Hey guys. Hope you guys are ready for more. This almost a three thousand word chapter. All for you guys. Once I got through the flashbacks, everything seemed to fall into place. I was really able to write. Hopefully I will get started on the next chapter tomorrow, and can have that up soon for everyone. Thanks for reading! As always, Read and Review!
Clare's POV
Listening to Eli's story, I was heartbroken. It disturbed me a little knowing about what he did to Johnny, but I have seen what this place does to people. I know that Eli wouldn't have done anything if he wasn't in this place. Hearing him tell me, and seeing the look in his eyes. I knew this was extremely painful for him to retell.
I am terrified of placements tonight. I don't know why, but I have been feeling dread about tonight. That's what scares me. I just don't want to tell Eli. I know he is tense about it too, I can feel it. My head is resting on his shoulder, and my hand is holding his. Just these simple touches are proving to me that he is tense. He's rigid. This doesn't make me feel any better.
The door slams open, and I jumped. Fitz is standing there, with two guards. We all stand up, and Eli kept ahold of my hand, and gripped it tightly. I think we are both dreading what Fitz is going to say. Unfortunately, I had a good feeling of what he's going to say.
"Declan. Clare." Fitz states.
I cringed. I figured this was coming but it still hurts me anyways. I glanced at Eli, before walking slowly towards Fitz. Who I assume is Declan, met me at the door. I follow the guards out the door, and the door slams behind me. No going back.
I followed them down the hallway. My nerves were making themselves known now that I wasn't with Eli anymore. They opened a door that looked like the same one that Adam was put into, and directed me in it. The slammed the door behind me, and I was now alone.
The room had a single light on the ceiling, and it cast an eerie, yellow glow on the room. The walls were gray and made of cement. This was easily a large storage room beforehand. There was a table in the middle of the room, but there was also a mattress in the corner. I decided to sit in the chair at the table. It was facing the door, so I figured it would give me a little bit of a barrier from whoever was going to walk through that door.
I don't really know how long I sat in that chair. It could have been minutes. Maybe hours. Who knows? God knows that I wasn't paying attention to time. The door opens and Fitz steps through. I cringed again as the door slammed shut behind him. Somehow I figured I wouldn't get through this, whatever may happen, easily.
"What the fuck are you doing sitting in my seat?" Fitz growled.
"I'm sorry. I—I didn't know." I jumped from the seat, my hands shaking so badly that I clasped them together to try to stop them.
"I was just going to beat you. To fucking piss off Eli, but you know something? I think I will go the extra step. I know that Asher doesn't want me to but I'll fucking deal with him later." Fitz growled.
"Please, don't." I whispered. Too shaken to be able to speak any louder.
He walked over to me, and gripped my arm tight enough to leave bruises. He pulled me fast and hard, making me stumble over to the mattress on the ground. I collapsed onto the mattress, with my legs hanging off. It was a really thin mattress, and looked really old. It had tons of unidentified stains on it. I felt like I needed a chemical bath just by touching it through my clothes. Fitz climbed on top of me, and pushed me into the mattress, making my back feel the hard ground below it.
"I am going to have some fun with you." He sneered, while leering down at me.
"Please, don't." I pleaded up at him. He was straddling my waist, and pinning my hands above my head.
"Shut up." He slapped me. The stun was too great. I almost felt like I was going to black out. He was being really rough. Grabbing me, and forcing my clothes in different directions.
"No." I cried. "Stop."
"Shut the fuck up!" He growled, slapping me again. This time I tasted blood in my mouth.
"Please." I begged. I slid my hand out of his grip, and threw a punch into his face. I ended up clocking him in the eye.
"You fucking slut! I can't believe you! You're such a fucking bitch!" He started hitting.
He kept hitting. I could feel bruises forming and I wanted to go to sleep. But the pain was so unbearable that it kept me awake. I cried out the entire time, making my voice go hoarse. When he stopped hitting, I felt like I was on the brink of passing out but he seemed to want to keep me conscious.
When he stopped, he sat back. I hoped he was done. Unfortunately, I'm not that lucky. He began unbuckling his belt, and within seconds his pants were around his knees. He pushed my underwear out of the way, not even glancing at my skirt, and thrust into me without warning.
I screamed out, and tried to fight again, but he was holding my arms in his, making me virtually helpless. He thrust into me for about ten minutes before there was a knock at the door. He didn't even seem to care that I was dry the whole time.
"Fuck." He pulled out of me, and quickly fixed his pants before unlocking the door to see who it was. "What the fuck?" I couldn't hear whoever was that was at the door. I was too afraid to move. He looked at me, before speaking. "Asher requests your presence."
I quickly adjusted myself, and followed Fitz out of the room. The other guard looked a little too long at my face, my guess is that it didn't look pretty. I would prefer not to dwell on the gory details.
I followed Fitz and the guard to Asher's office, and we walked straight in. This time however, Asher was already in the room. So was a man who was facing Asher, so I didn't see his face.
"As requested, Clare Edwards." The guard spoke up. Fitz pushed me towards the center of the room, making me stand behind the man sitting down.
"This was not the Clare Edwards I met the other day. Pray tell how she was put into such disarray." Asher spoke standing up, and walking over to examine my face. "Tell me little Saint. What did this to you?" I looked him straight in the eye this time. I wasn't afraid. What could be worse than what Fitz just did to me?
"Placements." I replied coldly. There seemed to be a true look of shock on his face when he heard this.
"Who?" He asked, looking at me, but I could tell the question was up for anyone. His jaw was tightly set and I knew he was angry, but it didn't seem to be directed towards me.
"Fitz." I stated. That's when his gaze flicked over to where Fitz stood.
"She was not in the lineup for placements. What the fuck was she doing there?" He growled.
"She was selected for my anger management hour." Fitz replied curtly.
"She was not in the running for that. She was taken out. You of all people should know that!" He growled louder this time. He was in Fitz's face now.
"No one is ever taken off the list." Fitz replied. He wasn't speaking boldly enough to be arguing back. It was more of a question.
"She was. She was to be saved. I hadn't decided whether or not to keep her around for my personal sake." He yelled. "For god's sake, tell me you didn't fuck her too!"
"She disobeyed. I knew that it could be a way to push her, so—" Fitz cut off.
"Oh for fuck's sake! I'll fucking deal with you later." He growled at Fitz, before Fitz left the room.
"Is she still needed sir?" The other guard asked.
"I was just wishing to introduce her to the newest guard. He asked for her specifically when he arrived." He replied gesturing to the guy in the chair. I was confused by what he meant, until the guy in the chair turned around.
"So, Clare. Looks like you got yourself into a bit of pickle." K.C. stated as I get a good look at him. He was a lot muscular since that last time I saw him. He looked scarier and more intimidating.
"You—you're a guard, now?" I asked. I was too shocked to fully comprehend what this meant.
"Well, I applied for the job. Mr. Shostak was just going over all of the red tape with me before I officially sign. That's when I heard you were here." K.C. spoke nonchalantly, like we were two old friends meeting up in a diner. Not a rapist meeting up with his victim in a kidnap/hostage situation.
"And?" I asked, my jaw beginning to clench.
"And, I wanted to see my girl again. I was wondering where you have been. I guess now I know." He chuckled. He freaking chuckled. I wanted to punch him just for that. "It's too bad that I am too late to keep to all to myself. I guess Fitzgerald was a little too eager. And I can see why. You grew up quite nicely in the past two years." He smiled at me.
"Don't you worry, K.C.. I will be handling Fitzgerald. He won't even dare to cross any boundaries again." Asher patted his back, like they were old friends too. This was getting weirder by the second, and I just wanted to leave.
"Well, I don't really have any limits I would like to set, other than Clare, of course. I would like to keep her to myself, for now of course. Just to get used to the whole set up. Of course you are the boss, so you can still have access. I wouldn't dare try to keep you away from Clare. She's too tempting to resist anyway." K.C. leered at me. Nothing has changed with him, I see.
"That she is. Well, I am positive we will be able to work something out. Why don't we send Clare back with the others, and we can discuss terms." Asher proposed.
"Great idea. I'll see you around Clarebear." K.C. spoke, smiling at me. He acted as if this was normal. This freaked me out more.
"Dallas, take her back, and have that boy run an errand with you to get some supplies to clean her up. I don't want any scars forming. Then you can go. Make sure to tell the others about the new rule for Clare. She's off limits." He stated, waving us off.
Dallas nodded, and directed me back down the hall. He opened the door, and I noticed most people were sleeping, or talking quietly. I noticed Alli was staring at me, in what looked like shock, but I ignored her. When I turned to look towards Eli and Adam, they were right in front of me.
"Clare! What happened?" Eli asked, immediately examining my face.
"I'll explain after. They want you to go with Dallas get stuff to clean me up." I stated, brushing off the worry.
"I'll be right back." He assured, before rushing off with Dallas.
"Clare. Come on. Come sit down." Adam directed me into our usual corner. "Are you okay? Does it hurt?"
"It's more of a numb sting now." I replied, sliding down the wall. Surprisingly, my face seemed to be the worst of it. Even down there doesn't hurt and that truly is surprising. It's more like its uncomfortable and that's about it.
"Is your face the only place that's hurt?" He asked me.
"Yeah? I mean, I might have bruises but they don't hurt right now." I shrugged.
"Well, I don't see any right now. Hopefully there won't be too many, if at any, that show up later on." He said.
Eli flew back into the room, then and slammed the door behind him. I could tell that he wouldn't have closed the door if he didn't have to, he was that focused.
"You okay?" He asked, kneeling down on the other side of me, and putting the bag of supplies down at my feet.
"It doesn't hurt so much anymore." I shrugged again.
"Well, hopefully we don't hurt you too much while cleaning you up." He sighed, while sorting through the supplies. He gave the bag to Adam, after grabbing a bottle of water and hand cloth. "Asher made it pretty clear to me that he wants you cleaned up. 'Good as new.' I think is the term he used." He shook his head, and wetted the cloth, beginning to wipe the blood off my face. "Clare. What happened?" He asked looking into my eyes as he cleaned my face.
"Yeah. Clare. They usually don't mess with your face because they don't want to 'bruise the moneymaker'. It can hurt business if we don't look pretty enough." Adam stated. "For them to do this—"
"It's highly unusual." Eli finished.
"It was Fitz." I stated glancing down at my hands, not wanting to see their reactions. "He said that he wanted to piss you off. So he beat me. When I fought back, he didn't like that so much, and kind of lost it."
"I know this will sound awful, but it could've been worse. Fitz can snap easily. I have seen firsthand what he can do. You're lucky he didn't hurt you too bad." Adam spoke, giving me a sad but reassuring smile. I feel that I should tell them that Fitz raped me, but I don't think I can. Eli already had to go through this with Adam. I don't think that he will be able to handle it well if he finds out that Fitz raped me too.
"That is, all that happened, Clare, right?" Eli asked, making me look in his eyes. I guess I don't have a choice now.
"Uh, no." I spoke, trying to find a way to tell him. I looked down again, as I noticed that he figured it out.
"I'll fucking kill him. I will. I fucking will." Eli growled, leaning back from me. "Adam. Watch her." He stood up.
"Eli! No. Don't!" I jumped up, grabbing his arm. "Please! Don't."
"Clare—" He began, but I cut him off.
"No. Eli. If you go after him, and something happens to you, I couldn't take that. It would be on me." I argued. I could feel tears swelling in my eyes. I wanted to sit down and fall apart, but I couldn't let Eli get hurt or possibly killed. I couldn't live with myself if he did.
"No. Clare. He did this. He is going to get what he deserves." Eli growled.
"Yes. He will. Asher will deal with him." I retorted.
"What do you mean, Asher?" Adam asked standing up, next to me.
"Dallas. He came to the door while I was in the placements room. He brought me to Asher's office. Told me that Asher wanted to see me. Apparently, I am not supposed to be on the list at all. Asher wanted me for himself. So he got pissed at Fitz." I explained.
"Fuck, Clare. Don't tell me he got to you too!" Eli growled again.
"No! No. He didn't call me into his office for that." I reassured.
"Then why did he?" Adam asked.
"He wanted me to meet his new guard." I shuddered. I still couldn't believe that any of this was real.
"You know him?" Eli asked.
"Yeah. I know him." I chuckled humorlessly. I was starting to lose it, tears were forming in my eyes. "It was K.C."
"Clare—" Eli began but I cut him off by continuing.
"And do you know the worst part? He asked for me. Only me. I'm going to servicing Asher and K.C. from now on." I cried.
"Clare. I am so sorry." Eli pulled me into a hug as I broke down crying. "I am going to get you out of here. I promise Clare. I will." He whispered in my ear.
I began crying harder after that. Even if we did get out, I would still be haunted by the memories of this place. It's all too much. Maybe ending my life would be better. Although, I would need to find a way to do that. Maybe getting out of here is what I need. I would be free and then I could kill myself then. All I knew for sure was that I couldn't live like this anymore. And I knew that Eli was good for his word on this one. He would get me out of here. He would save me. It's just a matter of it I want to be saved.