Circles and Wings

Chapter 41

*Scarlett*

I hadn't fallen asleep when they came in. I hadn't been able to. So when they came into my room I knew it wasn't a dream. I did play dead when they scooped me up though, a little afraid of the punishment for remaining awake. Have they been drugging my food?

I hung limply in Mirth's arms as we walked through a passage opened by Incense's blood, leading from my room to the chamber where they tortured me. In reality. Not dreams. This was real, I think. Tonight, Mirth laid me on a cold stone table, I don't know that he hasn't done this every night though, and he stripped me of my clothing.

"I wonder how long it'll take her to wake up tonight," Incense mused, drawing a finger down my jaw. It was all I could do to remain lifeless on the table.

"She's been getting faster every night," Mirth said, "We might need to up her dosage."

My right arm was lifted from my side and secured above my head with what felt like a metal cuff. My left arm was restrained next, then both of my legs. My head had lulled to the side, and I could feel goosebumps form on my skin. What was going to happen tonight? They wouldn't start until I opened my eyes, that was clear enough.

"She didn't eat or drink tonight," Mirth whispered, "She's only asleep." I shifted slightly, shit... they knew.

"Then she should wake any moment now." Incense said. "She's only had the amount that was left on the steel of Michaels blade. It must have been a tiring day for her to sleep from it still." I shifted under his touch.

"Where am I?" I rasped.

"Ah," Mirth sighed, "She's awake."

"Hello, my dear." Incense said, "Have you been well behaved?"

I looked at him. This had to be a dream. This wasn't real, this couldn't be real. "I've been behaved as I normally am." I responded after a moment.

Incense smiled at me and sighed, "I'd so hope you'd say that."

I looked at his hand, a knife rested in it. There was one in Mirth's hand too. "What are you doing?" I asked beginning to thrash, "Where am I?" Mirth set down his knife and picked up a syringe with a long needle filled with non identifiable clear liquid. "What is that?" I asked softer, stopping my movements.

He caressed my face with a hand before tilting my head to the side, exposing my neck. "This is just a little holy sedative." He said in a voice that made me think if he wasn't in the torturing business, he'd make a good nurse. "It's just going to make it harder for you to move."

"It's just going to blur reality for a short while," Incense added. "If you had eaten your dinner we wouldn't need to inject it now."

"You will eat your dinner from now on, won't you my dear?" Mirth cooed.

I shifted my gaze to his, "No."

"Alright then." Incense said. Mirth stuck the needle in my neck. I hissed at the sharp pain, my muscles tensing before they went completely numb. "There, now we can work." Incense smiled.

He took the cool blade of his knife and drew a cross under my sternum. I grunted in pain, unable to flinch away. "Why?" I slurred.

"This would stop if you listened to God." Mirth cooed again, his voice soothing against the burning pain of my skin being cut open.

Incense finished his incision and nodded to Mirth, who took his knife and drew a cross on my hip. "You'll eat your dinner from now on, won't you?" Incense asked. I couldn't answer. My mind was blank against the pain.

It went on in this fashion for many more crosses. Incense and Mirth took turns drawing them into my skin before whispering commands to me. "You'll obey God." Incense would say. Mirth would counter with, "You will eat your dinner from now on." It was a pattern, a cycle that continued until I lost consciousness. Maybe after that. I don't remember. All I could recall was screaming in pain each time the knife pierced my skin, and whimpering and sobbing during any break from the duress.

And when I opened my eyes next I was in my room screeching in pain as I tried to roll out of bed, my skin covered in cross shaped scars. "Dear girl!" God said rushing in. Raph was close behind him. He kept his promise.

God lifted me from my bed, placing me again on my table, and calling for the servants to change my bedding. "I keep ruining sheets." I mumbled groggily. "I'm sorry."

My Uncle pulled my gaze to his, "It's alright my dear. They're just sheets."

"Goodness, Scarlett." Raph gasped from beside him. "They've drawn crosses all over you..."

"Who did?" I asked a dark tear slipping from my eyes. Did I really stay up and get carried there, or did I dream it. "I don't know what's real." I winced as Hunt licked one of my wounds.

God took a glowing hand over my skin and healed every wound, asking one of the servants to draw me a bath. "It will help you relax." He told me. I only nodded and let him carry me into my bathroom.

My bathroom was grand, it had a toilet and a sink and mirror, like a normal bathroom. But it also had an extravagant shower with many spouts that spit water, and a tub that was built into the ground and felt more like a pool. The walls were white and golden and the floors were black marble.

The pool was filled with creamy water now, and God sat me on my feet behind a screen and moved to the other side of it, where Raph stood. Hunt followed me. The hound knew no boundaries. I undressed from the blood stained silk pajamas and waded into the pool, sitting on a bench with my knees to my chest. The water met my neckline and I lowered my cheek to my knees as God moved the screen.

He turned his gaze to Raph, "You'll help her to bed once she's done?"

"Of course." Raph nodded. He sat on the edge of the pool, his legs stretched before him, and his back to a wall.

"Then I'll take my leave." He said. "My dear, I think it's best you skip training tomorrow morning."

I said nothing. I only sat there. Trying to pick fiction from reality. It was easier said than done.