eyes filled with tears. "I'm sorry, master."
"You will be." He said, his threat obvious. "From now on, you are to see that Rosie gets three meals a day and as much to drink as she likes. If she wants to drink champagne all day, you will see that she has it. Is that understood."
"Yes, master."
"Good. You are dismissed." He said and then waited until she'd practically run from the room before he turned back to me. "I must apologise for my staff, Rosie. They should have taken better care of you."
I regarded him steadily, surprised by his sudden caring. Why would he care if I was eating or not, or about the chemicals in tap water. He'd beaten with a belt until my back was shredded and filmed himself raping me so that he could send it to my family. Why would he care about whether or not I was eating. I nodded but didn't say anything, to stunned to actually form words.
"Rest assured, she will be punished for her lack of thought."
"Punished?"
"Yes. All of my pets understand that if they don't serve me to the best of their ability then they will be severely punished."
"How?" I asked, though I wasn't sure that I wanted to know.
"I forgot that you had a thirst for violence." He smiled at me before continuing. "They will be beaten, much as you were when you first arrived. My pets need to learn their place from the beginning. They have to earn their reward. However, they live the life of luxury with me. They want for nothing, their every whim is met. Take Talia for instance; every week she colours her hair another unnatural colour, but I allow it. She has the best make up products. Charles has the latest technology, Ashiq has a different woman in his bed each night. He thinks that because he won't be going to heaven, he won't be getting the fifty virgins that his God is supposed to give him. I have and I will continue to do so until it is his time to join me in immortality."
"Is that what I am? One of your pets?" I asked, feeling my temper boiling up.
"Yes and no. You are a temporary pet. You are my weapon of choice in the destruction of father but after that is finished..." He paused, searching for the right words. "After your father is gone, you will be my mate, my queen."
I laughed at him, hysterically. Not because it was funny but because it wasn't. Me, Rose Hathaway, the mate of a strigoi.
"Why is that funny?" Nathan demanded.
"It, it isn't." I said as tears rolled my down my cheeks and then took a moment to get my breath back. "You think that I would accept you as my mate? I'm a dhampir. I've spent my life killing your kind. And after everything that you've done to me, you think that I'd be willingly be your mate."
"I don't really care about willingly. You are here and you are mine. You will be mine until I tire of you or awaken you." He said simply. "I've waited such a long time for you to be mine, Rosie. I'm not going to let you go. You cost me a lot, Rosie. You are mine."
Charles came in to the dining room, saving me from thinking of something to say to him. He placed a plate of plain chicken breast and rice in front of me, poured some wine in to my glass and then left without a word. Normally I would have said thank you, but he didn't deserve my thanks. My mouth watered as soon as the scent hit me and I picked up my knife and fork, digging in immediately.
"Tell me about your friends." Nathan said as he watched me eat.
"Which ones?" I asked.
"Your dhampir friends, your moroi friends. You charge."
I swallowed and frowned. I didn't want to speak to him about Liss or Christian, Adrian or Eddie. Instead, I turned it around on him. "Why don't you tell me about your friends."
He laughed low in his throat. "I don't have friends, Rosie. I have acquaintances, I have employees and I have pets. And now, I have you."
One of his humans came in and whispered something in his ear. Nathan's eyes shot to me with a scowl. He nodded, dismissing the human.
"Rosie, is there something that you'd like to tell me?" He asked, his voice sickly sweet.
"I don't think so." I said, eating more of the chicken before I was forced to starve again.
"Really?" He asked, his fists clenched. "Then why is that I have a security breech in my hotel?"
He must have seen the excitement in my eyes, the joy of someone finally coming to rescue me, because he stood up and hovered over me. He lashed out, the back of his hand smacking my cheek with so much force that I fell off my chair. I gritted my teeth against the pain and stood up, straightening the skirt of the dress. He grabbed a handful of my hair and launched me in to the table. I landed on one of the plates, the china smashing under my hand and slicing my palm open. He pulled me up off the table and dropped me to the ground in front of him. He started to unbuckle his belt as he glared down at me. "Your father broke the rules, and you will be punished for it."
My father? Abe was here? Which meant that Dimitri was here too. Elation filled my heart and I knew that I could face anything that Nathan would give me. I just needed to endure it until they were here. Nathan fisted his hand in my hair and pulled me to my feet, throwing my at the table again so that I was bent over it.
The lashes rained down on my already shredded back, making me howl in pain. It was worse than it had been the first time, probably due to it already being so tender. He stopped for a moment so I pushed myself up from the table, ignoring the pain in my back and hand. I turned around and lashed out at him, trying to claw his eyes out. Of course, all I managed to do was smear my blood across his face.
He laughed at me and grabbed my arms as if I were no stronger than a rag doll, pinned them to my sides and pulled me against him. He ran his tongue across my cheek and then sank his teeth in to my neck. He started to drink from me and I tried to fight him off but as the blood left my body, the dizziness set in again.
And then the doors to the dining room burst open. I couldn't make out the faces, I just knew that I was finally safe and I let go.

Note -

Thanks for all the positive reviews! I wasn't expecting to so many people to enjoy this story.
Rito Dey - You were given fair warning that the scenes were going to get dark and I warned of sexual violence. Yes, rape is a disgusting and harsh thing but I'm not writing this for entertainment purposes or because I'm one of the weirdos that fantasize about this kind of stuff. I have my own reasons for writing it. You chose to read it even after I warned you what was coming. You'll be pleased to hear that the worst of it is over for Rose, for now. At least physically. She's got a long road ahead of her, like an abuse victim does.

Thanks for sticking with me guys :)