by Kim Faulks
Enslaved
By Kim Faulks
Copyright © 2012 by Kim Faulks 2012
ISBN: 978-0-9871841-4-6
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Acknowledgements
This book is dedicated to the Goddess of the Cross-roads, to the one that came to me and
instilled the beauty and the mystery of the dark moon. To Hekate, may she continue to fill
my mind with all of the pure energy that she brings.
Chapter 1
Natalie…
Her eyes strained against the darkness until they blurred. Searching for him even though she knew physically, he wasn't there.
Alexander had come to her many times before. He was her immortal lover in her memories, whispering of his undying affection, his endless love and his desire to hold her in his arms once again. And she would have gladly stayed in that place with him, that place that is neither here, nor there - but somewhere in-between.
Some call it delirium, a psychosis of a mind near to breaking point. But Natalie just called it peace.
He held his hand out for her, beckoning her forward with curled fingers. The desire in his eyes as evident as it was from his shimmering body. Come, he whispers, although his lips didn't move… they never do. Come to me.
It always starts like this. A replay of what might have happened if she hadn't stepped on to that plane, a cruel, vicious remnant of a life that could have been. His cool fingers brush her face, drawing her deeper into that place and she lifts her head to meet his stare.
Glacial eyes leave her to float before him, as his lips brush hers ever so softly, not wanting to rush the moment. For this moment is all they have. Her body relaxes, allowing her mind to be carried away, enjoying the feel of his lips, his hands and his body once more. Let me take care of you Natalie, let go my love...
She wanted to believe him, to allow herself to slide deeper into the nothing where he waited. This was the time she usually pulled away, knowing this was dangerous - a double-edged sword of desire and ultimately death, one that if she chose, she would be trapped in, to live a lie until she finally found a way out. A cowards way out, she reminded herself. And she, more than anyone, knew she was no fucking coward.
Her memories had become her own demon, intent on making her days a tortuous hell as she stared into her lovers eyes. The mirage of her lover rippled before her in that moment. The connection to him was there, but somehow it left her wanting. His beautiful blue eyes shimmered, as though this Alexander was somehow different than the ones that had come to her before, ones that felt now as though they were nothing but a mirage of the real thing. It's not real, she said to herself, trying her best to cling on to what was left of her resolve, he's not real.
But I am real Natalie. I am here, he countered. His smile widened as he grabbed hold of her hand. It looked real as she reached out to touch him. He felt real. The softness of his grey hair, the cold feel of ivory skin and pink pouty lips felt real as they touched her, trailing down her face with feathered kisses as he stood before her. He pulled her close, wrapping his strong arms around her, spinning her around and tightening his hold against her as though they were caught in some lame eighties movie that she secretly loved. All that was needed was a choir and a line that would stay with her forever, nobody puts baby in the corner.
Her breath caught in her throat and her eyes widened as she spun out of her control. Alexander threw his head back and laughed, his lips parting in a grin, delighted by her alarm. She glowers at him, which only makes him spin her faster, harder and she tightens her grip, her focus more on the connection of their body, than anything else. I love you Natalie, he says, invading her thoughts once more.
I love you too, she whispers, knowing that she is about to step precariously over that barrier of insanity. Her foot misses a step, twisting under her and she falls out of his arms, signaling more than just an ending to their romantic movie. He reaches out, trying to grab hold of her, but a weakness in their reality tears between them, as though their moment was no more than plastic, widening until they are forced apart and nothing but a dark, empty abyss is before her.
The sound of his pain drives a nail into her heart. I'm sorry, she mouths. I love you, as he grows smaller before her. The abyss widens until it swallows her, drowning her in the darkness. She fights at first. Forcing herself to the surface with every ounce of energy she has left, but she eventually tires and stops. Realizing she has already lost, for she was never with Alexander in the first place. She was here the whole time... alone.
Alone. With. Her. Pain.
White lightening ripped through her shoulders and out of reflex she pushed forward, as though she could outrun it. The chains pulled her up quickly, gouging into the torn skin on her wrists, allowing the agony to take hold once more. She stood, shackled to the ceiling and to the floor. Her arms raised above her head so she could never find respite in such a cruel position. The chains pulled at the shackles that bound her wrists and feet, severing the flow of blood, until they came and released her. She didn't know who they were; they neither spoke, nor answered any of her questions. Instead they moved without speaking in the darkness, rough hands and the sound of their breath telling her that they were both big and dangerous.
She had woken to the sound of his voice many times before. The desperation in his tone reflected her own emotions, heightening them, until she thought her mind would break.
But this time he had felt so real, too real. He had come to her like this before. Hadn't he? She thought, racking the vague memories of her time in this hell. Her lips were like paper and she licked them, willing her body to perform even the most basic of functions as she whispered, "Alexander?"
Her throat burned, scalding like liquid fire with the effort, but that was soon forgotten as the sweet sound of Alexander's voice filled her thoughts. Please Natalie, tell me where you are? I can hardly feel you anymore.
The desperation she heard in those words almost bought her undone. The sob shook itself loose from her chest until it felt like it would break not only her body but her heart as well. This time he was real, in whatever form he came to her.
Alexander…
Hope surged within her, paving an electric path that made her soar, lifting her up until her reality made her crash back down. What could she say to him? How could she share the desolation of her existence with the one she loved? And taint the last memory he had of her with her torture and pain.
Please tell me where you are Natalie? I beg of you…
His questions went unanswered, because she had no answers. All she had was darkness, pain and the ticking sound of her impending death. She was going to die here, waiting for a rescue that would never come. Waiting for the moment when she was done with this world, which she knew in her heart, wouldn't be long. No, she wouldn't leave him with this last image, this last emotion that defined her existence. This she couldn't do…this she wouldn't do.
She closed the metaphysical shields of her mind, like a steel gate, severing his connection to her once and for all. Even if she shared her hurt, what could she tell him? She had no idea where she was or who had taken her. All she knew was what surrounded her. Cold, darkness and pain, this is all that waited for her, this is what she had endured for weeks now...or was it months?
Goodbye Alexander, she whispered, severing the last tie to hope she had, find me in my next life.
Wait Natalie…please NO! YOU
DON'T UNDERSTAND…IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK…
She shuddered violently with pain as her heart broke along with the last of her resolve and fell to her knees, the chain snapping to attention above her. She waited for the biting pain in her wrists to subside, or for death itself to claim her.
She waited. Death didn't come for her and the pain didn't subside. Only the numbness claimed her hands as the metal cut deep, forcing the blood and feeling from them.
If only it would work on her heart.
She opened her eyes, searching the darkness again for a flicker of light - a flicker of hope, finding none. She closed her eyes again as the wave of despair washed over her and it wasn't long before the shuddering sobs racked her body again.
Her fear seemed to heighten every other emotion inside of her, tearing apart her hold on reality with the sound of every whimper that she made. It was a cruel torment to be in between the pain of her body and her despair, but it was one she had endured for a while now.
Why? It was all she thought of, two simple words: Why and Who?
Her last memory was waiting for Malik in his house in Suez, but now that seemed so long ago. So...very... long... ago. Her body shuddered as a sob escaped and a bubble of mucus formed from her mouth and as she turned her head to wipe it away against her shoulder and felt the hard bones of her arms against her cracked lips.
She was going to die here...in this cold dungeon with no one around her, except the rats that bit at her feet and the spiders that shared the cold darkness. Her pain was the only way she knew she was still alive, for the moment at least.
Her body felt numb, and cold. The circulation to her hands severed at her wrists until she stood and forced her blood back into them once more. Then would come the agony as the blood and feeling rushed back in to them, re-starting the never ending cycle of her torture. She shifted carefully, bending one hand awkwardly so that she could touch her wrists. The wounds of her body worried her, the risk of an infection was high and in her current state she could barely fight off a cold, let alone something worse. But the injuries to her body were nothing compared to the torment of her mind.
Enduring pain was not something that she was afraid of. She'd experienced enough in her time to become well acquainted with the sensation. But this was something different altogether. This was the constant struggle of her mind as she tried to cope with the waves of agony. The wounds on her wrists were festered and sore, the cuts so deep that any sudden movement would crack at the scab and her blood would flow freely. She ground her jaw tight, readying herself for what would come and pushed upwards with her legs, knowing if she waited any longer the flesh of her body would die.
The chains gnashed together and the shackles around her wrists let go of their bite. She couldn't stop her whimpers, no matter how hard she tried as the feeling slowly returned to her hands. She bit down on the soft flesh of her lips to stop from crying out, as tears fell from her eyes and trailed along her cheeks only to fall from her face.
When the pain eased to a bone-deep ache she clenched her hands, working the blood and feeling back into her fingers as her legs shuddered and shook with the effort. She had barely any food since she had been taken, the water they bought her was only thrown into her face from a distance, soaking her bra and panties that she still wore, no more than a drop or two hitting her open mouth.
The hinges of a door screamed in protest inside the dark room and Natalie turned to where she thought the sound had come from. Footsteps echoed inside the room as whoever it was made their way to where she stood, shackled to both the floor and ceiling, still standing in the filthy underwear that she had been in when she was taken.
She turned her head and wiped the tears from her face, refusing to be weak in front of them. It was better to go out with the small amount of strength and determination that she had left, than to beg and plead for what was to be the end of her life. The footsteps came to a stop in front of her and she stared back into the darkness.
"Why have I been taken?" she said, knowing she would get no answers for her questions, she never did. "What do you want?" Her voice wavered, sounding pathetic in darkness and she knew she was only moments from breaking down. She focused on the pain, forcing the chain to bite into her flesh again. Her thoughts sharpened immediately and she welcomed the rush of sudden clarity. "I have no money, so you are wasting your time, you may as well just kill me."
They snorted, their laughter blowing hot breath across her face. She couldn't help but jump in fear and immediately felt the shame of her reaction. This wasn't her, she was more than this, stronger than this. Get it together Natalie, she pleaded, screaming at herself. Digging into whatever memory she could use, get it together SOLDIER!
She dug deep, pulling together what remained of the fighter within and looked into the darkness in front of her as she pulled her lips, exposing her own teeth in a feral sneer.
They stayed like that for a while, Natalie growling into the nothingness in front of her and only emptiness staring back.
At that moment she was as far from human as she had ever been.
The scrape of a heel and the steady sound of retreating steps allowed her to sink back on the chains and let go of the breath she held, until the sound of those steps stopped. This had happened before, a game of the mind as though they tested her. Waiting for the moment they would find her dead, or broken. Natalie waited for the groan of the door and the footsteps, signaling of her reprieve. But there was none and the wind across her face barely registered before her head was pulled back and her neck exposed.
Natalie cried out and squeezed her eyes closed, and she concentrated on those she loved Malik… Alexander… she refused to have her last moments filled with loneliness and desperation. Understanding that all too well that in these next moments when death came for her she would step across that void, alone. But until that last moment of death came for her she would remember them.
Soft lips and sharp teeth pushed against her throat, digging into the soft flesh where her pulse throbbed weakly, fluttering like a frightened bird trapped inside her body. She waited for the end of her life to come, for her to bleed dry in this filthy cellar in the middle of God knows where at the hands of whoever held her here.
Seconds passed like hours with embedded sharp teeth just a fraction away from ending her life, then slowly the pressure against her throat withdrew and the strain on her hair released. She didn't move, not even to swallow, feeling how fragile her existence was at this very moment.
She didn't know how long she waited like that, frozen in a state of both shock and fear until the squeal of the door signified their exit before her tears came. Her body heaved, jerking her bleeding hands against the chains that bound her, while she broke down with only one thought for company - why?
Chapter 2
The same questions haunted her, forcing her to stay awake when she desperately needed to sleep... Why had she been taken? And what were they planning on doing with her?
Was this payback for leaving Makkah? Could she possibly be this obsessive and cruel to keep her locked up for weeks, just to bring her back in chains? The image of Makkah as she fought Malik came back to her. The answer was yes. She could and would do this. It was too much of a co-incidence those mere hours of her escaping she would be captured and locked in darkness, the only visitor a woman who watched her from the shadows.
Makkah...maybe, who else could it be? Steve?
Steve was a mercenary who she had toured with while in Afghanistan, a cruel and resourceful male who had tried his best to break her before and ended up on the receiving end of her knife. She'd had no other alternative than to approach him for the guns, ammunition as well as the vehicle that they needed to travel to the Arabian Desert. Her desire for both Alexander and Malik and to know the truth to her existence had been the only driving force to meet with him in a secluded garage on the outskirts of Cairo. It was easy to see that he hadn't changed. Still the snake she had always known he was.
&
nbsp; Steve had never been a fan of hers and his hate had run even deeper after their last exchange. Malik hadn't wanted her to deal with her ex-comrade. But she was left with little choice when her shopping list consisted of automatic weapons and detailed maps of the Arabian Desert. Had he somehow contracted killers even deadlier than the Army could make? Immortal killers? It was highly likely given the treacherous contacts he seemed to surround himself with. But she had changed and it had taken him by surprise.
No longer was she alone in this turbulent river called life, left to smash against the rocks while she fought to surface and stay alive. No, she had someone to share her destructive life with, two someone's actually. They desired her and wanted to be with her. She neither needed to explain herself to them, or wonder if they would leave her. Their immortal life was given to her, searching for her, loving her even when they waited for her to be born again, to be given back to them. Like now.
Their pain must be horrendous and for a moment she was swept away in their desperation. Where are they now? She may be the one enduring the physical pain and torture, but they were tied to her, no matter how strong her shields were and she knew without a doubt that they would both bear the scars of her suffering, scars that would never heal, no matter how pure their immortal blood flowed. Her fists clenched, no matter how painful this was, the anger inside her at this moment was stronger.
Her survival lay in the answers to her questions, so she was back to square one. Who would be the most capable, Steve, or Makkah? A flicker of movement pulled her away from her mental line of suspects. The shape grew more distinct as it moved towards her. Had the door opened without her knowing? She didn't think so.
"Who are you?"
The guttural sound of her own voice caused her to jump, but she focused more on the shape that was moving towards her.
"Oh my God," she whispered, her mind reeling as the flicker of orange flames stared back at her from the darkness. She would recognize the fire in those eyes anywhere. Malik's burning gaze rocked her where she stood as he drifted closer. His presence commanded her attention. "Malik?" she said, her voice nothing more than a croak, "Help me please." He said nothing and made no movement towards her. "I'm not sure how much longer I can hold on."
